“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Pinenuts to the left of me…
Sierras to the right…
Here I am stuck in the middle of you. And, so happy to be here! It’s so hard to keep the smile off my face.
In case you got an earworm from this post I’ve included this song to help you out of it. 😀
Panasonic Lumix FZ200| PS CC 22.5.1
more to come…
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Late in January, I heard there was a Red-necked Grebe in Lake Tahoe and it’s a bird I’ve never seen so wanting to get out of the house between storms He-Man and I drove over there for a walk-about and see what we could see. No grebe anywhere, but I did see a small group of Common Mergansers, and one that didn’t look quite like the others, but looked like a Merganser. I made some images and when I got home uploaded the images and discovered to my delight the one in the group that was a little different was a Red-breasted Merganser Male. A new bird for me, and Lifer number one for 2021!
They weren’t doing much of anything when I saw the group. I think it was a bit early and they were still waking up. 😀
Fun facts about them gleaned from my favorite source allaboutbirds.org
That’s a lot of diving and foraging isn’t it!
I hope you all a lovely week-end!
Panasonic Lumix FZ200| PS CC 22.3.0
more to come…
Copyright ©2019 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Saturday He-Man and I went hiking along the Tahoe Rim Trail. We heard the views were amazing, and I want to get back in shape and explore our new area. Since I feel out of shape and easily winded at this altitude still we opted for a 3 mile out hike and back.
We quickly discovered that Spring has sprung in the mountains at 7000 and 8000ft elevation. I was so excited!
Here are just a few of the flowers we saw.
Nuttall’s Larkspur with Bumble Bee. We took a side trip up the Vista Trail to the top of a ridge and found a view of Carson Valley and these wildflowers busy with Bumble Bees.
Mule’s Ear was blooming all over the place and it was perfect blooming time!
Coast Paint Brush? I’m not positive this is what it is, but it looks like it.
There were thousands of Butterflies along the trail. I thought at first they were Painted Lady’s which I had heard were migrating through and there were thousands being reported but looking at them and my images confirmed that’s not what they were. It’s new to me called a California Tortoiseshell ( Nymphalis Californica). There was also White cabbage and Sara Orange Tips I believe but, those little guys were already warmed up and flying all over the place rarely landing and when they did they alighted almost as soon as they touched down.
We had a glimpse of Lake Tahoe about 2 miles into the hike. It was a great place to catch my breath too.
I have more images of flowers I need to identify, and two birds too.
There is a gorgeous view we’re told 5 miles in, so we’re going to work up to that. The Tahoe Rim Trail is 165 miles long going around Lake Tahoe. I’m hoping to do bits and bobs of it here and there, but I don’t think I’ll ever do the whole thing.
Our stats for the hike were:
6.5 miles total distance, 1000 ft elevation gain, and 3H:56 minutes…due to me stopping to smell the roses, watch butterflies, gaze at the views, and stopping to catch my breath.
It was a great hike! I hope I can get back up there before the butterflies flee, and the Lupine is in bloom.
I hope you’re all having a great week, and good Wednesday!
Panasonic Lumix FZ200| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2019
more to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Our #1 Grandson will turn 4 just before Christmas! I can’t believe how fast he’s grown!
His favorite Halloween character is Jack Skellington from the movie Nightmare Before Christmas. He thinks skeletons are the neatest goulie on Halloween.
He’s chosen a Nightmare Before Christmas theme for his Birthday. He was so happy to find a Jack Skellington Christmas ornament, and cap while shopping recently.
Here he is with both the cap and ornament in our Christmastown. 🙂
Panasonic Lumix FZ200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| On1 & PS CC 2017
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!
I wasn’t motivated to paint for the longest time. I was planning my trip to NYC, then while in NYC all I wanted to do was take photographs. At the end of each day there I fell into bed exhausted from walking and touring, then when I got home my son: Big Baby Boy and his lovely finance the Dark Haired Beauty came home for a long week-end , so instead of wanting to paint, or develop images I wanted to hang out with them.
…and just like that May was gone! Who wants to paint when all that is going on?
Okay, I know real painters would! Just like I was making photographs the whole time. I get it! 🙂
Late this afternoon the image of a Killdeer I took back in April of this year called me to paint it. I don’t have clue how that happened because, my focus today has been on the letter A, and the Number 7. For the next 25 days we’re coloring and wearing Alphabet wristlettes…a letter a day…and I’ve added a number a day to that.
I’ve been teaching #1 Grandson who is already 3 1/2 years old his letter sounds, along with letter recognition, number counting and recognition, living science, earth science, literature, manners, and appropriate behavior in our house and in public since he was born, but it’s been getting more intense the the last year. I’m so ready for this kid to read and do kindergarten math!
Phew, is it any wonder I’m exhausted when Baby Girl gets home from work? He knows his alphabet from A to Z, and some numbers and letters by sight, but not all the sounds, letters, or numbers by sight. It’s time to step it up! Add this to a very busy boy who wants to play and be busy with his toys, inside and out all day!
Seriously, at the end of the day uncork a bottle of wine! I’m ready to unwind! 🙂
Armed with a glass of slightly chilled Zin I began to draw my second attempt at the Killdeer. The first attempt had too many issues.
Those issues were mostly proportion, shape, and size related, and color mixing. Sigh! If I could draw all my problems with art would be nil! Seriously. NIL! I WISH I COULD DRAW!
This is my second attempt: Still with issues related to proportion, shape and size, but much better than the first attempt.
The image is taken from a photograph I made in April 2016. This painting isn’t nearly as cute as my photograph is. Sigh. Perhaps a few more tries drawing it will achieve that.
I hope so!
The inspiration image here.
Oh, I forgot to add that I used my new Sennelier watercolor paints for this painting. He-Man gave me the 12 + 6 tin for my birthday last month. It’s the first time I’ve used them to paint anything besides a color chart. I love the way the colors look on paper. There’s a wonderful vibrancy to them. I need to add a couple of greens to the kit though.
I used my Escoda Reserva #6 rd, and Mimik Kolinsky #12 brushes, and painted this in my Strathemore Mixed Media Journal.
This is part of Draw-a-Bird Day over at Laura’s Createartevery.com . To see all the bird art posted today click here. Scroll down to the comments to see the links to all the posts shared this month.
To read the original story of how Draw-a-Bird Day got started click here
The post is also part of Charlie O’Shields doodlewash #NatureDoolewash
Lumix FX200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| Handheld| PS CC 2015
More to come
Circadianreflections Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.