Now that Christmas is getting closer, my time runs short on the free time.

So before I forget Here are my season's greetings.

 Merry Christmas 2009

Hope you all get your Christmas Wishes granted.

Christine (Momof3pics)

We adopted a Kitten (Yes he is really still a Kitten) from the SPCA yesterday. His name is Biscuit and He is 8 months old. He has been in the SPCA since August. He is such a big guy that no one wanted him (the long, thick fur does not help).  I went to see if they had any Kittens to adopt (small ones) But they did not have any, but the said that there were three cats in the room, knowing that I really wanted a small one I figured I would look but probley not adopt. Well was I wrong. This guy melted my heart and put a smile on my face.

 Biscuit close up

He loves to play and be held, I had the opportunity to find out that he was good with Kids because there was a class of children there and he let them play with him. that was a big plus for me because I have 3 of my own and the youngest is 3 1/2 years old. I had to call my hubby about adopting him and he told me that there were lots of kittens for free, but I was hooked already and beside he if Fixed and has all his shots. (Nothing is really for Free.) My hubby told me it was up to me. Well as you can guess, Biscuit has a new home.

Merry Christmas Biscuit and Welcome to our family.

 goofy Buscuit

 Biscuit big boy

He took no time to settle in with the family, not even 24 hours and he has made himself at home.

Enjoy!

(not the greatest photos but they are just for sharing. )

I straighten up the squirrel pic. (Just for you Mcquacker)

 redone

So sorry but it is a busy time of year for me and I have not a lot of time to use the camera.

I did get out a couple of weeks with me camera.I found that the swan family was out and about. I don't get much of a chance to see them unless I am driving around at the right time of the evening.

 swans last light

 Swans sleeping

The chickadees have let me get closer to the tree they hang in and I got this shot.

 the close up

And this Squirrel came up to my porch to eat some bread, He was attacted by a cat and has sores all over the place. I took this shot through my patio door.

 close up

An update on this little guy he is recovering very well.

thanks for looking and have a great day. ;)

I down loaded topaz trials to try out and had a little fun with it. Mack told me it was compatible with my PhE7. I think I know what I want for Christmas now.  The trial is for a month so I can use it to how I really like it.

This is the  orignal

this is topaz De-noise and topaz adjust 3

 topaz trial

I like the HDR effect on the kitten and wall.

By the way this is one of the street kittens born this summer. It was eyeballing  my birds at the feeder.

And no I had no wood to chop, but I should have been raking leaves Like everyone else on the street. ;)

I took time out from my busy day to go on a hike at a place called Bonds Lake, Niagara County, NY.

http://www.niagaracounty.com/parks/bondlake.asp

It is a nice place to enjoy nature and get some exercise. I have posted photos from here before and its a nice place to get some shots.

The day was sunny with clouds but very chilly (about 38 degrees) this morning. but perfect for a walk.

I got some great reflection shots of the small lake.

 Reflections

 Reflection 2

I took a hike to the small wooded aria up the hill and was trying to take a photo on something else and shot this pic by accident (Really!) When I down loaded the photos in to my computer and went through them it turned out to be a nice accidental pic.

What do you think. ;)

 Light  

Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome. ;)

Sorry I've been on the missing here. Family Life gets in the way. And have not had much inspiration either.

I did go out with the camera last week and enjoyed the fall colors before the leaves dropped. It all look so pretty and all I seem to do these days is drive by it all and have not time to stop. Well last Friday I stopped. I took a ride the Fort Niagara park and shot some pics.

Hope you enjoy them. ;)

 Fall colors

 fort Niagara fall_1.JPG

 fort Niagara fall.JPG

 fort Niagara fall_4.JPG

I know this next picture some of you might not like because of the tree in the way but I liked the tree right where it was, I gave the effect of the change of the seasons to come.

 Light house       

This one was Taken from Hyde Park, Niagara Falls.

 fall at hyde park _3.jpg

Here are some more "Nature" captures to enjoy from my back yard.

 U Caught Me_1

 Trying to hide

 wing movement_1

nature gone_2    ..a muck in my garden. Its been a lazy summer for me.;)

Have a great day and Happy back to school day to those with Children. (mine go back today).  ;) ;) ;)

"Enigmaticfaerie"  Was not the only one camping, we went on our yearly camping trip to Allegheny state park in NY. The weather was not all that great but we make the best of it.

We did have some visitors at our cabin this year.

 chipmunk

 camping squirrel

 little bear

 Camping with nature_1.JPG

And the creek that goes around our cabin was flowing with more water than usual this year (lots of rain storms around here) It was beautiful to see and hear.

(Can anyone give me an Idea how the crop "rushing waters' I like the photo but I think it may be too much going on in the pic.)

 rushing waters      

 little falls

This group of mushrooms was on a trail that my family took.

 slug on mushroom

It was a good trip Just wish we had more sunny days to enjoy.

We can not change Mother Nature's Plans. Lol

Enjoy and all comments welcome. Thank you. ;)

Here are some more shots from My Squirrel Friends (I think I need some Real Friends).

They can be so entertaining with a cup of coffee. ;)

 yummy breakfast

 in the clover

 dry place

 mom and son  

 got my breakfast  

 red tail aka mom  

Watch out for this one, now step back.... Not a squirrel

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do and thank you for all your comments. ;)

(Sorry so many)

The Challenge:

Some of my Squirrel friends are getting brave. They come up to me on the porch if I am real still.

This little guy (My son calls him Max) Told me "No, No, No!"  "No pictures"    Not a every day   Sight

From the Garden:

 red as fire

 pretty Dahlia

 Oh so pretty

 A Rose Is Not Just a Rose... Its beauty!

Also just to let you all know that my Dad is still in the  Hospital and had to go back into ICU again. Hopefully he will be able to get to a regular room again soon. Too many Ups and Downs.

Thank you for looking and your comments. ;)

Just some more flower pictures I took recently.

 Pink Dahlia

This Dahlia was a special for breast cancer research.

 Yellow lilly

The following photo was taken the same day I took the macro bug photo from my last posting.

 Sweet peas

After I took this photo I got my new photoshop Elements Techniques magazine. In the new issue there was a Sketch Technique I wanted to try. May come in handy for card creations for the holidays or birthdays.

 Sweet pea PS Element

I don't know how to paint in water color but this came out looking almost like a water color.

Thanks for looking and thank you for your comments and thoughts.

Yesterday I went out for a bit with my camera. I stopped at this small park to look around and did not find much to photograph. When I walked back to my Van I saw that I had parked next to some bushes I have never seen before. (and by the way if any of you recognize this bush please give me a name) I went to take pictures of the ball shaped flowers and found it to be alive with bees, beetles, and tiny little butterflies. I took many pictures of the activity going on with my macro lens.

Here are some of my faves.

 pollen on my face

 mmmm tasty treat

 Honey Bee close up

 yes very tasty

 Red and black

Thank you for looking and your comments. ;)

First I will let you know that my Dad is still in ICU but he is slowly recovering. He needs to be able to breath on his own for 24 hours to be moved out of ICU to rehab.  He has a long road ahead of him, but we know he will work very hard to get to a point that he can come home to us. 

I still have not a lot of time to spend with the camera, but I try to get out into the garden with it. this is one of my favorite roses that is blooming again and the bud was just at a perfect point to photograph.

Hope you enjoy it and thank your for your comments. ;)