Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - 26/365

This is a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly that was on a butterfly bush at my aunt's house in Loretto, Ky.  We drove down to pick up some whiskey barrels she got for us and visited for a bit. While we were there we got a tour of the property where they have a full size authentic tee-pee decorated in full native american decor.  It was very cool - see photos below!

Nature and Stuff

It's been a while since I've blogged.  What can I say, it's been a busy month!  But that doesn't mean I haven't been enjoying the wildlife around the house. I even actually dusted off the camera to snag a couple of photos.  I was trying to get the pair of chipmunks that have taken up residence in the rock bed around one of the trees, but the bunny and the birds were the only critters cooperating with me.

Bunny Foo Foo

Ready for Take Off!

As for me, I'm doing fantastic.  I finished up my radiation treatment about a month ago and am finally feeling back to my old self again.  Once fall rolls around I plan to start back on my P90X workouts.  Unfortunately with my surgery and treatments, my first two months of hardwork has reverted back to ground zero due to not being able to work out and not sticking to a good diet.  But, I'll get it all straightened out in due time.  For now I'm busy working and spending at least one day a week lounging by the pool and enjoying summer.  The garden is growing, the critters are abundant and the weekends are full of good times with friends.  Life is good!  :)

Meet Poe

This is Poe. He sits beside me on my desk and keeps me company on the evenings and weekends while I work. He's my left-hand man, my stress relief, and sometimes my distraction. He's much happier now that he's out of his 1 cup of water from the pet store and into a gallon and a half bowl. He's a handsome fella.

Horse Play

Taken at the Haupt Farm today during Jason's company's annual Halloween bash. Gotta love velvety smooth horse snoots!

Pure Luck - Hummingbird Moth

Yesterday as Jason was casually looking out the front door he started all of a sudden flipping out yelling, "Camera! Quick! Hummingbird Moth! Hummingbird Moth!". After realizing what he was saying I snatched up my camera and ran to the front porch where we have a small barrel of flowers in full bloom. Sure enough, hovering over the flowers was a hummingbird moth! I've seen photos of these before but have never seen on in person and it was so cool! It was much smaller than I expected it to be. In the haste to get a good photo I switched the camera to auto mode, and glad I did because I only got four shots before it flew away. This is the only shot that turned out worth a darn. Jason has some more on his Flickr page.

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

Nikon D80 - First shots

Over the weekend I sold my Nikon D50 and upgraded to a Nikon D80. Here are a couple of my favorite shots from my first outing with the new camera body. These were taken at the pond on the grounds of Louisville Memorial Gardens East.

Momma duck and her almost grown brood:

Dragonfly at rest: