Lazy day trip to Mirror Lake

Diana, Murphy and I took a lazy day trip up to Mirror Lake campground in the Uintas yesterday just to relax together and see country that we hadn't seen in a while. We stopped for a while at Trial Lake campground, remembering times when my folks camped here and we would hike around the area. Trial lake was way down but the small fish were still jumping around and an adventurous fly fisherman floated around looking for opportunities.
Murphy did well, he jumps down from the truck and I lift him into the back seat when it is time to go. He was on the alert for squirrels and chipmunks at Mirror Lake.
Many memories of times spent camping and picnicking in these areas over the years. A fawn checked us out as did a female moose but no bear this time. Gorgeous country and the wonderful light playing its games across the landscapes and ancient Uinta mountains made for a beautiful and relaxing day.

Moments of beauty

Yesterday we had a great afternoon rainstorm and then the angels came and painted the sky with color!

Today the sun lit the Canna flower and said "capture me if you can"!

Sword play

One last hummingbird photo for the season (maybe) but they move so fast that it is hard to catch the detail. This bird was not going to move despite being harassed by the other. I had not seen that before and was able to capture the protective posture that it presented - very menacing!??!

Food and Drink

Be careful what you wish for!! Our tomatoes were not ripening so we wished for ripe tomatoes! Yikes did we get them!
My lunch these days is a Caprese salad; often with fresh beans to add another flavor. We are fortunate that we have so much that we give a lot away.

FOM update - Friends of Murphy

Murphy 'sailed through' his second ACL surgery yesterday with flying colors!  The vet used a different anesthesia which really seemed to help his post-op alertness and ability to get around. They also gave him a bit more IV fluids to assist in urination, boy did that help.
When he got home he went twice in the front yard and then walked briskly to the backyard and went three more times!  This morning he got up and went into the backyard and emptied himself again.

He is alert, able to move much more than after the first one, of course he now has a good leg to use where he didn't before. We are very glad he is home as is Fuzzy who went and laid down by him in the backyard last night.  Not sure Murphy really cares, but it is quite cute.  Hoping for a quick recovery!

Deck Shots

Whilst waiting for the hummingbirds to present themselves in a manner that I could then get a good photograph (a very small % of the time), the red-green-yellow combination of the tomatoes caught my eye. So you get to admire both today, the luscious and saturated colors of tomato foliage and fruits and the beauty of the hummingbird during its feeding process.
Enjoy!

Softness

The 105 macro lens provides a softness that endears it to me. Most of my photos I accentuate edges and colors at least a bit. These two struck me as doing well with a very soft approach, painter-like, dreamy-like.
Both are of the Canna Lily flower on our deck this morning with early sun on it. Even at an f/8 there is a very small depth of field.

Bye Bye Lilys

As we continue to the latter part of August our day lilies are almost gone - one last one bloomed today! The water lilys continue but only one at a time now instead of 3 or 4 at a time in late July. A rufous hummingbird continues to patrol the feeder, but the swarm of hummers have passed by. Murphy enjoys the 'dog days' of summer by - what else - being a dog!

With Love, From the Big Island!

These luscious flowers arrived late yesterday from our friends in Hawaii - flowers that remind us both of them as well as of our Caribbean cruise a few years ago!
Thank you Rick and Carey!

Night sky Red moon

Diana has a small light that allows her to read at night out on the deck. Last night as she was reading, the moon showed red from the fire smoke that blew over the valley. I watched this as the night became darker and felt this shot was the best. Shooting at night without flash means a lot of digital noise but by keeping the dark areas dark the noise is not noticeable - plus a bit of noise reduction from LR5 helps.

Diana felt that the moon was too small in the photo above - remember that our eyes/brain compensate and the camera doesn't. So below is an updated photo with a larger moon. What do you think?

Albion Basin visit

I wandered around Albion Basin for a couple of hours yesterday morning, working my way up towards Cecret Lake and then around the campground and finally below it in the wetter area. Beautiful weather and a bit cool in the shade which helped. I took a lot of photos and am still working with them to get the view out of them that inspired me.
Here are a few that came together more easily - the moose especially!!

Sometimes .......

Sometimes I just am lazy and don't want to go inside and get the camera.  That was my loss last night as the smoke from a fire west of the city colored the sunset and made the sun red!  I saw the red sun but was just too lazy.  A few minutes later I did grab the camera and got a couple of shots - sure wish I had gotten the red sun.  Oh well.. the light does not wait.

Happy Birthday Sharon!

My sister Sharon celebrates her birthday today - a good day!

The refuge was calling me this morning so I drove out before any coffee and had a wonderful time. Sometimes you know you have to do something but you are not sure why - I'm still not sure exactly why but the beauty I experienced was worth every second spent.

I arrived just as the sun was kissing the first clouds and enjoyed the birds and clouds and changes in light that played out in front of me. One thing to remember out there - keep turning around to see what is behind you.  Besides the cloud formations a sneaky pelican was just about on top of me when I turned around.
Here's a few of what I liked the best - the colors on the first few clouds were really there.

Hummers Galore!

Hummingbirds were everywhere yesterday, sword-fighting, playing, eating and just generally zooming around. Three and four at one time doing battle - not sure how they keep track of who is who!

I sat about 6 feet away from the feeder and rather than try to capture the birds themselves individually, I used an f/stop of 10 and focussed on the feeder post. That process gave me a number of in-focus shots without the frustration of trying to focus on the birds themselves.  With the color of the Rufous Hummers against the leafy background, I lose focus on the birds quickly.

So here's a selection - I see the red on some and the gold on others and am not sure if the same bird is displaying both gold and red or if it is two different birds.

Animal shots

Leo popped his head up from his resting place on the chair cushion and looked just like an expectant diner - albeit a bit more surly!! He is spending a lot of time around the house while we are out and often sleeps all day under the chair or bench.

Murphy is looking good as you can see. He takes a couple of walks a day, not too long as the bad leg gives out on him. But the repaired leg looks good and healing well. His next surgery is on 8/22!

Finally a view of the garden harvest this morning. Squash and tomatoes and two types of beans. Just like picking blueberries, I eat a lot of the beans while picking them - something about getting them as fresh as I can.