After watching Cindys videos of her northwoods adventures, I decided to set myself down and create a movie with Windows Movie Maker too. It's been ages since I've played with the program and even then I don't recall adding videos, only photos. Well my luck would have it.. it doesn't support .MOV files which is the format my camera uses for video. So...I converted all my videos using Riverpast Video Cleaner Pro and wa-la.. I have WMV files ready to import.

This is a test video I guess you could say. Let's hope this looks and sounds good. I prefer Flickr over Soapbox because it allows the videos to be the actual size they were taken in and doesn't squish the video down during compression. But Flickr keeps chopping off the video before the end credits. Grr

 
Video: Our Waterfall Adventure

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day with family and fireworks so today was yardwork day. ugh. But the weeds were calling me and I had an oak tree that needed a trim bigtime. I finally got tired of being hit in the head everytime I mowed under it. lol I checked on the bluebird nest to make sure they had flown the coop and noticed once again, tiny bluebird feathers at the foot of the nestbox. I wish I knew what was getting them. We have rabbits who run around in the same area and the cat & dog never pay them any attention so I don't think it's them. I pulled out the nest so maybe mr & mrs bluebird will lay eggs one more time before the month is up.

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I have hubby on vacation for another 4 days so I hope to put him to work with some honey-dos. hehe

Here are a few photos from our 4th.

Our nephew Dustin holds a roman candle to the sky.

Our niece Haleigh holds her first sparkler.

Sparkly!

This post is graphic intense..enter at your own risk. lol

We're back! Our little trip didn't quite go as planned but we did have a fantastic time. Once we got to the campground at Fall Creek Falls, we couldn't find a site! Everything was packed for the holiday so after driving around the area for hours trying to find something, we settled on staying at the Inn there at the park. Now you know me, I'm not one for the luxuries, I'd rather be roughing it in the campground but we had to do what we had to do. We vowed to see everything we could the next day at the park, then drive to Rock Island State Park a few miles away and camp there the next night. We have camped there once before and the campground is beautiful and not nearly as crowded. We managed to get a nice shady spot under the pines with no one to either side of us.

Since we had visited both parks before, we sort of knew where things were but our memory just isn't quite what it used to be and things have changed quite a bit. It was nice to find the waterfalls at both parks just as beautiful as they were before with a nice flow of water. Tennessee had such a drought last year, I don't think we visited one waterfall.

Here are a few shots from the trip. I'm going to try to get a video together to show more of the area because a few photos just don't do it justice. I apologize for the spots on some of my photos. I chipped the lens on my camera a few months back and have yet to get it sent off for repair, frankly because I don't want to be without my camera for that long! So I'm trying to get around the "boo boos" until I can talk myself into sending it off.

Sun rising over Fall Creek Falls Lake.. I would have never been able to get this view if the campground wasn't full. This was taken from the balcony of our room at the Inn. I guess all things do happen for a reason.

We didn't make the trip down to the falls this time. It's a mile down and pretty rugged and guess who forgot her tennis shoes?? Fall Creek Falls is the largest Fall east of the Rockies at 256 feet. A little trivia.. most of the Walt Disney movie "The Jungle Book" (1994) was filmed here.

Cane Creek Cascades, Fall Creek Falls SP.. notice the swinging bridge above the cascades? There are 4 swinging bridges in Fall Creek Falls SP. I think we found 3. lol

Overlooking Cane Creek Gorge.. Fall Creek Falls SP

Millikans Overlook.. Fall Creek Falls SP....named after Dr. Glenn Q. Millikan who fell to his death on May 25, 1947, while rock climbing on the overlook.

Twin Falls @ Rock Island State Park.. These look small until you compare them to the tiny people in water below them. Can you spot them? lol

Swinging Bridge over Piney Creek

The kids swimming under the bluffs of Cane Creek, Fall Creek Falls SP. Despite the chilly morning (53 degrees!) , as soon as the sun came out good, we headed for the swimming hole. It wasn't long before kids were going across the swinging bridge (not the one pictures above) to the bluff side to jump off into the water. My kids were too chicken though. lol

I'm going to try to play catch up today and visit everyone!

I know I've been MIA again for the last few days but we've been busy bees around here. I'll have to disappear for a few more days while we go camping but I promise to catch up on everyone when I get back. You guys don't blog too much now ok? lol

A few photos before I leave..

Bald Eagle (There's a pair that nest in a nearby tree along the route to my Moms and I never have my camera when they're out..yesterday I did.woo-hoo!)

Me & my great nephew Sam. Isn't he adorable? I've only seen him twice since he was born. Those blue eyes are going to break some hearts in the future!

Bye Ya'll!

I've noticed a loud chirping coming from the front yard lately but coughed it up to a mother Mockingbird trying to keep Prissy away from her nest in the Cleveland Pear Tree. Well while I was out mowing today I heard the shrieks again but this time realized they were coming from the smaller oak tree. I stopped my mower and saw a baby bird in a nest, peeking at me from within the leaves and branches, right at head level. I've never seen Mrs. Mocker build her nest this low before. After I finished mowing I went out to get a picture and hope that she didn't come back to dive bomb me. She was nowhere in sight so I zoomed in as close as I could for a few shots. The wind did not want to co-operate with me. Then I noticed there wasn't one but two birds. I got closer and snatched a few more pictures then birdy #1 decided to shriek at me. I thought great.. momma will be dive bombing me any minute. lol So I got a little closer, grabbed one more picture then headed back in. Once I got the photos on the computer I noticed a 3rd birdy peeking at me. How cute are these little guys?

Yes I'm the cute one

One Two Three!

That face!

As I mentioned yesterday we took a side trip to Shiloh National Military Park after our swim at the lake Monday. Kasey has always had a love for Civil War history and although we've passed the exit to Shiloh a million times, we've never been. We surprised her good and she didn't even realize we were going in the direction of home until we were almost to Shiloh. lol

Here are a few photos from our trip.

War Cabin

This cabin was moved from another field right after the war to replace one that was burned. Across from the cabin is a huge peach orchard.

A Northern Fence Lizard had made the old cabin home. He didn't quite know what to think about us invading his territory and scurried about for awhile until we left.

"The Shiloh National Cemetery at Pittsburg Landing, Tn., is situated on the west bank of the Tennessee River, just below the landing, and on the bluff immediately overlooking it. There are over 3,500 soldiers buried here with over 2,300 unknown. They represent 203 regiments from thirteen different States."

The Bloody Pond.. "wounded soldiers from both sides crawled here to quench their thirst and bathe their wounds. So many bled in and around the pond that the water is said to have become stained the color of blood."

United Daughters of the Confederacy, Confederate Monument. Erected in 1917. "The central group represents a "Defeated Victory." The front figure, representing the Confederacy, is surrendering the laurel wreath of victory to Death, on the left, and Night, on the right. Death came to their commander and Night brought reinforcements to the enemy; and the battle was lost."

(to learn more about this monument click here)

No trip is complete without some wildlife right? There were plenty of deer and wild turkey grazing in the open fields. (Hubby took this one from the car)

Excerpts taken from the NPS Historical Handbook

This ole girl has been in much need of a good swim in the lake so yesterday we headed 75 miles southeast to Natchez Trace State Park to Cub Lake for a swim. We may have picked the wrong day to do this because the sun was in and out and the temps were in the 80's. Today however, we're back up to mid 90's with plenty of sun. Today.. I would have burned though!

Cub Lake Swimming Area.. hardly anyone here today!! Woo-Hoo!! This may have been due to the rainshower the lake received earlier in the day.

Looking out towards Cub Lake

Sitting in a bed of pine needles overlooking Pin Oak Lake. I threw a t-shirt on over my bathing suit and stepped out of my sandals to enjoy the soft pine needles as I watched the birds dip and dive into the water.

Japanese Kudzu Vines cover most of the landscape throughout Natchez Trace SP. This makes for beautiful scenery as you wind your way through the parks main road. Photos just can't do it justice.

Sitting back in the woods..An old brick kiln used to make bricks in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

There was plenty of wildlife to be found throughout the park with herons, swallows and wild turkeys. I also captured a few shots of some dragonflies I haven't seen in the backyard this yr.

           Slaty Skimmer                       Widow Skimmer               Variable Dancer Damselfly

Click their photos to view larger.

We also made it to Shiloh National Military Park but those photos will have to wait for tomorrow..this ole girl's gotta head to bed. Thank you for sticking with me through my dry spell. I'll try to get to everyone tomorrow.

I'm in a funk with my camera and computer lately. I don't know if the lack of things to shoot or hubby heading back to work Monday or what but whatever it is..I hope it goes away soon. lol We do plan on heading to a lake tomorrow to swim and hike around a bit so maybe my camera will burst forth with some good photos..until then I'm going into the archives for a bit...from 2004. A camping trip at Rock Island State Park led us to a wonderful area of Tn we had never explored before.

Click on the photos to go to their placement on the map.

Burgess Falls

One of the many falls within Rock Island State Park

A hazy Summer Day at Rock Island SP

We all know the ponds are home to Bullfrogs and Greenfrogs but we've recently expanded our little family into Treefrogs. I swear my house just attracts things. lol I went one night and found one treefrog stuck to the side of the house. I picked him up, put him near the pond and went inside. The next night he was back on the house again so I let him be. The last few nights I've noticed him out near the window but last night he brought company because there was not one but two frogs basking in the moonlight on the side of the house. From the sounds I've heard near the pond I think they are Gray Treefrogs. They're still too small to have that bright coloring underneath that Gray Treefrogs have but you can see it forming under the leg area.

Larry

Moe

..and yes I'm waiting on Curly to join them. lol

I hope everyone is having a wonderful humPday. It's a beautiful day here with cooler temps but lots of sun. Not a whole lot to say today so I thought I would post a little video of the fish in pond #1. One of these days I'll get some fish for pond #2. lol

(pardon the glare from the sun on the lilypads)

Today was hopefully our last really HOT day this week as the temps are supposed to be in the 80's for the rest of the week. Me best buddy Lisa came for a visit with her daughter and we paid a visit to the Tigrett boardwalk for a bit then to feed the ducks, ending our day with a trip to the DQ for some ice cream. YUM! They were packed. I guess everyone needed something to cool off today.

The hummingbirds are absent again from the feeders. I see them for a week at a time then they're gone again for another week. So my camera turned to Sadie for awhile. It's hard to keep Sadie still long enough for a good shot. She's getting older but you can't tell her that. Her body refuses to give in to her age. Needless to say, she sat still for me anyway.

Those are the eyes I feel for as a puppy.

Mama's Girl.. notice Prissy behind her on the table eating? lol

Here's a video from our "duck feeding" today. I was determined to get Papa Duck on video shaking his tail for his bread. I have a soft spot for the lil guy.

Ok you guys remember a few weeks back where I talked about getting the program "Deskscapes" for Mother's Day and what a neat little program it was? Well I stumbled upon a new wallpaper with one of my favorite little creatures..with sound! Now I'm driving my family nuts with this thing croaking on my desktop. lol But it's TOO CUTE so I have to share.

Turn up your speakers!

The 2nd set of baby bluebirds have hatched! And boy are they hungry! The other 2 were still snoozing.

Just wanted to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's and "soon to be" Dad's out there today. Make it the best Father's Day you can.

Our fathers toil with hands and heart
To make our lives complete.
They quietly brave the winter cold,
Endure the summer heat.
Our fathers' lives are busy, but
There's always time for us.
They boldly face the ups and downs
And seldom ever fuss.
Our fathers are the greatest dads.
We know you know this, too.
But thank you for the chance to share
Our love for them with you.
(©) by David A. Olds.

My Dad worked hard all his life to provide for his family. He served our country in WWII with pride and dignity. He treasured what his ancestors had made of this world before him and took pride in living his life simply with the sweat of his brow. My Dad passed away too soon, just a year after retiring early at the age of 64. I didn't get to say goodbye yet I can remember every moment of that day after his death. Miss you Dad.

I decided to finally play with the "stitch" feature in my WLPG today since I took 2 photos of the impending thunderstorm last night, only to have the program tell me it couldn't stitch my photos because they didn't overlap. But they did overlap! So I downloaded a trial version of Arcsofts Panoramic Maker 4 to see what the outcome would look like. Not too shabby I guess. Click the photo to see it a little bigger.

Last night the ladies from work had a little cookout. We sat around gabbing about our Summer so far, sipping our drinks and enjoyed a nice meal of ribeye, baked potato and salad. As soon as we ate a gush of wind came through and the sky began to cloud up. 20 minutes later we knew we'd better head in the house. I cut the night short and headed home when I heard branches blowing out of the trees! We didn't get anything major though..just a nice hard thunderstorm...which we needed because it's been hot and dry here lately.

The wall of the thunderstorm.

This morning Jamie & I headed to town to grab a few groceries and stopped off to feed the ducks at the fairground pond. As soon as I started throwing out the bread they came running. There's nothing sweeter than the waddle of a duck when he sees food being given out. I wish I could gotten a video of "Papa Duck" as he sat and begged at my feet with his tail wagging like a dog. He was too funny to watch!

Jamie took some photos from the car so I could walk out to the pond.

He was super proud of this shot and made sure I posted it. (I think he's totally digging your comments) This is Papa Duck taking a quick bath before he saw me.

Hold up Papa.. wait for me!

More please!

Have a great Saturday!

Jamie wanted to visit his Mom yesterday and I wanted to check out a place we'd never been to before.. the Hatchie Wildlife Refuge near Brownsville, Tn. Since both were in the same primary direction, we did both. I'm going to miss our little travels when he goes back to work Monday.

Here are a few shots from the trip to Hatchie. It's about 50 miles from home yet I had never been.

Muskrat.. he seemed unconcerned that I was there taking his picture.

Goslings (Canadian Geese)..right after I took this they darted into the water and made their way through the puzzle of lily pads to Mom.

Jamie took this one! I love how he captures the egrets reflection. Most of the egrets spook off the second you get out of the car or stop the vehicle. He took this one from inside the ca