Summer Bugs, Flowers and Cat Nose's

I'm still having way to much fun with my iphone and my olloclip macro lens! If you want to get a big variety of bugs, grow milkweed plants. My milkweed are blooming now and the flowers are bringing in bugs I've never seen before! It's so interesting! I've always loved bugs since I was a kid.

So here are a few that I have captured so far. I'm leaving out those japanese beetles. Don't like them. They are eating everything! grrrrr

This guy is called Ailanthus Webworm Moth. To the naked eye he doesn't look very moth like. But close up you can see his feathery scales.

Then there are these guys! There are a lot of them especially around the flowers.

This  is called a Six - Spotted Milkweed Bug.

And I've found a few of these guys.

Red Milkweed Beetle

Love these flies.

Not sure what he is called.

And then everyone knows these annoying guys!

Amazing red eyes, don't ya think!?

Ok how about some flowers?!

My Coneflowers are blooming now

 This is a bloom from that tiny clover that grows in your yard!

Gazania

Here's the inspiration that guy in Switzerland used to invent velcro!

I'm still working on getting a macro shot of one of my cat's eyes. But did get two of my kitties noses!!!

This is Pepper's nose. He's my biggest cat and has the biggest nose! LOL

And this is Jupiter's nose. He has a freckle nose. He also has freckles on his mouth.

Is this not the most fattest chipmunk you have ever seen! I think I'm going to have to take the tray off the bottom of the feeder. The doves and chipmunks are eating up my safflower seed in a matter of a couple of days!

This past Saturday was the Red Barn Primitive Sale in Milan, IL. Here are a few things that I picked up. If you want directions to this once a month sale, just send me a email and I'll be happy to give you directions and times.

Glass jar with old corks, 3 old paint spindles, primitive pig cutting board and little prim light blue stool.

So that's what I've been up to lately. Doing a little sewing here and there. Have a wonderful evening!

Macro Shots

I received my olloclip attachment on Wednesday and I'm having so much fun with it.

Hosta Flower

I ordered this from their website www.olloclip.com received it in 3 days!

Moss Rose flower

teeny tiny fly

1" baby katydid

Hosta Bloom

This fairy like creature is called a Woolly Aphid. They look like tiny bits of cotton flying through the air. I've never seen one close up before. They are beautiful!

Time for the Red Barn Sale tomorrow! Hope to find more primitive treasures! I'll post some pics tomorrow if I find anything amazing!

Instagram Fun!

I've recently gotten addicted to Instagram. It's a app I have on my iphone. I've been having great fun with it! And I'm getting quite a few followers too! If you want to find me, my instagram name is tambo333. Here are a few pics that I've taken.

I ordered a cool gadget to hook on my iphone to take macro photos! I should have it sometime this week. So be ready for some really neat close up shots! Can't wait to get it. It also takes wide angle and fisheye. It's called olloclip if you are interested.

This past weekend my daughter and family had a wedding to attend that was about a hour and a half away from where we live. So we spent the weekend in Peoria, IL. Hubby and I were the official babysitters and I was so happy to see my grandchildren! It had been 3 months since I last saw them. My grandson is learning to talk. What a difference 3 months makes. They grow just like weeds.

Here is my granddaughter Cora. She was the flower girl in the wedding. I think she has been a flower girl about 4 or 5 times in the last couple of years. She is a pro now!

My personalized photo pendants are doing pretty good! Have had several orders now! Working on a few more primitive ones too!

Have a wonderful evening!

Something a Little New!

I have always loved all those images of the little birds with the crowns that you see on the internet. I thought I would make one of my birdies with a little crown! I just listed her in My Etsy Shop last night.

And I now have a few of my primitive photo pendants listed in my photo etsy shop, Red Oak Images

I am also taking orders for personalized pendants, such as pet, baby or wedding photo pendants. Or if you have any kind of photo you cherish, I can turn it into a one of a kind keepsake.

In other news. I believe it was on Monday I get a call from my next door neighbors informing me there was a huge hawk sitting on top of my roof. My neighbors know how much I love taking photos of birds. So I quickly changed my regular lens on my camera to my zoom lens quietly tip toed out on my deck when he was looking the other way. Then he turned around and saw me, I snapped the photo and then off he flew. This is what I was very lucky to capture!

I belive he is a red tailed hawk, isn't he beautiful! All the other birds in the trees were none to happy that he was there. They were making such a rukus!

Well that's about it. Have a wonderful evening!!!

Life of a Monarch Butterfly

I just now let him fly away. It turned out to be a male monarch. I raised him from a 1/2" caterpillar that I found on May 15th.

He ate and ate for 10 days straight, and grew into the most beautiful caterpillar!

This is him the day before he went to sleep in his chrysalis

I didn't get a photo of him in his chrysalis because he decided to make his little sleeping bag right underneath the lid I had for his jar. But here is a photo from a monarch from last year I raised.

After sleeping for about 10 days this is what he looked like the night before emerging into a butterfly today.

Then this morning I took this shot just seconds after coming out of his chrysalis.

 You can see a difference in his wings just 30 seconds later!!!

Then 6 hours later I let him go!

Isn't he the most beautiful creature!

I let him crawl out of the jar onto one of my big milkweed plants. This is where the life of the monarch begins...on the milkweed plant. The female lays her eggs underneath the leaves. This guy stayed on the leaf just long enough for me to get these great pics and then took off heading east. I hope he is doing well.

In other nature news! LOL Yesterday I was out on my backyard deck photographing my glass tile photo pendants when a deer wanders through our backyard into my neighbors yard. It stops and is eating something underneath a couple of apple trees. Don't think there are apples yet? Maybe so...Then he walks over to the next neighbors yard. I think it was eating that neighbors hostas.

Then after having a nice late lunch it sits down and rests for awhile, chewing it's cud. I just sat there and watched it for a long time. So beautiful!!!

Oh....Almost forgot..I have a new item in my photo etsy shop! Send me your own jpg. image and I can make a personalized photo pendant for you!! Pets, Baby or Wedding photos!!!

This is my kitty Bonsai who loves to have his picture taken! Hope to have my primitive pendants listed by Sunday! Waiting on supplies to finish them.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/101610140/personalized-custom-pet-person-photo

More Red Barn Sale Pics!

I've been so busy lately that I have forgotten to tell you about the Red Barn Sale I went to last month. They have a sale once a month through October. I picked up a few more goodies! I could have bought a lot more that's for sure! Here's a look around inside what they had for sale last month. Excuse the quality of my photos. They were taken with my iPhone.

Here are a few things I picked up. Little mini wooden ladder. The owners of the sale told me they picked this up at a sale in Kentucky and it was made from old tobacco drying racks. I also got a big old glass jar and a set of tin pans with old wooden handles. Perfect for planting flowers in! I've yet to plant anything in them. I will post pics when I do.

The address for the Red Barn Sale is 4804 85th Ave. W. Milan, IL I've had many people interested in this sale. For directions go to google map and type in the address. I've suggested to the owners to start up a facebook page or a blog. I bet they would get more customers to their sale!

 In other business I've been busy with special prim orders and finishing up planting my gardens. Here's a few pics from the last week or so.

One morning Mrs. Cardinal posed for me.

Daylily

Cone flower

Gailardia Arizona Sun

These last three flower photos will be made into my glass pendants. Can't wait to show you when I have them finished!

So until next time....Have a great evening!!!