Hummingbird 2

Right after I took the first hummingbird pics, I took the kids out for their evening walkie and when we got back, checked the hummingbirds and we went from 2 hummingbirds to at least 8 all duking it out on the deck. I grabbed the camera and set a kitchen chair outside about 5 feet from the feeder and got still. I took some more pics and then I just gave up. I couldn't catch them all....too fast...I just sat there and watched and listened. The humming of their wings.....the chirping and fighting was incredible to just watch........it was kind of the perfect end to a 9/11 anniversary day.....we have NEVER had that many....nice.....

Two coming in and one already landed:

Hummingbirds!!!!!

It has been hummingbird crazy lately! They are stocking up and getting ready for the big move South or wherever. We started off with the scout and now we have at least 4 fighting over the feeder. We have a couple of males and a couple of females. They are fascinating! I have some pics below....you can double click on the pics to make the bigger!

Some of these are not as clear as I would like....for the love....they move super fast!


Yes it is blurry but I am glad I got the hiney flair!

ATTACK!

Bendy!

Best Sauce EVER!!

Those of you that follow "The Pioneer Woman" website may have seen this sauce. It came through her alternate site "Tasty Kitchen". I would love to meet the woman that put this sauce out there, ericalea.....I LOVE her now! This is the best sauce ever! It was purely coincidental....I found this sauce the same day we were making a stromboli recipe we found that required pizza sauce. FOR THE LOVE....the stromboli was awesome but it was more a vehicle to get more sauce in my face! I gave this recipe to my co-worker and she went home and made it. She came in the next day and said she just made cheese toast as a vehicle to get sauce in face! I may be ashamed of this but NOT....we had leftover sauce and I put it on leftover quiche......so sad.....might need to actually make a pizza and use it for what it was intended for....here it is:

And let me tell you...when you make this, you will want to double or triple it....the actual recipe does not make a ton so at least double:

6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano (I add a little extra...love oregano)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup (I didn't have that so I used honey and added extra...my co-worker used regular Mrs. Butterworth syrup....maple syrup is like $6 bucks for a small bottle so I am good with honey or any other cheaper syrup. It works just fine)
2 tablespoons red wine (we keep some of those small bottles of wine for cooking and definitely used it here....worth it but optional)
1/4 cup water

Put all the ingredients in a pan. WHISK them until combined. Place over low heat until heated through...you can add more seasoning to your taste.

WIN PLACE SHOW! This is so good!!!!!

Tropical Storm Lee

We are finally getting some rain....I think we have had a half inch of rain since the end of July!! Happy Happy Joy Joy! I love me some rainy days. I know there are those that love sun, sun, sun...but I am so tired of sun and heat...having this cloudy, rainy, windy day has been perfect. You kind of feel it is okay to relax because getting out in it is just too yucky. AND if nothing else, the birds are happy with the wet. I got some pics of our birds on the feeder and just some other pics:

This is outside my bedroom window...you can see all the rain down the road, a beautiful thing:


Now here are the birds! We have windows with half screens so I can open them from the top or the bottom and I can get some clear shots of my birds in the rain. I was so shocked how they were hanging out in the big wind...they were loving it:


So excited we have had some ring-neck doves. My Grandma has tons of them at her house so I am excited they have shown up here:

Hi Woodpecker!

And others:

Forest Face?

Football is coming on Saturday and I can't wait!!! YEAH!!! We are getting our gear out!! This year we have a new thing....Auburn Forest Face!! I can't decide if it is creepy or cool....I think cool...I think. We have a Santa Forest Face for Christmas so I figured why not keep with the theme....


And we got the flag and tiger tail out:


War Damn Eagle!!!!

Really Lu?

LulaBelle has lost her mind! I don't know what is going on in her pointy little head but she has reverted back to puppy. When she WAS a puppy she was all about toilet paper and NOW she is all about it again. What is up with that? I have been psychoanalyzing her to try and figure it out. She is spoiled rotten, eats wonderfully.....mix of dog food, cheerios, unsalted green beans, carrots, melon, brown rice.....of course not all at the same time but this is a usual mix. She goes for walkies....I got nothin'! She is not in pain....has no weird spots or tumors...she gets massages (yes..I give both of them neck and back rubs...don't hate...at least I don't dress them up!) I think she is just weird and cute all at the same time. I came out of my room today and found this.....she is revisiting the seen of the crime:

We will ask Dr. J just in case......she is such a nerd!

Stephen Fry and the Iron Bowl??? What???!!!!

Found this video on Epic What tonight......I like Stephen Fry. If you don't know who he is....well...he is an English writer and actor and comedian....and just a hoot!

ANYWAY.....he did a show for the BBC called, "Stephen Fry in America". This was back in 2009 apparently. He traveled all 50 states and somehow he ended up at Jordan Hare and got to experience the SEC and the Iron Bowl! I think he was overwhelmed and shocked and moved and how could you not be? Any of our SEC games are something to behold!! I just thought it was kind of neat to see a "very proper" Englishman thrust into the sidelines of the Iron Bowl. I think the marching bands were shocking and the noise! We can all create some noise in a stadium!!! I love me some SEC football and I don't think we come off too crazy? Right???

Pop Candy

One of my favorite blogs is Whitney Matheson's blog, "Pop Candy", on the USA Today website. She is funny and a great source for new music and everything current and fun with no politics! Well today she introduced me to a new band and song I haven't heard before....they are Locksley and the song is "The Whip". The song is infectious and will be going on my Ipod BUT the video is a hoot!!! A great dance mashup! Here you go and can you name all the movies?

"The Help"

Lately there is very little reason to go to the actual theater and see a movie. It has to be something original and different and moving. "The Help" piqued my interest as well as Mom's. We decided to go today to see this movie.

Okay.....so let me be perfectly honest...wanted to see the movie...most definitely BUT there is the 'corn factor. I ate at least 2 days worth of calories in one sitting an it was WONDERFUL!!! Yes to the 'corn with butter in the middle and on top and 1,000 napkins to try and keep your fingers somewhat clean and a medium REAL Coke which I never have in my normal daily life!! I go to a real movie about once maybe twice a year so you know what?.....I will totally take in those 1800 calories of 'corn and Coke and I will LOVE IT and I will own it!! WOOT!!

But back to the movie...go see it! It was wonderful! Take Puffs with you...you will laugh and cry and laugh again. You come out wanting to have a conversation. Haven't read the book but I will after the movie has worn off and the book will be kind of new. I give it 5 stars!

My Own Microwave Popcorn

Seriously.....am I the only person that did not know about this? You can make your own microwave popcorn? Do you know how much money I could have save all these years....not to mention the chemicals that I could have not ingested?

I love me some popcorn as a snack at the office. I have always gotten those little 100 calorie bags. But then a revelation! I don't even remember where I saw it but I discovered the recipe for your own microwave popcorn.

Here is what I got: A pack of 50 brown paper lunch bags for $.50. A small bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for $1.89. A big jar of Orville Redenbacher popcorn for $4.50 and that is it.

To make: The recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of kernels. I have just discovered that a 1/4 cup of kernels makes a whole lotta popcorn. If you are just making it for yourself, probably half that. Put the kernels in one of the paper bags and add 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and then shake it up. You can buy popcorn salt to add....I just added a little regular salt and shook it up again.

Fold the top of the bag over once and staple twice, then pop in the microwave. I laid the bag on its side and kind of shook it out so the kernels were spread out and not all on top of each other. Then hit the "popcorn" button on your microwave and let 'er rip!

This has to be the best popcorn EVER! It is delicious and light and I used olive oil (how healthy is that???!!), very little salt and it is perfect. No chemicals....just crunchy goodness.

I spent a little more than it would cost to buy a box of regular microwave popcorn but this is going to last forever. I will probably have to buy more bags before I empty the jar of corn I bought!

Oh and just for fun, they do have all sorts of popcorn seasoning you can add after that are low on calories and sodium.....it just gives the corn a little kick!

Thanks Alton Brown.....he is a genius!

Seriously.....It Keeps Moving!

Graceful.....Not So Much....

Most of the time LulaBelle sits up straight and tall....then sometimes she says forget it and she rolls back, the back legs come forward between the front legs and all grace is gone.....she is so cute!



And by the way she has not been tortured....she just had a spa day and the groomer got clipper happy so she has a little less hair in some spots.....at least she is cool when outside!

Makeup!!!

The Original Boof has always told me I need to be a little more dramatic with my eyeshadow. In the past I would find a neutral shade, maybe coral colored and just sweep it over my entire eye, throw on some mascara and call it a day. I love going makeup shopping and I started looking at some of the new Maybelline eyeshadows. They have a new line (not sure how long they have been out but new to me) that match or accentuate your eye color. My eyes are green so I decided to try out a few. Well, now I am obsessed! I am having a blast playing up the eyes a little and getting out of my comfort zone. I know they are saying this shadow is best for this or that eye color to get that color to pop but I think they work for all eye colors. Here are some of the ones I have.....I know....obsessed!



I have two of the duos...Sunkissed Olive and Dusk. Then in the others I have Plum Smokes, Velvet Crush, Crown Jewels and Queen Gardens.

For eyeshadow newbies like me, they have imprinted the shadows so you know what goes where. It tells you the liner, the crease, the lid and the base. So fun! I can't believe that I have been putting some purple on my lids and I love it!

Also, as far as the liners...I do like lining at my lash line but I don't particularly like pencil liners. I like using shadows as a liner. To me it is softer. I went ahead and invested in a good eyeliner brush from Estee Lauder. Maybe I could have found a cheaper one but it does work and makes a difference and it is awesome!


I will also go on record that mineral powder rocks!!!!!! I have never worn foundation in the past. Down here with the humidity and the wonderful non-feminine sweat glands that I seem to have in my FACE makes regular foundation not an option. In the past, I would buy some under eye cover and kind of use it all over. Then when they opened an Ulta here I went in and discovered mineral powder! FOR THE LOVE!! It is awesome....it is light...it covers....you can sweat and be okay..love, love, love!!! Ulta has two kinds of mineral powder but I like the PUR in Golden Medium. It covers like you wouldn't believe and if you sweat...just dab and nothing is running down your face.

Now I am also in the process of trying out the Olay Pro-X line of moisturizers. My skin is pretty particular about what it likes on it. To this day I still take off my eye makeup with Ponds cold cream and wash with Noxema. My moisturizers have varied but Olay products have always worked great with my skin. I went through a phase....a very short phase.....of using the expensive Estee Lauder skin stuff. They really were awesome but way too expensive. Olay is the only one that does not make me break out so I am sticking with them. I will post more on the Olay Pro-X....thus far....I likey!

Boop!

This cracked me up....I am always "booping" the girls noses....BOOP!

Poor LulaBelle!

It happened again! Lu got bit by something. She had another big lump on her and it abscessed. Bless her heart! She has a hole on her back hindquarter. She had to to get a big shot of antibiotics and I get to treat it with warm compresses, Neosporin and some Benadryl. It hurts and she gets a little jumpy so the Benadryl has been a blessing. Of course it is in a place we can't wrap so I found this t-shirt at the store. It is perfect for covering up the area so she can't lick off the Neosporin or rub it off. We had to use a few safety pins to hike it up so she can walk, but she is working it. She swishes in it! And yes, it does say "I'm with Gorgeous"!


Daisy May has been a good sister and checks in on her. Here they are snuggling down for the night.....Lu is already out (again, thanks Benadryl) and Daisy is on her way!