TnNature Photography

Thank you Chip of Virginia Through My Lens for my first Blog Award today, the Stylish Blogger Award. I’m know I’m in good company with you my friend.

Okay, this is how the award works:

Thank and link back to the person who awarded you.
Share 7 things about yourself.
 Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.
 

Hmm 7 things about myself huh?

1. I have a lead foot..it’s hard for me to slow down even when I’m NOT in a hurry because I’m so used to BEING in a hurry.

2. My middle name is Lee. I was named after my grandmother who’s name was Annie Lee. I could have been Kimberly Ann but nooooo my mother chose Kimberly Lee. lol

3. I go barefoot…a LOT. All 4 Seasons..I’m not picky.

4. My heart belongs in the mountains and I live on the *flat* side of Tennessee. *sigh*

5. I’m the baby of the family. My sister was 14 when I was born and my brother was 19 and about to get married. Needless to say I had an invisible friend as a playmate.

6. I have a passion for pelicans. Yes the bird. I fell in love with them on our first trip to the beach in 2005. I have a whole shelf on the bookcase in the den just for lighthouses and pelicans.

7. I lost my Dad when I was 19 from a heart attack. I can tell you exactly what I was doing the moment I found out and replay everything in my head like it was yesterday. It was a day I will never forget, but wish I could.

Now for those 15 great bloggers.. I realize not all bloggers participate in awards as they can become overwhelming after awhile. Please don’t feel like you have to participate. Sometimes it’s enough to be recognized.

Dawn’s bloggy blog

Nature Nut Photography

Seaprayer

~Terry’s Life~

Out On the Prairie

Robin’s Robins and Things

barefoot hiker’s journal

Honey, I’m Home

Journey Through Grace

My Thoughtful Spot

Bird Bath & Beyond

Body Soul and Spirit

Happy Burwood Lady

Kevin and Amanda

Bill’s Tn Paradise

Well here we are again….West Tn managed to get a good 3 inches of the powdery white stuff yesterday and they let school out at 1pm. Last night the temps got down into the teens and we woke up to some beautiful frosty trees.

Brrr..the snow doesn’t stop the birds from getting to the good stuff.

The limbs of the willow tree in the backyard hung like icy strands of hair.

The Cleveland Pear Tree in the front yard wasn’t spared either. Those little ice crystals just make me smile!

More crystals!

zooming in on those perfect little shapes..

I realize a lot of you up north may be sick of seeing snow but here in West Tn., we’re lucky to get a few inches every Winter and it’s usually gone within 24 hrs so I try to document every snowfall we get as quickly as I can. Don’t like the weather here? Wait a few minutes…it’ll change! lol

I’m been MIA from Blogger all week and trying to play catch up today is harder than I expected. If I didn’t get around to visiting today I’ll try to tomorrow!

I haven’t been anywhere this week except to work/school and back but I did manage to get a few halfway decent backyard shots of our feathered friends despite the cold weather.

Mr Bluebird fluffs his feathers up for the arctic air we were blessed with this wk. (notice the sarcasm)

Mr. Finch staking out the feeder

The skies have been beautiful lately with brilliant stars every night. A nice sight to see compared to the clouds we’ve had lately. I took this shot on my hubby’s birthday (13th).

West Tn has officially seen it’s first snow of 2011! It may be the only snow we get so we get a little excited when we see the white stuff fall. An inch of snow here and they call school so that’s one more reason to be happy right? lol

View from the front yard

Our road

Mr Mocker all fluffed out

This wknds blog will be a blast from the past (mainly because it’s too cold to get out with the camera). I’m trying to think *warm* here so my mind wanders back to a Summer a few years back when we took our niece on her first camping trip. Our daughter went away to church camp for the wknd so we went away too..to the Buffalo River in Arkansas.

It was the Summer the southern states saw such a horrible drought. We went, hoping to see a specific waterfall close to the campground but found it almost completely dry. A disappointment yes, but the hiking was great and so was the river. AND we saw our first *Batcave*.

We chose Lost Valley Campground as our destination. The campground wasn’t crowded at all and the sites were spaced well apart. We had to cross a dry creek bed to get to our campsite and goofy me wore leather sandals. I quickly stubbed my toes in the rocks and still have trouble with that toe to this day. grr

Campsite behind the dry creek bed

My niece Shea, son Kris and I posing on the trail to Eden Falls.(dry)

Jamie & Kris at the entrance to the BatCave. We found out about the cave thanks to a local at the swimming hole. The cave has been used for everything from a saltpeter mine during the civil war to a hideout for bandits in the 1920’s. When bats are present, the cave is closed. Luckily the bats had left for the season and we were able to get in.

We just *thought* the cave was empty! We found 1 bat still perched alone the ceiling of the cave. Once the kids noticed him, they took off for the cave opening. lol

The gate surrounding the cave’s entrance.

The Buffalo River..just a breathtaking piece of God’s handiwork, laid back in the hills of Arkansas.

The bluffs that make the Buffalo famous. Notice how low this area looks. I can imagine how beautiful it must be when the water level is just right.

A deer running under the bluffs @ the Steel Creek Access Point

The view looking OUT of Cob Cave, along the Eden Falls Trail

And the view looking IN Cob Cave..I think I recognize those rednecks.

The *swimming hole* at the Ponca Access Point of the Buffalo River

All in all, our niece enjoyed her first camping trip despite the dry falls but there was one thing that she reminds us of to this day. NEVER leave the camp food out even if you feel like you’ll be back by dusk. Our batcave adventure kept us longer than expected and we came back after dark to find raccoons enjoying what was left of the makings for our smores!  They even returned during the night for seconds and tried biting through the cooler.

As you can guess by my lack of blogging this week, Christmas Break is over and we’re back at school/work. But before life got back to being busy busy, hubby & I took a day for ourselves, visiting relatives and ending our day at Reelfoot Lake to catch a good catfish dinner at Boyette’s and a nice sunset. Of course there was plenty of wildlife around, although most of it was too far away for even my super-zoom.

The lake was cold but beautiful.

Ring-Billed Gull in Flight

Hundreds of Ring-Billed Gulls migrate to the lake every Winter

…along with hundreds of Canada Geese

Seeing this Barred Owl was a treat! He was lucky he didn’t get hit because he was sitting right beside the road until we drove by and turned around, then he perched along the railroad tracks, looking for a late afternoon meal.

Pretty nice end to a gorgeous day!

Just a short sweet and *to the point* blog for me today. Happy New Year Everyone!

This was taken one year ago today, the first sunset of 2010, over Reelfoot Lake. I’m hoping tonight’s sunset is just as beautiful.