Hummingbirds and Photo Fun

I finally had my camera handy when one of our little friends visited the hummingbird feeder.

 The perfect subject for playing around with my photo editing software.

Here's the colored pencil version...

...and the watercolor version.

Coming in for a landing in color...

...and in Antique mode.
It kind of looks like Dorothy landing back in Kansas after being in Oz!

Being shy, with her back to the camera.

She sure doesn't look shy in this psychedelic negative version.

Moving so fast she's literally a blur!

Playing around with hue & saturation...

... is kind of like eating chips. You can't do just one!

Sammy was just a few feet away, chowing down on a peanut...

I think he'd approve of this watercolor version.

I love my old cement garden statue of Mary, but this photo isn't so hot. Clearly my inexpensive point & shoot camera just doesn't cut it for far off subjects...

... but I rather like the chalk version!

Ditto for the flower box - not a very impressive photo on its own.

... but much more appealing in a colored pencil  format...

... or a watercolor format!

 I hope you all have a colorful week!

This week I'm joining Mosaic Monday at Little Red House ,
 Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House ,
and the Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage

Donna

Hummingbird Heaven...

All critters and birds are welcome in our little backyard...

...and that definitely includes the tiniest visitors, our hummingbird friends.

I have four feeders in all. Two of the feeders hang from our swing set deck, one on each side.

I love sitting out here in the evenings because our little hummer(s) always hit at least one, if not both, of these feeders as they rotate around the yard about every 15 minutes or so.

It's a bit hard to see this little guy in the photos so I really cropped them.

But if you look close, you can see him enjoying his sugar water.

From the swing set deck, you can see across the yard to another hummingbird feeder that hangs from the mulberry tree.

And just look at that Lucifer Crocosmia in the foreground, now in full bloom. I have some very lazy hummers this year because they choose to fly right over those beautiful hummer flowers, preferring instead to plunk down at the various feeders!

(So far my Sammy Squirrels have left this window box alone. Remember last year when they dug out all my flowers so they could lay in the cool soil during an oppressive heat wave? Well, we're having another one of those heat waves, so the flowers may not last much longer!)

The white metal 'thing' that the feeder hangs from was a freebie from the dump several years ago. I had no idea what I was going to do with it when I brought it home, but it's the perfect place to hang the mulberry tree feeder.

I was able to get a picture of the female hummer at the mulberry feeder, but it was taken from over on the swing set deck with my zoom on, so again, I'm afraid the quality isn't so hot.

The last hummingbird feeder hangs from the old oak tree next to our deck.

This photo was actually taken last year. I was sitting on the deck right next to the feeder when this little gal came to eat so I was able to get some pretty decent photos of her.

I find myself changing the sugar water every other day in this oppressive weather. I found this great way to speed up the sugar water preparation (which is always 1 part sugar to 4 parts water).

Quick Hummer Solution: Put 1 cup water in saucepan. Put 1 cup sugar in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. As soon as it starts to boil turn off the burner. Add 3 cups very cold water to the sugar solution and stir. And that's it!  Now it still might need to cool down before you fill your feeders (I always check it with my finger to make sure it has cooled enough), but it's just ready so much quicker than having to boil the entire 4 parts of water and then having to wait for all 4 parts of water to cool!

Speaking of cool, I hope you are all taking it nice and slow. So much of the country is suffering from such extremely hot temperatures, as we are here in the northeast. So take it easy, everyone!

I'm linking up to Cindy (My Romantic Home) for Show & Tell Friday so be sure to stop by and visit her and everyone else!

Donna