Valentine's Day Dinner

Hubby and I were craving seafood and drove to Austin for dinner at the Red Lobster. It was delicious although I wavered between getting the shrimp or the Maine lobster. I decided on the shrimp and hubby had a seafood platter. I do not particularly like fish but will almost eat my weight in shrimp. :D I will wait until my birthday in June to splurge on the lobster.

This excursion gave me the opportunity to use my new camera. I probably should have stepped away from the table a few feet but felt like I was kind of making a spectacle out of myself with the camera, etc. So, I photographed sitting down and the food was not very far away.

Talk about filling a plate, well, Red Lobster made sure there was plenty of food. We each brought half of our order home. I'll warm it in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350, per our waitress's instructions. :D If your mouth is not watering by the last photo, you must not like seafood. lol

We started off with shrimp cocktail.


Red Lobster's famous cheese biscuits are yum.


I do Caesar salad. A diet trick is to dip your fork in the salad dressing then pick up your salad instead drizzling the dressing all over the salad.


Hubby likes a garden salad.


Hubby has a seafood platter. Usually he orders it broiled; but today, he blew that off and opted for fried then later made the remark that he should have ordered it broiled. Men!


I ordered the shrimp scampi and coconut shrimp. Gad, it was delicious.

If I wasn't being somewhat mindful of the calories consumed, I would have ordered a Key Lime pie for myself; however, we shared an apple crisp a la mode. Hubby does not like Key Lime pie; and since this was Valentine's Day, I did not insist on the pie. Again, I'll wait for my birthday in June to indulge in an whole piece of Key Lime pie.

Hope all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. We did.

Until next time, God bless.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

Murrieta 365 has a meme Straight Out of the Camera Sunday. There are two rules: 1) you must have taken the photo yourself, and 2) no tweaking, cropping allowed.

I've had the Canon Rebel Xsi camera one week and still am in the automatic stage. :D These are in landscape mode. So far, it is point and shoot and the image stabilizer lens is fabulous. With my old camera, the Nikon Coolpix, I had to take 4 or 5 shots to be sure there would be one that was not blurry. With this camera, one shot, two at the most, is all it takes.

Luc is looking for just the right piece of grass to munch on. We've had so much rain for so long we cannot believe we have grass. Then with the mist and rain all the time, we cannot cut it either. lol Clumps of tall grass are all over the yard.


Checking out the distance from the subject to get a sharp photo. Thought it was in close-up mode, but when I checked the details, it was in landscape. Oh well.

Go here to see more SOOC Sunday.

Until next time, God bless.

PS: Happy Valentine's Day. Do anything special? Hubby and I are craving seafood and are going into Austin to the Red Lobster. I can almost taste the cheese biscuits, the shrimp cocktail and the shrimp scampi.

Brenda's Photo Challenge

The theme for this week's Brenda's Photo Challenge is "red." I searched several stores yesterday for a spectacular Valentine's Day display and was surprised that I found none. There is no problem, though, finding something red.









Check out the other participants' photos in Brenda's challenge.

Until next time, God bless.

Skywatch Friday

This is an example of our skies for well over a week. Look closely to the right and you'll see standing water. Believe me, we do not have standing water hours or days after a 1/2 inch rain. The ground is so soaked that water is everywhere. Of course, after suffering through a drought last year with the top soil blowing away, I do not complain but marvel at the fact standing water is in very slight depressions in the land. With every day of rain the aquifers are being regenerated and the springs feeding creeks and rivers are running again.

Sun is peeking over the hills in the distance.

Click here for skies around the world.

Until next time, God bless.

Do You Like Sugar and Milk with Your Tea?

I have a small collection of teacups. Too bad I did not think to start collecting when teacups could be found in the $3-4 range at flea markets and garage sales. But that old supply and demand principle came into play a few years back. And, I do not like just any handle; it has to big enough to comfortably slip your finger through it. Although, I take my tea in coffee mugs, etc. These sit in an antique hutch. lol


The one on the left was given to me as a Christmas present and the one on the right was picked up at Fredericksburg Trade Days for a steal. :D

I do not remember when or where I got the one on the left but the cup on the right was found in an antique shop in Colorado. I love this cup as well as the next one.

This one was also found in Colorado.

A friend gave me this set as a birthday gift.

These two are my favorites. I keep trying to find one that is equal to the ones above or outshines them. So far, no luck, but I keep looking in antique stores or flea markets.

Do you drink tea? If so, what kind? Do you like sugar and/or milk? Sugar, yes - one lump or two? Tell me about your tea drinking habits.

Until next time, God bless.

Let Me In, Please

Let me in, please. I want to sleep on the bed.



Aw, come on. Pleazeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Luc pushed up against the door which was not closed too well. The door crashed open and in he went, jumped on the bed, settled down quickly in his assigned spot. I did not have the heart to make him come out.

Until next time, God bless.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

Murietta 365 has a meme called Straight Out of the Camera Sunday. There are two rules: 1) the photo must be taken by you, and 2) no tweaking, cropping allowed.

I have a new Canon Rebel Xsi with an 18-55 mm stabilizer lens. To be honest, I haven't the foggiest idea what the numbers on the lens mean; but, I'll learn. :D



The first photo. I'm use to using a LCD monitor on the Nikon Coolpix 4300 instead of a view finder. If you can use the LCD monitor for setting up the shot on the Canon, I haven't found the right button; otherwise the Canon gives the settings on the LCD and then the photo after the shot. Other than that, the camera seems to be a great one for this moderate beginner. Ignore the mess; I'm working on taxes.


This is a cool shot in that I caught this bee, heavily laden with pollen, in mid-flight. The old Coolpix would never have gotten the shot.

Found this violet in bloom on the north side of the house. Got to work on the macro shots with the lens I have. Back to the instructions. :D

For more SOOC Sunday, go here.

Until next time, God bless.