"03/29/10 - Inside a Tulip<br /> The tulips are here!  the tulips are here!  Well, they are at least blooming at the entrance to one neighborhood not too far from my house.  I spotted them Saturday and went back yesterday to take a few shots.<br /> <br /> First off let  me say that I feel much better today.  Thanks again for all the well wishes.  Yesterday was the first day with no fever.  <br /> <br /> What you should know about this shot is that the winds were gusting to 20mph when I took it.  I had to take a lot of shots waiting for just the right moment when the flowers weren't being blown away.  I had quite a few shots with my hair in them.  Yep, it's long and wasn't pulled back and it kept blowing where I didn't want it.  I'm amazed I got a usuable shot.<br /> <br /> I did a little clean-up work on stray dots and spots that were distracting from the beauty of the flower.  I decided not to tweak the contrast or color in any way, though.<br /> <br /> The boys and I did our weekly grocery shopping and thrift store trip yesterday.  We cooked a good dinner together, worked on a craft, and read some fun books.  Oh, and we set up our little Easter house village too.  For us, that's a quiet day:-)  Here's a picture of my chefs:<br />  <a href=""http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/March-2010/11391408_8boNH#822092026_bstYE"">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/March-2010/11391408_8boNH#822092026_bstYE</a><br /> <br /> It was incredibly wet, windy, and loud here during the night.  News reports are talking about damange all over NC, but I think my immediate area was spared the worst of it.  I was up comforting doggies during the night.  Kids slept through it:-)<br /> <br /> Thanks for the comments on the Easter egg hunt picture:-)<br /> <br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann"
{}