PHOTOS FROM LUMS POND

I am so happy with these photos I took on two recent trips to Lum's Pond.  The first day there I saw more butterflies than I ever have before.  There were wonderful yellow and black ones which practically posed for me and some stunning black with orange on one side and blue on the other that were quite elusive and I was not happy with the shots I got of them.  They almost seemed nervous - their little wings never quite stopped flapping.  There were some wonderful water fowl too. The next time I went the day was not nearly as nice and I mainly took some photos of interesting tree bark but I got a fun shot of a little squirrel.

Here they are - 

I am sharing these for Through the Lens Thursday at Frugal and Focused blog.  I have not edited, cropped or re-touched these other than rotating two of them so that they were properly oriented for your viewing pleasure.

Hope that you have enjoyed some time at the pond.

THE HEART EXCHANGE

I was in a wonderful swap hosted by Louise Gale called the Heart Exchange.  She paired me off with a great gal named Tiffany.  We hit it off right away and had so much in common.  We talked about different things we liked and Tiffany said she loved handmade cards so that is what I made for her.  I have always longed to go to Hawaii and she had gone and had some spectacular photos.  She framed me four breathtaking 5x7 photos which will have a special place in my new home.  The photos of the photos don't truly do them justice but I simply had to show off our exchange.

Here first are some of the cards I sent off to her:

and now for the photos from Tiffany:

I am going to be moving next month so I am packing everything away now but can't wait to unpack these and find a special place to display them in my new apartment.  My youngest son and I both have always wanted to go to Hawaii and I can't wait until he arrives home from school and I can show these to him.

Thanks so much for this gift of your heart Tiffany.  And thank you so much Louise for hosting such a wonderful swap and pairing me with such a perfect partner.