Robin's Woods

Wordless Wednesday: A Fungus Amongus

2009-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

A Gift From the Fairies

2009-11-07T17:09:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-04T19:31:00.001-08:00

Undecided

2009-11-02T21:26:00.001-08:00

Cheap Thrills

2009-08-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Take an old wading pool, put it on the edge of a hill in the backyard, and get your camera ready...

because here he comes!Weight in the front...Cowabunga!Is someone going to help me out here?Again please!Cupcake's turn...Down we go!That was a tongue waggin' good ride!The things we do for entertainment out here in the boonies :)

Someone Remind Me Why?

2009-06-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted a big dog. My whole life, even as a little girl, I dreamt of having an exceptionally large... nay, mammoth dog. A moose of a dog, one that would turn heads and keep intruders at bay, a companion whose presence would never go unnoticed. Never mind that big dogs mean big messes, and unlike every other hardwood floored house I had ever lived in, our most recent was fully carpeted in a pale and lovely, wall to wall, up and down the stairs, soft aqua plush.

Then came Phinneus. It started innocently enough. I read on a popular site one day about the charm of the Great Pyrenees breed and was smitten. I wasn't really ready for that kind of new addition to my household (thinking of my pale aqua plush underfoot) but the day my husband (who has a history of "gifts that keep on giving") called and said he'd found my Christmas present, I was a goner.

Puppies of all breeds have a certain "je ne sais quoi" about them, an irresistible quality capable of turning the most unyielding of us into cooing, cuddling, softhearted suckers. The fact that this puppy had one brown eye and one pale blue (along with an affordable price tag) was enough to push me into the realm of fantasy, one where I could see myself cavorting through the woods and strolling my beach with an immense white beast at my side. Somewhere in my dreams, I overlooked the part where a puppy, who was still a toddler for all intents and purposes, would be big enough to sweep the kitchen counters with his snout as he walked by.

Given the number of sticks of relatively expensive, organic butter that I have set out to soften that have subsequently and mysteriously disappeared, it took me awhile to catch on to what was happening. Despite the fact that my behemoth 7 month old darling has never been given table scraps, never bothered an errant dinner plate, and expresses excitement for only healthy, delectable treats like carrots and apples, (and having found no evidence other than the lack of, and some rather unattractive, previously unidentified stains on my once pale and lovely aqua plush carpet) it appears he has developed a illicit taste for not only butter itself, but apparently the wax paper wrappers it comes in as well.

The fog of infatuation is finally lifting. Next year, I'm getting hardwood floors for Mother's Day.

Wordless Wednesday: Friday Edition

2009-06-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Camera Critter Sunday

2009-05-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday:Tuesday Edition

2009-04-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

What a delightful find! Going through my archives, I found an abandoned experiment from a few years ago. I had fallen in love with this particular Spanish Lavender blossom, and photographed it from a variety of angles.

This was not part of the plan.....

2009-03-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

I am accustomed to the perpetual "Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain" weather forecast here in the state of Washington. Even the weather people get a kick out of it - predicting our weather is just too easy sometimes. What I want to know, is who dropped the ball on this one?

But that old joke we have about "if you don't like the weather here, just wait 5 minutes" holds true, even after 5 inches of surprise snow in about as many hours. The clouds started to lift....And now it is sunny and raining. Have I mentioned lately how much I love living here?!

Sky Watch Friday

2009-03-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

More Skywatch here.

Morning Has Broken

2009-02-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

I am normally a late riser, but some mornings, getting up early has it benefits. The payoff:

Only for a short time each year does the sun rise in the middle of the view from my balcony, and even less frequent is the opportunity to not have it obscured by overcast skies. Click on the picture to enlarge and see the wisps of fog still hanging over the water.

Never Say Never...

2009-02-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

After a nice, long vacation from the blogosphere, I find myself tempted to once again join the fray. Maybe. My newest muse? This guy, a Great Pyrenees puppy named Phinneus, a Christmas gift from my hubby!

Happy Holiday Wishes from Robin's Woods!

2008-12-21T11:31:00.000-08:00

It's a breathtakingly beautiful snowy day here in the woods, and I thought I'd take the time to share a picture of one of our junkos playing in the snow. His friends the blue jays and the spotted towhees aren't nearly so cooperative about having their portrait taken, but this little guy was a real ham. The birdbath he is sitting on is now completely obscured by snow!

To everything, there is a season....

2008-11-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

There is a certain sense of euphoria in making life altering decisions, especially those that change your life for the better. I have been struggling with myself over my place in the blogosphere for at least the past two months now, and the fight is finally over. When I joined on as a moderator at Entrecard just over a month ago, I was excited to become a part of something that fit so well with my blogging, and hoped that it would reignite the passion I had felt for it in the beginning. Then reality sunk in, and I found that the old battle of not enough hours in the day was only getting worse, not better, so I did what I had been taught to do many years ago --- I made a pros and cons list. I discovered quickly what was really important to me, and blogging, hours on the internet, and the life that revolved around it was not anywhere near the top.

I have loved every minute of sharing my world with friends known and unknown, and I have some special relationships left from my experience at Entrecard (you know who you are) that I will treasure forever. Robin's Woods will live on in the real world, but it's time here in the virtual world of the internet is done. Thank you, everyone, who has visited, commented, and encouraged me along this path. I am a better person for it.

"So, my dear friends, fare thee well -- and if forever, still forever, fare thee well."
"Mike Monroe", Northern Exposure, 1993

Photohunt Saturday: Blue

2008-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Witch of Pungo Revisited

2008-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

I first posted this story back in April, and decided it was perfect to post again in honor of Halloween.

Pungo, Virginia, December 2001. As part of a visit to Virginia Beach several years ago, hubby and I decided to take advantage of a few free days, the gorgeous countryside, and some gloomy weather (perfect for photography) to go on a photographic tour of the surrounding area. Several people had told me that if I liked old houses, I should go see the Witch of Pungo's house. Stories of the witch and her "haunted" house were part of the folk legends that everyone around there grew up on, so we decided to check it out. Directions were vague, but Pungo being a small town you could see all of standing in one place, we were told there was no way to miss it. It didn't take much to get me in the car and on our way to see what the fascination with this old place was. We drove to Pungo, and it was immediately evident that what we had been told was true, because the house had a presence all it's own. The sky was dark, cloudy, and foreboding, and the house was definitely living up to it's ghoulish reputation. The atmosphere was far from comfortable, so I quickly cranked off a couple shots while the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and then we hightailed it out of there as fast as we could.

Fast forward 7 years. I gifted a friend who likes abandoned buildings with a print of the Witch of Pungo's house. I had never really followed up on the story behind it, so we looked it up. It turns out that the story of the Witch of Pungo, Grace Sherwood, is not only infamous Princess Anne County folklore and the title of a popular children's book, she was exonerated of being a witch in July 2006 on the 300th anniversary of her ducking.Here's where the story gets creepy though. In one of the articles, it said that all that remained in recent history of Grace Sherwood's house was the chimneys, and that they had been torn down in November 1998 due to safety issues. If that is true, then whose house is this that I photographed in Pungo in the end of 2001?

Wordless Wednesday: Thursday Edition

2008-10-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday: Tuesday Edition

2008-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Weekend Snapshot #60

2008-10-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend going through my photo archives to find enough spooky pictures to last for the week, and playing with them in Photoshop to make them even spookier. I had so much fun finding the perfect way to use all my "old house" pictures!

And more creepy things...

2008-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

In keeping with the creepy, skin crawling spirit of the upcoming All Hallows Eve, another scary picture.
What do you suppose broke out through that iron shuttered window?