Scroll down for Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Shadow Shots, Camera Critters, Pet Pride,
Macro and Mosaic Monday

1. Setting up a new wireless network when my ancient D-Link router failed proved to be quite simple. I used my $30 refund from Staples (for recycling old ink cartridges) to help defray the cost of a Home Valet Plus by Cisco and found the set up quite simple … using the enclosed flash drive they refer to as a ‘key’ to do most of the work for me. So far it works great and hopefully it will last as long as the D-Link did.
2. I’m grateful I wasn’t watching yesterday’s crazy ‘free-fall’ of the stock market when it dropped 998 points in just a few minutes and that I didn’t have ‘stop-losses’ in place that would have kicked in automatically. What a mess! Learning about it after the fact is distressing enough. I thought automatic ‘stops’ were in place to keep this kind of thing from happening … but I guess they don’t take effect that late in the day. Interestingly, I received a letter from Vanguard just yesterday that they’ve reduced the trading costs from $25 to $7 … probably to compete with the likes of Scottrade and other inexpensive trading companies. Once upon a time (a few years back … before blogging) I used to trade stocks more actively than I do currently … and I would have been in front of my computer when it happened.
3. Walking through the neighborhood recently I discovered and photographed these beautiful pink hibiscus blossoms to share for Pink Saturday and Macro Monday …




… and am delighted to share my newly cleared off parkway in this mosaic … featuring a few remaining rose blossoms and one pink gladiola (that survived Aloha’s exuberant play this Spring) … ready to burst forth in bloom any day now.

4. Once upon a time, Ms. Kitty was a ‘hunter’ … but once I started to feed her she stopped and the birds returned. Unfortunately one of the neighbor’s cat hunts quite patiently. One morning this past week I noticed him on the prowl when I went outside to feed Ms. Kitty … grabbed my camera to capture a few shots. Ms. Kitty doesn’t have much to do with him, but with me nearby … she DID approach … perhaps to remind the younger cat not to encroach upon her territory. It’s good to know she can hold her own at her advanced age.

Straight out of the camera above and
poster edges below



5. The skies have been blue for the most part this past week, but I did capture some interesting wispy clouds I’ve decided to share with you this week … just because.



… and I’ve enjoyed looking at the skies from my blue patio chairs (Ms Kitty and Molly keeping me company) whenever possible because the weather has been so pleasant. It amazes me to realize that THIS is my 250th WordPress post … that more than 5200 comments have been left by visitors here (with more than 2000 SPAM comments caught by Askimet). Taken with the 520 posts at Sacred Ruminations, 692 at Small Reflections, and 35 at Blog Rolls and Bling … I’ve published 1476 times in this virtual world since I started blogging on October 21st of 2007. Who knew I’d be so prolific? I’m grateful to all who have assisted and encouraged me along the way.


WordPress does provide interesting ‘stats’ in the ‘Dashboard’ that don’t seem to be available at Blogger. Here are a few from today:
Total views: 29,429
Busiest day: 177 β Saturday, September 12, 2009
Views today: 12
Totals
Posts: 250
Comments: 5,268
Categories: 86
Tags: 13
Email Subscribers
Blog:3 active
Comments: 19 subscribers, 23 subscriptions
Spam
Akismet has protected your site from 2,163 spam comments.
Google is commemorating Tchaikovsky’s 170th birthday
with this nifty logo … very kewl isn’t it.

Thought for Today
“Consciously cultivating thankfulness is a journey of the soul, one that begins when we look around us and see the positive effects that gratitude creates.” MJ Ryan
Click for comments at the TOP of the post under the title, rather than at the bottom ;β)
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May 7, 2010 at 10:25 am
ari_1965
Lovely. You post such wonderful photos.
May 7, 2010 at 10:39 am
Sheila
Congratulations on your 250th post! I love seeing your photos and watching you play with them, too.
XO,
Sheila π
May 7, 2010 at 11:41 am
Ginny Hartzler
Love the ballet logo at the end, and thanks for a picture of “MY blue chairs”, even with kitty underneath! If I ever see any even resembling these, I’m snapping them up. I can never see enough of them. Isn’t that strange? The pink hibiscus are georgous!! Don’t think I’ve ever seen a real one! Love the cat stealth photos!!
May 7, 2010 at 11:42 am
Ginny Hartzler
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! YOU KEEP GETTING BETTER!
May 7, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Jerri
Congrats on your 250 posts. I loved all your pics, especially the pink hibiscus, and the palm trees against the blue sky. Gorgeous!
May 7, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Paz
Congrats on your 250th post!
I love the flower photo. It is breathtakingly-beautiful. You captured it so well. I also love your mosaics. Great job!
Happy weekend,
Paz
May 7, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Brenda
Congratulations on 250 posts! I love the pictures of your cats and of the trees. I too enjoy sitting in a chair and looking up at the trees.
May 7, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Susanne
Lovely pink hibiscus. I can hardly wait until things start blooming around here.
Congrats on your 250th post.
May 8, 2010 at 7:11 am
Snap
Lovely photos. Congratulations on 250! Happy critter day!
May 8, 2010 at 8:17 am
eileeninmd
Congrats on your 250th post. I love all your photos in this post. The flowers are gorgeous! And your kitty is cute.
May 8, 2010 at 8:23 am
Valrie
Beautiful mosaics of your photos. Congrats on 250 posts! Happy PS & Mother’s Day. Come by for a visit and enter my giveaway!
Valrie
http://poemsmyway-valrie.blogspot.com
May 8, 2010 at 8:25 am
Valrie
Love the digital mosaics. Come by for a visit and enter my giveaway! I wold love to get to know you. I write stories and poetry and am still teaching… a reading specialist and staff developer.
Valrie http://poemsmyway-valrie.blogspot.com
May 8, 2010 at 8:32 am
Serline
Glad you posted those coconut trees swaying under the crisp blues skies and wispy clouds. Very soothing. Have a blessed weekend!
May 8, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Denise
Always fun coming here and seeing all these great photos and congratulations on your 250th post. Fantastic!
May 8, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Dee
You will love your wireless network. We have one at home and it’s great. I was surprised to see on the news about the stock market free fall, too. I’m on vacation and not keeping up with the news quite as I normally do. With that and the attempted Times Square car bomb and now the Staten Island Ferry boat accident, it’s enough to make a person say, “Just sit on your lovely patio and enjoy the view.” Much nicer things to focus on.
May 8, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Willow
Sweet FFFs this week. I too have been enjoying our SoCal blue skies and sunny warm temperatures. Congrats on some many posts and comments! Have a great weekend!
May 9, 2010 at 7:25 pm
bozo
hearty congratulations on the 250th blogpost!!!
beautiful mosaic
cheers
bozo
May 9, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Carol
Great photo’s always! I enjoy your posts! Congrats on your 250th π
May 9, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Kala
Gorgeous color in those hibiscus images.
May 9, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Suzy
Neat photos! Love the kitty mosaics and the one of the 3 palm trees. All were great though!
May 10, 2010 at 1:11 am
Regina
Congrats on your 250th post!
All the best!
Love the hibiscus. Happy Pink!
Such beautiful photos.
May 10, 2010 at 2:51 am
naturegirl
Happy blogging!250th..certainly crept up..I’m over 500..as long as we’re having fun right!
Love all the images..especially the kittys!
May 10, 2010 at 5:10 am
Amanda
Love those pink hibiscus – I especially like seeing them up close!
Amanda
May 10, 2010 at 7:44 am
lisaschaos
Lady with all your lovely blooms you don’t need tulips! lol Your CA is gorgeous!
May 10, 2010 at 8:48 am
Lily
gorgeous flowers, skies & kitties! I think you have fitted everything in wonderfully.
May 10, 2010 at 8:52 am
Lily
& Congratulations on 250 posts too! That is quite an accomplishment.
May 10, 2010 at 9:05 am
Meri of Meri's Musings
Wow – lots of photos. The hibiscus macros are great. And enjoyed the mosaic and story about Ms. Kitty. We all slow down a bit as we age, I think. Your stats summary is interesting and impressive.
May 10, 2010 at 10:31 am
Manang Kim
Beautiful photos!! Lovely collage too. Happy Monday!
MacroMonday~The Bud
May 13, 2010 at 9:04 am
Karen
I’ve stopped watching/reading the news, so I didn’t even know about the stock drop. And actually, I glad–this stuff is beyond my control and I can’t be worrying about it. I’m just going to trust that it all smooths out eventually. I LOVE the stalking pics–I love watching cats do their stuff–but only up to the point when they actually catch something. Then I screech and make them drop it…guess I’m interfering with the natural order, LOL!!
May 15, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Happier Than A Pig in Mud
Lovely pictures and congrats on 250!!!