UPDATE: 4 February 2009: I’m entering this picture into the contest with the lovely people at I heart Faces. This week they’ve opened up a pet’s category.  Although I was tempted to enter one of the zillion of pictures I have of the bassets I think it’s only fair from time to time to give a bit more of a profile to other members of our menagerie.  This is one of my favourite pictures of George.  He may be banished to his bach but he’s still a handsome rooster.

I thought you’d like to know that George’s rehabilitation is going as well as can be expected.  He is not to pleased with me though so I enter his territory at my peril.  I think you have to question who the chicken is as I go armed with a bottle of water and a long bamboo cane in case he tries to get closer than I’d want.

I know this rooster and although he looks magnificent I know he bears a grudge and it’s only a matter of time before he gets me back from keeping him separated from his girls.  He’s getting tired of me following him with my camera too – and who could blame him? I love that he’s keeping a beady eye on me in this picture.

The chickens are recovering and their feathers growing back already.  At least I haven’t had to worry about sunburn in the last couple of days as they huddled on their roost to keep warm together.

In an idle moment when the sun was out I took my camera out for some close ups of some of the flowers in the garden.  Here’s one I don’t think I’ve yet featured.  It’s Penstemon Connie’s Pink. It’s a lovely plant and been flowering profusely for weeks.

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Can you believe my luck though as I twiddled with camera knobs for a better close up but this happened.

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Yes a bee came visiting.  And then he stayed for a bit of a forage.

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And not content with one flower he went along to the next.

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And the next!

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Before finally flying off again and leaving me an the penstemon stunned.

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Luckily I was able to keep my finger on the shutter and it fired off continuous shots so I could follow this bees journey.  Nifty eh!  A great way to see nature at work.

I am loving my camera more and more.  I’ve lots of other nature close ups to share but there’s lots of other domestication to be done rather than blogging but stay tuned for more to come.