Blog-hopping on a rainy Sunday morning

It's raining here in Maryland this morning and I've decided to put my knee up and on ice. I did a little too much yesterday, and am now paying for it. So it's easy-does-it for me today, but the bright side is that I now have some time to visit my favorite blogs out there. Here's a picture of George and it's the straight-on view I have from my little couch. To my left is the sliding glass door and the paddocks beyond.

Over the course of the weekend, I've had several new visitors to my site and I try to take the time to welcome them all. I do this either as a follow-up in the comment section where they first appeared, or a comment on their site. It is just polite blogging etiquette to acknowledge visitors. I have come across two photography blogs that I am so moved by that I have a burning desire to share them with you. Immediately. I've already added them to my blogroll (see the bar on the left, entitled "Sites I'm Liking Lately").

The first is BITSTOP, is by Karen Chappell, who resides in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Karen posts a photo-a-day on nature scenes, macro photography, cityscapes, animals, still life, everything. I found her photographs stunning, to say the least. She has a still life of an orange buoy on her post entitled "Harbourfront" that I fell in love with. Its simplicity and use of color were the first things I noticed. I urge you to visit and think you'll be glad you did. There's a whole other world up there in Newfoundland and I feel so lucky to have 'found' Karen.

The second is PARVUM OPUS, by Olivia in Otowa. I can't even put into words how I feel when I look at Olivia's photographs, but will try. The first photo I came across when I opened her site was one entitled "curly tailfeathers". I knew I had found a kindred spirit when I saw that. Then I went onto her flickr site and I was blown away. So I'm warning you, prepare youselves. This is all I will say.

Sometimes I feel like just giving up when I go onto flickr and see the photographs of other photographers. I think, "why bother?" There are so many excellent people out there. But that's just ridiculous. Karen and Olivia are real people who happen to take magnificent photographs. And if I could some day be a fraction of the photographer that both of these women are, then I will be truly blessed. And please, don't comment about my photography and how good you think it is. Honestly, I am NOT fishing for compliments. This is not a post about me. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm inspired and it's a really good feeling.

Know what else is a good feeling? It's Sunday morning and my husband's only day off. It's raining now, but we're on the backside of this front, so maybe the sun will come out for him. And he just put a seasoned rack of pork ribs in the oven to slow cook. I love when he puts things in the oven to slow cook. The smell will be divine pretty soon and simple things like the scent of something cooking . . . well it just makes me happy. And that's a good feeling.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone. It's just stopped raining. And the mares and foals are out eating the fresh grass.