I have WAY too much fun with my camera

I've never been any good at following rules. I told you about this 365 picture thing. The meming group I agreed to join posts a week's worth of pictures on Sundays. Well, today was too picture perfect to wait until Sunday. And, just one photo wouldn't cut it for today either. Since I've already posted some photos, not knowing the rule about posting on Sunday, I decided, what the heck. I'd go ahead and wreck the rest of this week and try to do it right next week. How does that sound?

The weather was beautiful this morning (before the wind gusted up this afternoon) so we spent most of the day outside.

Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow seem to work building, or at least padding, their nest all the time. I keep thinking that one of these days, she is going to have to stop with the decorating and lay some eggs. The feather that is in her little beak came from the chicken coop next door.

I'm hesitant about showing you this next picture because it will give you an idea of how strange, eccentric, weird, unique I am.

For you see, when we first moved here eleven years ago, we had a few cacti and yuccas, so very native, growing on our acreage. Longing for the ranches I grew up on, I wanted to create a cactus bed to embrace the native vegetation. Once we had added more yucca and various kinds of cacti, I decided that the only thing missing from my arid landscape was some bones. You know, like you see in the movies?  A cow, expired from hunger and thirst in the desert, and the bones picked clean by buzzards, was the scene in my mind's eye.

I've got some really fun parents. They are just as, um, unique as I, and they were happy to help me with my plan. Dad knew exactly where on the ranch they call home in Oklahoma, rested a complete cow skeleton, picked clean by buzzards. And my mom knew exactly where on a plot of land she owns, about 30 miles from my house, was a complete mule--long ago deceased and picked clean. I had hit the jackpot!

My precious parents brought all the bones from afar and helped me place them perfectly among the prickly pear and bear grass.  I wish you could have seen it. I was so proud!

Now, eleven years later, stray dogs and coyotes have swiped a good portion of my cow and mule. The bones that remain were so out of arrangement that even I couldn't recapture the original scene. Bindweed and thistle have taken over, and just in case you were wondering, it is really hard to pull weeds from a cactus bed.

Now my little spot of native ranch land is nothing but a mess.

Today was the day to clean up that mess.

All our digging and raking brought this little desert dweller out of hiding.

You can't believe how many pictures I took of this lizard. He got sick of my fascination--all he wanted to do was warm himself on a rock!

The whole time we were working to clean out the bed, we enjoyed the songs of various birds--happy happy birds. Y'all KNOW how I like birds. These beautiful cedar waxwings flitted around in our trees all day, and I was filled with joy because of it. They are so cute!

So there ya go. At this rate, my Project 365 is going to be more like my Project 999. Oh well. Like I said, I have WAY too much fun with my camera!