The Leap Has Been Made.

The spring of 2007 the Lord blessed me with a pair of robins nesting in my hanging spider plant on my front porch. I discovered the nest when I was repotting the plant into a new hanging basket. The nest was partially built. I lifted it out of the plant and set it aside while I repotted the plant. I then placed it back in the plant and rehung the basket. My thought was that due to human tampering the nest would be abandoned and built elsewhere. I was wrong! The pair finished the nest and the next thing I knew the female was sitting. I immediately searched online to determine the length of incubation before hatching. Out came the camera!

I checked the eggs a couple of days before I thought they would hatch (always approached the nest when parents were not there) no evidence of hatching. Checked the next day and the cracks were there. Thankfully it was a Saturday so I was able to take pictures throughout the day as the babies hatched. I mentioned to my youngest brother about the free loaders in my basket and he suggested purchasing some night crawlers from a bait shop to obtain the feeding photos.  I followed through with his suggestion and obtained some great feeding photos.

In 2009 I put some of the pictures together in a flip book for my grandchildren. I had one person at work inquire if I thought of publishing it. I, not knowing how to go about it, just shrugged my shoulders and that was the end of it.

In fall of 2011 my sister-in-law discovered KDP publishing. And has successfully published four books. Not costing her anything but the purchase of her own paperback copies.  She is a talented story teller and has been able to quit her day job as the result of the royalties.

Sooooo.... I have now published "Baby Robins Grow Up." through CreateSpace and KDP.  It is a picture book for the 3-5 year old preschool aged children. And it introduces them to the life cycle of a bird.

I do not believe I will be able to quit my day job but I do enjoy the opportunity to share the once in a lifetime picture series with others and possible supplement to my income as a perk.