How about a
   splash
    of
     color?

Hope y'all enjoy!

Is working in my flower garden.  My  irises are starting to bloom.  My drumstick allium is beautiful.  Even though the weeds went a little crazy last year.  Because of so many changes going on in my life. Now I have a lot more work to do to get them back to where they need to be. But that is the way I like to relax.

In the mud today!   Everyone had a great time today.  Except when they had to  work on thier trucks. Not a clean way to spend the day!  But a  lot of fun. There were several different kinds of trucks.  They really hate when  this happens.  Everyone was there to see the mud fly. Some of the truck were really big. Some weren't.  This  little guy enjoyed the mud to the fullest! I was glad I actually ended up getting to ride with a friend.  I loved it!  These guys asked us for a fishing pole. This is what kind of fun you can have after a lot of rain.  All you need is a field a mudding truck and a bunch of rednecks who just want to have fun!!!

Wandering around an old barn in the morning light I found some nice subjects to shoot.  Like this old weather vane,  this rusty latch, this curtain and  this bolt.  Another weather vane  B&W and color.

So what do you think they are looking at?  This fence and this latch are all that stops people from getting to the Leona.  I posted pics of  her (this shot) in a previous post. Unfortunately the auction is the farm she is on.  The farm is sold.  And subdivided.  I hope the new owners don't take her down.  The farmer that made her for his wife "Leona" has passed away and she has now too.  The family can't keep the farm.  I hope they don't wreck this view. It is just   beautiful.  The house, barn and 15 acres are up for sale together.  The rest is being sold in 10 to 15 acre lots.  Let's just hope  she remains.

Well, we've been watching and waiting and finally our swans are buliding a new  nest!
She is sitting on it as well as adding twigs and other things she can reach from her throne!
These are not swan but goose feet.
Took this a few weeks back and just never posted IT.
Today when we were walking by the river that helps feed the pond I noticed some tracks and discovered that the freash water clams were making them .
These are two shot of the same place early spring  and now.
Things are looking up!
Have a good week and thanks for looking!!

My neighbors across the street had an auction on Saturday.  It was a long day full of photo ops. There was a lot of old stuff up for auction.   This oldie sold for a couple hundred dollars. It was actually from a different estate that they put in with my neighbors auction. There were tools of allkinds. Boxes of them.  This Super Sport caught my eye when someone drove up in it.  There were awide variety of people there.  Did any of you think I could resist taking these pics of the amish?  The most important thing at an auction besides having money is to be  comfortable.  

Simplicity

1. ) Color or B&W
   
2. ) Color or B&W
   
5. ) Color or B&W

  For the past couple of weeks have not had time to visit much and when I did, seemed to have a problem..Don't know if it has something to do on my end or if it is the site...the site would just shut down on me and then the few times I was able to sign in..would not last long..there were a couple of times that I was in then when clicking on sign out the site would just go away so there have been times that has shown I have been on all day and I thought I was "out".
  Enough of that..here are a few blooms in my yard..a couple of them were taken with Kay's lens and the others with my lens....it will be a while before being able to purchase anything else but one of these days...
  1 2
 3  4
     Enjoy!  :)

My daughter and I wanted to photograph something around the house.  I wanted something shiny up close and she insisted on something serious up close so we compromised and did it her way.

I went out today to get some flower pics for Lilbit.  Not much variety in what's bloomed so far, but I wanted to see just what the lens would do.  I got some pics in parking lots, went to WalMart and took some, and thought I was gonna get thrown out of the grocery store for taking pics of their fruit!  They asked me just why I was taking pics in there.....like I was doing something wrong!  Anyway, here's some of what I took today.
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I also got a couple of reflections shots.  Apples I went to get the oil changed in the Jeep today and "borrowed" one of the guys to get this reflection shot.

Hope y'all enjoy!

This year at a Christmas party, I received one of the ugliest Christmas gifts ever given.  The great thing is, my husband hates it so much, I've left it in the living room to drive him nuts.  I guess there is an upside to every gift!

It is a cat statue to put in your garden.  It's made of scrap metal.  Enjoy
cat eyes
welcome sign

bonus:  

Jo, Clean your glasses!

New Nose

New Pose

New Hair

New Purse

New Color

New Art

New Light

All of these photos have one new thing in common......new Canon Rebel XT.

I have a ways to go, but I'm still in there plugging....

Before after1 after2
before after

My BIG TIME THANKS go to Kerry and Moose for coaching me on the focus setting on my camera!!  These are the results (no manipulation, other than changing to b/w) 1 2 3

This is from this morning; not very colorful, but I sure was glad to see it!

Hope y'all enjoy!  ("After" explanations in comments.)

Work was driving me bananas so I was very happy to leave work.  I had my handy-dandy grocery list and was ready for a romantic dinner at home.  

Unfortunately, it was cold outside, and I was feeling lazy, so we opted for carry-out instead.  We got home, and threw off our unneeded articles of clothing.

So instead of candles and roses, we settled for pizza and beer.  Instead of staring lovingly at each other, we watched a little television.  

Mike had a few chores to do and I needed to clip coupons and clean up our mess.  

Oh yes...and Mike got a phone call saying he was a new grandfather.  You know, your typical Wednesday.

Whether you live a tranquil life
Or in a state of agitation
It's the rhythm of your sorrow and happiness that truly tell time.

It's been too cold to go outside much, so I worked with what I had inside.  I also experimented with the bracketing option on my camera.

Quicker Picker Upper

Angelic

Grandpa's Chair

Bulb

Chandelier

Finial

Grandma's Bowl

Insert key Here

My mom loved creating new things.  She hated our sewing machine.  I inherited the sewing machine, and the fond memories of my mom cursing while teaching me to make Barbie outfits.

To my mom...

01
02
03
04
05

Thanks for the lessons of perseverance (and creative uses of the word "sh*t").

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I think of deb's photos, I usually think people and words.

Close your eyes and see if you can imagine a woman, dressed in camo, smoking, pulling her dog in a wagon -- thought bubble: "What would you do if you couldn't fail?"

See what I mean?  

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

I also think of close ups.  Hers were some of the first that really grabbed my attention; they managed to reveal the whole idea by capturing only part of the subject.  

> > > > >

deb -- thanks.

)(  )(  )( )( )(

nut and bolt
colored pencils
fence
Still Life With Wood Pencil (sorry Tom)

Here's some images I took this weekend; hope y'all enjoy!

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