Bluebells

Found some bluebells the other day…

 

I used to live at a farmstead that had a large patch of these early spring flowers.  They remind me, too, of a jump rope rhyme from when I was a kid.  We’d swing the rope back and forth as we sang, Bluebells…cockleshells…eevy, ivy, over.  We’d jump over the rope as it swung back and forth.  The rope went up and over at the word over.  At that point, we’d continue with another jump rope rhyme, but I’ll be darned if I can remember what it was. 

Skywatch

A sunrise from last week…

 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Visit Skywatch Friday to find sky photos from around the world.

Prairie Tour

Earlier this week I visited the 8000-acre Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa.

There I found some leftover autumn color:

  A herd of buffalo:

And, a visitor center to tour:

I hope to return in the summer when the prairie flowers are blooming.

Spirea Leaves

Warm weather has prompted many leaves to appear, including on the spirea bush…

No, that’s not a diamond---its a water droplet!

Fire

Awhile back our trash pile included an old dry Christmas tree.  Figuring it would burn brightly, I took the camera along.  The flames quickly went WOOSH, giving me only a few seconds to get a picture.

My daughter thinks we should frame this photo and hang it over the fireplace.  I think it makes a really COOL computer screen background!

Sepia Fog

This foggy morning shot from a couple weeks ago came complete with its own sepia tone… 

Crocus

Here’s another close-up shot of a crocus…

As soon as they bloom, I hurry to get a photo because they look nice for such a short time.

Bin Shot

Was doing calf chores one morning recently and simply had to go get my camera because I liked the glow of the rising sun on the grain bin. 

Skywatch

Sunrise from earlier this week,

on the first day of spring!

 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Visit Skywatch Friday to find sky photos from around the world.

Spring Green

The day before yesterday my husband and I enjoyed a typical farmer’s getaway---driving to a farm store to pick up machinery parts.  Here and there along the way, we saw weeping willow trees dressed in their distinctive green of early spring:  

Spring Flower Close-ups

These photos were taken with the little $15 Opteka macro lens which attaches onto the 18-55mm lens.

Maple Update

Here’s how the maple buds look today:

Click this sentence to see how they looked a week ago.

Yesterday

Yesterday my husband hauled corn to town:

And, the white and darker purple crocuses decided to bloom:

Barn Charm

Photo from a week or so ago when I was driving around hunting for barns:

Thanks for stopping by! 

Visit Bluff Area Daily to find this week’s Barn Charm photos.

Foggy Morning

We’ve had many photo-worthy skies lately.  Here’s a sunrise from last week:

A few minutes later, the sky looked like this:

Antique Show

Yesterday we went to an antique show at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. 

I had planned to look only at canning jars and old photos, but ended up browsing through almost everything!  I bought a glass paperweight and a postcard.  If money were no object I would’ve also purchased a butter churn crock and a parking meter which would have made a great conversation piece.   

Field Work

Yesterday I went sleeveless in the balmy mid-March sunshine.  My earliest start to a tan ever! 

I also took photos of my husband and son working in the field. 

Tilling what was a cornfield last year:

So that oats could be planted:

Then the seeded ground was dragged to smooth it all out:

 

Now we’ll hope for some rain to turn this field green.  And that reminds me to tell you, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”!

Crocuses

The crocuses started blooming today. 

I planted them in front of the barn several years ago and as you can see, they have a rather tough life there.  They quickly become bedraggled by wind, falling silage, and wandering cats.  

Cat in the Wind

The photo turned out a bit blurry, but I like the soft look.

Skywatch

Late afternoon a couple days ago…

Thanks for stopping by! 

Visit Skywatch Friday.

Heading North

Early last evening I was aiming the camera skywards to capture fluffy clouds when a honking flock of Canada geese entered the scene:

Today’s Sunrise

I just figured out how to do a collage in Picture It. 

Maple Buds

Right now, the buds on the upper branches of our soft maple trees look like this:

The buds on the lower branches look like this:

Rarely did I notice such things before starting to take photos for the blog.

Foggy Sunrise

Today’s sunrise…

Barn Charm

Here’s a round barn made of what looks like bricks from a distance, but actually is something called hollow tile.  Through the center of the barn is a silo.  Sorry about all the trees in the way---it was the best shot I could get.  

Visit Bluff Area Daily to find this week’s Barn Charm photos.

Old Barn

The weather was nice and springlike yesterday so I took a drive to hunt for old barns to photograph.  This one has been featured here on the blog before---click to see a better view. 

Skywatch Friday

From earlier this week…

  Thanks for stopping by!

Visit Skywatch Friday to find more sky photos from around the world.

Snow

Here’s another look at that possible last snow of the year…

Yesterday

Yesterday the temperature reached nearly 70 degrees and wouldn’t you know, I had to report for jury duty.  I parked in front of a building adorned with this…

Thankfully, I wasn’t chosen for the jury.

Last Evening’s Sunset