Saturday, March 31, 2012

Bluebells

Found some bluebells the other day…

Mar 27 

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. 

Friday, March 30, 2012

Skywatch

A sunrise from last week…

 Mar 22 (3)

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Prairie Tour

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

Mar 26 & 27 Pella (62)

Mar 26 & 27 Pella (73)

There I found some leftover autumn color:

Mar 26 & 27 Pella (66)  A herd of buffalo:

Mar 26 & 27 Pella (64) And, a visitor center to tour:

Mar 26 & 27 Pella (63)

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

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Spirea Leaves

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

Mar 24 No, that’s not a diamond---its a water droplet!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

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.

March 15 (1) My daughter thinks we should frame this photo and hang it over the fireplace.  I think it makes a really COOL computer screen background!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Sepia Fog

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

Mar 15

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Crocus

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

Mar 16 (5) cropped As soon as they bloom, I hurry to get a photo because they look nice for such a short time.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Bin Shot

Mar 14 (11) cropped

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. 

Friday, March 23, 2012

Skywatch

Sunrise from earlier this week,

on the first day of spring!

Mar 20 SWF

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Thursday, March 22, 2012

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:  

Mar 20 (1)

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Spring Flower Close-ups

Mar 19 (8) cropped

Mar 19 (10)

Mar 16 (16)

Mar 19 (2) cropped

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

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Maple Update

Here’s how the maple buds look today:

Mar 20 (2)

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

Yesterday

Yesterday my husband hauled corn to town:

Mar 19 (12)

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

Mar 19

Monday, March 19, 2012

Barn Charm

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

March 11 (3) cropped

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Barn charm

Foggy Morning

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

Mar 16

A few minutes later, the sky looked like this:

Mar 16 (2)

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Antique Show

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

Mar 17 (1) 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.   

Saturday, March 17, 2012

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:

March 16 (2)So that oats could be planted:

March 16 (3) Then the seeded ground was dragged to smooth it all out:

March 16 (6) 

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

Friday, March 16, 2012

Crocuses

The crocuses started blooming today. 

Mar 16 (22)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

March 14 (2) The photo turned out a bit blurry, but I like the soft look.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Skywatch

Late afternoon a couple days ago…

March 14 (3) Thanks for stopping by! 

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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:

March 14

March 14 (1)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Today’s Sunrise

Mar 14 collage

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:

Mar 13 (4) The buds on the lower branches look like this:

Mar 13 (5) Rarely did I notice such things before starting to take photos for the blog.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Foggy Sunrise

Today’s sunrise…

Mar 13 (2)

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.  

March 11 (1)Visit Bluff Area Daily to find this week’s Barn Charm photos.

Barn charm

Monday, March 12, 2012

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

March 11 (10) cropped

Friday, March 9, 2012

Skywatch Friday

From earlier this week…

Mar 5 (3)  Thanks for stopping by!

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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Snow

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

Mar 5 (11)

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

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…

Mar 6 Thankfully, I wasn’t chosen for the jury.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012