Photo taken earlier this evening...

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Here's a hummingbird moth.  I've always wanted to get a photo of one but its difficult to do because they dart around so quickly.

This morning's sky seemed photoworthy...

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An early September sky...

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Here's some photos of a Swallowtail butterfly.  

The photo above was cropped and edited from this next photo.

     I tried and tried to get a shot with the wings extended.  This next one was the best I could do.  Photos can be quite deceiving...butterflies do not hold still for more than a second or two giving very little time to focus and frame the scene so don't think I planned for the wing tip and tail tips to be cut off.

Here's a couple of recent butterfly photos.

 I think its a Painted Lady.

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Here's an evening sky from a few weeks ago...

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Just to check in and let everyone know I haven't fallen off the earth. 

 Here's a photo from a recent drive we took.  

Blue Butterfly

The other day I stalked this butterfly for a photo. 

Though zooming in made it look big it actually was hardly 1/2 inch wide.  

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A sunset sky from a little over a week ago...

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I spied this today and had to look it up online for I'd never seen one before.  

Turns out it is an Eight-Spotted Forester moth.

Stormy sky from earlier this morning, fortunately bringing only rain...

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Taken a few days ago...

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Here's some photos taken yesterday. 

Every year I'm fascinated by these seedheads...

This is yarrow...

And, this is nothing but sky and weedy grass, but I liked it...

Storm clouds from last evening...

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There were storms roaming around the area earlier this evening.  

A lovely blue color was there for awhile.

Here's a photo I took a few minutes ago.  

The lighting is courtesy of the setting sun.

     Today was pleasant, weatherwise and otherwise.  I took a walk, planted a few more seeds in the garden, and fixed meals.  I baked one of my favorite foods, chocolate brownies, from a tried and true recipe I've used for years.  I put my own spin on it by using oil instead of butter (to make me think the brownies are "healthier"), brown sugar instead of white (to make them moister), and white/whole wheat flour instead of white (again, to make me imagine they are "healther").  I enjoyed one warm from the oven with ice cream on it.  Yum, yum!

Another Phlox Photo

     Yesterday my husband and I took a day trip to visit kids and grandkids.  I shot drive-by photos along the way and was looking forward to using them on the blog but then somehow managed to delete them when we got home.  In consolation, today I took another photo of the wild phlox now blooming along our road.  

     Its probably obvious that I'm barely holding on to the blogging habit.  Everyday I consider just quitting because I have little enthusiasm for it anymore.  I've been through this before and maybe will get over it.

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Last evening, this cloud coaxed me to put the camera to use...

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Taken a few evenings ago...

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Last Evening's Sky

Here's the lilac bush silhouetted against last evening's sky...

Barn Charm

A drive-by shot from last fall...

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Tulips

We had a very busy weekend.  Amidst it all I managed to get a few quick shots of tulips in Pella.  They looked pretty good considering they were coated with snow the day before.

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An early evening sky from a few weeks ago...

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Yesterday the weather was nice enough 

that we were able to get some fieldwork done.  

Now look at what today has brought us, more cold and rain.  

It will be a good day to go get groceries.

Bouquets

 From last evening, 

bouquets of maple leaf buds...

Month's End

     Well, here it is the last day of April.  Another month over and done with.  I searched the April file for a photo to use today.  I chose this one from a week or so ago when I happened to spy some snow geese heading north.  This was the only shot I could get of them and I'm including it as it originally turned out, stray tree branches and all.  Its really hard for me to zero in on small, distant, moving things with a camera that doesn't have a viewfinder.  Hopefully, YOU can see the snow geese.

  

Barn Charm

     Here's a drive-by shot from last summer.  The piece of equipment coming out of the barn is part of the barn cleaner.  Gutters behind the cows catch the manure and then I presume it is pushed by paddles into the auger which you see there (that is how our barn cleaner works).  A manure spreader can be parked underneath to catch the manure which would then be hauled to the field for fertilizer.

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Another Look

     Oops, I forgot to make a blogpost yesterday that would post automatically early this morning.  That's what I usually do but was too busy relaxing yesterday to remember.  Here's another look at the crocus that bloomed last week.

     We were able to seed oats on Saturday, but now this morning its raining again. We hope to get corn and soybeans planted someday as do all the farmers around here.  Its a rather discouraging spring season so far.

In Time

In time they will be lilacs and I will love their wonderful fragrance!

Yellow-headed Blackbird

A couple days ago my husband hollered for me to bring the camera.  

He had spied a Yellow-headed Blackbird. 

 I had never seen one before except in bird books.