Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Clearing up after the rain.........


This is the sight that was to my left as I drove home on the Interstate.  It was raining a little and the closer I was to Des Moines, the clearer it was becoming.

I don't text while I drive, as I don't text at all, but anyway I can shoot this over my shoulder while driving.  I just blindly pointing and take a lot of shots hoping I can get one good shot.


There is always somebody or something that wants to get into the picture.  I stopped the car off the road at the corner before turning to come the mile into town. I even rolled the window down for this one. It was wonderful but I couldn't stop where the foreground noise wasn't.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Future milk cows.........


A closer view of my neighborhood cows that live down the street. I am not sure when they will have their calves but I think it is late March.  They will become milk cows for their first time after they have their calves.


It is a two photo day on Larry's Photo a Day.  The sky is clear and it is cold, but Sunday we did warm up into the fifties.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday's Angel..........


This is a part of my wife's angel collection that is out all year.  It is not the first Christmas decoration of the year.  We will start soon to bring up from the basement the season's lights and colors and display them.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Saturday's shadow..........


Our sun is shifting further to the south each day.  We get great shadows from this arrangement but it also causes us to loose the heat gain from the sun.



A fine Italian sculpture it is not, but it's detail still gives it a sense of dignity in the art world.  The bucket boy usually spends his winters outside but I have decided to let him keep warm inside this winter.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Lost Marbles....


I have my eyes on the look out for marbles in containers, stray drawers, any location where they may get displaced.  I collected these from the spare room, the basement, a container with junk in it and down in Osceola in the garage.   Not one of them are of the same color but they all look like they were manufactured by the same company.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Nature's own composition.......


Dead sedum, leaves and other green foliage create their own visual masterpiece showing the effects of seasonal weather on what was once live vegetation.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Down the street heading south......


When you drive three blocks south of my home you hit the edge of town and a farm.  The farmer is gone now but his son in law helps to keep the herd going.  It is a sunny day and no matter how I tried, the sun on my right was too bright and the point and shoot just would not focus. I still liked the color and so I will share the photo anyway.

The silos have not been used for years.  They would fill them with chopped corn, silage, and feed it to the cattle all year.  On the other side of the silos and shed is a feeding lot for raising beef steers but it has been years since that was done.  In fact, the son in law now raises heifers calves in the area each year, raising them into milk cows for their dairy which is down the road a few miles.

The sunny day is deceiving as it actually is 29 degrees with a cold wind chill.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The orchard floor.........


The iris is hanging in there even though it has been through many frozen nights.  The composition of line of the leaves are contrasted to the texture of the various kinds of leaves and vegetation.  I like the one lone red leaf from the burning bush.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Green Mungo Pine.........


We don't live in a pine forested area so any evergreen is appreciated even if it is the size of a shrub.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sunday's reds..........










Our very last leaves are hanging in there but they are so few and they will fall soon. 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

A very tiny teacup........


A hand painted child's toy teacup found in the most unlikely of places. It was in a cardboard box, above the garage.  The box was filled with thirty years of dirt, old mud dauber nests, old food jars and a Seagrams whiskey bottle.....empty.  It was like finding a diamond in the dirt.


It has been added to my tiny relic collection of old things from the 1800's house.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Colorful shot........


I am showing way too many burning bush pictures but this one has the sun in the corner.  Bad composition I know but it was an accident.  This is my orange looking burning bush.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Iowa's Wild Rose continued.......


The other end of the rose bush had this wonderful group of leaves.  I could see these from my dining room window and knew I needed to get out there and get a few shots.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Wild Rose........


There are a select few leaves left on the wild rose in my backyard.  I caught these the other day before they fell to the ground. 

Monday, November 15, 2010

Too cold for comfort.....wrong zone.


It tried to give me three more blooms and it did put one out, but I didn't find it until the freeze.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sky scene a few days ago....


I was taking photos of clouds for  a contest and this was a reject.  I still like it but it is only a memory  as we have winter skies now.  We escaped the foot of snow but we can sure feel the cold coming off of it.  It is in the northwestern part of the state.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Fall special effects......


As the freezing and the rain continues, the field lilies start to decompose and wilt back into the ground.  It always amazes me how quickly a large area of vegetation can decline in size so quickly. 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Sky high view again.....


A view of my poppal tree. Fast growing and sure to be cut down in a few years. It is fast shade but I don't recommend the poppal or popular trees.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Lighting specialists.........with color



Digging through a box of old things and wanting to toss it immediately, I looked down and saw color.  I am a sucker to color.  They were old Christmas light bulbs from a time gone by.  I don't have a string that they could go in and I probably will just toss them.  It is just one needs to stop and appreciate color wherever you see it.  You must appreciate it too.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

An abstract day...........


The burning bush doesn't always give a good feedback for a focus on macro.  I cropped out a little of it with the small amount that did sort of stayed in focus.  Abstract, surrealism with a beautiful color display for today.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Silver maple fades...........

It is a very tall old silver maple tree. The sun reflects light off of the yellow leaves creating a special effect.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Green......


Evergreen trees give us a chance to remember what spring was like even when it is cold.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Roses on the rug........


My mother picked out a Victorian rug for her house for her bedroom and it is a beautiful rug. I suppose not everyone would like it but it fit with older furniture.  My wife vacuumed this thing many times and the colors kept changing as she cleaned it up from neglect.  It would be sad if the new owners pulled it up and tossed it in the garbage.  It was a very expensive rug. No we haven't sold the house yet.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Good bye summer blooms........


Another hard freeze last night which will take out anything that hasn't been hit already. Winter coats are essential to survive already and yet we will have 60 degrees next Monday.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Onions.........


This summer my brother Ron from Arizona handed me some onion bulbs that were all connected together naturally.  He had received them as a gift from an Asian woman neighbor and he liked growing them.  So he gave me a cluster to start myself.  I broke them all apart and put them in some soil intended for growing violets.  The dining room window is a great place for them to get started. As you can see in two weeks I have onions.  I am curious to see if they put seed heads on the tips of the plant.  I will keep you posted.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Blue sky........


We are not from the land of sky blue water, but in the fall as the sun changes it's position in it's orbit, we have a sky that is this pure blue. I know that it is a repeat for me to do pin oak leaves again, but this is a sky picture with leaves in front of it. Our weather is noticeably cooler now and the clearer the sky the colder we become during the fall.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Pin Oak.........


I have two different pin oak trees. The one in the back yard has shriveled brown leaves and the one in the front yard has this wonderful color. I like the blur of my neighbor's house in the background too.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Cabbage leaves but no cabbage.......

I gave the neighbor lady some extra tomato plants in the spring and she handed me a cabbage plant. It didn't do well, the bugs took it while I was not looking. Due to our wet weather, it sprouted out these two new growths that gives me a great foliage plant to look at but no cabbage.
The creeping charlie gives it a great background for the cabbage leaves.

Blurry Blue Cup Day.....

 It is Monday and I am a little blurry eyed today. It is fitting then my blue cup is blurred a little because it is in low light. I was too ...