Friday, November 30, 2012

Birds are flying south......


The birdhouse that I made a few years back is in need of some repair and restoration.  I will try to take it down during the warmer weather and leave it as an inside winter project.  The holes for the birds are just too large for anyone to nest in them so I will place a smaller square with a smaller hole in it, in front of the original holes. I need to repaint it too which means I might change the color of it.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

So where do you keep your small people?


He looks like Doc from the Snow White movie.  He likes being in the store window and does look like he has something alcoholic to drink. Maybe he just needs glasses.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Birding time........


An archived photo of my bird book and mug, showing a chickadee on the page.  I haven't seen chickadee all summer but they are now frequenting the feeder.  I am assuming that they are coming in town now for the colder months.  The fields have all been cleared also so they don't have that area to go to collect food.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Button.....


This was taken when there was warmer weather.  We are back to being cold today but the wind did die down.  Wind chill is something that makes one to feel more miserable as if it is a bonus or something.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Remembering When..........


I was digging through some old albums to find the oldest son's baby pictures and I found some interesting things.  The guy on top is too familiar in 1974.  It was a long time ago and another place and another person.  Dig those large glasses and plaid pants.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A Photo from the Past.....


A sepia shot of two horses that were pulling a buggy down highway 34 in Osceola.  I followed the buggy and rider to their parking spot and asked to take photos.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Juniper Berries and Gin.......


I watched a show on Sunday Morning showing where they grow junipers to use for the making of gin.  The berries from the evergreen shrub are grown just for the purpose and then are crushed and fermented into gin.  My berries will rippen and the cardinals will eventually eat them all.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Gentle moments.......

This photo make me think of my two dogs who love to have their ears to be rubbed.  They like the gentle touch that makes them both gaze into you face. Button is smaller so you can rub both of his ears at the same time while he tries to put his nose into your face.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Burning Bush Berries.......


The birds are enjoying the berries of the burning bushes.  We don't have snow yet but they seem to be already enjoying all the seed pods and berries on the bushes.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Stop Swimming Around.......


Fuzzy fish that just won't hold still for the camera.  I have three gold fish in this small tank next to my computer so that winter won't seem so bad.  I can see my fish swimming around carefree in the warm water.  Even though goldfish are not tropical fish they do live in areas in the world where the water is warm year round.

Friday, November 16, 2012

More Leaves To See......


The pear tree gave me many opportunities to get cool shots.  This one shows the variety of colors that are on the tree as it approaches the time to drop them.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Looking Out.........


I posted the reverse photo a few days ago, looking into the window.  My wife's blue collection looks so great in our old leaky old kitchen window. The begonia sits on the counter below.  I salvaged it from the planter when I was bringing in plants for the winter.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Winter is coming.......


Overlapping trees create a web-like design against the sky.  It looks like a cold day but it actually was taken on a windy warm day.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

A Fall Sky View........


It was a warm day on Saturday and the wind was blowing.  The clouds above were shifting and changing a lot.  The light was interesting as you can see from the reflection looking to the east.  Beware of the ghost in the photo.  He is a spook.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Outside Looking In........


While I was outside taking shots I looked into the kitchen window and saw this.  It is a mysterious looking photo as there is a stray begonia plant projecting up from below.  The sign says love, joy and peace and the glass ball is hanging down from a wind chine not shown.


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Ornamental Pear Tree.......


I was out mowing and mulching up leaves yesterday.  We had a very warm day but it was windy.  With the earth's tilt the lighting on things have change.  This ornamental pear tree, no fruit, is still holding onto it's leaves.  It drops them late in the season.



With the warmth we also had strong winds.  So as I would stand there to photograph the tree, the leaves would flip sides from dark colors to light red or yellow.  It would have been great to capture as a movie.

The warmth will be gone by the middle of morning today as we become very cold and it will feel like winter.

Friday, November 9, 2012

River Birch


This is an archived photo of my river birch last spring.  The light is brighter in the spring and the green leaf sprouts reveals that it is an older photo.


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Radio Flyer.......


I took a shot of my neighbor's wagon in her yard but the bark on the tree is a show stopper.  I tried to take a picture of the whole tree and it just didn't work.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Larger Than Life........


Rose hips are an interesting feature of the rose's blooming cycle each season. This rose has small white flowers on it but the rose hips are still pretty much the size of a regular rose.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Moss Farm..........


I don't know if moss is algae but it is really growing well on my birdhouse roof.  Whatever it is, I could never have created it on my own.  The growing moss keeps growing year after year to make that perfect weathered look.  I need to replace the bottom of this birdhouse as it has fallen away this fall.


Monday, November 5, 2012

Barnabas........


With the tip of his tongue retreating Barney, our border collie, is staring outside to see if the neighbor cat's are out there.  He will dutifully go bark at them or at any passerby that seems a dangerous threat to our property.  His skin conditions keep us busy but he now gets a thorough brushing everyday to keep his undercoat of hair to a minimum. He is in better shape coat wise and we are glad the worse of it is over with now. One never knows for sure what one or two things cause him to be allergic but we keep him on a watch diet of lamb and rice dog food with no food coloring additives in dog biscuits.


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Cornstalks in a Bale........


When Iowa has a shortage of hay because the drought slowed the growth for hay, cornstalks are baled up for feed.  Also some years the farmers just plant beans and corn and the amount of hay fields are minimal again the farmers bale up the cornstalks.

This farmer of my neighbors farm land probably thinks he can get a little bit more profit from this field as the yield was 30 percent less. These bales don't sell for as much as an alfalfa bale but whatever they can receive for it will increase their profit.

Cows really don''t like it as a feed that much but they will eat it if that is all that is being supplied. One farmer friend told me that his cattle really stopped eating for a while until they got hungry enough to eat cornstalks.  The bales also are used for bedding for livestock and can be sold for that too.


I counted 14 bales in the field from this 13 acre farm field. The man baled these cornstalks in the dark on Friday night.  I was over helping to take care of a neighbor dog and he was out there working with the lights of his tractor pulling his baler behind him, dropping bales like a hen lays an egg.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Saturday's Still Life......



Everything is old in the photo except for the pine cones. The box with its great corners and the table are both weathered naturally.  I bought the box for a dollar at Silver Bay, Minnesota along the North Shore.  The table is a family hand me down that was used for holding large rinsing containers for doing laundry.  The milk crock is from Della's family farm and the brown bean pot was from my parents home.  The milk can is one that I had from my young years that came from Coin, Iowa in the southern part of the state.

My still life is a little off balanced but I just finished pulling the summer things away from the display.  I will do Christmas things with it after Thanksgiving. I actually had flags still displayed from the fourth of July in the milk jar and fake flowers for the summer.


Friday, November 2, 2012

Friday's Here..........


 This is fall in its finest with the leaves on the ground and the burning bush in its final show. The brick of the fire ring and the neighbor's pool can be viewed along with this typical fall scene.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Christmas Catus......a little early.


I have ignored this plant all year. I watered it very little and left it in the original plastic container in which I bought it.  In the last three weeks I have been seeing buds so I watered it a little more often.  I really was surprised seeing it bloom as I didn't move it out of the light all summer.

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 ...