Clouds Above.........

Looking to the east, the cloud bank that was building eventually brought rain in the area. I follow a group of photographers on Facebook who posts pictures of Iowa and I have become discouraged as to what they are posting.

I am seeing photos like this at right that are on the posts.  They are all concocted by using the special editing commands. The photos can be adjusted to look wonderful with great colors but the photo above really is what I was seeing. The editing programs are wonderful to help crop out unwanted items and to give me the ability to tweet a photo into a better focus. It is good and for that I am so grateful.  When I post a photo to depict Iowa, I do think that it should be pretty close to the real thing.

Seeing Red........

Leaving the season of Thanksgiving is easy once a poinsettia enters the house.  Our son and daughter-in-law gave us a traditional gift at Thanksgiving. Our son likes to go to the building center and get the black Friday sales and share a red flower with us.

Monday.......

AJ already likes the workings of a steering wheel.  I am certain the he will be at a steering wheel most of life.

AJ likes to help his mom in the kitchen.  At the Science Center there was a farmhouse which had a replica kitchen in it. Kids could pretend to cook and wash dishes. There were replica plastic fruits and vegetables everywhere.

A bonus third photo on my one "photo a day blog."  My son supplied all three photos today on my blog. I thought maybe it would be good journalism to at least show the face of the boy in one of the visuals.

Bird Feeder.....

As the bird feeder becomes a busy place for the birds, the larger than life squirrel starts to fatten up for winter.

Action.....

Our oldest grandson, AJ, is almost always on the move.  He has so much energy and he needs to let steam off every once in a while.  We visited the Des Moines Science Center where there were lots of things for AJ to explore.  He is cranking on an elevator device that moves plastic food up a conveyer, like a farm elevator.  As he cranks, the food goes up and lands in a bin below. The whole room was a farm scene area with an American Gothic house model in the room.

Bearing Gifts at T-day.......

We had Thanksgiving shopping to do for our grandsons.  I know it isn't a tradition of the Pilgrims but when you don't see your little guys very often, you buy gifts on every special holiday.  AJ loved his truck and kept telling us thank you for the truck.  Teddy is in the reach out and grab stage in his young life so he immediately grabbed his toy stuffed animal.  It is designed to play music when a child hugs it.  Our little guy did just that and smiled when he heard the tunes.

Happy Thanksgiving Day........

It isn't green out there in the garden anymore but the memories in photos show that we did have an abundant growing season.  The fall celebration of a good harvest and a time to appreciate family and friends is upon us.  I hope everyone has a good day today whether it is sharing times in a large group or spending time at home for the day.  It is good to stop and enjoy a day of giving thanks for all that we have in our lives for the past year.

First Bird Shot.......

No snow is on the ground but the birds are starting to feed anyway.  My shot isn't so great but the shot through the window did sort of work.  The lighting on the bird was not great but I can't tell the bird to feed at a different port. The leaves on the ground are on top of the lower bed so I am not moving them. Rain fell most all of the day yesterday and the birds stayed away from the big feeder.  When snow covers the ground the whole scene will change with birds coming in wanting a free meal.

The Des Moines River.....

A view from the train shows the water lever high from some heavy rains the weeks before. The river actually is dammed up crating the Saylorville Lake. The over flow of the dam continues to keep the Des Moines River being a full blown river once it goes over the dam.

The train track that we travelled on was placed along the river as it headed to a coal mine northwest of Boone, Iowa. Because it was a cola line owned by the company, the track had not been taken out like some of the regular train tracks have been. The photos were taken a month ago and now those leaves I am sure are all gone.  The train rides are shut down for the season also.

I Can See.........

I have lived here for 40 years. Yesterday for the first time I noticed I can see the silos 3 blocks away.  They belong to the  one time operational farm on the edge of town. We walk Barney down the alley as he finds the properties up an down it so interesting.  It also is a more protected walk for humans than going down the sidewalks.

The farm silos have not been in use the last 40 years. I am assuming that at one time the guy ran a feeder cow lot and sold cows for slaughter. That would mean that the smell of a herd of cattle could be a part of the city.  I had never thought about that before but tolerance of farm smells was better years ago. than it tis today.  The photo has a little bit of a lean to it but it adds to the strange things that you see down the alley.  The one neighbor parks his boat in his drive and a snow blade there against the fence. Looking down the three block length a red maple tree is still full of reddish leaves.  The alley stops there at the two leaning tree trunks and it becomes a pasture for now about a dozen cows.

Silver Maple......

The tree is ready for the snowy season as it has dropped all of its leaves.  The sky was perfect as a background for the tree.

Friday's Surprise.....

I was outside Friday morning working on a last minute project.  I had some siding next to my steps that needed to be removed and replaced.  It was blowing so hard and the wind chill was amazing.  As I walk over to the shed to get a tool or piece of siding I looked up to see this. I could not believe that a morning glory would be in bloom with it being so cold and windy.

It was blowing so hard that I had to hold it still to get a shot of it. The wind did happen in gusts and I had to stand on a stepladder and wait for the wind to subside before I could take a shot.  It was really too cold for me to be working out there but I did get it done.  I finished in spite of the time I took to get the camera, step ladder and to shoot three photos.

The cold weather effected the color as it is a blue morning glory in normal weather. I was earlier thinking I should go out and harvest more seed from the vine.

Wild Corn......

The corner of the fence has a feeder for the squirrels.  Whatever kind of corn that they sell to feed the squirrels it sure is not a hybrid corn.  This volunteer seems to be pretty wimpy.

No Bright Colors.....

On the afternoon that this was shot there was no rising sun.  I thought it was interesting to see the same scene that I normally share with my viewers the  orange streaked skies.  The trees are almost bare now.  I am thinking I should cut off that straggly branch in the foreground as it seems to always invade my sunrise shots.

The Struggle.........

Tonight the last zinnia will finish its season of blooming.  I won't clear things off yet as I can do that with snow on the ground.  We do have warm spells and I can dedicate a day to clear off all of the remaining stems. The stems and leaves are not a pretty sight but there still is some green in there. If it gets below freezing that too will be gone.

Wednesday's Shot.....

The hardy geranium is living it on the edge as I have not brought it inside yet.  They were brought in partially down the basement stairs on one cold day but they have been our for quite a long time.  The leaf colors are not normally this color as the cold has turned them red.

Dropping from the Trees......

The late fall means that some leaves still have not all fallen.  My silver maple is pretty much bare now but the pear and ornamental pear trees are still hanging onto their leaves.  I guess a snowfall may make them drop their leaves.  The shiny red leaves are from the ornamental pear tree.  The flat red ones are from the burning bush. I really don't know where the yellow ones are falling from but maybe if I paid closer attention I could figure it out. That is a job for another day.  I will be out mowing and mulching leaves this morning so I can check things out.

Our Neighbor's Puppy......

Everyone knows each other's pets in our neighborhood.  When someone adds a new member to the fur community we all have to see the new dog. He lives across the street and isn't very old.

I am sure that the little girl will get lots of attention.  When you are this cute and is so soft, a dog can get what they want in life.  She has another older dog in her family so she isn't alone. I am thinking she was named Pebbles.

Cold Weather with Blooms........

I have posted photos of this rose bush all summer. I posted a bloom a month ago and here it is again.  It is blooming into the second week of November.  The rose hip is leftover from a bloom from a couple of months ago.  I have my original photo editing application again and my photos should be improved.  Elements is the name of the program which is a take off of photoshop and I have really liked working with it for quite a few years.  I have had a break from it for three years or so because of computer problems.  I am  back up and running again, able to use again the program.

Saying Goodbye......

The garden angel is anticipating my removing it from the  bench.  I will wait until it snows and get shots of it covered with snow and then I will bring it inside.

Late Blooms Glow..........

Thursday's a Washout......

I have been too busy to blog.  That is a bad thing to say but I have been .  I will try to get back on my horse and blog better sometime soon.

Peeking Through.......

The potted mum sits on the back step and the leaves are covering it up.  I guess it is reminds me that  I need to get this flower into the ground soon.

Early Morning.......

The pink sky was so unusual with the horizon colors being so bold and bright.  The pink sky was spread almost 360 degrees but I couldn't photograph it. I was fortunate to get what I did in this photo.

A Second Chance.......

Two pots of my hardy geraniums had been moved to the basement but they are now back outside.  They are siting in a bunch of old foliage temporarily until the freezing temperatures  start in our state. The splash of color really is neat to see as most flowers are gone now.

Caboose......

I remember seeing men looking out at the back of the caboose as the train went by our car when I was a kid.   I know that they needed someone back there in the old days because there were not any radio contacts to the back of the train from the front engin. The worker had the window up in the top notch of the car to see the front of the train.  I am sure there were flags that the would swing back and forth when things were good at the back at the train to tell the engineer that all was good.  The bay window on the yellow car does confuse me a little as I am not sure why it had to be there. 

Across the Street.......

This was the morning that I decided to cross the street and go behind my neighbor's house and take this shot.  It was just to great that I couldn't settle with shots from the backyard patio. The corn field has been picked so I didn't have that blocking the scene.

I knew it would be better if I eliminated the foreground scatter fo the neighbor's property.  I didn't at first decide to venture over but I went back into the house and put on my hooded sweatshirt.  It was worth it.  I used my wife's camera and also my cell phone camera.  We are to be warm today and this was a welcomed sight.  We have been so cloudy for so long that I had seen the moon makes it lunar changes.

Sharp Contrsasts

The silver maple doesn't always show this much color as it does this year. It is a good year for it as the yellow glow was highligted by a setting sun.

The Corner........

Spring green weeds, summer flowers and dead leaves all join in to the display in the corner of my garden

Corn Harvesting............

Filling up the wagons with the corn that has been picked and shelled by the combine. The corn was being emptied out of the combine into the second wagon that was sitting at the end of the field.

It seems to me that this small field next to our area was one of the last to be picked.  I am sure they have been really busy picking all their larger fields of corn.  The machine picks and grinds the corn to release the seed.  The cobs look like they are meant to be cut into small pieces so they will decompose easily.

Late Evening Bloom.......

I was out late after supper trying to find something new to photograph.  The red morning glory partially bloomed out in the afternoon as it warmed up in temps enough for it to do so.  The light was pretty low in value but I did get a shot of it after the third try. I was glad I was out there as I was able to see some great sunset skies. I have been sharing too many of those but I will bring them out again when I have a low supply of photos in my larder.