Sunday Stills : Power Lines and Landscapes

OK Ed said to shoot an interesting landscape for Sunday Stills that was messed up with power lines...I did not like this challenge, I did not even want to keep these photos. But I did. Did anyone else feel this way?

Arn't they ugly..plus some big orange busses just for good measure.

Alright how is this?

Someone lost their long johns and a nightgown, perhaps it was a lousy photographer:)

Round Robin Photo Challenge : Growing

Oh my!! What is growing..well some Tomato's..Roma Tomato's to be exact. Far Guy planted them and has been growing them out in his old greenhouse. He grows darn nice tomato plants. It is still too cool to plant them out yet, in one more week after the full moon we should be safe from frost..maybe. They really like the warmth in there! Check out the other Robins and see what they are growing. Thanks Whammy for this growing idea! :)

Color Carnival

I found some color this week! The Flowering Crabs are going nuts here in Minnesota..finally we have some color, and fragrance..it is almost heaven.. check out more colorful photos here! :)

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #39 : Memorial Day

Carly said, show me Memorial Day.. bahhh humbug. I prefer to call it Decoration Day. The day everyone should go to a cemetery and strew flowers over the graves of soldiers young and old alike. It should still be on May 30th also.. have you thanked a soldier lately?? :)

Sunday Stills : Yellow

Yellow! One of my favorite colors! I had so many photos to choose from, in the end I chose one that everyone should have in their yard by now..and one for the horse people
( I really do like all your horses! ) Check out more yellow at Sunday Stills:)

Bloggers Community Photo Challenge: A Photo Story

This is my entry for The Bloggers Community Photo Challenge. In 2004 Far Guy became the Native Orchid specialist at our greenhouse. ( Anything to make him stop growing sweetcorn in six packs! ) He researched them, and ordered some bare root native plants that were grown in a laboratory here in Minnesota. Tissue Culture grown orchids. He applied for a permit from the State, and gained quite a following, they even featured him in several local newspapers. Native Orchids are hard to grow, but he had some success with the Yellow Ladyslipper or Cypripedium parviflorum. In the fall of 2004 he planted some in one of our display gardens. I was unsure of what the results would be.

Low and behold on May 13, 2005 we had a fuzzy bud, but just one.

On May 27, 2005 we had just one bloom.

May 27, 2006 we had two blooms!! In 2007, I missed their blooms completely..it is called being a good grandma!

June 08, 2008 we had six blooms!!


I took this photo on May 14, 2009 and I counted seven fuzzy buds (one is really tiny)..so maybe this year we will have seven blooms..we just will have to wait and see:)

Sunday Still's : Eyes

C D B D iiiii's ????

M R iiiii's !!! O S M R Turtle iiiii's.

The Sunday Stills Challenge this week was eyes! I had the most fun, looking for and at different kinds of eyes. I found this Snapping Turtle along the road on Wednesday May 13, 2009. Yes, Minnesota lakes, do have snapping turtles in them..just look at those claws..but they are tiny compared to his snapping qualities..nothing you ever want to see up close and personal:)

Color Carnival : New Fangled Flowers

Martha over at Menagerie has started a new photo meme, called Color Carnival. Anyone is welcome to join right in! I have been on the hunt for a few days now for a current colorful photo. I found these new fangled flowers in the mall. NO, I was not shopping, but killing some time while Far Guy was in the Hobby Shop. Maybe I should get out more, silk flowers with lights.. what will they come up with next? :)

Sunday Stills: Black and White with a Twist

This weeks Sunday Stills Challenge was to photograph two previous subjects, but this time in black and white. I chose Architecture and Pets. I converted my color photos to black and white in my photo editing program. I don't work very much with black and white..so it was a good challenge for me. This is my same old grain bin, this time shot from a different angle, in different weather! The last time I photographed this grain bin for a challenge it had ice dripping from the roof on the other side. The vegetation is Lonicera x brownii or Honeysuckle Trumpet Vine leftovers from last summer. I might have to prune it back a bit this year.

This is Chance, he always looks good in black and white..cause that is his natural color! Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's out there..not a Mom..have a great girlie day then! :)

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #36: A Walk In The Park

Carly at Ellipsis said "Show me a walk in a park." This is a local park, the local Lions Club bought this piece of property about fifteen years ago, they built the covered picnic shelter. We stopped by to take this photo on May 08, 2009. The dandelions just started blooming this week. Chance was off leash....we were the only people there:)
This weeks question: How often do you add special effects from your photo editing program to your photos? My response, not often, when converting a photo to black and white or sepia, and when I am working on my photo headers...how about you?

Sunday Stills: Flowers and Plants

WELL, This was a really hard challenge! Nothing in my yard is blooming. Not much is even green yet, some of the grass and some stupid day-lilies that some stupid person ( ME) planted above the heat lines that run underground into the house. So the crazy things think it is summer, I am way tired of photographing those stupid plants. I gave up and went to the grocery store and photographed some cut flowers. Then I remembered a little spot that might get enough afternoon sun to have some Marsh Marigolds. Success...blooms finally! These are Caltha palustris, I just love scientific names..don't you? More commonly known as Marsh Marigolds here in Minnesota.

Richard Mabey a Naturalist and Author said " Marsh-marigolds are in decline as agricultural land continues to be drained, but they are still the most three-dimensional of plants, their fleshy leaves and shiny petals impervious to wind and snow, and standing in sharp relief against the tousled brown of frostbitten grasses."

It describes them perfectly! I like them because they are one of the first plants to bloom in the early spring and they are my favorite flower color YELLOW! Check out more flowers at Sunday Stills:)

Round Robin Photo Challenge: See The Music

Far Guy plays guitar, he learned how years ago...often times I am serenaded by every verse of Desolation Row, there are like ten verses! Chance doesn't sing along with the guitar..but the harmonica is another story!

Check out the other Robins! Can you can see the music in my photos?? :)

Photos taken with Canon PowerShot SX110 IS on May 1, 2009

The Blogger's Community Photo Challenge: Tranquility

The subject for The Blogger's Community Photo Challenge was tranquility. This photo was taken on a small Minnesota lake on April 25, 2009. Look no ice...but the water was still very cold:)