63 posts tagged “country”

I had to take some more photos of my petunias.  These are in a hanging basket on my back porch.  They look so much more dramatic with the watercolor filter applied. 

 

The pink one in the birdbath still looks pretty good, too, especially when edited to look like a watercolor painting. 

 

The wagon out in front of the house is suffering from serious neglect, but I rather like the wild look.  All the vines, etc. have come up as volunteers. 

 

You can tell by the walnut tree that summer is almost over.  Most of the leaves have fallen off already and the nuts are starting to fall.  This tree, in our yard, is loaded with nuts this year.  Plenty of food for the squirrels.  The nuts should be really good, too, since we had plenty of rain. 

 

It was late this evening when I went outside with my camera.  The sun was already getting low in the sky.  Our sycamore trees had a lot of these seed pods on them this year.  They are really weird looking. 

I made chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight.  Yum, yum.  It is one of my favorite chicken dishes.  We still have some fresh green beans from our pole beans, and a few tomatoes.  I ate an apple for dessert, but it wasn't as good as I expected.  I've got to remember to look for some locally grown fresh apples from this season.  We should have planted an apple tree a long time ago, but we didn't want to have to spray it, etc. Have to see what I can find at the store. 

I wanted to go outside this evening to take some more pics and/or do some work on the flower beds, but it is still too hot.  Then I remembered that I still had some photos take I wanted to post, so decided to do that first and then see what if felt like outside. 

 

Here's how my rag quilted place mats are going.  I'm really going to like this set. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's another shot of my volunteer petunias.  Someone suggested that it looks like water color.  I think they are right.  I love the way the edges are just a shade lighter, like a border.  I also like the simple scalloped edges. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went out with my watering can late yesterday, then came along with my camera.  These dark red day lilies are beautiful this year.  Most be all the rain we have gotten so far.  They are huge, too. 

 

I had taken the photo of the day lilies with my tripod.  When I walked over to the garden, I snapped the camera off and took this one hand held.  Then just to see if I could tell the difference, I snapped the camera back on the tripod and took another shot.  See if you can tell the difference. 

 

 

Left the camera on the tripod and went over to the row of zinnias.  My batteries were dying, so I couldn't preview an of my shots.  My screen was blank, so I really was shooting from the hip.  Here is one of my zinnia shots.

 

 

I've always loved night time photography, but never could hold the camera still enough to get a decent shot.  Went out about 9:00 pm last night and got this shot of the moon.  It isn't perfect, but it's by far the best I've ever done. 

Another hot day out here in the country.  This photo is from early this morning.  We had watered the garden last night and I turned the hose on the flower bed this morning.  I have never had much luck taking photographs of water, but I took my tripod out and gave it a try anyway.  I tried different manual settings, but like this one taken on auto best.  Too many things going on for me to figure out.  The hydrant leaks like a seive so water was flying everywhere. 

I've been working on the computer all day, downloading photos, etc.  Too hot to do anything outside. 

It feels like Monday today because it is the first day I have worked since Sunday.  I finished up some projects around the house yesterday, paid bills, balance the checkbook, did laundry, etc.  I also hemmed a dress for my youngest daugher and started working on a baby bib.  I didn't go outside to take pictures until about 8:00 pm.  That is the magical time of day around here.  Here are a couple of my pink iris. 

 

 

I haven't been outside to take any photographs now for several days.  I took this one at the end of October, just after our first killing frost.  This is a true shooting from the hip shot.  I just leaned over and pushed the shutter.  The cosmos had seen better days. 

It is cloudy and cold here again today.  I need to go put another piece of wood on the fire. 

I'm finishing up another table runner.  It will be my first runner that I have actually sewn squares together and quilted traditionally, even if it is all by machine.  I was just trying to use up some squares I had cut for another project, then not used.  If I get busy, I will finish it today! 

 

I took this shot on Thursday at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  It looks like it was very cold, but it was actually quite balmy.  About 60 degrees, although the wind was chilly.  I didn't put on a jacket, so I didn't stay out very long. 

It is very cold today.  Just a little above freezing.  Cloudy and windy, too.  I'm glad we don't have to depend on me to put meat on the table.  I may not even go out to take pictures.  I did walk out to the shed this morning without a coat, but I had on a sweatshirt. 

All of our deer  hunters will more than likely be in for lunch soon, so I put on a big pot of soup.  Think I'll make a frozen pizza, too.  The soup was frozen, so it's not like I'm going through a lot of work.  Don't do that any more either! 

I did finish a table runner on Thursday.  Didn't get pictures taken until this morning.  I'll try to post some later. 

It is heavily overcast today, but the sun did peak out when I went out with my camera.  Decided to work a little bit more on the shoes and geraniums composition.  This time I turned the boots around so the sun would hit the toes.  They do have a lot of character! 

I have the day off today, so it's the usual Saturday stuff:  water the plants, do the laundry, pay the bills, etc.  I'm also washing a couple to throw rugs.

Did take my camera with me one morning this week before all the leaves blew off the trees.  This was taken at my neighbors house.  Her bush has smaller leaves than mine do.

 

Hi, Everyone!  Sorry I have been away so long.  I had to go in to work on Saturday because someone called in sick.  I got to decorate my first wedding cake.  It wasn't perfect, but it did look nice. 

I did decorate a cake last night that I am really proud of.  It was a chocolate cake and I put chocolate icing on it, then decorated it with chocolate stems and leaves.  I used leaves for a border around the top instead of the traditional borders.  It was quite elegant. 

I also did a free hand flag that I like, too.  I didn't try to make it look exactly like a flag, just close enough that when you looked at it, you got the message.  I took a cake with white icing, sprayed a corner blue then piped a few white stars.  Then I sprayed the rest red, but not a solid red.  It was more or less abstract stripes, then because the over spray didn't leave very much white, I took a bag of white icing with a small tip and added white lines in a free hand angled way.  It was easier to do than it is to describe! 

When I stepped out the door this  morning, the sun was shining on this geranium and my hubby's boots.

 

I have been trying all summer to take a perfect picture of these pink petunias.  I think this one is the best yet, and here it is the first week of November!  I put the planter up on the porch so it wouldn't freeze. 

I'm trying to come up with a good idea for a winter wedding cake?  Any suggestions?  We always have a wedding cake display, and they have ask me to come up with a new idea for this winter.  The one we have now is chocolate with fall leaves.  I would like to do pale blue with silver snow flakes, but we can't do silver, and snowflakes are really hard to make. 

 

This is the best color we have around our house.  I know what the name of the bush is, but I don't know how to spell it!  Look how green the grass still is.  It has clouded over already, so I'm not sure if I will get any more pictures or not.  I have some interesting seed pods that I'm trying to shot, but it is hard to get the right angle. 

I need to do laundry and such.  I have to work for three days straight beginning tomorrow.  I do get two days off in a row next week, including Sunday.  That hasn't happened since the first weekend of September!  Need to do some quilting today, too, and upload some more pictures to iStock. 

Later! 

This white cosmos is a volunteer that came up in the rocks around the wagon that is out in our front yard.  You can see what used to be the front of our house in the background. 

 

This hot pink cosmos is down by the lake.  The sun was so bright today that I had to use my viewfinder to frame my shots, and I kept cutting off the tops of everything. 

 

Can you believe how green everything still is?  It's the third week of October! 

 

This bush at the corner of the house is starting to get some red leaves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went out looking for praying mantis egg cases, but this is all I found.  Don't know what it is.  Does anyone else?  It is hard and firmly attached to the tree. 

Hubby went down to help our youngest son finish up some details on the new deck he added to his house this summer. 

I did some laundry and more house cleaning than I have attempted in some time.  I dusted fans, moved out the couch and recliner, and brought down a bunch of cob webs.  We have really made a dent in our spider population. 

One day this week, hubby and his brother went down to the creek to pick up hedge apples.  Just about the same time that his brother made the comment that it would be painful if one of them fell off the tree and hit you in the head....  You guessed it!  One of them fell off the tree and hit hubby smack on the top of the head and knocked him to the ground!  The smallest ones where the size of large grapefruit, and they were heavy!  I should have taken some pictures.  They are huge. 

I made some more apple muffins this afternoon.  I just can't seem to get enough of them.  Also made tuna salad for supper to go on Health Nut bread from Brownberry.  It was good, and I have enough left to take a sandwich to work for lunch tomorrow. 

I still have one more project to finish tonight.  I have to put together a clip art picture that has both frogs and a sheriff's badge.  How's that for a cake decoration!  We have just about everything you can think of, except frogs and sheriff's badges.  I'm going to take some extra frogs because we get requests for frogs every once in awhile.  If I really knew what I was doing, I'm sure I could click and drag the clip art onto one document and print it out, but I'm going to have to do it the old fashioned way.  Cut out the frogs, etc, and tape them onto a sheet of paper and make a copy. 

I would like to watch the Mizzou game, but they are getting beat big time, so I may pass.  I have to work tomorrow, so I can't stay up too late anyway. 

I'm not sure how I took this picture.  I looks like a double exposure.  I took it on Sunday morning while I was taking the sunrise shots.  I must have moved the camera while I had the camera set on a slow shutter speed. 

I have been doing laundry and other chores today.  It is cloudy and cool today.  It finally feels like summer is over.  I need to do some more work in the yard, but I'm not sure it will get done. I would have to put on a jacket and shoes! 

I'm making navy bean soup for supper.  I'm going to make corn muffins, too.  I think I'll make some more apple muffins, too.  They are nice to take to work. 

I bought a card reader for my old computer so my sister in law could preview her pictures from her new digital camera.  I think I have figured out how to download the driver onto my computer, then transfer it to a disc so I can load it on my old computer, but I don't have any writeable CDs.  I need to do the same thing with my old printer.  It still worked great.  I just need to install the drivers again.  I would think I would have them on a CD, because I had the computer before I got hooked up to the internet.   Guess I'll have to do some more looking. 

My daughter in Houston called this morning.  She is looking for someone to watch they kids so they can go skiing in January.  I'm going to see if I can get off work for a week.  January sounds like the right time of year to be in Houston!