Number Two

#1- Look at how beautiful our sky was last night.... I did not do anything to this picture- the colors are true.



#2- Are you ready for the Mystery Photo Contest Answer?



Well, it IS number two! It's llama poop I found on Claire's farm! Lola Nova was the first one to answer and since she guessed the main ingredient I am picking her as the winner. I only told people to keep guessing for my own entertainment. I know- I suck.
I really thought that was going to be harder than it was.
Poop.
So Alex, let me know which print you would like and I will send it out with the others :)

Trophy

I just saw this on an old beat up truck at the grocery store and had to share...



I'm sure the owner is quite the prize himself.

Awesome.

I've Been Tagged!

My friend Claire tagged me for a photo Blog post the other day- I'm supposed to post the 6th picture in the 6th photo folder on my computer.

I have started collecting some pictures I'd like to try to sell on ETSY, so this is the 6th picture from my 6th folder called 'ETSY'.

I borrowed the quote from North Face, because I thought it fit perfectly with my discovery of this Rainbow Tree when I was in Hawaii.



And as I post this, I just realized that the phrase is probably copyrighted by North Face.... and I probably can't use it on prints I want to sell, right?

Shoot!

Another Mystery Photo Contest!

Ok, I am trying another mystery photo contest....
you can read about my last one HERE.
Should I call it 'Shot in the dark' or 'Shoot, what is it?'?

The winner gets an 8x12 print of their choice from any of my website, blog, or flickr photos.



Deadline for guesses will be Sunday at midnight.... Good Luck!

I'm hoping this one is a little harder than the car wash :)

Postcards From The Edge

A few weeks ago the dogs received a gift in the mail from New York, it was from their friend Penny the Chihuahua.

Banjo and Olive turned their noses up at it, but Pete thought it was great.

So I took a picture of Pete and the toy......



...then Pete wrote a thank you note on the back and we sent it to Penny. (We may not live in the South anymore, but my dogs will always have Southern manners.)



Several days later, Penny emailed us this picture of her reading the postcard from Pete.



OMG is that not the funniest thing ever??!! Or is it just me?

It almost makes me pee from laughing so hard.

Loopy.

I'm Melting!

I stood on the deck for a good 15 minutes last night,
hoping to get an awesome tornado picture.



And I waited.



I think I caught some lightening though.



Then the sun came back out.

My first Iowa tornado.

Hittin' The Bottle Again

Made ya look.

No, it's not a drunk post....but I did finally unpack my little bottles and display them in the window.



I'd forgotten how much I love looking at them!



And, I finished going through Claire's farm pics, and found a few more favorites...










So cute!

Ok, we are having a tornado watch right now so I guess I should turn this off and pay attention........

They're Back........

Um Yeah- they're back.
They're on the inside of the window too.



The dreaded Asian Lady Beetle.



I hate them!
Click HERE for my video of them last year.

Arrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

My Lips Are Sealed

Darrin has been working out of town for almost a week now.
Pete longingly stares out the window everyday.....wishing his daddy would come home soon.



Don't ya boy?



What's that Pete?



You DON'T want him to come home?



Because you're enjoying his side of the bed?



And power over the remote?



I don't blame ya.



Don't worry, I won't tell.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

It's the first day of Spring! I love you and welcome back!
Spring, in your honor I am going to change out the winter scene picture on my header today.



Goodbye beautiful snow pic, I'll sure miss you.

Um, yeah no- I won't.

PS: Thank You Bruce, because of your post I learned what a Vernal Equinox is!
(I had to Google it!)

Yesterday's Conclusion

...or Introduction rather.

I had been emailing with the Artist of Crying Little Girl, and he told me his Mural "Treasure Hunt" was in Granger, IA....Claire informed me that was not too far from her farm, Whispering Acres, so we decided to go check it out on the way.

Of course it was awesome!

Claire is standing next to the girl, just to give a size reference this time.







I love the etch-a-sketch in the chest!



As I took the next shot below, I literally moved to the left, because I thought the shovel was covering the letter 'B' on the map-so I thought if I moved I could see the whole word 'Buried'....it took my teenie brain a few seconds to process the fact that the shovel and shadow were both part of the mural.

AMAZING!!!!! I want to find more of these!



I guess all the excitement of seeing the Treasure Hunt made me speed a little, because not 2 minutes after leaving the Mural I got pulled over! OMG cops are killing me lately!



He commented that I was far from home (2.5 hours), and I told him I was visiting my friend Claire and that I had just been photographing The Treasure Hunt.....I guess knowing the name of it impressed him because he only gave me a warning.

Awesome!

I still have not been able to look through the hundreds of animal pics I took on Claire's farm yet, but as soon as I do I will post a link to them I promise. Here are just a few more for now though.











They were all SO CUTE!
Even the dog! Stigley? I can't spell.



And Claire gave me some eggs from her chickens :)



I am waiting for D to get back in town so we can cook up some 'Whispering Omelettes' together!

Claire, thanks again for everything!
I can't wait to visit again someday :)

To Whom It May Concern-

The animals of Whispering Acres are holding Diane hostage.
Send us $$$ or grain or shoelaces.



Then we will release her.



We aren't kidding around.



To Be Continued........

Happy Patty's Y'all

Today I thought I would share a couple of pictures that my friend Ed sent me. He is having way too much fun with a new Photoshop action that he just learned.

The first one is somewhere in south Georgia in 2006. I had NOT gotten a DUI, I just thought standing in front of the sign was funny. D, where were we?
On our way to the Rattlesnake Roundup or was it the Possum Hollow Festival?
Do you remember?



OMG the next one is AWESOME. It's D and me acting like complete idiots. Kind of like we do now, only this picture was taken in 1992 in Savannah- way back in the day when we were fun loving drinking buddies.

So in honor of Savannah and St. Pattie's Day, I give you......



US.

What whiskey will not cure, there is no cure for.
~ old Irish proverb

I AM Queen Of Mayberry!

A few weeks ago when I stumbled upon the ladies quilting at the Moorhead Cultural Center, they told me I should plan to attend the Annual 2009 Loess Hills Hospitality Association Meeting in Moorhead. They thought it would be a great way for me to meet some new people and learn more about the Loess Hills and artists and such. The meeting was last night and Darrin is in MO on a dive job, so I had to go by myself.

I did NOT know that it was a family style sit down dinner/auction/power point presentation on Iowa tourism.

So there I was in all my Mayberry Glory, wishing I knew just one person I could sit next to. But since that wasn't going to happen, I at least parked myself at the table with the best decorations.



After staring at my program for about 20 minutes because I was too shy to talk to anyone, I offered to walk around and take candid pics for the Board of Directors, because if I am taking pictures of people I don't feel lonely and embarrassed. They loved that idea. Thank God I had thrown my camera in the truck 'just in case'.



So I walked around and did my thing.



And had a pretty good time believe it or not.



I learned that this adorable couple owns the Country Homestead, which is the ONLY B&B in our little town of Turin.



And also experienced my first auction!



And I'm pissed that I didn't bid on this small Barn Quilt replica.



I really should have...Barn Quilts are all the rage right now. I love them.



And as if last night's excitement didn't crown me Queen of Mayberry, wait until what comes next.....a meeting this morning with 2 lovely ladies in charge of the Moorhead Cultural Center.

Guess who the new Program Director for 2009 will be?
You got it, Yours Truly.
The pay = peanuts but the opportunities will be priceless. I will be involved in a photography/literary exhibit plus 2 other art shows and tons of other things to inspire me......

Yes, I am SO Mayberry right now I can almost see Opie Taylor skipping down my driveway clutching a basket of homemade cookies.....sporting a big ole' grin and just dying to congratulate me on my new Mayberry job.

I LOVE IT!