Ignoring the Rules

"They" say you should not paint or photograph a gate that is closed. "They" say it sends a message...stay out!...and effectively blocks your eye from travelling through the space.

I am quite certain that is the message the owner of this property was sending.

While I did ignore the artistic rule, I had no problem complying with the owners implied wishes. I thought the scene on my side of the gate was very pretty, indeed.

Childhood Memories

When I was a small child, we lived in a neighborhood with rather small houses and yards. We could walk through it fairly quickly and safely, which we did quite often. One of our neighbors a few streets over lived on a corner lot and planted their front and side yard solid with these beautiful Red Corn Poppy flowers. I still remember them today.

The Red Corn Poppy has escaped cultivation in Texas. When seen along roadsides and highways as well as in fields, it displays a profusion of brilliant red. I bought some seeds at the Wildseed Farm near Fredericsburg, Texas and plan to plant them this fall in my backyard.

This photo was taken on our excursion through the Hill Country in search of wild flowers.

Bouffant Hairstyles and Mini Skirts

Does anyone remember them?

My husband has been busy the last few days building organizer systems for both our closets. In the process, he found some old photos he had tucked away. This one was taken on our honeymoon in New Orleans.

Fabric Painting

My beginner's fabric painting class painted this piece right before
Christmas. I painted the sample on a T-shirt because my daughter wanted the shirt to wear after my class was over. Some of the students painted theirs on light colored shirts. One student painted a grouping of these all over a table runner for her Grandmother for her birthday. I painted the demo in class on a square of bleached muslim which I later made into a pillow to be displayed at Christmas. We all had a great time.

The Making of a Traditional

When I was little my Granny used to make homemade noodles every year for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner. When I got old enough, she taught me how to make them, and I have carried on the tradition. They are very easy to make and really quite yummy so I don't mind. Besides, I just know that if I skip making them my nose will fall off. And, truth be told, I am a sucker for traditions.

When my Granddaughters got old enough to hold a rolling pin, I started teaching them how to roll the noodles out. They are now 7 and 9 and have literally helped since they were each old enough to stand in a chair and roll. Next year, we start learning how to make the dough. But, I digress.....

Their Mother has learned to make them as well and does a very good job for the Christmas dinner. I still do them for Thanksgiving, and the girls make a special visit just to make the noodles. As we were rolling them out this year, the girls started talking about how they were making a traditional....My "Granny" taught me to make them. Their "Granny" is teaching them to make them and, to keep the traditional going, how they will teach their grandkids.

That's a long way off and times change. I don't know if they will. I do know that the memories of time spent with their whole family is the real traditional and that they will pass on.

P.S. I get really sappy this time of the year.

If you look carefully, you can see that she has finished rolling out her noodles and is now studying the properties of flour.

She has not started rolling hers yet. She's working up her mojo.

Rooster and Poppy Bowl

Bowl painted with fired ceramic colors.

Fall is a wonderful time of the year

Certainly in the Tetons.

Aren't They Beautiful?

What more is there to say? This was taken along Mormon's Row.

Isn't she sweet?

We saw her on one of our many drives through the Montana/Wyoming countryside.

Sand Bath

There were herds and herds of buffalo around the Tetons. Mostly, they just stood there eating grass. They were fun to watch, but a little action at times was appreciated.

Mmmmm, Supper

We were visiting the Tetons and stumbled on this black bear feasting on an elk.
She/He didn't look like he was going to invite us to dinner.

What fun

We were camping in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was during the fall, and the weather was beautiful. There was a Dairy Queen in town. We would drive in to town, get a dipped cone then pull into a picnic area to watch the ducks. My husband wants to know if I have ever take a "normal" picture of a duck. I think they are so funny.

BTW, he is the one with the rubber ducky collection.

Oxbow Bend

The Grand Tetons are magnificent! There is no doubt about it.

A Common Sight

The buffalo must really like the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. You could always be assured to see one near the springs. Sometimes it appeared to be the same one in the exact same spot.

Good Morning

I have seen a ton of coyotes. Living in the country, I have gone to sleep listening to their yipping many nights. I had never seen one actually howling. This one was walking through some tall grass in Yellowstone National Park and decided to howl for us. I think it was saying good morning.

Move, I am coming through!

I had a telephoto lens on my camera. Once it came out of the woods, it ran so fast and came so close that I could not get a shot of anything but its head.

Get out of my Way

We were in Yellowstone National Park when this grizzly came out of the woods. It wasn't going to be deterred. It thought it owned the park! :) Imagine that!

Female Elk

This is the cause of all the ruckus.

Bull Elk

Elk rutting season in Yellowstone National Park. It was amazing to sit and listen to them bugle.

Allie's Playtime

This was a small but beautiful, stream fed pond close to our camp. Allie wasn't used to being confined to only certain areas to play. We would take her to this pond so that she could run around where ever she wanted. She still had to stay on her lease, which meant we got to run around also, but she enjoyed it. She loves water and pulled my husband into the stream that feeds the pond before he even knew what she was going to do. They both got wet.☺

All work and no play...

These were just playing out in the field.

Tools of the Trade

I taught hobby ceramic techniques for a particular ceramic color manufacturer. The owner of the company requested a project depicting a "garden" theme. This was painted on ceramic tile bisque with fired ceramic products then glazed with a clear gloss glaze. I had all the props necessary to set up a still-life but I had to make the sunbonnet so that I had something to use as a model.

Handpainted on bisque with fired underglazes...hand modeled clay embellishments

Bluebonnet Vase

The Texas state flower. Tube-lined (outlined and detailed with a dimensional paste) on a matte glaze surface then painted with matte glazes.

One and Down

One and Down...I am refering to Texas wildflowers that are 1 inch or smaller. I am surprised at how many there are, and how complex they are when magnified large enough to see the details.

Just a swangin',

This little gal had built her web between two branches of the Mexican Plum trees. She was just a swangin' in the breeze and appeared to be loving every minute of it.

Mmmmm....

Lunch. Isn't that the cutest bee!!?

The Epitome of Spring

The wild Mexican Plums are starting to bloom. These, along with Forsynthia, Bradford Pear, and Redbud trees, are some of the first plants to bloom in the spring. Add in the bees and the sounds of the Texas Toads and you know spring is well on the way. The weather has been simply gorgeous.

If...

He keeps coming back and sticking around for awhile, I am bound to eventually get the photograph I have visualized.

Mrs. Cardinal

While the female is certainly not as flamboyant as her male counterpart, she is pretty nevertheless. A beautiful golden tan. I wish she had been standing on the end of an outside branch. It would have made for a better background. Oh well! Picky! Picky! The weather is getting nicer and Ihexpect to see them more and more. If the wind would just stop blowing so hard.....

Hibiscus

Tube lined and painted on bisque with fired ceramic colors.

They are also back...

As spring gets closer and the weather gets nicer, more and more of our "staple" birds are making an appearance. These small birds are really pretty.

He's not been back....

This is just a different version. This is also one of the reasons I like living away from the city. It is a shame that the city is moving to us.

A little early...

We have a confused peach tree. It's not a variety suitable for our area regardless of the what the tag said. It's a variety for a warmer climate. As a result, it starts to bloom very early in the year, and the fruit always gets killed by a freeze. But, the bees enjoy it and I enjoy the bees.

It's a girl!

At the moment we have red-winged blackbirds infiltrating our feeders in rather large numbers. Still, this is the only photo I've been able to get so far. It is a female red-winged blackbird. I still want photos of the males. I think they are pretty even if they are eating us out of house and home.

They're just so cute...

Here is another shot of the Carolina Chickadee. They are just so cute, I can't resist trying to photograph them. This time he just sat there while I took this shot. A rarity indeed.

They're here again...

Early last fall the cardinals seemed to disappear. We would spot one only occasionally. We were used to seeing several males and twice as many females. Since they are usually around, even during the fall and winter months, we were getting concerned. Maybe they were here all along but just not particularly active. I don't know which, but they are back. Since this is one of my favorite birds, I am delighted to see more of them again.

Another pose...

This particular day he came to the tree several times. This is the only other image I was able to take. Most of the time he stayed behind the branches even more than in this shot.

It's a start...

I have been trying to get a good picture of this guy for a long time. Usually he flies in and out so fast that I can't get a shot. Sometimes he will stay and play, but I never have my camera when he does. He stayed around for a little longer on this day but still was pretty quick to leave.

I promised myself...

I have tried for a couple of years to get a decent photograph of these tiny, tiny birds. With the equipment I had up until now, I had to do a lot of cropping just to be able to see the bird. The resulting image was not the best. I finally purchased a lens that will help me to achieve that goal. I think it is a good start.

Oh, yes!!

It's THE FAUCET again. I am still, unjustifiably, enamoured with it. I applied a technique to this image that gives it an old-time feel to me. Maybe that's what I like about it. It just looks homey.

Meet Cat

Last year a momma raccoon started bringing her babies to the porch so they could eat out of the cat's bowl. We, Papa, Granny, Aunt Chel, and the 2 granddaughters, used to peek out the glass in the storm door to watch while arranging ourselves in a stairstep fashion so we could all see. The raccoons probably enjoyed our antics as much as we enjoyed theirs but they were more leery of us than we were of them. They would never have let me out to photograph them.
This year we have not seen the momma, but at least one (and we think more) still comes to the porch to eat. This one is not as leery as he once was and does not seem to mind my stepping out on the porch to take his picture while he is enjoying his dinner.
We named him CAT!

Update: One night we went to look out at the raccoons..stairstep fashion as usual. Imagine our suprise when we saw they were standing on the porch on their hindlegs staring into the door at us.

A Small Thing...

When I turned the back porch light on, I noticed the icicles. I went inside to get my camera. By the time I got back, the heat from the light had started to melt the ice on the reflector. The water rolled down the icicles and I caught this drop just as it left the tip of one of them.

The same day

This photo was taken the same day as Ice Glow and was also featured on our local Fox News channel's website.

What a difference....

a day makes. Or, for that matter, a few minutes. On Friday, when my granddaughters and I were taking my daughter to work, it was 65 degrees outside. On the way home the cold front rolled in, literally, and the temperature dropped to 50 degrees in a matter of seconds. By the time we got home it was 46 degrees. It had dropped almost 20 degrees in a couple of miles. The next day, this is what it looked like.
Our local Fox 4 weather station was asking people to send in their photos of the weather. They featured this one and another one on their website and showed them on TV during their weather forecasts.

WARNING!!

With all the opportunities for excessive eating and drinking that many of us are exposed to this time of year; then the mad dash to get any weight gain quickly under control after the New Year, I just wanted to warn you that...
Exercise:

Can kill you:

How Close?

We finally got away for a few days. Lake Livingston State Park, in East Texas, is a really nice park. The squirrels are abundant and friendly...obviously used to people. This one climbed up on the picnic table when he realized I had some peanuts.

Last Stand?

The weather is going to be changing soon. (I hope) I guess they know it because they are out working the flowers that have appeared after the recent rains.