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Sunday, September 21, 2008

More Photo Fun

I've been busy taxiing Mandy and Amber around (as you can see they are not children any longer) and have 5 of the 6 giant 9 patches done for greatgrandson Brendon's quilt, but haven't found a suitable fabric for the lattice stripes locally. I've done some searching online but haven't found just the right yellow fabric yet. I had hoped to match the yellow center block fabric, but I'm afraid it isn't available any longer. I have to travel to La Junta on some business for my Mom and will stop at The Stitcher's Garden in Pueblo to see what they have in stock.




I've had a couple of days when the fall weather, colors and clouds (and rainbows) got me excited about taking photos again. I am seriously researching for a camera that will do more of what I want; as much as I love my little Canon Elph, I'm afraid I've outgrown it. I need more pixels and quite a bit of optical zoom. I love the results that I've seen from digital single lens reflex cameras, but they seem a little complicated for where I am at this point. I think I will probably work my way up by going with a Canon Power Shot until I outgrow that.


I always love the look of the mown hay in windrows to dry it so it can be bailed and stacked. The red tractor was perfect with the red woodbine leaves and green hay.



[Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them so you can see the details better.]




Aren't these red stems and purple berries on the woodbine (also known as Virginia Creeper) great against the still green leaves?



The grass hay, and sometimes alfalfa, grows well on the lowlands between the Arkansas River and the dry prairie bluffs. I am very drawn to the lush green areas in dry climates. The contrast is visually exciting and also makes for good birdwatching. Here we have numerous native plants and grasses, as well as red Woodbine, growing in front of cattails in a wet section along the fence next to the road.


Here is a natural garden with a sculptural weathered stump in the fenceline gate corner of the pasture where the hay was being mowed. The white flowers are some type of wild aster that my brother and I have always called Ironweed because when we tried to break off branches for bouquets for Mom, the stems were too tough to break. Now I know I have to cut them with garden shears. I'd love to get a clump of this native plant growing in my mini prairie.



A rainbow in an ominous black cloud that was full of rumbling and lightning and dropped copious amounts of water on us for about 10 minutes.

4 comments:

Sandra said...

Beautiful photos, Fran, whatever camera you use. I use a Fuji Finepix camera - fixed 10x zoom lens, not SLR, and 5.1 megapixels. It is fully automatic, but also has several manual features if I want to use them. It is my second Fuji Finepix and I have liked them both a lot for different reasons.

Jen said...

Such nice photos, Fran. You live in a truly lovely place. Jen

laura west kong said...

As always, such beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing them.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos--you have a good eye. I agree, you need a new camera. I am looking at the Canon Rebel XTi. I've asked Santa for it. The P&S cameras are great for your purse, but when you want to shoot some serious photo, you need an SLR. Go for it.