Grey barns…

Here are a couple more of the barns Carrie and I saw on our trip out to western Massachusetts…

Linking to Bluff Area Daily's BARN CHARM.

Hunting…

I found the prompts for this week (paint, green, eyelashes, shapes and clouds) particularly challenging, but I managed to come up with something for every one.

PAINT:  My medium has always been fabric and thread.  In my case, these are paint.

GREEN:  Until yesterday we have had very little rain this summer so it is a wonder that I found this very green field to photograph.

EYELASHES:  My son Evan was kind enough to let me take a few pics of his eyes to use for the eyelashes prompt.

SHAPES:  Since I was a kid, I’ve liked working jigsaw puzzles.  While I had cats, I couldn’t manage to keep them from stealing and hiding pieces so I gave it up for a while.  Remind me some day to tell you about the LEGO castle my son and I built together that my cat Asta took apart piece by piece.  Asta was also famous for carrying around Barbie doll heads and dropping them where ever she thought they would create the most drama.  Now that I don’t have any cats, I can work puzzles in peace and if there were still Barbies around here, they would be safe.  I’d rather have cats actually.

CLOUDS:  We had some pretty gorgeous and dramatic clouds drifting in and out of New England this week.  

Linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday @ www.ashleysisk.com

Fences in Western Massachusetts…

A couple of fences from our ride out in the country.

Linking to Friday's Fences.

Compare and contrast…

So my daughter Carrie and I went out for a ride in the country last Friday afternoon.  We saw the same things and took many of the same pictures.  I thought it would be interesting to see how we see the same things differently.

Mine

Carrie's

Mine

Mine

Carrie's

Carrie's

Mine

Carrie's

I think the kid is a terrific photographer.  Click HERE for a link to her flickr site.

Yellow barn…

I’ve been feeling completely uninspired lately.  So to help me out of my funk, I went out to visit my daughter Carrie and we went for a ride out in the country in Western Massachusetts.  On our ride, we came across this gorgeous yellow barn on a back road.

  Riding the back roads in the country is a sure way to get inspiration.

"1900 Clesson Valley Farm"

Linking to Bluff Area Daily's Barn Charm.

Fun with Feathers…

There have been a lot of crows hanging around in our yard lately.  Murders of them.  But every time I get my camera out, they laugh at me in the way they do and fly away.  But they have left a few feathers around and I grabbed one for last Sunday’s Scavenger Hunt because I thought the prompt was “light” and what is lighter than a feather??  Well, the prompt was actually “eight” so I have a bunch of feather pictures (more than eight actually) that I didn’t ultimately need.  But I liked them so I decided to mess with them and this is what I came up with.

This is my new "Cover photo" on Facebook.  I think it's apropos considering the things people say on Facebook.

Drive-by shootings: A study in contrasts…

Here are a couple of barns I shot last month while driving through Ohio.  Obviously one has seen better days and the other is in pretty good shape.

Linking to Bluff Area Daily’s Barn Charm.

Sunday’s Scavenger Hunt…

I just got back from a quick weekend at Lake George, New York, with my husband Greg and his biker friends.  Nice people, nice time.  We went on a boat ride on Lake George on the Steamer Mohican, which was put into action on the lake in 1908.  Perfect for my first pic.

WATER:

PETAL:

FRESH:  I will admit reaching into my archives for this photo.  I just didn’t have time to come up with anything.  Besides, it has been so blasted hot around here that nothing is really fresh.

LIGHT:    Well, it wasn’t until I looked at some of the other entries for this week’s Hunt that I realized that I copied down the wrong word.  It’s EIGHT, not LIGHT.  So I am putting two photos here.  The first one is LIGHT and the second (again into the archives) is EIGHT.

CALM:  Hoping you all have a nice, calm week ahead.

Linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday. 

Friday the 13th fence…

Here’s my fence for Friday’s Fences.  Perhaps it seems kind of apropos, it being Friday the 13th, that it is a fence that must have been around something back in the day but now is just standing there with nothing to do.  What happened to the farm that went with it?

I also want to take a minute to wish my beautiful daughter Carrie happy 28^th birthday.  It was on a Friday the 13^th 28 years ago that she was born.  Never mind that she was due on June 21.  She had to wait until the proper time.  Since then, Friday the 13^th has been a special and happy day for me.  Happy birthday, Carrie!  I am so proud that you are the generous, kind, loving and creative person you have become.

Carrie these days.

Carrie a few years ago.  She was precocious but she really couldn't read yet.  At least I don't think she could.

Linking to Friday's Fences.

Late Entry Barns…

I got carried away watching Prince Fielder win the Home Run Derby tonight and forgot all about adding my barns to Barn Charm.  But it’s not too late so here they are.  Some more of the barns I picked up on our recent trip to Ohio.  Sleep tight, you all!

Linking to Bluff Area Daily's BARN CHARM.

The fourth was the seventh this year…

There is a longstanding tradition in our neighborhood.  Every Fourth of July we have a large party.  The day starts with a Fishing Derby at 7 am, followed by a Road Race at 8am.  Then at 10 am there is a parade and we all walk down to the beach, sing the national anthem, pass out prizes for Best Float, Best Costume, etc. and get on to field and water games, a raffle and most importantly partying.  It’s a long, fun and tiring day.

When the Fourth is on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it is easy to figure out what day to schedule the party and the rain date, but with the Fourth being on a Wednesday this year, the decision was made to have the party on the Seventh.  The weather was not the best.  It was hot and uncomfortably muggy with intermittent rain showers.  But we’ve seen worse.  So while many of us (including yours truly) complained about the weather, we were also glad that we weren’t sitting in mud up to our ankles or despairing when our tents blew away.  In general, it’s always a terrific day getting to see neighbors we don’t get a chance to see often enough, meeting newcomers to the hood and catching up with our old, good friends.

Jimmy Egan, our Grand Marshall!

Winner:  Best Bike Decoration

Winner:  Best Adult Costumes (or lack thereof).  A tribute to the USA Olympic Swim Team.

Winner:  Best Float

Detail of Best Float.  Love those Gatorade fish.

Au courant:  The latest in Fourth of July fashion.

Our adorable raffle helpers, Charla and Emma.