Follow > this Link < to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

The challenge beginning October 29, 2010 is:

“Beautiful Views”
suggested by me:  PhotoGraphics

 

The world is a beautiful place in spite of how man attempts to ruin it.  Each and every part of it has something unique to offer in the way of beautiful views, some are grand and some are less demanding of notice.  Here in Ohio, USA, there are wonderful hills and valleys, beautiful parks, caverns, expansive farmland, rivers, lakes, smaller branches and many a blue sky, lots of snow in the north and rain when it chooses to come.  John and I travel within Ohio’s borders most of the time but on occassion we leave Ohio for Illinois crossing the state of Indiana and sometimes during holidays we drive south to Virginia to visit our daughter.  Photos for this challenge are from our most recent trip to my sister’s home in Rockford, Illinois, taken on the road to, from and during our stay there October 2010. 

It’s fall and leaves are changing and farmlands are golden browns.

Photos
Click on them to see larger.

1- I can get excited about a view even if it isn’t of a recognized landmark.  I saw this view from the distance and thought all the colors were the makings of a beautiful view.

 

 

2-  I take a lot of farmland photos.  The tilled soil or growing crops are always amazing to me and silos always set a farmland photo off.  Beautiful views are, of course, in the eye of the beholder but to me, this stretch of tilled land I saw in the distance, was a really beautiful view.

 

 

3-  Bunny always likes to take us on drives of the surrounding countryside and to spots she and Dan enjoy going to.  This particular image is on the return trip from visiting an Amish store and the Amish builder of her potting shed.  I thought the image was beautiful on 4 different levels, 1- its a really beautiful sunshiny day, 2- the bike riders are enjoying themselves on their drive to view the sites, 3- the fall foliage is colorful in this spot and screaming for attention and 4- there are men at work, something a bit scarce in some sectors of the population U.S.A. due to major stupidity by politicals in charge.

 

 

4-  This is a portion of an image.  I love trees, fall, greens and browns and golds and so, in my mind, this is a particularly beautiful view.

 

 

5-  In the fall the drives everywhere are colored with the crowns of Autumn.  You can’t help but notice the views if you are awake during the drive.  This beautiful view repeats itself over and over during our fall drives whether it’s in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois or the balance of the 50 states especially in the eastern portion of the country.

 

 

6-  Another parcel of land turned over before winter sets in.  I love the soft browns that show up at this time of the year making nearly all views, beautiful views.

 

 

7-  I never visit my sister without stopping to see the windmills.  This photo is on the drive to Rockford taken as we drove, October 5, 2010.  They are so amazing and to see them with the geese who were flying over was especially beautiful.  What you see is a combination of a flight that has been going on for thousands of years and the coming back in popularity of an innovation that has been being ignored, windmills and windpower.  Illinois has been developing some really wonderful wind farms and I feel a thrill everytime I see them in operation.  If windpower, solar power and waterpower were harnessed across this country as they should be, not wasted but done in a manner protecting the natural resources around them we could eliminate so much of our dependence on oil.  I would call that a blessing and the photo a beautiful view.

 

 

8- This photo is from the actual visit to the windfarm on October 16, 2010, on our drive back home.  I have never talked with anyone on the property.  Someday I will to tell them how amazing I think windmills are and how beautiful I think the views are everytime I get to see them..

 

Have a great week everyone and thanks always for visits and comments.

 

 

Follow > this Link < to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

The challenge beginning October 15, 2010 is:

“KeyChains”
suggested by:  Chatamanda

 

Keychains are something I’ve never collected.  I do have two sets of keys on keychains.  Because I drive and need to access different doors, I carry both, regularly.  I lost a keychain once.  If it had landed on my toe it would have broken it.  I think that is why I’ve never gotten over the loss as it was so big I still can’t figure just how I lost it and this was years and years ago.

A photo of my only sets of keys on keychains.

1-  My keys are of more importance than my keychain.  The leather keychain is about 45 or more years old.  I made it years ago when first playing with leather.  As you can tell I’m not the most careless when it comes to misplacing things.  I imagine there are not a lot of people with keychains of that age in their pockets.  Both of my chains have tape measures on them and I also carry a small pocket knife and a multi tool that has tiny scissors etc on it.  I figure you never know when you may need to be snipping away on something or other.

A Photo Story: 

“The Key to a Chain of Events” 

My sister was with us for about two weeks.  The arrangement we made was she came here for a while then we would drive her back home and stay for a while.  The key to the visit is in the photo above, she had something she was excited about that she wanted us to see.  So, when we took Bunny back home we got out the camera the next morning and visited her domain in back of her house and also at the side.  She had designed a potting shed that she had built on the side of her house where there had been a huge willow tree that was destroyed by lightning.  The potting shed is something she has wanted for a long time and the tree being hit was the clue that it was time for the shed.  The photos run in a circle inside the shed and I forgot to take one of the door from the inside.  The Outside is finished but the inside is still a project in the works.  It really is nice.  I could love having one myself.

An from the outside look sort of tells you where I was standing in her lovely sanctuary.  It’s a heavenly spot full of flowers and fruit trees and a vegetable garden in the back.  There are bird houses and feeders all around and birds are plentiful.  It all sits in a sub division filled with little homes and lots of children but its very private and the potting shed makes the spot even more personal.

I mentioned the above was the “key” and so it was, to the chain of events which always follows a visit with Bunny.  We ate out, shopped favorite spots, took a train ride into Chicago (I’ve never been on a train before) took hundreds of photos of farms and farmland, clouds and shady spots, windmills (a favorite photo target) and even people.  It was a nice time.  I hope to do it again.

I am aware there are serious keychain collectors in the world.  Here is a major link that may be of interest:  Keychain Collectors International Home

I hope everyone in Xangaland is well.  Thanks for any visits or comments.

 

Follow > this Link < to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

The challenge beginning October 15, 2010 is:

“Backgrounds”
suggested by:   WhatAWonderfulNewWorld

 

I try to pick and choose my photo backgrounds.  Because so many of my photos are taken while driving, the light isn’t always great as it’s affected by the direction we are going.  I try to feel the light out with several photos then use the best direction for light so my photos may be taken from the left side of the road as opposed to the right.  Sometimes the best light is behind us creating a problem as I don’t sit in a swivel seat and nearly have to break my neck to get a shot from behind us and by the time I get turned around the photo op is gone.  As a road twists or turns or atmosphere around us (trees, hills, clouds etc) changes the light changes so I have to keep on top of changing settings.  What I do is the same as any other photographer does, I just have to make a faster decision and I don’t get a lot of what I aim for.  My sister spent two weeks with us and we drove her back to her home and spent 11 days there.  It’s been very dry and sunny so we were out a lot.  I have about 12 gigs of new photos.  This entry includes images taken while on the last leg of the drive to Bunny’s home on September 5, 2010 and a couple from the next day.

My Photos

1-  As you can see, the day was sunny.  We traveled from Cincinnati, Ohio to Rockford, Illinois and the direction traveled is North West.  The time of day the photo above was taken was 7:13 p.m. eastern standard time and we are and have been driving in farming areas from Ohio into Indiana and into Illinois and are nearing our destination.  Illinois has some really beautiful farming communiites and as it’s fall the fields are golden and many have been harvested and the earth retilled for the next year.  The sun is sinking in the west and the shadow of our car appeared and drove along beside us for many of our remaining miles.  The fields made a good BACKGROUND for it.   

 

2-  This photo was taken at 7:33 p.m. eastern standard time  The light wasn’t the best and the speed of my camera was too slow but with a little enhancement I pulled from the image what I enjoyed seeing.  The colors caught my eye before we got to the point and I think the highway wall makes a good BACKGROUND for showing off the fall colors in grass and leaves. 

 

 

3-  Our exit and the time is 7:35 p.m eastern standard time.  We are glad to have made the drive in the light of day which is now fast fading but making a good BACKGROUND for anything encountered on the road. 

 

 

4-  7:49 p.m eastern standard time, only 15 minutes and the sky looks golden making an amazing BACKGROUND for the city lights.

 

 

5-  It’s 7:56 p.m. eastern standard time and I had to use some flash for this family photo, “the bear hug”.  Two weeks apart is a long time for some people.  Trees, though not seen well here, make good BACKGROUNDS for hugs.

 

 

6-  This is the next day, the 6th of September and we are out in Bunny’s back forty with two very happy dogs (Australian Terriers Sydney (behind) and Jax) who were glad to see the balance of family return home.  The gray brick makes a good BACKGROUND for the photo.

 

 

7-  Finalyzing my entry with this cast iron pig which sits in Bunny’s garden.  I moved him to get this background of red terra clay pot and red brick.  If I could I’d remove him to Cincinnati as I have a few pigs in my collection of dust catchers and he would be a welcome addition, minus the bits of dried debris I should have brushed from him before taking this photo.

I hope you enjoyed the views.  Thanks for visits and comments.  I do entries for all the challenges, catching up on any I miss when away or ???  You can find links (with names of each challenge)here:  http://photographics.xanga.com/tags/weeklyphotochallenge/

 

Follow > this Link < to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

The challenge beginning October 08, 2010 is:

“WATER”
suggested by:   Featherland

 

I love water, I drink it, cook with it, bath in it and I used to enjoy playing in it.  Our rainfall this season is down by a large percentage.  Leaves are dry and falling and the fall color is lacking but the cooler days have been, all in all, really beautiful.  We have done a bit of family visiting and enjoying drives to and from as there has been plenty of sunshine and next to no rain.  If I find myself feeling like I need a water fix we drive a few miles to the local lake to people/fisherman watch.  I do have birdbaths to play with and they need to be freshened everyday (to avoid mosquitos laying and hatching) and a rain chain (that remains pretty much quiet without rain) put in when we had installed a much needed new roof and gutters.  We had several really nice rainfalls to break the rainchain in but for now it sits and waits.  The plants and trees could really use the water.  

Photos

1-  Lake Isabelle is not far from us, about 3 miles.  We have fast food picnics there and sometimes we eat at their cook out.  It’s a nice place just to sit and take photos.

 

 

2-  Some of the fishermen use the rowboats and many fish from the shore.  We take advantage of it all by taking as many photos as we can and the lake looks different at any hour of the day and reflects the time of year in the ripples and sometimes in a glass like quiet.

 

 

3-  This is one of my birdbaths.  I have 5 around the yard.  You can’t soak your feet in it but the birds can and do.  You can see a bit of the rainchain behind the flowers on the right.  It hasn’t seen the amount of rain it should but it works well when the sky opens up.

 

 

4-  A close up of one link in the chain taken nearly right after its installation.  The roofers had problems with timing to work on the roof because we had so much rain.  The speed for this photo is 1/200 of a second to catch the drops flying.

 

 

5-  Another image at 1/15 a second.  The copper in the chain will eventually develop a patina that will meld into the background around it.  It’s a different way to enjoy the rain from your sitting area and WHEN it rains I take advantage of the view.

 

 

 

6-  This is just after getting the rainchain hooked up at about the right length.  It needs leveling out and finishing with plants but it gives a better idea of how it works.  It’s nice and wet and watery when its raining.

 

I always enjoy playing with my photos and the water challenge gave me something to do with my rainchain photos which seemed until now a bit useless.  Anyway, I enjoyed the fun. 

Thanks for your visits and any comments.  Have a great week.
  

 

 

Follow > this Link < to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

The challenge beginning October 01, 2010 is:

“Decorative Mugs”
suggested by:   Chatamanda

 

I have seen a lot of mugs much more collectible than those I have.  Most of mine are practical as I use them everyday for coffee or tea and I have a lot of them because I enjoy changing them with the seasons.   I do however collect mugs along with other glassware and pottery and have a shelf of assorted Disney and Looney Tune mugs and others.  My mom had a Toby mug I recall sitting in a window with a plant in it and I recall it as a piece I wish I had but as I don’t have it one of my sisters has given me a couple of reproduction Tobys and those sit along with what I call mud people mugs and another with a Norman Rockwell image I found in a used store or Goodwill. 

So, a few photos of some of my dustcatchers again.

1- 

This little cabinet sits in a little room we call a Christmas Room.  I do use them for ourselves and any company.  They are all inexpensive mugs made for the season and are great for coffee, tea, hot chocolate and more.  Besides being useful, they are fun.

 

2- 

This is a favorite I enjoy right at this time of year and so it worked well to use in this challenge.  My other half had to be leaving for a while the day of the photo as the phone is stuck into the handle.  I seldom use the phone, only if planned for a particular call and in this particular case he wanted me to notice it.

 

3- 

The pumpkin mugs in this image were a gift and we will use them off and on during the month of Halloween

.

4- 

The Toby and Norman Rockwell,  Neither have any tremendous value and the Toby possibly none.  I do like the Court Jester so try to protect him, dusting or washing carefully.  A lot of bother really but I enjoy the pieces as most were purchased in a beat the system way meaning thrift store or flea market.  It’s my favorite way to shop.

I know my collections will grow but more slowly than in the past.  My husband hopes so, anyway.

Have a super week, and thanks always for your visits and comments.