Welcome to a new year

2012!

Here we are beginning anew and I'm so thankful to enjoy a gorgeous day this January 1st!

As a big leap forward (for me anyway) I decided to start a RedBubble account to offer some of my images to anyone who's interested. So far I have a whopping 3 photos for sale! LOL! There will be more, I promise. Believe it or not I'm already thinking about switching over to Society6. A few ladies I know are there, and seem to really like it, so I signed up to give it a shot.

I used to love photographing this old Apple tree. You can see my most recent photo here. I have several other images of the tree as well but at the moment can't find them. Never forget, organization is key, especially in photography : /

Recently while speaking with the son of the owner of this farm I mentioned how much I love this tree and I hope they didn't cut it down! Please don't cut it down! He said, 'Well, if it starts to die and make a mess it will probably go.' Phew! The tree was still alive and kicking' so it should be safe.

Wouldn't you know less than a week later it lay there on the ground in a heap. I felt such anger inside. It wasn't obstructing anything, and sat on the middle of a hill with a gorgeous sunset behind it almost every night. On the plus side I'm glad I photographed it multiple times. At least I have that.

Last but by far from least, I'd like to remember a couple bloggers we lost in 2011. If there's one thing I love about blogging it's the wonderful network of women we meet along the way. Women who have helped me out with my photography, become my internet friends, or given me inspiration. And there are some who just captivate you with the whole package. Char from Ramblins, and Sarah from the blog Spruce Hill were two such women. Losing the two of them was both shocking and sad. Both ladies remain in my thoughts and heart. I hope they know how much they are missed.

And how was your New Year? 

Gulls in the field

It's funny but when I was a kid I don't recall seeing Gulls, or as we always called them (and most people still do), 'Seagulls', anywhere but at the beach or the dump. Back then the landscape was so much more pristine without all the fast food joints. How I loath the the trash they spawn.

I'm not here to trash fast food restaurants, but that's usually what brings the mass amount of gulls inland. Another draw are cornfields.

This cornfield sits right next to Pete's Sugar Shack. Which by the way he was boiling syrup tonight as I drove by. There were quite a few cars there too! He picked a great spot next to a very busy road.

Anyway, in the spring the gulls come into the fields to eat the left over corn from last Fall. Huge flocks of gulls. This poor guy above was limping pretty badly but he looks healthy and could still fly.

It's a big line up. They all land at the same time in the same general area, and all take off at the same time.

I actually shot these images 2 years ago, about a month after I bought my camera. I'm hoping to get back this Spring when it finally warms up, and photograph the gulls once again.

Here we go!!!

Pretty cool, huh?

And these shots don't show even close to how many gulls there actually were.

* I don't know why but for some reason Blogger emailed out an old post of mine to subscribers this morning. The post was from December, titled 'At Rest'. I don't think that's ever happened before. Sorry!

Oxbow Farm

Another wonderful, old, local farm

In the past month or so I've taken very few photos. My photography mojo has been lacking due to all that's been going on in my life. Soooo, these photos are from last winter! Not that it really matters, right? Good, because I have a lot more images from the past two winters.

I had to take all these shots from my drivers seat as I stopped in, or on the side, of the road. No one has lived in the house for quite some time now so the driveway wasn't plowed. Not that I would EVER stop in someones driveway, get out and start shooting.

Just a week or so ago I drove by and noticed a SOLD sign out front. I do hope the new owners maintain the integrity of the farms history.

I think there may have been a few flakes on the lens

My two favorite shots, above and below. The red, the snow, the granite, the fence ... it's a perfect winters day. All we need are a few cows! Moooo!!!

Don't you wish you lived in New England? Maybe just for a day ; )

* I just have to say thank you for all your previous comments and words of encouragement. As I said in my previous post, January has not been that kind. Last Wednesday, in the middle of a major snow storm, we took my older daughter to see an ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist). This Thursday she will be having her tonsils out. They have been an issue in her mouth for at least a month now, but she has never had any pain which is the weirdest thing. After she has her tonsils removed the doctor is sending them for a biopsy to check for Lymphoma. He said it's a small chance, but it is a chance. We are thinking positive though!

So that's where my head it at right now. The drama never ends *sigh*

The Sweetest Days

Field and Farm Views

All of the following photos were taken in Strafford, NH. A wonderful old scenic New England town incorporated in 1820. It's actually just up the road a piece from where I grew up.

The reason I've been in Strafford is for work. It's about 45 minutes away from home which I don't care for. But tomorrow will probably be my last day.

The following pictures are of a beautiful field/driveway I found. I kind of wanted to play around and give the photos a 70's look but only one ended up that way. Each photo has different textures and actions applied. Don't ask what I used because I honestly couldn't remember at this point!

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I couldn't see a house anywhere in the field, but there is a number and mailbox at the end so someone must live up there!

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This week . . .

• the baby Chipping Sparrows next to the driveway fledged
• I found out the House Wrens in the Bluebird house have babies
• the sounds of Peepers were replaced by Crickets
• the Cardinals are bringing their new addition around to eat
  
• the Downey Woodpeckers are feeding the babies at the suet feeder constantly
  
• and the Orioles are going through grape jelly like no tomorrow!

What's new in your yard?

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This one was the only image I thought had a bit of a 70's faded feel, and it's probably the one I like best. Do you have a favorite?

For the past several days I've wanted to post but my laptop drives were so full it wouldn't let me even look at my photos, much less work on them in Photoshop. Yesterday my husband and I decided it was time to clean it out and take it back to factory settings.

I backed everything up, and my husband thought he did too. Email addresses, bookmarks, program files, document, pictures, the whole shebang.

Once my husband got the laptop up and running I realized my email addresses weren't where I thought they were. I found the folder but it was empty! Yikes! Luckily my husband copied the C drive onto the external hard drive. There, in my Recycle Bin, were duplicates of most of my email addresses. I had dumped them a few weeks ago because I accidentally duplicated them. Phew! Besides that, it's like I have a new computer! Everything runs fantastic! We should have done it a long time ago.

*All textures are from Shadowhouse Creations (because his textures rock!), or were found randomly on Flickr

Wildfire

These photos were shot last June while the Daisy's were plentiful

There were many more horses which I hope to show you sometime soon. I just thought this young white horse looked beautiful amongst the flowers.

It was a warm, muggy day here today. This afternoon we even had a tornado watch but it has been lifted. It seems to me a vanilla ice cream cone is in order! I don't know why, it just is.

Although horses aren't my usual New England subject, they are a beautiful subject and I hope you enjoyed them. When I see this group of photos it makes me think of the old Michael Martin Murphy song, Wildfire.

I'm also trying out a new watermark. Not sure if I'm diggin' it yet. On the final photo I forgot to make it a little more transparent. Although I like the starfish, the font has me pondering. And maybe the whole thing is just a bit too much. What do you think?

My favorite Vermont farm (Part 2)

Back to the farm . . .

I sure wish I could have gone to Vermont when the grass was a little greener. There isn't much color going besides the barn.

What do you think it was like growing up on a farm like that? Plenty of dirty, hard work yet adventurous at the same time. I think the farm has seen better days. If you noticed in the last post, there's a lot of windows missing in the barn. During the summertime it must be a great haven for Barn Swallows and Bats, along with any other varmint that can find it's way in.

Those are some well used tractors!

One lone tree in the middle of a corn field (which actually wasn't on this farm but I threw it in anyway!)

The view overlooking the farm and Lake Champlain . . .

It gives you a better idea of just how large the farm actually is.

You could live with this view everyday if you wanted to. It's the view from a house that's up for sale. Want to see it? Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page for pictures. Not a very fancy place but just think how nice it would be to sit out on the back deck watching the sun go down over the mountains after a long hot day. I could live like that.

Click here for more beautiful Charlotte real estate.

If you ever get the chance to go to Vermont, GO. And if you do go take the time to really look around at the scenery and history. Think about the generations of families who have lived there. Farms and views like this aren't what they used to be and many are a thing of the past.

Thanks for tagging along with me!

My favorite Vermont farm (that I saw anyway) Part 1

Although I can't say for certain, I believe this to be Miskell's Farm, located in Charlotte, VT

When I look at this photo I think of the Dixie Chicks song, Wide Open Spaces. It's a view that no camera can bring justice too, you just have to stand there and see it for yourself. Only if you do I hope it's not as cold as the day I was there. lol!



Go down that road a piece and take a right. It runs right through the middle of the farm, or farms, I'm not sure which. In New England it can be difficult to tell because that's how they built them sometimes, on both sides of the street, you know, back in the day.

Charlotte (with a french accent, pronounced shar-lot) is a scenic, beautiful town. I think if I were to ever move to Vermont, this would be the place. Plenty of open space with rolling hills, and Lake Champlain is located just over the hill behind the farm. You'll see ; )

I took so many photos that there's no way I can condense them into one post so there will be a part 2, and most likely part 3 as well.

Standing Alone

Photographed this afternoon as the snow was just beginning to make an entrance

Big, fat flakes against a grey sky

A tree stands alone on a hill

To perfect not to be captured

Queen Anne in the Morning

Welcome to my new blog. How much I'll actually post here, I'm not sure, but I wanted someplace special to show my heartfelt images. My other blog has become mostly about New England while this one will be a little more personal.

I hope you enjoy it.

Outbuilding

I've wanted to photograph this little outbuilding for a long time now. Finally we had a morning that seemed just right. Freshly fallen snow was on the ground and the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon as I climbed over a snow bank, filling my shoes with snow, and took a few shots.

This is somewhat how I saw the scene in my mind. When I arrived home and looked at the originals it wasn't as pretty. Really, it wasn't.

Want to see?

Not very exciting is it. To dark, to much blue, no definition of the outbuilding. Just blah!

So I pulled it into Photoshop where I cropped and straightened it, used the Unsharpen Mask tool (Amount 28, Radius 250, Threshold 4) and then added a couple generic light colored textures (found on Flickr) to expose the building and tree a bit more, not to mention get rid of the blue color and highlight the snow. After the layers are flattened I lighten the photo just a little more.

Yes, it's a bit of work, but to me, in the end it's all worth it. I hope you like it too!

Sim Farm

I love this farm, and yes, it's owned by the Sim family. All of the following pictures were taken this morning.



Right now I'm very infatuated with Jon Olsens winter landscape photography collection. Though my photos are much brighter than his, I still find his work inspiring.

On Sunday morning I shot this farm during the snow storm. You may be seeing those pictures on my blog in the very near future.

We had a wonderful week-end of non-stop snow. It started on Friday and kept on snowing right through Sunday night. It made for beautiful New England winter scenery.

After a week and a half off the girls wished they didn't have to go back to school this morning. We all enjoyed our time together, Christmas was wonderful, and my oldest daughter finally got her license. She was thrilled. Now all I can do is try not to worry ... but you probably know how that goes.

Tomorrow I'll have all the Christmas decorations put away, finally. For some reason the new year is making me feel energized, something I don't normally feel in winter. Think I'm going to run with it!

I hope the new year is making you feel the same!

Horsin' around

So often I drive down this road just to see what the horses are up to. During the summer there were probably 8-10 of them roaming the field or hanging out by the barn but lately I only see two.

The fence gate is wide open to the road so the horses can just run between the barn and the field. If they were my horses it would make me a bit nervous letting them cross at will, however there aren't many houses around so apparently the owner must figure it's safe. My husbands been by on his bike when the horses were just milling around on the road, not a care in the world.

Although I wasn't raised around horses I can certainly see their beauty and understand why someone would feel so much love for this majestic animal, though the work load must be a hefty one.

Call me crazy but I'd kind of like a Llama

Got me good!

It's always interesting when you put that memory card in to see just what you've captured. Sometimes it's better than what you think, and sometimes it's worse. And sometimes it's not what you thought you had at all.

Beautiful morning here today, especially compared to yesterday. It's frosty and cold, but sunny with a potential for temps around 50.

This is a wonderful old farm in Stratham, NH. All the land is supposed to become conservation land, all 200 acres of it. Unfortunately they were having some disagreements concerning the stipulations so I don't think a deal has been etched in stone yet. I sure hope it all works out because the sunsets here are spectacular, not to mention the land is beautiful old time country farm fields. It would be a shame to see the fields filled with houses, or even worse, strip malls.

Looking towards another part of the field you can see Geese grazing amongst the old corn stalks. Can you see them? I know, they're small but they were quite a distance away and it was a hassle just to get this close in the first place. I wanted to creep down through the field but didn't feel comfortable doing that, plus I didn't want to scare the Geese away. Ha!

Feel free to click on any of these pictures to enlarge them.

Ah yes, look at all those Geese. Please look at them up close. Make sure to click on the image one more time after you open it. I know, they're still hard to see.

Yeah, they're decoys, and they got me good. Okay, so there were a few real ones off in the distance, even further away than these. Apparently it's hunting season.

I'm taking Lily for a walk now. Have a good Sunday!

Morning Sunrise continued

A few more images from this past Saturday morning.

As I stood there shooting the incredible sunrise in my previous post I was startled by the sudden sight and sound of two flocks of Geese flying in from the right.





In the above shot you can see one group in the middle and another on the lower left getting ready to land. It's the first time I've seen Canadian Geese flying in formation since last Spring. It was thrilling, yet my heart sank a bit at the same time. I'm not ready to let go of Summer quite yet.

And just across the street is another wonderful field with the best sunsets around! A 200 acre field which hopefully will become conservation land (instead of a housing development) in the next few years if all goes as planned.


On this morning there was big, deep, thick, layered fog filling up the dips and valleys. Something I can't recall seeing in quite some time.

I wonder what it would be like to walk down into the fog? Do you think it's scary? Within a short few minutes it was already starting to dissipate.