Dreaming of Spring

As I've been going through pictures from last summer I am continually looking forward to warmer weather and green grass.  We've had a fairly cold winter here this year, though we haven't had much snowfall compared to past years.  Now that we're into April I'm hoping the warmer temperatures and the rain will start coming soon!

I thought I would go through and share some of my favorite pictures from last summer/fall.

This last fall my sister and my brothers and I went out on a walk through the back pasture, taking pictures and checking on the cows.  The leaves in the timber were popping with color!

The sun was setting as the cows were enjoying the lush green pasture.

 Maggie, our calf to one of our milk cows, was pretty curious as to what we were doing out in the pasture.

 Storm clouds rolling through during a nice spring day last year.

 I always look forward to the Grape Hyacinth blooming in the spring, and if you can get close enough they even smell good!

I've been experimenting with verses and quotes over photos lately.

What are you most looking forward to this spring/summer?
Leave a comment and let me know!

A Radiant Sunrise

One morning I was up early and noticed that there was a heavy dew and that the clouds held potential for a colorful sunrise.  I grabbed my camera, slipped on some shoes and headed out the door to the east to see what I could capture.  I adjusted my settings, took a couple of test shots just to be sure, and started snapping away.  In the time it took for the sun to rise I had snapped somewhere around two hundred pictures.  I also did some experimenting with the HDR settings on my camera, you can click here to see those.  The dew on the wheat added an element of uniqueness to an otherwise normal sunrise photo.                

I love the way the sun is starting to peak over the tops of the trees and illuminate the heads of wheat.

I love that this shot includes more of the sunrise, along with the little streak of fog hiding behind the row of trees to the right of the image.  

The anticipation before the sunrise of what is to come.

Do you make a point of it to get up early enough every morning to see the sunrise?  I'm not always up early enough to enjoy it, but if I am I am usually doing the morning chores so I don't always get to photograph it.  I guess there are many ways to enjoy a sunrise though!

This evening as I was working on the computer my little brother came running down the stairs hollering "Bobbi!  You're missing an awesome sunset!  It really is awesome!".  So I followed him back up the stairs to get a glimpse of the awesome sunset, it really was awesome!  I'm thinking maybe the phrase should be 'Stop and enjoy the sunset'.

Experimenting with HDR

When I got my new camera last August, I noticed it had an option for HDR (High Dynamic Range) so I thought I would give it a try.  HDR photography is where you take several shots with different exposures of the same scene and put them together, one over the other.  That way you can incorporate all of the exposures together to result in a photo with more even lighting.  My camera's HDR setting will automatically put three different exposures together.  This is definitely the easy way! This is especially helpful with landscape scenes where the land is darker and the sky is lighter.  If you do it right, you end up with a photo that looks more like real life, but you can over do it too!  I still have a lot to learn, I've only tried it out three times in all!

These three pictures are ones I took on an early heavy-dew June morning.  My favorite would be the one above, as the wheat isn't quite as blue looking as the other two.  I also like the framing of the trees and the clouds.  I did a slight edge vignette to help draw the eye in to the center of the photograph.

Because the dew was so heavy, it caused the wheat to have a "frosted" look, even though there wasn't any frost.

This one also has a slight vignette.

 I'm definitely looking forward to the options HDR presents, along with the challenge of learning how to use it better to achieve the look I want.

Have you ever used HDR before?  Which picture is your favorite of the three?  What's your favorite thing to photograph?

A Bountiful Harvest 2013

Last year our garden did fairly well.   We actually had watermelons!  That was the first time I've been able to get them to grow, so I was pretty excited!   The variety we grew was called Desert King.  They are a yellow heirloom watermelon.  They kind of have a mild fruity flavor and pale yellow flesh.  We picked several ripe off of the vine, but the rest we had to pick early because a frost was coming, they did seem to ripen okay in the basement.

A slice of Desert King Watermelon.

Seminole Pumpkin

Seminole Pumpkin from the garden.

We had a ton of these pumpkins!  They grew like crazy!  The vine tried to take over the whole garden!  They had deep orange flesh and very good flavor.  They are small 2-4 lb squash, perfect for when you only want to cook a small amount and not have a bunch left over.  Or as my sister says "Perfect for when you only want to cook one and have no more than one cooked!"   She's not ornery at all........ ;)  She likes to help me with my posts! 

A bunch of carrots, beets and radishes.

We also had carrots grow last year, too!  We usually don't have much luck with carrots, but last year we were able to freeze a few pints for the winter.  They're good for getting out of the freezer and plopping into soups for an easy-to-make meal.  We grew yellow carrots, red carrots, and orange carrots.  In the winter months I like to plan out the garden and take seed inventory.  If we are low on a variety of vegetable I always like to flip through seed catalogs and pick out a new kind to try.  The yellow carrots are Jaune Obtuse du Doubs (don't ask me how the pronounce it!)  and the red carrots are Atomic Red.  I think I preferred the yellow carrots over the red carrots, they had a better flavor, though both were good.  Unfortunately the carrots haven't sprouted yet this year, they probably need re-planted.

What kinds of vegetables do you like to grow?  Do you like to try new varieties each year, or stick to the tried-and-true ones?  Anyone have any tips for getting carrot seed to sprout?

Magnificent Clouds

So it's been awhile!  Almost a year since my last post. :(  Sorry about that!  We've had Internet issues and my computer has also decided to act up the last few months.  I'm still not sure if it's fixed yet....but while it's working, here are a few pictures!

These were taken during hunting trips last fall.  I like to take my camera along to see if I can capture some of the excitement!  Though it was mostly weather, a squirrel, and a few geese flying over, they didn't have time in their schedule to stop for pictures, maybe next time. ;)

I love the way this picture turned out!  If you look closely you can almost see them moving by!

Storm clouds are always my favorite!  I love the different hues in this one.

I call this one "Pink Wisps".

Over the last several weeks I've been busy in the garden pulling weeds, mulching paths, planting seeds and making raised beds.  I hope to finish mulching in between plants next week.

We've added a third garden this year!  It contains the unruly squash vines that try to take over everything.  We also added corn and a lot of melons.  This year with the corn I'm going to try planting pole beans along the rows to climb up the stalks.  I also plan on saving bean seeds from all three varieties I'm growing this year.

 Two days ago we got 2 3/4" of rain!  Hence, the blog post! ;)  I'm hoping this year will be a wetter one than last year.

I will try to post more often now that things are working again, although this might be a "rainy day" blog.

If anyone is still out there, thanks for reading!

"In the light of a King's face there is Life,

and His favor is like the clouds that

bring the Spring rains."

Proverbs 16:15

Week 28: Carrots and Beets

I've been harvesting a few things out of the garden lately.  First there were peas, then some radishes, and now there are carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, and kohlrabi.  Of course, we've only gotten two kohlrabi, about 3 or 4 turnips and a little more than that of rutabagas.  So definitely not an overload of vegetables!  Although, it is about time to pull the rutabagas so that a Fall crop can be planted.

 

These carrots are called Tonda Di Parigi, they're a 19th-century Parisian heirloom carrot.  They only get to about 2" long and about 1 1/2" in diameter, so they're perfect for hard soil.  They grew really well for me, as you can see.  I can't wait to cook some up for dinner!

These beets are Lutz Salad Leaf.  The tops are supposed to be good in salads, I will have to try it sometime!  They grew pretty well considering they got trampled a few times by my little brothers!

I like to grow old heirloom varieties because it's almost like planting a piece of history!  It's fun to imagine all of the people before who may have grown the same variety at one time!

Week 27: Independence Day

So I'm a little late in getting these up, say about 12 days late? ;)  But here they are!  I always end up trying all of my lenses (3) and a ton of different settings for firework pictures.  I don't quite have it figured out yet.  Here are a few that turned out.

 

Did I mention that it helps if your batteries are charged?  About halfway through my battery went dead and my other two wouldn't work either!  So I just got to enjoy the show and not worry about pictures! ;)

This pink one is probably my favorite!  It could have something to do with all of the others being the same gold color....

This last one wins the award for the best picture I took of the night!


Do you like to photograph fireworks?  Have any tips on getting good firework pictures?  Maybe using a tripod?

"For you have been called to live in Freedom.......

use your Freedom to serve one another in Love."

Galatians 5:13

 

 

 



Week 23: Strawberry Orange Sorbet

Strawberry Orange Sorbet.  What can I say?  It was awesome!  My younger sister, yes the same one that made these Pink Popsicles, found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to make it.  Well I 'm glad she did, because it was really good!!  Creamy, sweet, and very Strawberry-y (I know that isn't a real word, but how else do I describe this awesome goodness?)

 

The only thing my sister changed was that she didn't cook the strawberries or use an ice cream freezer.  I asked her how she made it, and she didn't even know that the recipe called for it to be cooked!  She just looked at the ingredients and made it!!  It turned out just fine, though.  So if you don't have an ice cream freezer you can still make this.  She also used frozen strawberries which probably took away the need to freeze in an ice cream freezer.  She just blended the recipe in a blender.  If you need a good blender, the Ninja one is what we have and it works better than any I have ever tried.  We really like it.

 

 



 

This recipe is plenty sweet, so in my mind that means you can leave out most, if not all, of the sugar.

Here is our adapted recipe, or maybe I should say accidental adapted recipe:

Strawberry Orange Sorbet



4 C. Frozen Strawberries

1 C. Water

1 C. Orange Juice

1/8 to 1/4 C. Sugar  (or none)

 

Blend all ingredients in a blender.

Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for approximately 2 hours.

Enjoy on a hot summer day!



Do you like making homemade ice cream/sorbet?

Week 14: A Stormy Pasture

This is also one of my favorites, edited with the Pioneer Woman's Photoshop Actions.  I had edited it several times before trying to lighten up the trees without making the sky too bright.  My last edit was pretty close to the way I wanted it.  Yesterday when I downloaded the actions I was trying them out on a few pictures and thought I would try it on this one.  It finished the picture up nicely!  This goes to show that the right editing can really benefit the over all feel of a picture, making the difference between a good picture and an ok picture.

To see the before edit click here and visit my Flickr page.

Week 13: A Pine Cone

This is probably one of my favorite photos.  I have edited it so many different ways.  I think this is probably my favorite edit though.  I used one of the Pioneer Woman's Photoshop Actions on it.  I had never used any actions other than the default ones that came with the program.  I'm glad I finally decided to give the Pioneer Woman's Actions a try!  If you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements you can download the actions for free by clicking here for Elements users and here for Photoshop users.

I took this photo at a cousin's house.  They have big pine trees bordering the north side of their yard, and there just happened to be some pine cones on!  I tried several different angles and this one was always my favorite!  To see some more edits of this picture visit my Flickr here, they can be found in the set titled "Nature".

Week 12: Golden Light

As the sun is going down I'm helping my Dad load a bull into our trailer to take him back home.  He had escaped into the adjoining pasture, and we were using the land owners corral to get him into the trailer.  The rest of the cows stand back and watch curiously.  A gentle breeze is blowing, stirring the dust up and bringing a welcoming break in the heat of the day.

We get the bull loaded and Dad is talking to the neighbor.   I get my camera out to take some pictures while there is still some golden light left.  By now, little bugs are starting to come out and fly around on this warm summer evening.  

 

I liked how the sun filtered over the corral boards.  I took this in August of 2011.

Week 9: A Red Barn

Last year I was asked to take some pictures of a friends barn for a birthday gift.  I happily accepted the job as I had been wanting to get some pictures of this barn for awhile and had never taken the time.  Having permission meant that I could get different angles too, not just what you see from the road.

This isn't just any old barn, in fact, it doesn't look old at all.  This is a red barn with white trim around the windows and door.  The day I chose to first shoot it the sun was already towards the west.  This meant that the north and east side were pretty dark (at least for my photography skills) so I mainly shot the south and west side that day.  The sky was a brilliant blue with a few white clouds here and there.  This made for some great photos with the red barn as the center of attention. 

The second day was pretty much the same, just earlier in the day with a few more clouds.  That's where this picture came from.  Since it was earlier, the east side was more lit up so I could get some better pictures of it.

I used an 18-55mm lens to capture a wider view.  I wanted to be sure and include some of that sky!
I like this picture because the white rail on the fence seems to be leading the viewer up to the red barn, the focal point.  This is something I don't always consider when taking photos, though I do when I remember!

  I really enjoyed taking these pictures.  I ended up with way too many to choose from!  I would like to get out more and take more photos of farm life.  You would think this would be easy since I live on a farm! :)

Cinnamon Raisin Scones

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted!   Here are some pictures from over the summer and a recipe!

 

I took this picture when my cousin had a birthday party at the swimming pool.

My sister and I went to my cousins house for a week.  It made for a lot of late night movie watching and laughing until we couldn't breathe!

Although we did go for a walk now and then!  These are some pictures that I took down at the creek on one of our walks.

I got so many pictures it took awhile to sift through them all!  I was finally able to narrow it down a little.

It was such a beautiful day I didn't want to miss any pictures!  So I took way too many!

 I couldn't decide if I liked the original or the black and white?  Which is your favorite?



 

These scones are amazing!  My Mom had the idea to use a biscuit recipe and add cinnamon and raisins, and top them off with some icing.

 

It went together very well.  I will definitely be making these again!

 

 You should make some of these! Soon!  

 

Now for the recipe.

 

 

Cinnamon Raisin Scones

 

1 1/2 C.  Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 C. White Unbleached Flour

3/4 tsp. Salt

3 tsp. Sugar

6 tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/2 C. Raisins

3/4 C. Butter

1 C. Milk

 

Mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add the raisins.  Next, cut in the butter.

Add the milk and stir just until combined.

Form into biscuit shape with hands, or roll out onto floured board and cut with biscuit cutter.

Place onto un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 450*F for 10-12 minutes.

Makes 9-12 biscuits.

 

For the icing:

1/2 stick Butter, melted

1/4-1/2 tsp. Vanilla

 

Add enough powdered sugar to make it a little too stiff to pour. 

Add a splash of milk to thin it out again.

You want it to be pourable, but not too runny!

Pour over the warm scones.

Enjoy! :)

 

 

 

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends!   Let me know if you try the recipe!  You really should try it!