Outdoor Photo Challenge

On Swap-Bot, there was a swap which focused on an outdoor photo challenge. When I signed up, I thought that April was a long way off and I could easily capture all of the items on the list. As it turns out, with having one of the snowiest winters on record, find the majority of items on the list was a challenge. However, I was able to find 10 items (the minimum was 5 items). 

All of the photos were taken in my backyard or in one of the two pastures. Ten days ago, there was a huge snowstorm that dumped eight inches of snow on us. It was the wet, heavy kind. Thankfully, we have many warm days and most of the snow has melted...except the snow in deep or tall piles. So, it has been wonderful to hear the birds and frogs singing, and flowers starting to emerge.

Flying insect other than a butterfly - there's not much flying around now...just boxelder bugs mostly. Saw the first ladybug and the first fly. This fly was basking in the sun on the side of the house.  

Something yellow - last year I was given a native cactus to Minnesota. I didn't even know we had them here. Apparently, the plant dies like this in the winter and then comes back to life in the spring. Sure enough, there are little yellow "buds" (I don't know what they are called on cacti) that are emerging.

An animal track - this is Cooper's track in the snow. I let him in the pasture to run around since most of the snow had melted - except in areas near the pond. This was a track he left in a slushy part of the snow.

A rock at least as big as your hand or bigger - this rock is one of many that creates a border around the butterfly garden in the backyard. A nearby farmer stacked rocks that would surface each spring and were left in a rock pile. This is one of the many "rescued" rocks.

Flowing water +  Water reflection - Cooper is looking through the woven-wire fence at the neighbor's farm. The sun is creating reflections of Cooper, the post, and some of the grasses in the water.

Hole in a tree - one of the trees in the little forested area in the northwest section of our farm had some large holes in it. 

 

Really tall tree - The pine tree closest to our home in the backyard has grown substantially (probably more than double its size) since we moved here in 1995. We had to have some of the lower branches trimmed off since they were touching the house. However, there are still low ones to hang bird feeders and a wren house.

A pine tree or other conifer - when Sophia, Olivia, and a friend (Nessa) came home for Easter break from college, Olivia and Nessa climbed to the top of the pine tree (the lower one near the road since it had more sturdy branches). Sophia made it around eight feet up and that was high enough for her. They got some beautiful pictures and video at the top of the tree.

Catkins/pussy willows - I was surprised they were even emerging since less than a week before it felt like the dead of winter with cold temperatures and snowstorms. The pussy willows remind me of a friend who had cancer who asked to come to over one day to cut some. His oncologist encouraged him to find one joy each day. That particular day - it was bringing a sign of Spring into his home. 

Something red - In about a day or so after the snow melted, the plants started emerging in the garden. I have no idea what these plants will be since I planted a lot of native plants in the Fall. It will be a surprise to see what this garden looks like this year.  

Another red - This is one of many blooms of a new Easter cactus I got this year. Home Depot had a lot of little Easter cactuses full of buds. So, the kitchen is colorful with pink, orange, and red flowers now.

One more red - the crabapples on this tree last all winter and provide the first fruit for early-migrating birds. Yesterday, I noticed a flock of over 30 robins in the tree eating the apples. They were gobbling up the apples - and flitting from one branch to another. There was a feast of fruit for them to enjoy! 

My Favorite Photos - February 2023

This month I have a very small number of photos compared to past months. I'm working about 50+ hours a week between three jobs now that the girls are both in college, so my free time is limited as is my time to take photos. 

Honestly, this is kind of depressing for me because I love taking photos and documenting life. I guess when time is spent working, things change. Perhaps going forward this year I need to make a conscious effort to prioritize using my camera and creating images that I can be proud of and enjoy looking at. 

The ones below are just quick shots. Nothing fancy. They do bring back good thoughts of having Sophia at home one weekend from college. We went to the Lions breakfast for Vinterfest.

This is one of the Lions. He's a vet who served in Vietnam. He has interesting stories to tell and is into nature and wildlife. 

These two women also are Lions and have been so supportive of me. They are both in their 80s, but you would never guess it by how active they are. They do a tremendous amount of volunteering not only for the Lions, but for other organizations around town. 

There were fires outside around the community center for everyone to enjoy.

There was a mini donut food truck, so Sophia treated me to mini donuts which was nice. The donuts were piping hot and the air was so cold. She's showing me the steam in the air from the donut...though my camera isn't picking it up.

We watched some hockey. Neither of us is a hockey fan, so we didn't stay long.

I dropped her off with a friend in Stillwater and then headed back to Vinterfest. This time I went across the street to Gammelgarden Museum and saw the exhibit that the Scandia Heritage Alliance put on. There were antique sleds like this little one. I could imagine myself pulling the girls in something like this when they were smaller. 

There was a big wooden toboggan. I remember having a wood sled growing up with metal runners. You had to be careful where you placed your hands on the sled.

These are snowshoes. I remember trying to use snowshoes when I was in fourth grade. It didn't go so well. Never tried again. Wonder if I would have better luck as an adult. 

The Wildlife Science Center was at Gammelgarden with a couple of owls. This was one of them.

They let me get pretty close to the owl. It was so calm. I wish I could have touched it...it looked so soft. 

This little owl is missing an eye. When it was born, it was missing an eye. It would have very little success in the wild - both in terms of catching prey as well as potentially being eaten by a larger predator - like a Great Horned Owl which we have around here. 

The coloring on the owl is similar to a birch tree and it blends in beautifully with its surroundings. 

At the end of the month, we got another ten inches of snow. We really don't need it. At this point, the front doors of the barn are inaccessible. What is not apparent in this photo is that there are sections in the backyard that have at least 2-3 feet of snow. 

Near the fence line leading to the east pasture, the snow is as high as the top of the fence. Cooper can literally walk over the top of the fence. This is not good because if any wildlife - like deer, fox, or coyote - wanders into the pasture, they could just as likely walk over the fence and into our backyard. It would not fare well for any of the animals - dogs or wildlife. Hopefully, the temperature will warm up and melt all this snow.

Speaking of dogs going over the fence, this is Cooper who is pretty proud of himself that he got into the pasture and could run at full speed through the snow. He was having fun.

Interestingly, the snow reveals tracks that sometimes are easily recognizable. Other times, I have no idea what they are. For example, in the photo below, there's a big blob of tracks to the left of the photo. That's Cooper as he is running through the pasture. What I found strange was the rectangular shape made of small tracks. I have never seen anything like that before.

I posted the photo on Minnesota Naturalists (a Facebook group) and one person identified the tracks as those belonging to a deer mouse. Apparently, this type of mouse walks on top of the snow - rather than under it. I would think that would make it quite vulnerable to predators. 

At any rate, I was surprised at how the mouse made abrupt turns and made a rectangle.

These are two trees in the far back part of our property. In front is some sort of pine tree. In the back is a Weeping Willow. We planted these trees (at the time - about 5-6 feet tall) - a good 20 feet apart from one another. We thought it was far enough. It isn't. These two trees are right next to one another and both could use more space. 

There are two sets of tracks leading up to the pine tree. I wonder if both are used by the same animal or if there are multiple ones living under the tree.

When the girls were little, we would sit under those trees - sometimes just us and sometimes with the dogs. We had picnics under them...and we'd just enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of being in the country. 

So many good memories of this place. I am incredibly grateful we found it and chose to call it home.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

There's a photography swap on Swap-bot that I thought would be fun to do. There are words or phrases that are provided and participants take a photo or find an image from the photos they have taken. 

Below are the words and the images that I created.

  

Singer 

This is a wren that was singing quite loudly on July 21, 2021. There's a house near this post where he has a home full of baby wrens. He and the female would fly continuously back and forth between the pasture and house to feed the babies. 

 Something that Starts with the Letter P 

On June 5, 2022, my family and I were in Scotland. We saw the National Monument of Scotland in Edininburgh which, according to Historic UK, the monument was "most famously called by its resident architect the ‘pride and poverty of us Scots.’" 

It is one of the iconic landmarks of Edinburgh being a facsimile of the Parthenon. However, the building of the structure was abandoned in 1829, leaving a "ruinesque Parthenon of Calton Hill."

A Wild Animal 

We had a trail cam for a while which I enjoyed using at different spots around our farm. On March 5, 2020, the trail cam caught these two rabbits in the front yard. I had no idea that rabbits could jump or leap that high! 

 A Potted Plant 

This is a potted plant that I got on December 11, 2022, for my daughter for Christmas. She liked it, but wanted to create a planter that had a variety of succulents - like this one. So, we went back to Home Depot where she bought a trio of succulents to create her own planter. This one now is sitting on my kitchen ledge by a south-facing window and doing well.

Red 

During this past December, we were having snowstorm after snowstorm. By the middle of the month, we had the amount of snow that we would typically get in an entire winter. It was too much snow in too short of period of time. This photo was taken on December 15, 2022. The birds love to eat these fruits during the winter and spring. Sometimes, if there are enough remaining on the tree in the spring, flocks of cedar waxwings will come to the tree to eat the fruit.

 Something that Reminds You of Your Childhood 

On December 31, 2022, my sister and I went through old slides that my parents had. This was one of the photos of our home being built in summer 1974. My brother and sister are sitting where the solarium or sun room would end up being. 

Below that was a patio, my bedroom, a door, my sister's bedroom, and then my brother's bedroom. We all had windows facing Bass Lake. The upper level had the family room, door, kitchenette, kitchen, and my parents' bedroom. Again - all facing the lake. The front section of our home had other rooms.  

This was truly a beautiful, well-constructed home that my parents lovingly took care of. I loved living on a lake, seeing the sunsets, taking the row boat out around the island, and making fort houses with my sister in the nearby woods. So many good memories. 

 Something in Your Garden or Backyard

The snowstorms that I was referencing earlier dumped a lot of snow in a short period of time. This photo that I took on December 22, 2022, shows how much snow we received in less than a two-week period. There is a picnic table with two attached benches under that snow.

 

 Light Painting

This image is of a chalk painting that was done on September 5, 2021, as part of a chalk festival. It depicts swirls of light and a hand. I was so amazed at the beautiful chalk paintings - some 2D and others 3D. 

Someone Working

 

I went further back in my photos to find this photo of Sophia and Olivia working in the 4-H malt booth stand on July 17, 2015. Sophia is making a strawberry milkshake. Working in the malt booth was a coveted position because it was nice and cool in the trailer. When it was 85-95 degrees outside, it was nice and chilly inside the trailer, and made the work much more enjoyable.

Something Edible

One thing that we do each year is celebrate the Chinese New Year. In 2011, it was on February 3rd. The girls were only 8 and 10 years old, and one of the things that was popular back then was the "muffin tin meal" concept. Each muffin cup was filled with different items - in this case, rice, sushi, and fruit. It encouraged the girls to sample a little from each of the muffin cups. 

ESG: My Favorite Photos - December 2022

 Here are some of my favorite photos from December:

At the beginning of December, we attended the Festival of Christmas. Olivia is on the tech team, so she was operating a camera. She worked with the team to set up the stage, lighting, and sound.

Sophia performed in the Festival of Christmas on handbells. There was a pre-concert performance which I really enjoyed.

This is what the stage and lighting looked like. Throughout the performance, the lighting and images projected onto the walls would change. It was beautiful!

After the performance, Sophia - along with the handbell choir - went "caroling" throughout one of the buildings. The college was hosting major donors, so this is one special feature they do as part of the event.

On the 10th, the Lions held a Breakfast with Santa + Bake Sale. It was a fun morning. I was in charge of the five collection drives, and was so pleased with how generous people were to help local organizations.

Also on the 10th, was one of the Annie's Coffee Parties across the street at Gammelgarden Museum. 

All the windows had these lights in them.

Although this isn't a great photo, I was thrilled to see a flock of cedar waxwings in the apple tree. We left apples on the tree and a wide variety of birds peck away at the frozen apples.

There are five cardinals that are hanging around our feeders a lot - three males and two females.

I've been getting some new plants during December. It seems like the big-box stores had a nice variety of houseplants this year. It's nice to have some different types of plants. This is a jasmine.

I like the one too - the flower is still blooming over a month after I purchased it.

This is a Christmas Cactus that belonged to my dad. It's about 45 years old now. I realize, as I look at the photo, that it needs more height. I'm not sure how to do this.

This is another plant that is doing well. The jade plant/small tree is about 15 year old now and has just begun flowering during the past few years. It was one very small plant that Sophia, Olivia, and I got when we built a terrarium when they were about 5 and 7 years old. The little plants outgrew their terrarium.

On the 11th, I attended the Lucia Dagen service at Gammelgarden. Typically, up until this year, we've attended the St. Lucia Day service at another Lutheran church. Without the girls here, I did something different. 

it was held in an historic church that was built in the 1800s. It is unheated, so people had to wear coats, gloves, hats, and boots just to stay warm.

While I was at Gammelgarden, I enjoyed walking through its prairie. 

There were a variety of native plants - all now in shades of tan and cream.

Inside the historical church, everything was lit by candles. The half-hour service was done all in Swedish.

During December, there were a few significant snowfalls. This was the first one that blanketed all the plants in snow.

Everything was covered with snow. It was very pretty.

Cooper enjoyed burying his face in the snow and looking and listening for activity near the ground.

I liked the look of the snow clinging onto seed pods. 

The apple tree in the backyard was gorgeous. It kind of reminded me of a willow tree.

The snow left an interesting pattern on the fence. 

The trees in our front yard were loaded down with the heavy, wet snow.

This is the view of the trees along the road from our driveway to the west side of our farm.

Even the Christmas lights were covered with snow.

Inside, the St. Nicholas Christmas Village grew by two new buildings - a ski chalet and a home. It started with two buildings that belonged to my parents. There were a few more buildings, but when we had a fire in the hobby shed, we lost them and a lot of other items that I had inherited.

The Christmas stockings were hung by the wood stove. At one time, both sides were packed with stockings that I had made for all the pets and livestock. The years have passed and animals have died. We now have three dogs left.

The windows in the dining room and living room had stars that I made throughout the years. Some are coming apart, so I'll need to make some new ones for next year. 

We had a second major snowfall. This is the picnic table that belonged to my parents. We have not seen this much snow in the first month of winter for as long as I can remember. 

This second snowfall didn't load down the trees as much this time. The snow wasn't as wet.

This is the view down our driveway.

On Christmas morning, I woke up at 6 a.m. to make this maple twist coffee cake. It took four hours to make from scratch. 

During December, I bit on some items that were on an auction that the humane society where we adopted the dogs from was having. One of the items I bid and won was this wooden Christmas tree that was loaded with lots of dog treats and dog-themed items. Needless to say, the dogs loved it!

I love seeing how happy the girls are when they open gifts.

Here, Aspen is checking out the Christmas tree for dogs. Her favorite toy from it is a stuffed lamb. She loves to carry it around with her and have it next to her while sleeping.

Cooper is playing with "Long Husky." It has crinkle-paper in it and multiple squeakers. 

Here's Aspen with the stuffed lamb.

On Christmas, we went to dinner at my sister's home. This is the "young cousin" table.

This is the adult and "older cousin" table.

My brother brought his dog, Bear, a Corgi. He's such a good dog.

When we came home, we rested a bit and then opened some more gifts. One of the gifts I gave the girls were handsewn hats that someone made. Unfortunately, they didn't look quite right on either Sophia or Olivia. Sophia was a good sport and put it on.

For Sophia's 22nd birthday, she spent it in California with one of her roommates. She had never been to this roommate's home or met her parents, so - being it is her senior year - it was a good time to visit. At any rate, we celebrated Sophia's birthday a couple days early.

On the 29th, I was invited to a luncheon hosted by the director of Gammelgarden and the Butik manager. The other ladies are volunteers - greeters and tour guides. It was such a nice luncheon.

On New Year's Eve, my sister came over and we watched hundreds of slides that my parents took and that we inherited. This is my dad and me - I would have been about 4 months old.

This was my favorite costume that my mom sewed: a kangaroo complete with a kangaroo baby (joey) in my pouch.

My first tap dance outfit was for the song "Secondhand Rose." My parents planted red geraniums and white flowers in their raised flower bed.

In 1974, my parents acted as contractors and oversaw the building of their home.

This is one of my favorite photos of my mom when she was a little girl. Even as an adult, my mom loved dolls - so this captures one of her loves in life.

This is a photo I never saw until New Year's Eve this year. It's of my Grandma Olive by part of her garden - tomatoes. This was take in 1960 - six years before she died. She would have been 48 years old in this photo. 

On the 30th, I went to lunch at Famous Dave's with my friend, Karen. I made her an apple pie. Although it got a little overdone on one side, she said it was delicious. She loves pie, but never makes it from scratch. 

On the 31st, I made another apple pie for my sister and me. She, too, doesn't make pie since she lives alone. So, this was a treat for her too.