No Wordless Wednesday Today. I have things to tell you about.

I have to tell you about this new wide angle lens I sent away for. The three photos above, were taken with this lens attached to my Nikon D40 camera. I bought it from New Harbor for...are you ready? $12.38 . It's not a brand I have ever heard of. It's called Neewer.  It's a digital high definition 0.45X super wide angle lens with macro Japan optics. It came with caps and a bag. I don't know how they could make this lens for this price but I don't care, because I'm getting some very interesting photos with it and if it falls apart tomorrow, I won't be crying about the price. I know good lenses are suppose to be very expensive but what the heck. I'm having fun with it and that's what being a photographer is all about.

This lens fits right onto the front of both my Nikon lenses and takes in a wider angle of  view. The only difference I can see so far is, that with landscapes, the foreground  is blurred a bit but the center is very sharp. I don't look at this as a disadvantage because I like the effect.  The outsides of the photo angles in and the focus is in the center. This makes for some very interesting shots. It doesn't work with close ups but I can leave the lens on and it doesn't interfere with closer shots.
It's the cheapest fun I have had in a long time.

Neewer 52mm wide-angle lens~including bag~ for Nikon D40,D50.D60,D70 and D80. Sold by New Harbor- brand new; $7.39 + $4.99 shipping. Fun factor....Priceless.

I have a confession to make. I have not read a book for at least a year. I KNOW! I can't believe it either. I have a pile that I want to read. I have another pile that friends have given me saying..."You've got to read this. It's the best book I've read in a long time." I have no excuse. I just haven't read ANYTHING.... until last week. My friend "D", from Montana, was here a year ago when my Mom died and she bought me two books. One of them was Lost & Found by Jacqueline Sheehan. I started it a few times and them put it down. Finally, last week, I picked it up and made a promised to myself  that I would finish it. I did.
It was wonderful...."You've got to read this. It's the best book I've read in a long time." (sound familiar) If you like dogs, want to change your life, or have lost someone that you loved dearly, you must read this book. It's about grief and the process that one person goes through. It's a love story between a woman and a dog...both wounded animals, both learning to trust again....and sometimes it's from the dogs point of view, which I love. It's about human frailties and how we can all learn to love again, no matter what happens to us. It's a great summertime read.
Thank you "D". I finally understand, my friend. It has taken a whole year, but things are better.

And now I leave you with....

Carl and Cutter, two little Corgis that are becoming  friends. The paw says it all. Carl wouldn't let just anyone do this.
Have a good rest of the week.....

Kiss the Joy as it flies... Blake's kind of morning.

The tomatoes are starting to turn red. Isn't this amazing? Give this heat loving plant the summer heat it desires and "Voila!", red tomatoes.

And so it is with the Moulin Rouge Sunflowers. They are happy with the summer heat and every morning they turn toward the East, as this radiant orb casts its light upon the farm, as if to proclaim the sun's arrival. Do flowers have rituals? Do they know what sustains them?

 
This bee is so beautiful against the white Agapanthus. It was early and many of them were still sleeping. What would it be like to sleep in a flower. The fragrance would be delightful. How do they hold on while they sleep.

My favorite bee is this one.... it's friendly and seems to like having humans around. They never get upset and I have had them crawl onto my hand without stinging. It's a bumble bee but I'm not sure what specific kind. Maybe a Golden Northern.

 This one loves the lavender. It's smaller than the black one and is probably a common Honey Bee. Very industrious, busy and brilliantly colored. They don't seem as friendly and when I started taking pictures this one buzzed and flew right at me, landing on my tee shirt. It stayed long enough for me to get a photo of it, then flew away, as if to say..."Don't get so close next time."

I guess it was just as curious about me as I was about him. Did you know that by passing food mixed with saliva to one another, members of a hive can chemically bond with each other? Is that like French kissing in the bee world? Did you also know that settlers brought the Honey Bee to North America in the 17th century. Just another immigrant, like my great-grandma. I love this stuff.

 Take a good look at this photo. My morning shadow made me look thin.  Thank you morning sun for elongating the shadow of my body and giving me a sense of slenderness that I find endlessly difficult to achieve in my everyday existence.
And as a parting shot..... Carl, the original "finders, keepers, losers, weepers" dog that The Prospector says "...does no wrong.".
I forgot to pick up my garden gloves and Mr. Opportunity found one of them. He would not look at me or drop the glove.  I had to chase him around the yard. I was so close a few times. But he would dart away when I got within reach of "his" prize glove. I finally grabbed him and got the glove. He seemed insulted. The other glove was missing. So was Cutter.... and Carl wasn't talking.
I finally found the other one in the house, on the table, where I had taken it off....Cutter was sleeping on the couch. How could I have blamed him for taking the other glove? Easy.... Carl is teaching him everything he knows. 

Carl with that "look".... and the glove.

Every child comes with the message that god is not yet discouraged of man" ~ R. Tagore~

"We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

At particular epochs of their life, children reveal an intense and extraordinary interest in certain objects and exercises, which one might look for in vain at a later age....Such attention is not the result of mere curiosity; it is more like a burning passion."

~Maria Montessori~

"The adult works to perfect his environment, whereas the child works to perfect himself, using the environment as the means....The child is a being in a constant state of transformation."

~E.M. Standing~

Shoot Out Friday on Saturday : Shoes and Feet

"Uncensored" (Collage of feet on porch steps.)










"Maggie's feet"











"Footprint"

"Hiding"

"Favorite Shoes"


Take a look at some other photos of "Shoes and Feet" on Friday Shoot Out at http://mytownmrlinky.blogspot.com/.

Fun Times and Cool Weather

I got home Wednesday afternoon, returning to the heat of the Foothills. The weather was wonderful down in the Bay Area. The fog hung on the hills like lazy clouds, resting in all the crevasses and valleys. It was so beautiful and cold at night. I wanted to bottle the fog and bring it home with me. It's very hot here.
Sis had been working on her garden and it looked beautiful. She grows Hydrangeas that are so big and beautiful that it's hard to believe they are real. She says that she doesn't fertilize them....it's just the right spot and the right soil. Everything looked so nice.

 On Sunday night my son and his family stopped by after dinner. They had been swimming all afternoon so they didn't go swimming in Sis's pool but they had so much fun just being around it. They watched Uncle "J" skim the water and were fascinated by the pool cleaner that crawled back and forth, cleaning the bottom and sides of the pool.

The really funny thing was watching the dogs watch the boys. Especially Lily, the German Shorthair Pointer. She could not figure out what these little guys were doing and followed them everywhere. Look at her expression in the photo above. (click the picture for a close up.) She watched their every move. I think she might have been the first to jump if one of the boys fell in. I think she was being  "Nana".You know, from Peter Pan. She was so concerned.

The Bean and his bro would watch the "creepy crawler" until it started up the side of the pool toward them. Then they would move back and laugh. What fun! It was like a "monster" that was trying to get them. Then it would move back down and go across to the other side and off they would go to see it come up the other side.

 It was kind of creepy down in the deep water...., all wiggly and moving.

I stayed with the Bambinos on Saturday night while Mommy and Daddy went to the movies. We had a good time. "I promise I won't let them stay up so late next time... but we had to see what happened at the end of the Chipmunk movie."
Sunday Sis and I drove out to Oakland, up in the hills, to see my oldest son. He is working on his house. He has a new bathroom. It's beautiful. I have more photos...tomorrow. Sunday night was when The Bean and his family came over to be terrorized by the pool sweep.
Monday Sis and I went to lunch and that night I took dinner over to my son's house and then we went to the school playground down at the end of the street. I have MORE photos....you do want to see them don't you? I promise I will edit them. I don't want to bore you with hundreds of pictures of grandchildren on swings and bambinos riding Razors (do you know what this is?) and Trikes. But, you know how it is if you're a grandma.

Tuesday Sis and I went to Home Depot to look at flooring for my sons new addition and then to Trader Joes. I love this store. I got my wonderful blue cheese and the Multigrain Baking and Pancake Mix.
That night I met my oldest and we went to dinner in Oakland and ate ice cream at Fenton's. If you live in the Bay Area you know what I'm talking about. ~FENTONS~

It is one of the best ice cream places in Northern California. Steak at a very good restaurant and Ice Cream. Yea! That's the good life.
On Thursday, yesterday, I was so tired that I did mostly.... nothing. I sat at the computer, wrote a easy post, caught up on my email, watered the garden, clipped the old flowers, talked to the animals, NAPPED, sat on the couch, fell asleep, fixed dinner and went to bed.
Today I had a bit more energy.... but now I'm pooped, again. Guess I'm gettin' old. When did that happen?

Vintage Thursday: Spoonin' in the Back Seat

The War was over. Flags were flying. The Country was happy. The world was safe. Life was returning to normal.
Your friend called and said that his dad let him have the Chevy for the evening. "Do you want to make it a double date?"  and you said, "Sure."

You picked up your girlfriends and drive into town. Bill and his date in the front. You and your girl in the backseat.
Benny Goodman was playing on the radio...

  The back seat held the fragrance of home and your girl's perfume. Life was good....

This is a 1938 Chevy Master Deluxe Sedan with many memories tuck into it's mohair seats. The car was kept clean and not used much until the war was over. Rationed gas was too expensive for daily use.
I see a young man, who survived the war and served his country well, sitting back and laughing as he puts his arm around his sweetie.
He came back to a home town that gave him a parade and shook hands with him as he walked down the Main street. Fathers took big sighs of relief and Moms cried tears of joy.

....and Johnny sat in the back seat with his girlfriend and made plans for the rest of his life.

Please go to Colorado Lady's Blog for more vintage stories and posts.

Oh, Brownie. What I'm I going to do with you.

"Hey Brownie, how are you feeling? You look a bit bloated. Did you eat too much? Humm?"

 

" You look a little shaky. Could it be that you had too much to eat this morning?"
This is one of those stories that only get told when you own a goat like Brownie. He is my trouble makin' show pony and he really did it this time. I can't believe he did this but, somehow, he did.
I had gone down to the vegetable garden to take the wet trash to the compost bin. The goats heard me and came to visit. One of their fenced areas is below the garden.I talked to them and gave them each a bean from the bowl of beans that I picked for dinner. I had given them an orange peel too and Brownie didn't like the piece of orange. The others love it. Brownie wouldn't eat it. When I offered him a bean he sniffed it and then he slowly took it in his mouth only to drop it on the ground. Bart was right on it and snatched it up. I told Brownie that he was being very picky. He just looked at me.
I checked the other plants and found more beans and one zucchini. When I got to the other side of the garden I noticed that the fig tree had been nibbled on. I immediately blamed Freckles for this because I  have caught him before... leaning on the fence, reaching over and chewing at the leaves. The fence was leaning more than usual and I thought that later, when the weather cooled off some, I would have to get the Prospector out there to help me reset the metal posts and straighten the fence back into its original position.
I left the goats, and the garden, and walked back to the house. It was going to be an awfully hot day. I was glad that I had gone out early to work in the garden and water the flowers. I made a mental reminder to pick some of the little figs off of the tree tomorrow morning so the rest would grow bigger. These figs are so good and they keep coming all summer and into the fall.
I went back into the house to start a load of wash and make some more zucchini bread to take down to my family tomorrow. Maybe a half hour later, I put the pans in the oven and set the timer. It was then that  I got that funny feeling that I get when I feel something is not right around here. The Prospector was gone and when he is I'm much more aware of little things. A new sound , something changes position , the gate is latched differently. It's the awareness that comes with living in the country. It's almost a 6th sense. Well..., I felt something was wrong and I went back outside. No one was coming up the road. Everything seemed in order. Then I heard it. A small rustle and movement in the garden. I walked over to the edge of the walk and looked down . The goats were at the fence near the fig tree, mulling around. I looked again and this time I saw that Brownie was not with the other goats. He was in the vegetable garden. Now I don't know if you know about GOATS but most of them will eat anything.
I flew back into the house, closed some doors to confine the pups to the living room, grabbed a leash and some (what else) zucchini. I ran out the front door and down to the veggie garden. I opened the gate and yelled. "Brownie, what are you doing in here?"
Now, Brownie is not an excitable goat. Bart gets all emotional, Freckles is shy and sweet and Murphy, well, you know about Murphy if you've been reading my blog for very long. He's the magical goat that speaks Gaelic and dances. But Brownie is always either upset about something or not talking. He's my troubled, sometimes disgruntled, "pain in the butt" goat. As I walk through the gate he greets me like a long lost friend. He prances over to me and kind of looks like..." Hi there. Did you come to join me? I just finished off one side of your fig tree and half of your beans. Come on. I'll show you." and he walked around the raised plant bed and headed  for the corner gate where the other three were waiting.
The fence near the fig tree was leaning over and touching the tree. It was fairly obvious what had happen. They had all leaned on the fence to reach the tree and when it got low enough Brownie, Mr. Opportunity, jumped over the fence. I can't believe the others didn't jump over too. If they had, my whole garden would have been gone. Considering how much Brownie did in such a short amount of time I figure that all four goats would have had all the veggies eaten in about one hour. So what was I going to do with this 150 lb. goat? How was I going to get him back into the goat run, through the gate without the other three pushing their way into the garden?
I told Brownie to stand still. He did. I think he was kind of confused about where he was and why. Goats are rather smart in an instinctive way but changes confuse them. He acted like an observer to the dilemma and just stood there. It was kind of weird.
I went over to the gate leading into the run and threw the zucchini as far up the run as I could. Frecks immediately started eating a piece. Murph' and Bart sniffed the pieces and then came back toward the fence. I got mad. I hit the fence with the leash. I guess they thought this was odd behavior for Farmlady. If a 150 lb. goat doesn't want to move, then you have a problem. I got even madder. I took the dog leash and hit the fence next to Brownie and he bolted through the gate and into the run. Thank goodness he did. I didn't have a "plan B". I went into the run and closed the gates that go into the south field so they couldn't get near the fence that was leaning into the garden. I had effectively blocked them from returning to the scene of the crime. Brownie just stood there looking at me. I said " Don't you move." and I undid the gate to the garden and walked back in, closing it behind me.
My garden looks surprisingly good after the attack. Brownie only had time to eat every fig and leaf on one side of the tree and a major strip of my pole beans. He didn't get to the zucchini or the tomatoes... or the chrysanthemums at the other end of the garden that the goats think are a delicacy.
He looks a little bloated tonight but he ate dinner and is drinking lots of water. He seems fine. What am I going to do with this goat? He just loved being the center of attention. He's the only one whose horns kept growing back until we finally gave up and let him keep them. He thinks he is the Alpha goat and Bart has deferred to Brownie on this issue. I guess that's why he was the one to jump the fence.
When I told the Prospector about what happened he was amazed that I handled the whole incident so well. I don't know why he would think otherwise. I told him... "You just have to show those goats who's the boss." He laughed.  I think we could move on to owning cattle now. Wonder if all of this would work with that Blond '38 Chevy out there. I better keep the leash handy.

I'm going  down to see my family for a few days. I will be back on Wednesday. Keep an eye on Brownie for me while I'm gone.
UPDATE: Brownie is fine this morning.  He doesn't look any worse for the garden incident. Goats are tough. So am I, it seems. The dogs didn't eat the carpet and the zucchini bread didn't burn.

The Other Woman Comes Home

We brought her home yesterday. She had her brakes fixed and some other things that make her road ready. I think she has found out that she better be nice to us  because she is becoming an expensive pleasure. The auto shop owner had a big smile on his face as we drove off. He knows we will be back.
We stopped and filled her up with gas and someone shouted as he drove by  "Nice car". We went for a little drive, together, down Main St. and around town. People notice this car. Folks wave at you and smile. We saw people giving us the thumbs up. It was kind of fun.

The Prospector drove his new love down the road  looking blatantly happy about this beautiful new woman in his life. I wondered, as I drove silently behind him taking pictures, if I need to worry about this charming addition to our family?

I knew, as I watch him drive her up the road to our house that she was probably going to be a contender...

But, I will have to admit that she looked pretty darn good in the driveway. Kind of spiffs up the place out here in the woods. I think I can hear the Andrews Sisters singing on the car radio....

Carl and Cutter were not at all convinced that this wasn't the UPS guy in disguise and looked a bit concerned. They did a lot of barking....every time they went out front.

The Bone of Contention. Do you see my Toyota Rav 4 in our garage? Does this look like a Toyota? I think not.
This morning SHE was in the garage and MY Toyota was outside parked near the fence. The Prospector did a switch when I wasn't looking. He said that he didn't want her to get sunburned.  OK! I can play this game too.  Just watch me....

Wordless Wednesday: Sutter Creek, CA.

And Then There Were None.

Yesterday was the big day. My babies went out into the big world.

Two of them, with Mommy and Daddy's encouragement, left in the heat of the afternoon.
And then there were three....

The babies flew to the Mock Orange bush nearby and sat quietly, looking like they weren't sure what they just did....as if they wanted to fly back to the  cozy nest and the breathing of their siblings.

Another one fluttered it's wings and flew off. What bravery! What a big world it must be to them....
A world of wonder... and danger.... of beauty and instinct.

And then there were two...


 

This morning they were gone. "My babies" have flown out into the world. I will miss their downy little birdness, their feathered beauty and dark little eyes looking at me so trusting and new....
the noise and commotion.... the feedings and the worry.
One by one, they flew out of the nest and into the bushes. It's the way of all wild things (and children too). It's hurts a little but it's what is suppose to happen. I will take the nest down later this morning and clean out the metal tin. Later...

"Then they lift their wings, they become again a part of the untouchable clouds." ~ m. oliver ~

Goodbye little ones. Thank you for this beautiful summer of you.