What ARE These?

Tags

wild strawberries, wild strawberry

City Boy noticed that the rabbits always nibbled around in the same spot in middle of the back yard.  He figured it was because of the clover, but we have an abundance of that all over our back and front yards.  Recently, after mowing, he went out to weed-eat and noticed something un-green amongst the green grass and weeds beneath his feet.  They were so low to the ground that the lawnmower hadn’t chopped them up.

City Boy brought me out and showed them to me — the leaves remind me of the strawberry leaves I remembered growing up and seeing in my dad’s strawberry patch.  But the little berries only slightly resembled strawberries.  They looked more like a cross between raspberries and strawberries if anything.  And they all had little bald spots on top.  That’s kind of like my dad, too.  But then again, maybe the lawnmower did get them after all.

So, we came to the conclusion that these must be wild strawberries.  But, in the middle of a lawn in the middle of town?  Our house has only been here twelve years, but it’s still not new.  

Whatever these bright berries are, the bunnies and birds ate them all within a few day’s time, so they must be edible at least to animals.  So we weren’t afraid of Lucy getting into them.  She will eat anything except her dog food.  She even loves bananas.

At any rate, I’m suddenly wanting a bowl of strawberry ice cream for some reason.

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Another Saga of Yard Wildlife

Tags

Bird, city wildlife, nature photographs, nature photography, rabbit, rabbit photographs, Robin

“The other day when I was walking through the woods, I saw a rabbit standing in front of a candle making shadows of people on a tree.”   Stephen Wright 

The other evening, just before the sun was about to sink below the point where it can be seen, City Boy caught sight of a rabbit sitting in our front yard.  Knowing the little creature would disappear the second he heard the front door open, I was tempted to try taking a picture of him through the window pane.  But, I hate the bluish cast that tends to add to the pictures, so I decided to take a chance on sneaking out and maybe catching one decent shot before the rabbit hurried off.

Lo and behold, I opened the squeaky front door and stepped around the corner, and there Mr. Rabbit was.  I kept creeping closer, unbelievably, until I was only several feet away from him.  He didn’t move, and I got a couple of slightly decent shots of him.

Next thing I knew, Mr. Rabbit got up, and showed me what he thought of me being so close!

Although he looks like he is in attack mode, this rabbit’s reaction to my presence was to give a lazy stretch.  The picture isn’t as clear as I would like it to be, but I did manage to catch him in mid-yawn!

It was hard to decide if I should be happy or insulted that a little wild bunny rabbit found ME to be absolutely no threat at all, to the point that he started grooming himself in front of me.

Then he turned around and nestled down with his back to me.

Maybe I’m interpreting things wrong, but I kind of took that as an “up yours” kind of attitude.  I moved around to the other other side of him, and hurried to try and get a picture of him before he fell asleep.

Maybe I should mention here that there were cars going up and down the street, kids playing basketball directly across the street, where there was also a little dog barking its head off at Mr. Rabbit, and none of this seemed to phase him.  Finally one of our curious resident robins landed and started hopping towards him to get a better look.

“Can’t you make HIM leave so I can get to the bread crumbs you threw out in the grass for me?”

Finally, when I took a few steps closer to get a really clear shot, Mr. Rabbit decided I was close enough and got up, ready to go.

He turned around and I got one parting shot of him before I went inside.  

Later on, while it was still light enough to see, I looked out the window and there Mr. Rabbit still sat.  Maybe Mr. Rabbit is nocturnal.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay safe!

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Smiles and Flowers

Tags

church, flower photographs, flower photography, flowers, nature photography

An outing on an overcast day doesn’t always present the greatest light for pictures, but City Boy and I had stopped by the church office recently and stepped into the courtyard area to admire the relaxing atmosphere.  The above picture is of clematis climbing on the old lamp post, and in the background is our church’s old bell.  Our church was founded in 1874, and the sanctuary we have now was built in 1965.

Our church had a dual celebration last night — one to mark the anniversary of our church’s founding, and one to thank our youth ministers for serving us in such a great and powerful way.  Our youth ministers are having to leave to move to Tennessee, and there were lots of goodbye tears as well.

It was a fantastic celebration, and a heartfelt goodbye, as well as lots of food and activities.  I must have taken hundreds of pictures, so now I look forward to the long task of processing them, lol!

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.  These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.” 

Joseph Addison

May this summer bring you lots of flowers and smiles!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting

Tags

bee, Beginning photography, clover, Macrophotography, nature, nature photograph, nature photography, Photography, postaday

While trying to practice some macro photography on yard clover, I was surprised by the little bee that flew out of nowhere to check out the little blossoms.  This photo of the little buzzer was accidental, and I did try to catch another photo of it in action.  The bee flitted around for a few seconds and then flew away, quick as it had come.

Flowers In the Yard and On Little Heads

Tags

baby headbands, baby photographs, flower photographs, flowers, Headband, nature photographs, nature photography, Susan B. Koman

“Beauty is not caused.  It is.”   Emily Dickinson

Precious Baby is growing like a weed, and she gets even more bubbly and playful by the day.  Her mother Becca hates ever having to leave her! 

Four years ago Becca’s mother died of inflammatory breast cancer, and each year Becca tries to attend the Susan Koman 3-day walk.  Several years ago she and her sister Amanda actually walked it.  City Boy has some tough daughters!

Becca, me, Amanda, 2010

This year, Precious Baby will also be attending the Koman walk.  Becca already has Precious Baby’s outfit all picked out.  The headbands for PB are usually made by Becca, but this one was made by PB’s father, Steven.

Here is Precious Baby modeling one of the headbands Becca made for her.

Becca has made some really cute headbands for babies, and I’ll include more about that in another post.  But there couldn’t be a happier model for headbands than this little cherub, right?

Becca’s brother Daniel also has a baby girl, Angel Baby, who has been in a few previous posts, and she sports pretty headbands very well, too!

Precious Baby and Angel Baby are not only cousins, but great friends, who love to visit with each other!

Speaking of visits, my daughter Emily and her family came down from Iowa and visited with us for awhile.  I have a post all lined-up about that to be sure!  

Well, a wonderful weekend is beginning, and I wish you and yours an incredible one!

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A Few Days In Monett

Tags

Beginning photography, flower pictures, flowers, Monett Missouri, nature photography, VA hospital, Veterans Health Administration

Recently City Boy and I made trips two days in a row to visit the VA hospital in Monett, a picturesque town not far from our own.  Frank goes there once-in-awhile for doctor’s appointments, and I go with him to keep him company, and…well, I like visiting the tax-free gift shop.

The first day we were there was overcast and threatening rain, and the next day was sunny and breezy.  Gotta’ love Missouri weather.

Monett is a pleasant town with its downtown area just up the road from the VA hospital.

This is a small part of the grounds of the hospital. It offers a nice stroll while waiting between appointments, and our dog Lucy loves it!

I don’t know, I just found this tree interesting looking — like it’s had a long, rough life.

A couple of squirrels were scampering about, totally ignoring us.

A camera that does a better job zooming in on things in the distance with a little more clarity is on my wish list.

Looks like this hollowed extension of tree root has become a handy hiding place for little creatures.

The next day we came back and found some pretty flowers around the courtyard entry to the hospital.

It’s always wonderful when something that is usually mundane, such as a doctor’s visit, can be so pleasant!

Hope the sun is shining on you today!

Ominous Evening

Tags

Beginning photography, Evening sky, Moore Oklahoma, Oklahoma, sky photographs, Sunset, sunset photographs, Tornado, Tornado Alley

Oklahoma residents have experienced more than their share of tragedy this month, and still continue to.  This picture was taken from the back door of our house the evening of the Moore, Oklahoma tragedy where, included in the tornado’s path, was a school full of children.  The storm tore through there and then traveled up to where we live and beyond.  We experienced some really rough weather, but not near the caliber Oklahoma received.  It’s a contradiction in terms, but this kind of sunset is ominously pretty.

Storms continue to rage in Oklahoma and parts of surrounding states, giving the hardest hit places no time to recover before the next storm arrives.  We are praying that Oklahoma and other states in “Tornado Alley” have a much needed respite from the storms soon, and that no other lives are lost.

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A Few Along the Fence

Tags

Beginning photography, flower photographs, flowers, May, nature, nature photographs, nature photography, spring, spring flowers

Remember that old Sesame Street game?  “One of these things is not like the others…”

Ah, April showers bring May flowers, and then comes June weddings — now I see why it’s done in that order.

Have a great holiday weekend, and enjoy whatever flowers you see! 

An Evening Out

Tags

barn photographs, Beginning photography, Calf, Cattle, country, country life, cows, llama, nature photography, old barn, rural, rural Ozarks

My love for the look of old buildings never seems to ebb, and so on a recent evening outing in the country with City Boy we ran across this old barn just before the sun set.

Further down the road were fields with cattle in the distance, and this particular field had some curious cows.  Up closer to the road was a barnyard with calves crying loudly.  We kind of put two-and-two together and figured out that they were all related.

We could hear a calf bawling more loudly and insistently than the rest, until we turned around and looked behind us to discover that it was, instead, this friendly creature.  It was in the field across the road and had come running up to check us out.

I know it’s not the greatest picture, but our new llama friend had surprised me and I got an all-to-quick picture of him/her.

As the sun went down we got a few more pictures and then headed home — these relaxing evenings together make life so pleasant!

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The Nature That Flies and Crawls

Tags

Beginning photography, Bird, nature, nature photographs, photography tips, Robin, rural Ozarks

Little robin digging around in the grass.  For what?  The bread crumbs that City Boy tossed out for them to eat?  Seeds?  

No, the old cliche’ saying still holds true…

“The early bird gets the worm.”  Or, in this case, the late afternoon bird.

I wasn’t going to post this picture of the azaleas (we think that’s what they are) after another beating storm had them laying almost on the ground.  I thought it was a pretty bad-quality picture (still do).

Then, to my surprise, I noticed the bonus caterpillar-on-a-stick — the little fella was practically posing for the shot, and I hadn’t even seen it when I took the picture!  I only noticed it when I put the picture on the computer and was about to press the “Delete” button.  Talk about a person being unobservant — I guess a creature has to hurl itself out of the ground into my face before I notice it (referencing the worm post here).

I was trying to get a close-up picture of a bee that was buzzing from dandelion to dandelion, but it flew off before I could get a decent shot.  I was outside with a camera anyway, so I thought I might as well get a shot of this guy…

As a rural Ozarkian, I should know this, but I actually had no idea that flies went after pollen or whatever it is that a flower has that bugs are interested in.  But, there this one was, not going after the usual cow-patty, and instead burying his head in the dandelion in search of SOMEthing.  Usually I’m all about putting flies to death, but what the heck.

The thing that I am really trying to learn that is important when trying to photograph things, is being observant.  The other bloggers who take excellent pictures use observation to catch things that people ordinarily wouldn’t see or notice.  If you are not yet honed in this skill, try taking a GOOD look at your subject with your eyes before you look at it through the camera.  There are often things not normally obvious that, if seen ahead of time, can be a source of interest in your photo, or even the subject of it.

Life is so full of wonderful things.  Blessings to you today as you enjoy them!

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