Rural ~ Home

As I have frequently shared, we live in rural America. We are surrounded by fields, dairies, alfalfa fields, and a few people. There are only about 3500 people in our county. I like the quiet, country life. No malls, only a couple of diners, a couple of gas stations and a couple of grocery stores. We do have a McDonald's and a 7-11, but that is about it as far as national chains go. It is nice, you know your neighbors and you look out for each other. It is a nice place to raise children, and even nicer when they come home for a visit. It is hot dogs on Easter weekend, parade and derby on the 4th of July. It is true Americana at it's finest. Welcome to Rural America.

And the one I chose for the rural challenge...  I call "Born Today".



MK Challenge ~ Spring

I love spring. It is a renewal. I love the flowers, the rain, the crisp evenings, the warm afternoons. I love hearing people outside, mowing, riding bikes. One of my most favorite parts of spring is the beginning of baseball season. I love watching all the games, from T-ball to the Pros. Ashton is 7 this year. I wish I lived closer to catch all of his games (coach-pitch). I did see the opening game. So fun. It was hard to choose which one of my photos was a favorite to post. I narrowed it down to these two.

Happy Spring and Happy Baseball Season!

MK Challenge ~ Colorful

So much color surrounds us. Why does it take a photography challenge to make us appreciate it? I have a few colorful pictures to share. Sorry for so many, but I just could not decide!

Ball of Color

Colorful Eyes

Circles of Color

 

Color Top

Have a Colorful Day!!

Purple...

The challenge this week on Shutterboo's Flickr is "Purple". I found many purple things, it was hard to choose which shot to publish on the site. So I added my link for all things purple at my house. I must confess, I have a few more that I didn't have time to shoot... maybe next purple go round.

And the final one is the one I chose to post for the challenge:

Think Purple Thoughts!!

Almost Spring ...

We had a fleeting moment of Spring. I have one bush in bloom in our yard. I went out today to take a few pictures, before the wind blew off all the flowers. It was cold, gray, and very windy. Now it is sprinkling, with expected storms in the night - boo! I am so ready for spring.

 Also found a few Dandylions...

Please, Spring, come soon!!

MK Challenge ~ Blur

I love working with blur in photography. It brings such depth to a photo. I especially enjoy nature pics that have some bokeh or background blur.  There is a field in front of my work full of sage and sunflowers. They are all still brown, gray and blah. But kneeling down and getting a bit of the sky to blur in the background, makes even brush look a bit more interesting.

MK Challenge ~ Black and White ...

Taking a Black and White photo, or converting a photo to Black and White is something I enjoy doing. Sometimes there is success and sometimes the color photo is better. I took this photo of my adorable granddaughter this weekend. I love her little freckles and I love how in the black and white, she looks so much like her momma. She is truly a joy to be around. I enjoy her spunky attitude. I love that she plays with girly stuff and the next minute she is wrestling her brothers. That is my Rylee Bug!