I know it is spring, but just had to share these from the fall of 2006. There are certain things that I personally like in a photograph. I had rather the post be on the right side in this photograph...I like things to lead into the photo from right to left. When I take pictures of my husbands knives, I much prefer the handle to be on the left with the blade towards the right.

That being said, I still like this photo and this is the way nature did it so I will be satisfied with that. I always think it is sort of ironic just how beautiful poison ivy becomes in the fall! And sometimes I almost only have to look at it to get it! There was one period in my life when I wasn't allergic to it, then it came back with a vengeance and I try to stay out of it at all costs, or if I get in it, I go wash off with cold water as soon as possible.

This is Gap Creek in Tennessee...not very big but was it ever a fun place to play when I was a kid. Two or three summers my nephew spent the summer with us. I think we played in this creek ever single day, unless it was raining too much or something. We caught crawdads and muscles, skipped rocks, shot b-b guns, and stayed cool while doing it. This creek never got even a hint of warmness to the water, even though it was quite small.

And at the watering gap for the cattle, on the neighbor's bank of the creek, there was a big uprooted sycamore tree. I have no idea how big it actually was, but in my mind I remember it as huge. We would take snacks and climb out on it and eat, and laugh and watch the neighbor's black angus cattle.
Our girls did not have access to a creek this good as they grew up, at least not every day. But we did spend a lot of time at the creek pictured below. We fished and they waded and fished some. Every summer we bought one of the cheap wading pools for toddlers and it set in our backyard. The girls would bring home crawdads, pumpkin seed bluegills, and tadpoles and have some all summer long, or until a coon would discover them.

Maybe we should have a day called Buzzard Birdwatch, or something. I just got to thinking about when I went for my drive the other day...everywhere I went I seen buzzards. The above vulture is the first I captured, I missed a good photo of one on top of a barn with its wings outspread. I am not sure why they do this...I am currently trying to find the reason they do this.

If you look close at the photo below, there are two vultures on the roof towards the right side...I didn't notice them till I had done taken the pictures and I was there probably 4 or 5 minutes.

And below this is yet again another covered bridge. It is another one in Parke County, Indiana. It spans Sugar Creek--a place my husband and I plan to fish this summer. We have fished it some in years past but always on the weekend. Canoeing is very popular on this creek so not much fun to fish on the weekends. But husband will be retiring the first week of June so we should have all the time in the world to wade this creek.

He will probably use an ultra light most of the time, but I know he will fly-fish it some. I don't fly fish...I have never tried. If I try to picture myself fly-fishing all I can see is a wad of line back in my face. But who knows, I might give it a try sometime. I have an ultra light rod and reel combo that you could not buy from me--specially the rod. They don't make it any more. I done broke one--no, not on a fish, but during fishing. To make a long story short, we went to the two sporting goods stores in Terre Haute, and to the Kmarts and whatever else carried rods and reels back then. At the last Kmart we went to, they had two rods, on sale because they were the last of them, and my husband wisely insisted on buying both.

I tend to use these little jigs with a weed guard, or Johnson Silver Minnows, and sometimes beetlespins....I never fish in the creeks with live bait...though every now and then I like to take worms and go to a strip pit and throw a line out and just watch it. Though even then, I will have the line and bobber out, but will be casting about with my ultra light.

ETA: Just found that people believe the reason vultures will stand with outspread wings are for multiple reasons: warming the body, drying the wings, and/or baking off bacteria.

Skywatch Friday
from scanned photos...
The photo above may not look like anything special, but it was sure a surprise to me when I picked up my photos. This was a night shot, I am not even sure why I took the picture, I just know it was a total shock when I seen it. I had not realized the sky was like this at all. I remember coming out of the high school and taking it...so that has been several years back. I think I help my camera on top of my van to try to hold it steady, other than that I have no clue how long I left the shutter open or anything.

Sometimes I look at the above picture and like it, other times I think it is sort of boring. Tonight I liked it when I seen it so I am including it. I don't remember if I used a cokin filter on it or not, but I do know I had them with me. I have yet to use them on my digital....

And the one below is another of my rural sunsets....I did not alter the color in any way other than to touch up a few spots of dust with the clone tool.
And for more skywatch photos please visit Tom....

Memories....
I opened a big bag of cat food yesterday...the kind that has been chain-stitched closed. You know, you get hold of the right end and pull and it all comes out. I have been opening cat food and dog food like this almost since I left home 30+ years ago, and it never fails to remind me of mom. In fact I may have said that on here before. Back then I don't think I ever saw the string any color other than white or off white.

My mom had a ball of string, only she called it twine. And she never threw any of it away. She used it to baste her quilt linings (backing we call them now...) into the frames. I know she used it for other stuff, but I can't for the life of me remember anything else. Doing the backings was the primary use.

And yesterday I left my rotary cutter open for just a second and was reaching back to get it and of course, I cut myself. Just a tiny cut, but it wanted to bleed like a stuck pig. So I came upstairs to get a band-aid. And that brought back that we very, very seldom had a band-aid in the house...unless it was some that company left there. I think maybe in last year or two we might have...maybe my brother Neal will chime in here and say if he remembers.

But she usually kept old sheets, and back then they were almost all white. If one of us needed a bandage, out would come the old sheet and it would be ripped to fit the need. If we got hurt, it did not slow us down much. But I digress...
I got to digging around in some treasures from my mom today. She would decide she wanted to make some quilt or wall hanging and she would sit down and sometimes trace a figure, but just as often as not she would just start cutting. Above is some of her leaves she has sat and cut...I have a whole box of other pattern parts and not sure what they go to.
This is a picture of the rest of the stuff in the tin box...notice how shaky her writing is on the envelope that says Double Wedding Ring. Late in her life her writing really did get shaky...I have a letter or two and you can really see it in it. But back to the double wedding ring...I cannot remember how many of those she has made since I have been alive, and I know she made some before I was born. I remember seeing an old black and white photo of quilts and I think one of them was a double wedding ring. She had no fear of curves...or anything when it came to sewing.

When she had things she wanted to save, a lot of times they were folded and rolled up and tied just like the two things above. Actually, the one thing is a bonnet torn apart to be used as a pattern. My mom always wore a bonnet when working in the garden...well, maybe not always but a big part of the time. She was one of the last people I know of that would wear bonnets.
And I even have an apron or two of hers that I kept. She was never without an apron, but I think I have told about that before so won't repeat myself.

She had the attitude that she could make anything that anyone else could...and one of her favorite sayings was that if you hadn't ever made a mistake, you hadn't done anything. Which is pretty much true if you think about it..

I am having blogger's block right now....I even went for a drive and that did not get me out of my slump. Normally, I come home renewed but not this time. Not sure what my problem is. I got a few pictures, not particularly in love with any of them as far as being a good quality photograph. As always, I encourage you to click to enlarge the photo.

But I came up over a little hill and down, and here were all these buckets...someone is tapping the maple trees. No one was around to talk to or I would have asked a few questions. I am sure it takes a lot of sap to make a gallon of syrup. I wondered as I looked around how they collected the sap...do they have a tank of some kind that they bring and fill. These were not near a house or building of any sort so it has to be transported some way.

Then the other thing today was all these lambs...I wanted to go around and pet them so bad. But I literally know nothing about sheep. I didn't know if I might disturb the mamas (ewes) or not. I know some of our old cows did not like strangers around their calves, so I wondered if sheep might be that way also. But the babies got up and started bleating and running my way...I left before they got any more worked up. I really think they thought I should have some kind of treat for them.

This is one of two funeral homes here in town...I haven't yet tried a digital night photo of it, but have several of it from my regular camera. Though in all honesty, several of them are in the form of slides. There is just something about this place that is so pretty at night...and I still have not captured it just the way I want.

Waiting for her mom...
This was taken years ago--I would think at the least 8-10 years ago. The girls still rode the bus home and about15 minutes before it was time for the bus, this dog, Keesha and our other one would be watching out the window in anticipation of their arrival. The bus dropped them off one block west and one block south of us.
I think dogs have some kind of bond with those they love. The daughter that has the dog pictured in yesterday's post is also this dog's mom. (This dog is still alive and lives with her.)
Anyway, when our DD was in high school she went to Florida with a friend and her parents a couple different spring breaks.

Both times, on the day she was to arrive home, late in the evening or early night this dog would start pacing and watching. Somehow or other she knew her mommy was getting closer to home.
It was not my imagination.

Otto, the dog of yesterday has done the same thing when I have kept him a couple times. Both times when the kids would be due to start heading home, he has started going to the window and whining. He had been perfectly happy the rest of the day.

I don't remember what show on TV did a study on dogs...they set up cameras and watched dogs when their owners left. They were in contact with the owners as they watched the dogs. Each time the owner told that they were heading home, the dogs would go to the window and start watching. I know some of the times, the owners had just went for a walk, but I think it also showed some that went to work, etc....

Who can resist a face like this????

The top picture was taken either by my daughter or her husband...I am thinking probably by their camera phone. I cannot tell which room for sure but think he is on the bed with them. I just totally love this picture of him.

And this is from today--my SIL had him here for a little bit and I tried to snap a picture of him. It is hard to catch him still long enough to get one that isn't blurred. I think in a short amount of time he and Bubbie would be best of buddies. For some reason Bubbie really likes dogs, and part of the time our Shelby will put up with him, but other times she is nervous and jumps up and finds someplace else to be. But Otto doesn't run...except I could see them chasing each other once they got used to it.
But he has no desire to hurt at all...

They take him to the local pet store with them and when he meets a new dog, a lot of the time the first thing he does is sit down, all the while his whole body wiggling with happiness. I think it is the same thing with kids.

Okay, change of subject. Most people probably have heard of the Owl Cam--why most people call it the owl cam I don't know. Maybe others do call it the bird cam I don't know...anyway, I have watched it for years. If you click on the links at the side, you get to watch eagles, falcons, kestrels, osprey nest. It is too soon to see all, but they are fun to watch. This year they even have live video.

Also, in our own state of Indiana, in Indianapolis right downtown the falcons have returned...read and see about them HERE. Just totally amazing to me. I don't know why but birds of prey are fascinating to me. I love about all birds and fuzzy animals...we even have a toad that we love. Or did...I only seen him a couple times last year so am afraid he has died. But the look coming from birds of prey is just so intense...and I can't imagine what they see when they are soaring overhead. So hope you enjoy the links.

Catfishing....

Not actually good pictures but they are fun....
I just had to share these even though I had second thoughts about it...this is my school of catfish. They love nothing better than for my husband to tie one of their toys on the end of the fishing line, and then he swings it through the air or kind throws it out a few feet and reels it back in. This is one way to make sure they settle down for the night!
He usually quits when they start panting too hard. Then he has to actually take the rod and put it in a closet and lock the door...even then they sometimes go rattle the door wanting to play more.

More of Tennessee...
Barb asked me if I had always like photography, and the answer is yes. Not quite as long as I can remember but I would say from 3 or 4th grade I wanted a camera. I am not sure how old I was when I got my first camera...I got it with Top Value stamps. Does anyone besides me remember them? I think they were red and yellow, you received so many per so much money you spent. I cannot remember how many you got per $1--but I think there was thirty pages to a book. And each page had to have a value of 50 points in it...

I am not explaining it very well so will move on. My first camera was a polaroid camera...you know the kind where you pull the picture out and it develops itself. I was totally thrilled to get that camera. Just couldn't afford to take very many pictures cause I didn't have the money to buy film.

Then I think in high school I moved right uptown and got an instamatic made by Kodak that took the cartridges of film--mine was the 126 size. And these are pictures I took with it. I think I still have that camera. Then I went a year to a local college and the second semester there I took a coarse in photography where I learned to develop black and white film. I actually bought another camera--it was a Canon 35 mm, but not an SLR.

While there at college, I would also set in on another photography class sometimes and saw some neat ways to alter pictures. Multiple exposures is one I really remember standing out, and then there was another way of working with the negatives and ending in a very stark B & W photo--no shades of gray. I was so stupid then...that professor would have let me do anything. I should have taken advantage and sat in all the classes. And would have shown me how to do any of it.

Anyway, these are photos from when I was a child....I thought my family would get a kick out of seeing them on here.

Tennessee pastures

From the pastures of Tennessee...be sure and click to get the full effect.

This is the chimney to the house that we lived in when I was born....I am one of 8 children. I am one of the two that was born in the hospital. The rest my mom had at home. We did not have electricity till I was 2 or 3, according the my brothers and sisters.

This is not from home, just a picture I took somewhere here in Indiana on some of my rambling around. I think getting out and just driving and literally not knowing where I am exactly is one of my favorite things to do. I always head out with a full tank of gas because sometimes houses are few and far between, besides being miles from any gas station. I am pretty sure this is from the northern part of Vermillion County, but I could not go to it. Just sort of remember being north when I came across it.
This is Old Bob's collar--he was our old work horse. He wasn't a draft horse...just normal size. They got him long before I was born when he was 5 years old and he lived till the ripe old age of 32/33...I think I was 16 at the time he got down and could not get back up. We had to have the vet come put him down, it was cold weather and he was out in the pasture. Could not get up to come to the barn. I think if I remember right that my brother took bales of hay and built a wall to block the wind. And one of the coon hounds guarded him and growled when the vet came to put him down the next morn.

I don't think I have a picture of him any where...he was white. And just part of the family. They built the new house about a mile away from the old place...at first if he was lose, he would go back up there. Then after he became used to his new home, my dad and another man had him up at the old place doing something. When lunch time came they must have unhooked him...or maybe my dad just rode him up there. Anyway, they dropped his reins just to let him graze. He took off and went to his new home.

He was retired most all that I remember. And in later life we would let him out of the pasture to some of the grass that was not under fence but was still ours...he would never have dreamed of leaving home. Nor did he wander into the road. We did have a close call with a train though. And it put a stop to his being outside the fence.

See, the train normally only went up the holler and down late in the evening...and for some unknown reason it came along about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. Totally earlier than it ever came...and he was grazing right near the track, and the train blew its horn...if it had not blown its horn he would have been fine. But getting right on him and blowing the horn scared him and he took off running....luckily he ran away from the track eventually.

As to the piece of chain with the collar, I have no idea what it is for. Maybe someone out there can tell me.

Another tale about him, one time we sold a calf. It was out in the pasture and my dad just told the guy to go ahead and get it if we weren't there. Ended up he came while we were gone, and went out to get the calf, and Bob chased him out of the pasture...would not let him near the calf. If he would have stood his ground, Bob probably wouldn't have done anything but he would bluff a person if he could. And he could, so the guy had to come back when we were home.

A picture show of a different kind...the first two shows the crumb blocks I have been slowly working on...I think I have around 60 or 70 made. That would not go far if I sewed them directly together, which is what most people do. And I do like that look. But I am tired of making them, and plan to alternate the blocks with a 6 1/2 inch square.

The pictures below those two give an example of the oak leaf and reel blocks that I have made...I have 12 of them and they need to be squared. Forgive the strings....I used the light fusible-window method to attach them, then did the blanket stitch around all edges by hand. See, I used to get a lot done.

Anyway, I am thinking about how I want to set them together, and I may not get it done for a while. But I would love to get a top made from them and machine quilt the quilt. I have something I am sort of anxious to try. Maybe I shouldn't admit it cause I may fail miserably, but you don't know till you try. And my mom said the only people that don't make mistakes are the ones that don't do anything.

Spring is definitely in the air as this bud on my lilac shows. We had a few little showers this evening and had thunder! I love thunder storms...love to have one to go to sleep by. I forgot to mention that we had robins back last week--and I bet they were earlier out in the country than here in town. I always seen them at the orchard a week or so before I seen them here.

I have done little to talk about today: ran by the vets to pick up Heartgard for our dog, ran by Walmart, and by the grocery store. I sewed a little while after I got home on the crumb blocks...I really get in the mood to work on them when I start. Also will make a confession here...

When I quilted those baby quilts I had trouble with the thread breaking. I rethreaded it more than once...and I looked at the book. I almost think there is a little fairy that lives down there..I was changing threads yesterday or the day before and threading it as I had threaded it for the quilting. I do not know how many times I have had the thought that the way I had threaded it did not follow the path of most machines I have used. And I have glanced at the book numerous times. And I mean NUMEROUS times...I looked at the way I threaded it and I thought that just is not right...and looked at the book one more time even though I thought it was useless. This time I clearly saw that it should be threaded the way I thought it should be threaded! They say confessions are good for the soul, but this one is sort of embarrassing.

Anyway, now I am anxious to try quilting something else....I would like to get enough crumb blocks made to assemble into a small quilt and try quilting again. I cannot believe now that it quilted as well as it did with it being threaded wrong...it only seemed to break when I was going over a place where 4 points met.

This is my husband's latest creation...isn't it gorgeous! It is for one of his best buddies...his buddy requested it this big. I think it is a 6 inch blade. That is a deer antler he used for the main handle...the little bit of dark right behind the brass part is from a sawed-off rifle stock. I think he needed it because of the length of the piece of deer antler.