Tag: photography

Spring Happenings: a mini tour

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Spring came early this year and I was prepared.  My tomatoes and peppers were started in the kitchen window, lots of them, and as soon as I could I was out planting peas, broccoli, spinach, lettuces, rutabagas, turnips, beets and more!  All this work attracted the attention and the admonishment of a neighbor that, “We could still have a cold snap as late as April…” but I am feeling fearless because I have frost blankets to keep their little roots warm!

I even bought myself a new little tractor to help me get the job done!  Last year when I gardened I cried.  Literally.  I have a herniated disk in my lower back and getting down to ground level was a not working for me.  Hence my garden was not what I wanted or usually have here on the Farmlet.  However, now I have Violet to help me get the job done!

What!?! 

You’re laughing? Well hey, if men can name their cars then I can name my lovely new tractor assistant.

Meet Violet!

In this photo I was under the shade of my pop up to keep the sun from scorching my skin while I worked…  I went in to eat lunch and when I returned the pop-up was in the neighbors fence with broken legs…

!!! 😦 !!!

But I kept the poles to be used as tomato stakes! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, right?

OK, so how about I just quit talking and show you spring on the Farmlet?

So, without further adieu…

Little Dorrit  and one of the Hueys assist with the weeding of the onions and garlic.

A gratuitous dog picture.  Gotta have a dog in this post, and so I introduce you to Buddy, our other wonderful dog.  Isn’t he beautiful?  (It was brought to my attention that I have a tendency to overlook him in favor of the Little Dog.    This one’s for you Pam 😉 )

Remember this little hen?  Can you believe she’s the same one I almost lost last year? (read about that HERE)

Iris in the morning light.

These grow with abandon all over our little acre, and in many colors too!

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The following photographs are of the native plants I have growing here.  Growing what is native to the region in which I live is a passion of mine…

We have eight of these lovely trees here on the Farmlet.  We used to have more but we lost them to storms, age, and unfortunately, the new garage/barn.  We are loosing a couple more to termites as well.  I think I will replace them, but perhaps not in the same place.

You may also recall my visit to the Lovely Plant Lady last April?  (look HERE) Well, I was certain that the May Apples and Trillium hadn’t made it, but NO, here is the May Apple…

and here is the Trillium!  So glad I haven’t lost my native garden gardening skills. Can’t wait to see this garden in bloom this year!

These are Red Bud blossoms.  Roughly the size of a small pea, they pop out from the bark to cover the branches.  It is stunning to see them all throughout the woods here.

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And finally…

These are Mystery Berries.  I have a whole patch of them in the front under the Pin Oak.  If you know what they are I would appreciate knowing so I can put them where they will be happy and productive.  (Currently, they are not.) The berries are the size of blueberries, the color of green grapes, with a bit of lighter striping from stem to blossom end.   Oh yes, and it is thornless!

The leaf and fruit form remind me of the RIBES family.  Anyone?

UPDATE:  The mystery plant has been identified as Clove Currant or Ribes Odoratum.   Thank you Lori at Day by Day the Farmgirl Way!

You can find out more here on Dave’s Garden:  http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/15424/

 

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Thank you for visiting today and come back again soon!

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NOTE:  Due to so many photos I kept them smaller to help with download time.   However, all photographs are clickable for a better view.   So, did it help?

Photo Friday: a changeling of a day

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Yesterday I got up and didn’t have to dress like a polar bear.  I liked that, but it got better!  Due to my increased comfort I felt brave enough to just throw on some jeans, clogs and a sweatshirt to try to take some pictures in the fog.  I had wanted to try this since I read about it in Kerry Mark Leibowitz’ blog entitled Lightscapes Nature Photography.  The particular post I mention can be found HERE  <— (click)  but don’t pass up his other work it is breathtaking!

I will try not to be too wordy today, it will be hard, but I will try.  But first a word about picture quality.  If you want a really stunning view of the more artistic photos here, then please click them to sharpen them up!  😉

Ground fog in the country

I liked the stark beauty of these twisted branches against the muted background.


I wanted to share more of these with you, but this turned out to be the best of the bunch.  So, I will share some others that I took while out on my early morning excursion.

Farming

Farmers, being early risers, need a bit of light to keep things running smoothly.

We call these the Walkingsticks, but they’re properly called irrigation and they are huge.

Each section is roughly 10 to 12 feet in length.  This particular string was nine lengths long.  The rest of it is on the other side of the rise in this picture.  Notice the light in the upper right?

Each of the “walkingsticks” is attached to an underground water source.  As it runs, sorry I don’t understand the mechanics involved,  anyway, as it runs it slowly travels on the wheels and in a circuit around the well pipe to keep the crops irrigated.

This new to our area watering system was begun last year.  Trenches were dug, pipelines laid , and submersed pumping stations set up to keep the crops irrigated.  We are fortunate here to have massive underground water reserves to keep things growing even when it doesn’t rain… It’s all that limestone and underground rivers and caves!

A severe drought was the case in this post <— (click)  of August 2010,  and as it will happen, they’ve installed all the costly irrigation and now we have had plenty of rain.  However, better prepared than to do without!

It has in fact rained so much that the soil is saturated to the point that the water collects in puddles now and will not drain away.  Do you see the Alligator in this puddle?  😉

It takes very big equipment to prep all the fields and ready them for planting.  Big tractors, and other farm equipment leave big tracks in the soil.  You may have an opinion about Big Agribusiness and the practices they follow, but I will not get into that topic here.  Suffice it to say that you know my mind on gardening practice here on the Farmlet.

The lake scene above came from this set of mighty tractor ruts!

This compacted area will be like concrete when it dries in summer.  Note to self, when running out the door, take a moment to put on proper hikers, and not your nice expensive clogs!!!

Later that same day…

The sun came out and warmed the air to 76 degrees, everyone enjoyed  the break from the cold and gloom of wintertime.  This rise in temperature caused the sap to rise in the maple trees, which dripped down the trunks from the holes the woodpeckers had made.  It was a sticky mess but apparently, not everyone felt the same as I did.

Do you see her?

How about now?

She is sipping the maple sugar through a straw  her *proboscis.

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!!!

The leftovers from last years harvest.

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*NOTE:  I know that technically proboscis is correct, but it certainly lacks that alliterative quality of the word straw.  Does it not?

Dega Baby!

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One of the things I didn’t tell you about, and should have… Was going to Talladega for the race on October 23rd.

Although my husband and our friends, Pam and Tim are big NASCAR fans, I could never see any purpose to sitting in front of the TV for hours watching little cars go round and round while some good old boys talked about it non-stop.  To my way of thinking it is tantamount to watching hamsters running in their exercise wheels, and what’s up with that little rat relative Digger?

I digress.

So almost a year ago we began talking about the October Race at Talladega.  And before we knew it the plans were made, the tickets bought, plane reservations made,  and they were here!

Personally I was more excited at the aspect of our friends coming to visit!  We hadn’t seen them since we left California three years ago, and I was looking forward to spending time with them.  Even if it meant having to sit in bleachers for a day…

Well, we drove over two hours, parked, walked over a mile, found our seats, sat down, and realized…

We were right in front of the start/finish line!  

Now some folks would prefer to be way up high so they can see the whole track clearly, and some would prefer to be down in the center of the track where all the partying and crazy stuff is going on, but me, I was kinda liking to be where it all begins and ends.    Although I am not a NASCAR fan, and I don’t have a driver I’m following, it was fun to be there live and in the middle of the action, to see up close what went on in the pit.  Oh, and the really big bonus???  No Digger!  The annoying little rodent was MIA!  😀

Before I get to the pictures I want to take a moment to thank Tim and Pam for buying the tickets.  It was very generous and we all had a great day!  Yes, even me. 

Now, let me tell you, taking pictures of FAST cars is hard.  Add a fence and it is next to impossible!  I found that to get a good shot I had to set the camera for action and face into the oncoming cars.  Doing this allowed the camera to find a focus range and get in a few clear shots.  Like these…

OK, so these aren’t fast-moving cars, but trust me, the fellas in the photo were hustling!

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No, your eyes do not deceive you.   That really is 12 inch wide tape holding on the fender of number 20!

TAPE!

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You have to look at this one close up!  Imagine driving way over 200 mph, and you are kissing bumpers with the guy in front of you… on a curve…  INSANE.

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I took so many photos that day and almost all were trash. The action is simply too fast for this amateur,  and so were the heads of the fans!

I have various blurred shots of the back of several NASCAR fan’s caps.  I thought this red one was attractive…    😉

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So for me, even though not a racing fan, it was a great race!  There were four crashes in which no one was killed or seriously maimed (that’s always a plus) and  best of all, I was there with my Sweety and best  friends!

Hmm…  whatever happened to Digger?  Maybe he got run over by one of the fellas on the track?

(Curiosity got the better of ya, huh?)    😉

Photo Friday: the hawk in the cemetery

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On Saturday we visited Maple Hill Cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Alabama.   It was begun in 1818 when Leroy Pope sold two acres to the city.  Over the years the “burying-place” was officially named “Maple Hill,” and it has grown to just under one hundred acres in size.  It is a historical and quite beautiful place to visit.

PLEASE NOTE:  All photographs are clickable for a better/clearer view!

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While driving out of the grounds I chanced to spy this fellow…

gorging himself on his catch of the day…

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I thought him very photogenic…

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and quite accommodating… 

although he did eventually grow tired of our intrusion on his dining experience, and grabbing his grub, he flew into the trees.

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Note:  I am uncertain as to what kind of hawk this is, so I have sent a request for Bob of Texas Tweeties to help me ID him.  I will post his reply here when it comes.   🙂

UPDATE:  Bob believes it to be a Juvenile Red Tailed Hawk.  (See Comments below)  Thanks Bob!  🙂