February 29, 2012, Day 60 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I like fires, and this time of year we always have one in our house since our wood stove is the only way we heat the house. I love the smell of the burning wood, I love the crackling of the fire and I don't even mind bringing in wood from the shed. All in all, wood stoves are great, and I love everything about them. My little Joon's favorite spot in the house is curled up on the side of the stove. Sometimes I wonder how she keeps from cooking herself. She gets cold easily, so I guess the extra heat is nice for her. Anyway, this is an actual fire in my stove from today, Leap Year Day! I hope it was a great extra day for everyone.

February 28, 2012, Day 59 of my 365 Days of Photographs

In my picture file, I labeled this photo "content" because that is exactly what it makes me feel when I look at it, and it is obviously what they are both feeling. When Benny feels stressed or overwhelmed, he goes to find a cat, usually my big female, but this time it was our young male. Our other little dog likes to be groomed by the cats, too. Houdini normally gets kind of rough with them and starts biting, but this time he was gentle and seemed to enjoy it as much as Benny did. Benny looks like he is in Heaven.

February 27, 2012, Day 58 of my 365 Days of Photographs

There are a couple of old bikes sitting in our yard, leftovers of the days when my boys still lived at home. After the recent snow, they looked a bit sad and lonely, so I took a few pictures. I like how this one turned out in black and white.

February 26, 2012, Day 57 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Just some old spools of wire, sitting on some fence panels that are leaned up against an old sea can that sits in our yard. I like the contrast of the green sea can with the mostly white of everything else. Nothing too exciting. I just like it.

February 25, 2012, Day 56 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Yes, I like old buildings. This one I pass on a regular basis. I have even stopped a time or two and taken pictures of it with my previous camera. However, something about the way I cropped this particular picture, the lighting and the angle all make it seem different to me in this picture. I don't know if this was someone's cabin, or if it was just an old grain shed, but I'm sure it meant something to someone. I think I will take a walk behind it some day to see what it looks like from the other side. Maybe it has a door and a window or two that give me more of an idea what it actually was when it was built a long time ago.

February 24, 2012, Day 55 of my 365 Days of Photographs

This is one of those pictures that looks better in my head than when I actually see the picture. However, it still has some coolness to it. Hoar frost on an extension cord that goes from our calf shelter to one of our chicken coops.

February 23, 2012, Day 54 of my 365 Days of Photographs

This picture is such a cool one when you can look at it in a larger size. I thought about deleting it when I saw that it doesn't have the same feel in this smaller size, but I still like it, so I'm going with it. If you look all the way to the right, you can see my husband, Bryon. He has just opened a gate to let our friend's cows into their next pasture. He called them, and they all came from clear across the field get to fresh hay. Now they are just waiting patiently for him to get it opened wide enough to let them through. It shows what he does so well!

February 22, 2012, Day 53 of my 365 Days of Photographs

So, these look better when the picture is a bit bigger, but I still like them. A row of bright red grain sheds, and the one has a religious sign on it. I have passed these sheds so many times, and I always think I should take pictures of them, so today I did!

February 21, 2012, Day 52 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I saw a really cool picture on the internet yesterday, and I decided to try to recreate it. Mine isn't nearly as cool as the one I saw, but I kind of like how the candles look in the mirror. I'm not sure how you get really good ones without being in the picture, but this is a start!

February 20, 2012, Day 51 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I just really like taking pictures of old buildings. It makes me think of the past and wonder about the people that built the old building, possibly lived in it, or worked in it. I love to take them in black and white since it makes them more realistic. This one is a favorite of mine on the way to Grande Prairie.

February 19, 2012, Day 50 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I took this picture out the window of our truck when it was going highway speed. I was pretty impressed that it came out so clear, no real blur to it. This is a grain plant on the way to Grande Prairie. It was a nice, sunny day.

February 18, 2012, Day 49 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Here is Houdini sitting in the bedroom window. He was on the inside, I was on the outside, and I snapped his picture. I love how the outside world is mirrored in the window. Kind of cool.

February 17, 2012, Day 48 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Yup, these are eggs, eggs in various colors and shades. There are white eggs, lots of shades of brown eggs and even a couple of green eggs. Yes, I said green eggs. Unfortunately, the two green eggs look pretty much white in the picture. In real life, they are a lovely light green shade. They come from Americana mix chickens I have. I just love looking at all the colors of my glorious eggs!

February 16, 2012, Day 47 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Interesting picture from the review mirror of the truck. Amazing what a person will do when they are stuck in a vehicle just waiting! However, I do think this is pretty interesting.

February 15, 2012, Day 46 of my 365 Days of Photographs

One single rose among some sweet smelling, pink carnations. I just like the colors and the look of the rose nestled in the carnations. Just looked appropriate for the day after Valentine's Day!

February 14, 2012, Day 45 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Happy Valentine's Day!! Today's picture (which happens to be two pictures because I can), is something very personal and, oh so very close to my heart. It is the Valentine that I received from my husband, and it is the BEST Valentine I have every received. Forget the candy and cards that we all received when we were little kids, forget the flowers and chocolates that we hopefully have all received at some time in our adult life and definitely forget the forgotten Valentine's Days. This Valentine is simply a bunch of computer paper cut into hearts, held together with a safety pin (yup, a safety pin) and with amazing things scrawled on them in my husband's handwriting. Seriously, the most romantic and touching thing he has ever given me. I love the man with all my heart, and I am thankful that some days he "gets it." What more can a wife ask? I love you, Bryon. May I become the wife that you talked about on your hearts.

February 13, 2012, Day 44 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Today I was sitting in our truck waiting for my husband to take care of some insurance business. It took him forever! I had my camera in the car, so I started taking some pictures. I took pictures of various things in the truck: the radio, the clock, the steering wheel. I think you get the picture. Then I started looking outside of the truck, and I saw some really interesting things. I wanted to take pictures of several people, but I was afraid they would call the cops on me for being a stalker or something. Instead I took some pictures of other things, and this dripping roof was one of them. They got a couple of inches of wet snow in Spirit River this morning, but it was warm, so everything started drip dropping away. I was lucky enough to be able to get some of the drips and drops as they came down. You can see big ones, and even some smaller ones if you look close. The angle of the roof was kind of strange. It was kind of between two buildings, where one overlapped the other one, so that part looks a bit strange, but I love the water drops. Now I just need an even better lens for such things. Happy drip dropping!

February 12, 2012, Day 43 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Another picture that I didn't actually take today. I just didn't get a chance to take any pictures, and I meant to put this one on any way, so here it is. Nothing too exciting, but I like the day time view of the moon, and the tree kind of gives some perspective on it. Just kind of cool, I think.

February11, 2012, Day 42 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I have been busy the last couple of days, so my time with my camera has been very limited. Kind of means I only get a chance to take pictures when I am in the house. Unfortunately, that really limits me on what I can take pictures of, and my animals are my go to things when I am in the house (and sometimes not in the house). This is Thomasina (Tomi for short). Of my five cats, she is the only female, and she has really cool eyes, so a snapped a close up of her. She didn't even complain about the flash. At least not for the first two or three pictures. After that she hid under the table. I promised her I would leave her alone for a few days!

February 10, 2012, Day 41 of my 365 Days of Photographs

This is Benny. I think there is another picture on here of he and his sister, Joon. When he saw me looking like I was going to take his picture, he turned his head, then glanced back to see if I was really going to do it. I did! He doesn't mind his picture taken when we are outside and no flash goes off, but he hates it when we are inside and the flash gets to his eyes. However, he is a pretty sweet little guy who is mostly cooperative, especially if it means he will get a liver snack when we are done.

February 9, 2012, Day 40 of my 365 Days of Photographs

So, this is my latest pet! Pretty cute, don't you think? This young, female moose has moved in, and she seems very content to stay. She doesn't care that my little dog goes out and chases her out of the yard, the big dogs bark at her (but they are fenced in the hay yard and can't get to her) and I go out on the deck and take tons of pictures of her. She is normally gone in the day and back at night, but today she came in early, so I got a lot of pictures of her. I couldn't convince her to stand where there wasn't junk behind her, though. There is a hay bale in the yard that she has been enjoying. It looks like she is in pretty good shape. She can stay as long as she doesn't get too aggressive, or tries to hurt anyone. Pretty sweet to have my very own moose since I love them so much. I might even have to give her a name. Any suggestions?

February 8, 2012, Day 39 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Our temperatures have really dropped, and everything is covered in beautiful hoar frost every morning. This is a picture looking across our dugout, and you can see the frost on all the little willow trees and such. It kind of has a bluish tint to it. That is the way it looked before I messed with it, and I actually kept it that way because it seemed to give the cold affect better.

February 7, 2012, Day 38 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Went for a drive this afternoon and saw these two deer standing out in the field. They watched me take lots of pictures, and just stood there almost posing for me. I love it when wildlife cooperate. Usually I catch the back end of something, or it is really blurry because they were on the run. Thanks beautiful creatures  for being such great models!

February 6, 2012, Day 37 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Our temperatures dropped quite a lot last night, and when I got up today, there was beautiful hoar frost everywhere. I took my camera and went for a walk. I got some great shots of the frost on everything, but I figured I should take a shot of my two tough little leaves. I think they look very elegant dressed in their layer of frost, and even the colder temperatures can't get them to let go from their tree. The sun is shining brightly, and I'm sure the frost will be gone soon. It sure made for a beautiful walk today, though. 

February 5, 2012, Day 36 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Okay, I must be completely honest. I did not take this picture today. I took it yesterday before the moose decided to run off into the bush. The best distance lens I have for my camera really isn't up to the distance these moose were from us, so I made my picture black and white, and then it looks a bit better. My husband figures this is a momma moose and her two offspring from last year. They were happily munching away on some hay bales before we came along and spoiled their morning. One of the two babes is the critter that took out the fence the day before. It was so cool to have them run past me just about half a block or so in front of me. Unfortunately, my camera couldn't keep up with them that day, and I didn't get any good pictures. I shall keep trying, though, unless they move on elsewhere to get away from me and my pesky camera. 

February 4, 2012, Day 35 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I'm still trying to learn how to get early morning and evening shots to look right. I took this picture on Saturday, which was my husband's birthday. We went out early to check on some moose that join our friend's cows for breakfast every morning. No one minds that they are there, and I was hoping to get some shots of them. However, my husband also wanted to fix our friend's fence where the moose broke it the morning before when we were also there to take pictures. On Saturday, the moose were a little more skittish, and they took off into the bush almost immediately. Since I still had to wait for my husband, I decided to try some pictures of the great sunrise. I added my husband hoping that I would get him in silhouette, which I did. It maybe isn't the greatest shot for what I was going for, but I like it. Happy Birthday, Bryon!

February 3, 2012, Day 34 of my 365 Days of Photographs

Yup, another cat picture! I could probably do a blog with 365 days of my animal pictures, but what is a person supposed to do when their animals choose to be so dang cute?  This is Houdini (of several previous pictures) and Balou. Balou, and his friend Hercules (who I think is also in a previous picture with Houdini where they were fighting), were tiny kittens that we brought to Canada with us when we moved up from the US. They quickly became great farm cats that get along well with the big dogs, the chickens, the turkeys and mostly with each other. Houdini and Hercules do have issues, but nothing serious. They are just always trying to see who should be top cat, the old guy or the young guy. Anyway, what I really like about this picture (and something I didn't know until I downloaded the pictures and looked at them on the computer) is that Balou is sticking his tongue out. Maybe he was saying "I hate your stupid camera and all the pictures you take." At least they both sat pretty while I took several shots of them. What can I say? I love my kitties!

February 2, 2012, Day 33 of my 365 Days of Photographs

I took a bit of a break from the computer, so I'm a few days behind on posting my pictures. The pictures still were taken every day, just not posted, so I'm catching up today. This picture is from a walk I took down our driveway. This little tree is growing by our dugout. Normally I couldn't get so close to this particular tree because it grows right on the edge of our dugout, but since it is frozen, I was able to get very close. I really enjoy experimenting with the close up shots. I decided this particular tree deserved some recognition since these two leaves have hung on even though we have had amazingly strong winds on several occasions this winter, and the tree has nothing near it to give any kind of protection. Way to hang in there little leaves!

February 1, 2012, Day 32 of my 365 Days of Photographs

We have an old tractor in our yard, and I love focusing on the different parts of it. I spent the afternoon outside taking shots of various things, and I like how this picture came out. One word of advice, don't forget to put the card in your camera before taking pictures. When I first went out, I thought I was getting some cool pictures of different things. Then I looked at the screen on the camera, and it said "no card." What a sad moment that was! I had left the card in my computer. Some pictures I was able to recreate, but some were once in a lifetime pictures (okay maybe not that great, but still ones I couldn't get again). Grrrrr!

January 31, 2012, Day 31 of my 365 Days of Photographs

This old tractor is sitting in the yard at my brother-in-law's place. I think it looks cool in almost black and white.