Skywatch No. 55

Our weather here has been HHH - Hazy, Hot and Humid. Each day there is a chance of storms, with rain, wind, hail and even a confirmed F2 tornado that touched down north of us. These 2 pics are after a storm with the sun peeking out behind the cloud.

Check out skies from around the world at Skywatch.

Blue Heron

We pass a small pond covered in algae nearly every day. A blue heron was standing on a rock looking for fish. I have no idea how he could see through the algae but I hope he found dinner.

Wordless Wednesday - In Mid Flight

Buxmont Annual Picnic/Pig Roast

Saturday was Buxmont's annual picnic and this year we had a pig roast. The weather was perfect, the food was excellent and everyone had a good time.

The moon bounce was a huge hit with kids and grown-ups alike

Trying to see who can jump the highest

Getting the pig ready for eating

All that bouncing leaves a girl thirsty

Lots of fun with volleyball including retrieving the ball from the woods several times

Setting up her shot

Homemade pinatas which were awesome

Hanging the pinata from the backhoe bucket (hey, we're really classy, what can I say)

Lining up for their turn

Everyone got a ribbon for the peanut scramble

Jim Ford is the club president and he posed for a pic with the kids

We had a very good time and got to hang out and chit chat which is always good.

Macro Monday - Hosta Flower

From my back garden

You can see other contributors to Macro Monday here.

Sunday Stills - Toys

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge - Toys.

Not a traditional toy but fun anyway!

The moon bounce at Buxmont Riding Club's picnic yesterday.

We don't have a whole lot of toys per se but my version of a "toy" is my Boz custom endurance saddle. It took almost 6 months to make. I splurged on it and it cost more than I paid for either horse. It is super lightweight and has a sheepskin seat.

This is me on Montero with the saddle.

The saddle on a rack

It has my name on a brass nameplate and it also has my initials in the tooling plus it has a built in compass which is pretty cool even though I don't know how to use it (I use my Garmin eTrex).

Tooling

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Playing with Photo Editing

I tend to us photos that are straight out of the camera with very little or no photo editing. As of late, I've been doing a little experimenting with Picnik. A really cool feature is focal soften where you can focus on a specific object in the shot and blur everything around it. This is a random shot that I took. I really like the focus on the lantern light with the rest of the building blurred.

You can click here to view full size.

Skywatch No. 54

The edge of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

Check out skies from around the world at Skywatch.

Misty Morning

Yesterday we had a heavy fog which left everything shrouded in mist.

Hostas in my back garden.

Wordless Wednesday - Watching out the Back

In Remembrance

My mother, Mary, lost her battle with cancer 4 years ago today. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her and there are still times when I pick up the phone to call her. She will always be loved and is irreplaceable. I love you, Mom, and I miss you.

Something New

I have been working very hard on creating online galleries for the photographs that I take. I have been cleaning up my photo archive on my computer and trying to group the photos into galleries that make sense. I would love to sell prints and even do candid photo sessions locally. I love taking pictures of animals, especially horses. There's a gut feeling I get when I know I've gotten a good shot.

So, without further ado...

Please stop by, check out the site, and tell me what you think - CTG Photo Design!

Macro Monday - Green Tomatoes

Ed, who created the Sunday Stills challenge, has now posted another challenge, Macro Monday.

Here's my contribution for this week - green tomatoes in our garden, right after being watered.

You can see other contributors to Macro Monday here.

July 18th Horse Show

Well, we started the day off with high hopes. We got all the gear loaded, both horses loaded into the trailer and off we went. The weather was spectacular and everything seemed ok. Jet was a bit off so cold hosed him and walked him around. T decided to use Montero for the opening ceremony. She did great on him but he had quite a bit of get-up-and-go and didn't really want to slow down. Montero blew threw the poles in the first and again decided he didn't want to slow down so we scratched him for the night rather than running the risk of T getting hurt. He seemed not-quite-right, not physically but mentally. She didn't ride the first 2 classes on Jet but he seemed to warm out of whatever was bothering him so she competed in the other 5 classes. She placed in 4 - a first place, two second places and a fourth. She's still #2 in points for the year. It was just an off night but I'm glad that she was able to salvage it in the end. We'll work with Montero to see what's going on with him.

Opening Ceremony

Opening Ceremony

Birangle

Keyhole

Poles

Sunday Stills - Aww Nuts

This week's Sunday Stills challenge - Aww Nuts and it's open to interpretation...I'm kind of a literal person and I'm working on a huge project at work p;us we had a horse show yesterday so I've been completely preoccupied and not terribly creative. Here are my contributions. Craig and T helped out - their 2 pics are the middle ones.

A pony named "Peanut"

Nuts and bolts on a old grain silo

A jar of peanut butter

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Thoroughly Enjoying Himself

Montero and Jet both like a good back scratch. They even have a frequent spot that has kind of hollowed out and makes the perfect rolling spot. Sometimes the grass is just as good.

Skywatch No. 53

Thunderstorms were brewing last night and were just west of us.

The clouds at sunset were really pretty.

Check out skies from around the world at Skywatch.

A Horsey Update

Jet and Montero are really doing well at the farm that we moved them to in May. We have worked hard to eliminate any spots where Montero can crib and both have benefited from the drier ground and more space to move around. They have grass and clover to eat but still like to snack on hay too. Montero has now gained over 100 pounds in 6 months and doesn't even resemble the same skin and bones that he looked like less than a year ago. Jet has rounded out nicely and has actually started to dapple. They are both an absolute pleasure to have around.

Montero

The cribbing collar that he has on has really worked well for him and only tightens if he tries to crib. We take it off when we are at the farm and can keep an eye on him.

Jet

He tries to shovel as much as has possible into his mouth at one time.

It's pretty funny to watch - kind of like watching someone eat spaghetti.

Both horses will be running in the Buxmont Gymkhana on Saturday. Stay tuned for pics.

Wordless Wednesday - Donkeys

A Symphony of Fireflies

We were driving home from the barn the other night just after dark. A symphony of fireflies were blinking over the soybean field. The quality of the video isn't great since it was dark but you can certainly see the fireflies. I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place.

Weekend Project

I had absolutely nothing planned for this weekend...until we came across the opportunity to recycle hand made bricks that had been part of an old barn that was torn down. Craig and I have been talking about redoing the back stoop and the bricks seemed perfect for that. It looked so good, we decided to do a whole walkway. In total, we used about 260 of the bricks and I am absolutely thrilled with how it came out. And the total cost was for 2 bags of sand.

Before

The weeds managed to grow through 2 layers of landscape fabric

After

I love the rustic look of the bricks

Sunday Stills - Textures

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge is textures. This was a fun one for me as I started to spot texture everywhere.

A Mimosa flower from the tree in my backyard

An evergreen

Jet's mane. Even though he is so dark that he looks black, his mane has red strands in it.

Montero's mane. Women spend a fortune on their hair to get this kind of color.

Fresh bale of hay, stacked in our barn. This hay was cut and baled within the last week.


Japanese red maple leaves

One of the rails on the pasture fence.

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