Thursday, April 30, 2009

SkyWatch Friday


Stormy Kansas skies today, 8:00 a.m. CST

Several people have commented that these clouds look like mountains... I didn't see the "mountains" when I first posted this, although upon second inspection, I can see how it could look like mountains. They are very stormy clouds however! :-)



Check out other beautiful skies from
around the world at SkyWatch Friday!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Smiling Sunflower

That's how I perceive sunflowers.... the smiling flower, because they are so bright and cheerful. My mom made a mosaic tabletop for a "found" table that we refurbished last summer. Don't you just love the ladybug accent? :-)


The table base was left here at the house by previous owners. All we did was clean it up and spray paint it a bright and vibrant red. We also painted two old metal patio chairs that were Tom's, but they got a fresh coat of aqua instead of the red paint. Click here to see a photo of the repainted table and chairs.

Mom will probably visit sometime in May, and bring the new tabletop with her! Isn't it gorgeous?! Can you just imagine what something like this might cost? I'm glad my mom is soooo talented. :-)

Monday, April 27, 2009

Owl Day

It's obvious I'm no longer a "photo-a-day" kind of gal. Life has just become too hectic lately to keep up with a photo every single day. But I will still post photos as exceptional events take place in my life.

Today was one of those exceptional events. A barn owl was in our shop/barn and he had become entangled in fly tape. After talking to two wildlife biologists in our area, it was obvious they were not going to come "save the owl". They gave us instructions for capturing the owl (wear heavy gloves.... REALLY?!) and getting the fly tape off him. Luckily, we got most of it off, and he is now flying free again!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Day Sixty Eight

Let's see, it's Wednesday, which means I never got my Monday or Tuesday photos posted. :-( What can I say, life has reared its ugly head! My job search has become a top priority, and as you well know, with today's economy, it's not an easy thing to find a job!

I apologize I have not had a minute to look at YOUR photos. I will get back to my regular routine in a few days, I hope. I miss seeing everyone's creative and unique outlooks on their lives!

Without further ado, here is tonight's sunset.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day Sixty Seven

I just realized that I forgot to post my pic-a-day on Sunday! Bad Oz Girl!!!

I took these photos yesterday morning, after our 2.75" of rain from Saturday night. The first two photos show our gravel "lane", flooded over. The second photo is our pond, overflowing its banks.



Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day Sixty Six

We had some pretty heavy thunderstorms pass by tonight.... 385 pictures later, here's the few I've chosen to post. Just checked the rain gauge, and we got 2" of rain in 1 hour.

Sorry, the horizon line is slightly crooked, these were hand-held and it was quite windy too!


First photo (top, above) is right before the flash lightning,
the next photo (bottom, above) shows the flash lightning to the left.


It's getting darker (after 8:00 p.m.), the clouds are getting
more ominous, and there's some more flash lightning,
lower right in this photo (above).


There was another lightning flash that lit up the landscape,
but the lightning itself is not visible in this photo.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Day Sixty Five

Upon feeding the horses this evening, I discovered a few Canada geese on our pond. Usually, they fly away as I get closer, but this pair let me get pretty durned close! There were also a few mallard ducks, but they did fly away immediately when they sensed my presence.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Day Sixty Four and SkyWatch Friday

Ambling down a country lane in Kansas


Check out other beautiful skies at SkyWatch Friday!


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Day Sixty Three

After a few dips in the pond, our lab Ringo
moseys over to say "hi" to paint horse

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Day Sixty Two

Such a beautiful day today! Ringo and I walked around the pond... before the sun came up this morning, and again this afternoon. I wish you could hear the sounds all around me.... so many different kinds of birds chirping, and the frogs' chorus the last few days has been just beautiful! We have CRP grass across the road, and it seems to be filled with the sound of frogs since last week. Get the skinny on CRP grasslands here.

Here's Ringo doing what he loves ... just being a lab!
The tan colored grass beyond the trees is the CRP grassland.

Some days, it's hard to post only ONE photo! :-)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Day Sixty One

Another of my images from the town of Greensburg, Kansas. Since a few of you mentioned that the previous image was sad, I wanted to show the hope that exists in this town. The grain towers in the background were one of the few structures left standing, and they were featured prominently in many of the media images.

Greensburg is a few hours west of us, and since I remember when this tornado hit in '07, I had been wanting to drive to Greensburg to see how it looks almost 2 years later. I finally drove there a few months ago, and I did a blog post on my City Gal Moves to Oz Land blog; click here to read that post and see the photos.

This tornado struck around 9:30 p.m., so there are few photos of the actual tornado. There are plenty of websites, however, that show the destruction and damage the next day, and even the next week. Here's a few:

Greensburg: Damage After the Tornado
Greensburg: Aerial Views After the Tornado
Greensburg: A Few Actual Tornado Photos

They are rebuilding the town now, and they are rebuilding it better, as much of it will be "green". Click here to find out more about the "new" Greensburg.

When I see how total the destruction, even to the houses with basements, I realize that should a tornado hit our house, we probably will NOT survive. We have no basement. There is a central closet I would beat a fast track to, with my dogs in tow. That is, AFTER I get some photos of the approaching tornado! (Would you expect anything less from a photographer??) But if the house sustains a direct hit from an F3 or higher tornado, my/our chances of surviving would be slim to none. Soooooo, let's just pray a tornado never makes a direct hit on our lil house!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Day Sixty

Abandoned old Ford truck - Greensburg, Kansas
Almost 2 years after F5 tornado wiped out most of the town

Friday, April 10, 2009

Day Fifty Eight

Ok, here's one from the archives. During one of my visits with my sister in San Fran, we hiked Mt. Tamalpais. This is a view from the top -- enlarge the photo to see teeny tiny San Francisco, way off in the distance!

If you want a calorie burning hike, this is the one. Killer. Trust me, your legs will hate you at the end of the day. And you better be in decent shape before you attempt this one. Luckily, both my sister and I had been working out. I hate to think at what point I'd be stranded on this hike if I attempted it now, since I haven't worked out in over a year!!

Here's the mountaintop view of Stinson Beach, our destination.

Sis taking in the view and breathing the fresh mountain air

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Day Fifty Six


And I take advantage of my brother again.... his lovely daughter and my niece, taken recently on an outing with daddy.

Day Fifty Five (Tuesday)

Ok, since I didn't get a photo posted yesterday, I've decided that Tuesday is "guest photo day". The guest photo taker is my brother; he took this photo several weeks ago and as he said, "Propeller vortices! I didn't even know they existed until I took this and then researched on line."

His passion is model airplane flying, and he also rates and reviews new models from manufacturers; he's even written some phenomenal editorial for some of the industry magazines.

If you're interested in checking it out further, he has a blog with airplane reviews and fantastic photos at RC Groups.com. Some of his photos are so realistic; he takes them at a perspective with mountains or the ocean in the background, so that you would think it is a full-size airplane (or helicopter) that is flying!

This photo happens to be the real thing, not a model!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Day Fifty Four

My favorite outhouse.... um, actually, the only one I'm aware of around these parts.

My mom arrived yesterday, on her way back to Ohio from Arizona.... so I apologize for being a bit absent in the bloggy world. She is staying here through Saturday, and we are painting and accomplishing all kinds of projects around my house.

I'm struggling just to stay on top of my photo a day right now..... but I will be back here full-time by the weekend, and I will get caught up on all my friends' blogs!!

I PROMISE! :-)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Friday, April 3, 2009

Day Fifty One

Old Kansas barn, sepia-tone

The Letter Y is for....

Check out Martha's blog "Menagerie" and play her A-Z Photo Challenge!

A youngster...

yardsticks...

yellow flowers at the side of the road...

yellow sunflowers nodding cheerfully in a Kansas field...

and a yellow meadowlark!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Day Forty Nine

These longhorn cattle reside just down the road from our place; usually they're not this close to the road. Luckily I had my camera with me yesterday as I headed to town, so I stopped by the roadside and walked to the fence to grab a few shots. They are quite funny. The adults just chewed and stared at me, while the young'uns were quite amazed by me and jumped a few steps back.

Since I'm a city gal, I find them quite interesting to watch, at least for a few minutes. ;-)