Posts by Liz

Local scenery

Late, yesterday afternoon, Karl and I took a run into Bigfork for a short walk and a few errands. There were information signs from the highway department…the stretch of highway from my road south to Bigfork and north to the next town of Creston is due to be chip sealed today (Wednesday) though Friday…expect long delays…AND A MESS. Karl, the Jeeper and I will leave that highway alone until they are done. The pantry and frig are thankfully full.

But while we were out…

A favorite barn and farm.

Bright, gold canola sets off another farm.

Looking north on the road home, most of the snow is gone from the mountains. All is green. The current forecast is for warm (upper 70’s to upper 80’s F) and dry…It can dry astonishingly fast so I took some time to breathe in the green of the local scenery.

One day in July

Yesterday started cold, damp and dreary.

That required a fire…in the woodstove…in July!!

I believe the cozy fire went a long way towards Bob forgiving the indigities he suffered while I was trying to get a 4th of July photo (see yesterday’s post…)

It was a lazy day all around as short squalls alternated with brilliant sunshine and blue sky. You can see a bit of a shadow behind the big chair…

Some of the squalls were accompanied by thunder…

But then…..!!! – A rainbow. One day in July.

Bah humbug

Bob sums up what our household thinks about fireworks.

**The fireworks were not actually that bad this year. Karl spent a minimal amount of time in the closet and they were not bad enough to send Bob under the bed nor keep me awake. Bob’s expression is likely due to the fact that I kept putting the ribbons on him for a photo :)!

Baby deer!..edited

Five minutes ago (about 9:20 a.m.), in a moment of sunshine through the woods… This photo does not capture how small the fawn was and for that matter, how young and small the doe was! You can see her listening ears, tuned towards the house. The windows were open, I moved for the camera and to check on Karl and those small sounds from inside the house caused them both to stop and check. Karl was napping in the shade, behind the house, just outside the sunroom door as I was at my computer – and he stayed there…oblivious :)!

**Edit… if you saw this post before it said …edited, yes the first photo is slightly different. I had more time late this afternoon to look at everything I took and thought this photo was sharper. So I changed the photo and also cropped the fawn for the following:

Sweet, young thing. This fawn is probably 1/3 the size of Karl to give you perspective. This crop is not the best example of the technique as described below as it is not super sharp…but you can get the idea.

For my fellow photography buffs…I read an article this past week that gave me an idea for something different. The gist of the article by a professional photographer was that he shot almost exclusively with a 35 mm lens, albeit a VERY GOOD 35 mm lens. And then, he cropped what he wanted as subject – this vs a longer zoom. Benefits – a 35mm is a smallish lens compared to a long zoom lens…less obtrusive, easier to carry around. It got me thinking as I’m currently dithering ad naseum about a lens…sold my 70-300 AND my 17-85 and have been using a rental 18-200. While I had the 70-300 and 17-85 combo, I typically used the 17-85 except for macro stuff and for capturing Bob or Karl at a distance. I was thinking about buying the 18-200 but it has some issues at both ends of the range so am now looking at a 15-85…smaller range so typically better through the entire range …with the idea that I can crop a subject if I want the “up close-fill the frame” thing. The trick to this is that the subject must be sharp at full resolution. That said, that is what I do with the moon photos I post – I crop just the moon so it looks “fill the screen” large. So, stay tuned – we’ll see how this works :)!

Happiness is…

The start of a walk…

…something to roll in…

…and roll in…

Happiness is a good walk and a roll in the grass if you are Karl, watching my good dog have a roll in the grass if you are me :)!

Disclosure

From the front porch passed its third year in mid-June. I spent much of today reading through a good portion of it, including comments. Sharing my life in writing and photos has been a joy. Hearing from people that I have never met – from all over the U.S. AND the world – that find something, enjoy something and in return share something – doubles that joy.

In late December, 2009, I shared my marriage. And now I need to share that that marriage is over. It is sad, disappointing and not what was hoped for. But, no regrets. As a friend pointed out to me, I LIVE my life. I make choices. I accept the consequences of my choices.

Now…Onward – In JOY, PEACE and GRATITUDE for this good day – From the Front Porch!