Wooden Stories

Over a year or so ago, I received a package from a childhood friend with a surprise inside. She told me a story about how her parents wouldn't let her have a pet so she saved up her allowance each week and went to this little store uptown and eventually bought herself a wooden zoo. She felt that her Zoo should move to a place where they would be used more. I inherited these beautiful little animals from her.

I picked up a cheap wooden artist's mannequin last summer on a whim. I wasn't sure what it would be useful for at all. I ended up setting it aside until a two Flickr friends posted photos of their very same mannequins. One was a study of shadows and light in photography. The other one was of the mannequin juggling peas. [He said he used wire and frozen peas and had to edit out the wires!]

With Valentine's Day coming up last week, I thought I'd do a bit of experimenting with light and what else? Hearts!

I learned something. I could work with the mannequin.

And then I thought about it some more and decided that I'd try and do something that had an emotional impact.

I thought the mannequin would be so hard to work with because it has no features. However. Having no features made the positioning and the composition more important than ever.

Joy

Love

Caring

Adventure

[Standing the mannequin on ice with a wind was tricky, but I got it done before it tipped over.]

This was a great exercise in creativity. I may do more. 

The weather is predicted to be nasty today. I wonder where my wooden friends will take me next?

Can't help it

 

I just adore taking photos of Christmas-y things. It is the one time of the year I can really enjoy just finding beautiful light and little things to photograph. 

I have been known to collect 'horse' themed ornaments. 

I like stags too, especially those tacky looking ones with a TON of glitter on them.

I like shiny stuff. Hubby says I'm like an old crow. 

I may bore you with some of them. And some of the bears, dragons, and unicorns too. Lucky for me and them...they get to come out and play all over month. I even heard that the dinosaurs let the Elf on the Shelf loose. 

Groot sure seems to get around too!

I couldn't resist rearranging the polar bear and snowmen crew. 

Anyone old enough to recall the Polar Bear and Coke commercial?? Probably not? The first commercial that featured a Polar Bear and Coke was in 1922 in France.

For 70 years the advertisers used a Polar Bear!

For whatever reason, those polar bears made an impression on me as a kid...

so...

...my mini version. It sure makes me smile! 
[I am having gobs of fun with the Polar Bears!]

Even the dragons get in on it...

I spent the morning going out to my mossy rocks in the woods. The brilliant greens always amaze me in November and December. Well, any time there is not much other color in the woods.

I was looking for magic in the gloomy light. Maybe my polar bears were too. I think this would look much better with a dusting of snow...

I do love what the forest has to offer and not too far from my house either! Below is one of the rock formations I use. 

Looks like I will pack up some Bears and seek out another rock or two.

Ever decorate a rock in the forest?

Igloo and Creepy Zombie Clay snow people...

Sometimes I get a bit carried away with things. I touched up the igloo for my table with the little mini snow men [they are 1/2" tall] and Santa. I thought, hey why not make a tiny 'snow scene'? You know, that diorama thingy?

As kids, we didn't use big words like diorama. We just made 'set ups'. 
Setups included our plastic soldiers having an epic battle on the ping pong table in the basement.

We spent hours doing those activities.

I used cotton balls that were packed in a medication bottle to make white snow boulders. The tiny gift boxes are something I picked up so many years ago and have reused year after year. 

I should have left well enough alone. I went out in the yard and picked up some fallen branches and broke off tiny trees. I thought I'd make a couple of snow men/people. Why not? I had the tips of the branches to make arms. I found itty bitty seeds to make the eyes in the first snow man zombie. Well, the rest is history.

They look like zombies! Terrifying indeed! 

Yet, somehow I like them.
They look less scary in the daylight. I still used black and white for them and gave the little snowperson without the mouth an acorn hat.

The igloo is behind them. 

Do not fear. I am not all creepy and scary. I like cute also. 

Behold the arrival of the Polar Bears!

They are adorable!

That old Trunk and other things

That old trunk I moved into the kitchen area happened to end up staying there. Somedays I use it for a laundry folding spot, some days I used it for...well,

this...

 I had a huge list of to-do's and some of it included the 'other' half. But just after his coffee and breakfast he went back to bed. Such can be our routine.

I thought I'd let it warm up a bit outside before I approached installing the large tank heater. If I busied myself with laundry and doing something creative, I could stay in the house and keep an eye on things.

My friend at the Farmer's Market had set aside a couple of neat gourds she thought I might like for me on Saturday. She said, "I thought of you and your pictures!"

So how could I not use them to do a bit of still life?
I admit, I don't have a studio and I don't have the fancy lighting stuff, but this will have to do for right now. I enjoyed picking out some paper to use as foreground and backround and trying to arrange things in a pleasing manner.

According to some Still Life experts, I don't follow the rules of just 3 objects, dramatic lighting, and moving from tall to short.

I have tried and tried to emulate some of those amazing and dramatic photos, but I keep coming back to just having some fun. 

I mean who can keep from smiling at Groot and a tiny wooden deer?

I have a feeling that Groot will keep showing up now and again.

Then of course, I had to clean up and organize things.

But not before just a bit more fun...

toys behaving badly....

Mice in the cupboards? 

Then I had to put things away and make lunch and tend to my mules.

The above is a sample of the odd box I found. The bottom piece is the only drawer our old kitchen had. Yes, you read that correctly. Our old kitchen had one drawer that was long and narrow. 

After tending to hubby and his lunch, I was able to find football highlights on YouTube for him to watch while I changed out the tank heater and did some in hand work with Siera. She seems a bit off in attitude with all the other mules. She is generally bossy and has been hanging out away from the others.

I have a call into the farrier for a trim anyway. He is fantastic at spotting any issues.

Finally, Charlie and I headed for the woods to collect SD cards from the cameras and have some quiet time.

Who can resist a Halloween themed photo....

Stuck inside...and Oh Deer!

Well sort of. When the VA sends out a certain medication, I have to be available for the delivery as Tom the UPS guy has to hand it to a live human being and it needs a signature.

The meds come once a month and it is always handled overnight. So after the order is confirmed, I have to be present until the package shows. 

It was clean up day anyway. Time to take Charlie's dog crate and put it upstairs. He is not like Morris at all. Morris loved the crate and would go in it any time he wanted to be alone and often at night. Charlie doesn't believe in crates. He will go in it if we have company [which we don't] or if we are gone all day for an appointment [hasn't happened in months!]. 
Charlie was quite upset that I moved the crate. However he is quite happy with being King Of The Couch!

I picked the torn and tattered blind that Daryl left in the woods from last bow and gun season. He didn't take it down and when it snowed, rained, and iced like mad last winter...the top of the blind collapsed. The fiberglass rods that held the roof up shattered in the cold. In short. The blind was destroyed. I waited for him to come and claim it, then Covid came and well... I was tired of seeing it laying in my woods. It now resides in the neighbor's dumpster.

The older one that was no longer used was in the back of the shed. I set that up so I could go in the mornings and have coffee and watch the pasture from inside the little blind. A few years ago I had been able to grab a photo of deer leaping the fence.

Photos from November 2018: Shooting Deer.

I moved stock tanks, cleaned gutters, and hooked up the heater for the stock tank. Next was the game of pick up sticks and toss them in the yellow cart so I could take it to the brush pile.

I cleaned out Lil' Richard's stall so he can go inside tonight. He is the only one who doesn't mind being in the shed. I fear the old pony is getting deaf. He never heard me come by him with the 4 wheeler and the rattling cart today.

It is supposed to start raining tonight and all through tomorrow. Sigh. Cold and rain.
I don't like that combination for the critters. 
I also went back and checked the trail cam for some neat shots of bucks who are getting quite active right now.

Below, a few of the visitors around the farm.

So now I'm still waiting for a delivery and wondering if he'll be late this evening or will it be tomorrow?

Well, I've done a fair bit of work and now I'm going to experiment with some Still Life Photography.

Pancakes for supper.

I'm diggin' it.

PS~ No deer hunting on our land this year. Well, other than with a camera that is.

Not going there...and other stuff

I got baited yesterday while working on tomatoes and stirring things and waiting for a medication delivery.

I noticed that someone I knew stated that our state was like living under martial law because we had to wear masks and that South Dakota never had any issues with Covid-19. I simply noted to them that SD had a 10.7 person density per square mile and our state had 107 per square mile and in the cities it was something like 6,000 per square mile. 

Uff. I should have ignored it. I was ashamed that I even tried to point out to someone the difference between states. Oh well. I will smack myself on the head a few times and repeat my mantra [scroll past, do NOT comment]. Conclusion: Don't comment on Meme's that so many people post thinking they are real info.

In other great news! I got the Firestick working well for hubby. He is now getting used to asking Alexa or as he calls her Hey Alex...to find programs for him to watch.

It has been dry dry dry here. The humidity is way down so that is a bonus. It gets warm in the afternoon however the slight breeze is nice.

So with the new Firestick, I finally got rid of the ancient computer we were streaming with. Years ago one of the grands slipped an SD card into the CD/DVD drive.

So I decided to see if I could retrieve the SD card.  Have you ever taken a laptop apart? Well it isn't exactly easy, but I didn't have to take care doing it.
And I had help.

I think they were looking for 'intel' and they found it!

I went for a walk to look at the back fence, the forest ground in that area is so barren and dry. Whew.

However the moisture near the creek keeps things green and growing. I did stop and stand in the creek to admire some filtered light.

I cooked up pasta sauce and canned it yesterday. Today I am cooking up a fresh ham with instructions on how to make pulled pork.

Here is hoping for some rain and a few days break from processing tomatoes. Huh. I don't think that is going to happen!

And I did retrieve the SD card and it wouldn't work. The photos were from October 2013.

Creepy Baby...and the sewing machine

I like Still Life photography and even have had more fun with it when I use toys. Most toys in the beginning were given to me. This Creepy Baby was given to me by a little boy when I was baby sitting for him.

He said the toy was 'yucky'. I asked mom about it and she grimaced saying it may have been her toy as a kid. Please take it.
It just looks like a demented toy of sorts and thus it was named Creepy Baby.

He's been around for a couple of years and is small enough to fit easily in a pocket.

I usually toss him in my camera bag along with the LIL Bear which was also a donated toy.

He ends up in so many places!

But!
There needs to be a bit of cuteness in this world of madness, right?
Who doesn't love a cute Dragon Baby?

The mushrooms and funky flowers were made by me. I also made the green Popsicle stick thingy with green stuff on it...I couldn't help but have a bit of fun.
The tiny treasure chest came in a huge bag of stuff from my Grandmother Pearl's belongings. It is very old and had a thimble in it.

I wonder if cute dragons get along with the more dangerous looking types...

I guess we will find out.

See? I'm a kid at heart.

When we were kids, my brother, sister, and I used to take our toys and build them forts on the saggy ping pong table in the basement. We used to 'set up' soldiers and other toys to present a story to the viewer. We'd leave The Set Up for a day or so and then change it again.
We entertained ourselves for hours in the basement. Huge battles were won and lost. The Kitty Hotel was built. It featured an eraser that was shaped like a pink cat. I had a yellow dragon eraser.  We never used them on the end of our pencils.

They raged battles with the soldiers, until we launched marbles at all of them and knocked them down.

So this evening I messed around with some items I found chucked in the big shed. I wondered what it would be like to create a scene with Creepy Baby and his Nefarious Friendly Frogs.

So yes, I had some fun which took my mind off the news.

Today's rap sheet ran like this...
I wanted to find the plug for my sewing machine. After thoroughly going through every box in the basement and cleaning and organizing ...and labeling everything...
I went upstairs and did the same thing to the tiny closets and the little attic space.
I have a cart-full of junk to haul to the dumpster.

I even went through all the items stored in the little Red Shed.
No cord for the sewing machine.

So I ordered a replacement before chores and supper.

And then this evening, I had a bit of fun....

Stay safe.
Stay well.

LIL Bear...

There is a LIL Bear.

This is a toy that was handed to me by one of the neighbor's children.

It is almost 3" tall and is posable. It came with a tattered ribbon tied around its neck.
For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what kind of toy it was. It was old, it most likely belonged to the mom of the kids when she was young.

I figured out that I'd never find out what it was.
So while baking some cookies yesterday, I picked up my cell phone and began a search.
Indeed, it was a toy from the 1980's!

They are called Calico Critters. And they are pricey too!
I adore this bear, she is time worn and missing some of the flocking. She didn't come with clothing as the ones newly purchased do, but I rather like her red ribbon.

So for fun I did some creative still life with 'her' the other day.

CrossFit with LIL Bear.

Warm ups:
Birddog

Deadbug

Jump rope...whoops ... got tangled!

Here we go!

How about Kettle Bell Swing?

Box Jumps!
Whoops! Ooops!

Okay. Better!

Box Over Burpees!

Deadlift!

Wow! LIL Bear was busy!

So many things to do!

Enjoy your New Year's Day.
Welcome to 2020.