More Wet!

 and....

Sunshine is home! 

We got her home just before the rains started. 

Oh and after greetings with her sister, Sunshine settled in as the boss of the tiny herd. I guess the others have been missing her leadership. 

They follow her where ever she goes.

Since it was pouring outside, I thought I'd try something different. I collected some leaves aa few pumpkins and set them on an old mirror I had.

I thought I'd try a reflection-Fall Decoration shot-with reflections.

Not all of the shots turned out, but I did get two that I kept. This was pretty fun to do and I think I could do better but just need to figure that out.

I thought I'd try a Garden Gargoyle with a pumpkin and a red leaf. So I tried two versions.

I made my own 'black box' to try this out also. A light underneath the characters and carboard to keep out the light. Some fallen flower petals from a flower...and...

👇😊

The rain let up and it was a light mist by noon. So I packed up a backpack. I'd been stuck inside for too many days. 

The dogs were not letting me out the door without them, they'd been stuck inside too. So off we went in a drizzle for an adventure.

And we had a good one.

Just as we got to this bluff the rain started coming down hard so I slipped on the poncho which covered my backpack and me all the way to my knees.

We waited out the heavy rain and then ventured out on the bluff.

The view

Here is a shot of the mist coming up out of the woods after the rain. This happens often in our steep valleys and hillsides because of the temperature difference inside the woods vs the air above.

My pals.

We got wet but surprisingly enough we didn't get muddy. We got to see the fall colors in their best light. In my opinion the best light is early morning, late afternoon, or an overcast day. But that is just me.

We got home and dried off. The drizzle kept on off an on. We ended up with about another inch of rain overall. 

This is the new header which replaces the summer view from the bluff.

Today, for the first time in what feels like forever, we have a clear and sunny sky and temps barely in the 40's.

Fun Friday stuff

I ordered the Woodland Mushroom Botanicals for the new Lego release on June 1st. I figured it was a good birthday gift for myself. 

It seems that my Sprite minifigure was absolutely delighted to find the set when I opened it. This is an 'adult' set which means it is a bit complicated. I figured it would be great for when the weather got so hot and beastly humid out. I could spend some time relaxing inside and enjoying cooler temps in the house.

Sprite shares her excitement with her good friend Lilith...

...who brings her magic star wand to help with the difficult parts.

I have to say that it is a beautiful set for display...

and to pose minifigs in.

Sprite seems to think that this should be her new permanent home. I agree, she looks perfectly happy amongst all the amazing fungi.

I'm just going with some things that make me happy. This week was horrible with heat, humidity, and bad weather so I busied myself when I wasn't staring out the window or sweating while mowing the yard...

and I did some distracting play....

I really really needed the distractions.

I'm just going to toss some shots in here for fun with no real explanation. Yesterday was my indoor day because of the non stop storms that were occurring.

My pick from the junk pile to do photography for Thursday.

Flowers and Monsters

A word about the flowers. When I went to get groceries, I walked by the 'flower' stand at Wally World and was so surprised at the price that flowers have gone too. 

I used to buy flowers at this time of year once in a while just to brighten the house up. These weren't the freshest, but it was a small bouquet that I could see spending $5 on for some photo challenges and experimentation.

The roses do have a nice scent to them.

I don't watch much TV so sometimes I need to occupy myself with something. Experimenting in photography is always a choice.

I used a flashlight and another little light called Small Rig to play with the light and dark.

 

I even tried some ICM. I sort of like it and sort of don't. But it was fun trying it out on the tiny flowers.

I need a lot more experimenting to try and come up with something artistic and beautiful.

Then of course I couldn't help but make good use of the lighting to feature my Fuggly Monsters.

They are so ugly and fearful, they are sort of cute. 

I have no idea why I love monsters and dragons so much. I just think they are neat. Not real life human monsters ---> they are horrid. I like fantasy monsters. Toy monsters are the best of course.

Decorate Stuff

Just a random shots of some ornaments on my Christmas Tree Chair and scenes from the chair itself. The ornaments on the tree itself are all equine themed.

I will often change things around when the mood strikes me.

 The Winged Pegasus.

On the chair itself...

I have a few more but just got distracted by other fun ideas.

Sometimes characters just show up and I just have to make a go of it.

You never know who is going 

to sit on the chair next.

I finally started to set up my Lego Winter Village.
Seems mini-me and mini-Charlie are about to 
meet Bad Santa!

Just for fun.

This is not the Christmas Chair but a scene on one of the cabinets I built earlier this year.

Nothing much going on here other than snow, cold, and more snow and more cold.

I was plowed out twice this week! And we have been snowshoeing.

PS: my kids used to call Decorations ... Decorate. Thus the way I define it!

Opening day blues or Let's build Legos!

Time for indoor projects.

That will include a deep cleaning of the house this coming week with washing windows and pulling off a couple of screens so I can photograph birds in the pine tree near the house when the mood strikes me.

The new Lego project was started last night. I'd purchased it last spring when I had Lego Insider Points which made it cheaper from Lego than from any other retailer.

We always started a Lego build on the eve on Deer Gun Season. It seemed to help hubby to relax and take his mind off from not being a hunter anymore.

So this is the start. I'll take progression shots as I build but I won't say what the set is. 😉

Below is my Medieval Village. This was last year's Gun Season Project along with some addition to the Christmas Village scenes.

I was excited to pull it out of the storage bin and set it up on my arts and crafts cabinet. I'm only going to have it up for a week right now. It provides some comic relief and indoor photo fun.

I took advantage of the nice weather and sanded down this chair to be my next art victim. I'm leaning towards a dark blue theme with wild colors. 

Too bad I can't practice like I did 40 years ago and add the face of a roaring lion or an elephant busting through the brush.

I had chairs like this I'd done eons ago. They were fun projects also. The kids had a huge old trunk that I repainted. The lid had my drawings of a volcano erupting [if I recall correctly and a hint of dinosaurs]. [This was in the 1980's. I also took one of their beat up dressers and dressed it up with paint was it even popular then?]

No matter, fun memories!

Pine cones are nature's gift for decorations. I'm starting to replace some of the old ones I did 20 years ago. A bit of paint and a bit of glitter glue and there you are, a basket of pretty pine cones. 

I pick them up out of the yard, let them dry and then enjoy adding colors. I need to go grab a few milkweed pods to add to a winter bouquet along with some grasses and golden rod tops.

My grandmother always gathered nature's dried gifts for her winter bouquets.

So. 

I did have to play some last night to divert my attention and enjoy some creative thinking.

King Ivar marches into town with his entourage of Barbarian warriors. You would be surprised to learn that half of his fierce warriors are female.

The Villagers watch from the Inn. 

A Bard on the street sings a song of bravery and of course, women.

 

Imagine my surprise this morning when I found that a wizard had moved from the craft cabinet to where I lit the morning candles.

Huh.

Toys can be a bit magical. I wonder what they are up too when I am sleeping.

Poor Charlie. Already he is a puppy puddle that is quivering with the first gunshots of the season. 

Music is helpful. So he is listening to music while I go out to do chores and take care of business.