When it is nasty out....

I turn to Toy Photography which is a great way to explore and challenge yourself with a camera. 

It also works great if you need a distraction or something to do when the weather is really quite horrible. 

Or the news is horrible, or the winds are blowing dust like it is the dust bowl era.

Hubby grounded me anyway, so I'm stuck indoors for a couple of days.

I purchased these cake toppers at a Dollar Store over a year ago and like my other Lego minifigs, they get stored away and then for whatever reason, I bring them out. One of the things I really love about them, is that they aren't moveable. Which may not make sense except that their expressions are so fun!

The MiniBot in the center here has become my favorite character of the Minis. He looks like he is yelling. So indeed, he must be the Leader of the MiniBots. 

Below it seems he is dressing down the Droids in front of the other MiniBots. The Droids do look a bit sheepish.

He even has a name.
Steve.

I created the 'scenes' with junk. I've explained before that I enjoy taking trash and turning it into a diorama. I use pieces and parts so I can reassemble them at will into different scenes. 

Most of what went into the above scene was an old humidifier that went kaput. I took it apart and used my craft paints to make the parts look rusty and old. There is even a soup can in the picture.

Moss that is spread about is part of a cardboard box I painted black.

I've also taken some plastic soda tops and straws and glued them together, along with those pesky medicine tops that you have to push down and rotate. They make great little bits for background. Toilet paper rolls always have endless possibilities. Old rusty bolts provide a great scene for ... 

when the Minibots find a Worm Hole to travel through.

I started my interest in toys because I simply wasn't very good with regular items in Still Life. I tried to make beautiful arrangements of cups, sauces, flowers, and other items but I generally ended up inserting something odd.

I once put a Lego minifig into a cup of tea I was shooting. I was trying to do serious Still LIfe, but ended up doing silly stuff instead. 

Once I went there, I was hooked. Silly Still Life is much more amusing.

My favorite toys to photograph are those that aren't Licensed. You know, ..not... Disney, Marvel, and others. I feel obligated to make licensed toys do the things that they were made for. But isn't it more amusing to put them in other situations? 

For whatever the reason is, I've had some fun with these little cheap cake toppers. I mean, what kid would want these ugly little robots on their cake?

I have to admit, they used to look cleaner before I got after them with a paint brush to 'distress' their looks.

One of the easiest things to do is shoot them with a background I made in Deep Dream Generator using my laptop.

I simply typed in something like *wet dark alley, gloomy, with trash laying all around*. Viola. I had a digital set for my MiniBots.

I almost felt guilty for having such an easy set up for these guys. Usually it takes quite a bit of work to set up a diorama and then position things over and over and try to get things lit up just right.

I did a couple more grungy scenes with them then cleaned everything up and put it away. I have another project that caught my attention. I'm like that.

I can be on my way from one room to another and take a detour in the middle of what I am doing to ... do something else. I can have 3 things half finished by the time I get back to what I should have been doing in the first place.

Seriously though, I am much more single minded while doing the chores. 

We have ferocious winds here today. I cannot imagine how awful they will be on the ridge. I'm happy we live in a hollow.

And here we go...on towards the middle of the week.

What next???

For the Birds!

It was a wild colored sunrise and the saying for sailors is an old one.

I think every time now the plumber has been scheduled to come, we have an ice storm or a ground blizzard. If the roads get plowed and he shows up, I hope he has the good sense to walk down our hill unless he thinks he can make it in a two wheel drive van. 

I made it up and down that hill for years with a front wheel drive sedan and snow tires with no problem, but it can be daunting to any vehicle with poor traction even on good days.

2008 Photo. Hubby is clearing the driveway with his skid steer after a storm:

That said, I am enjoying the fact that I don't have to face the hill in winter storms any more. 

If it was really bad, I'd park my vehicle on the ridge and walk up the hill at 2AM to drive to my shift as a Security Officer. I'd then negotiate 30 miles of terrible roads. 

The Subaru was a game changer for me and often I'd make my shifts when those who lived within 3 miles couldn't or wouldn't. 
Go figure.

Today is wicked even in our hollow. The mules have been fed down in the woods and out of the winds.

Yesterday I had a nice hike and exploring day. I even got some practice at 'shooting' birds in the tree near the house.

The bird feeder has added some nice entertainment to the yard. I stood in my summer flower garden and caught a couple of semi decent bird photos. I just adore the color of the cardinal!

I used to think that bird photography was ... um...for the birds...
but two other bloggers I know have made it look fun so I've been practicing!

The sparrow below had such an expression on his face.

I've tried shooting through the window or front door and that sure doesn't help the focus much. I'm not going to try it at all today even though we have had Flickrs, Woodpeckers, and Titmouse trying to get to the feeder. The wind gusts keep blowing them about. They keep getting blown back to the little brush pile I have stacked in the yard from our last wind storm.

This is a Junco, my grandmother used to call them Snow Birds. As a kid I never bothered to learn their real names. Grandma said they'd show up a couple of weeks before the snow was to fly.

Just before the winds changed on the ridge, I as able to find some deer feeding in the wind break between two crop fields. 

Spook?

Spook?

Run!

Stay warm, the winds are supposed to continue after dark and the temperatures are going to drop. We have seen our high today of 12 degrees.

The plumber came! He drove his personal 4X4 because his plumbing van wouldn't get out of his own driveway.

He did super good work and was such a pleasant young man. 

When the winds blow!

April fools!  We awakened to 30 mph winds and gust of winds up to 45 mph!

It was snowing and sleeting at the same time and looked like a whiteout.  When we did chores we gave our slices of hay in strategic positions so the hay wouldn't blow away.

Whew was it cold.  Just a few days ago it was 50 some degrees.  I just can't get with these wild temperature changes.

The girls were doing there thing with their butts to the wind and gathered together like the little herd they are.  Every once in a while someone would jostle another and they'd resort themselves in some predestined order that only equine can understand.

Sunday we are supposed to start out the morning in the 20's and reach 65 by mid afternoon.

I tell you, the weather is crazy!

The cold temperatures and winds kept me inside most of the day.  Outside it would snow, sleet, rain, and then the sun would come out.  And the winds kept the trees shaking and the pines did the hula dance.

I got out some of the skulls I'd been working on.  There was an old deer skull that I'd found.  It was in poor shape and had been chewed on by mice and other animals.  I looked at it as a challenge and wondered if I could paint it up to put on the garage or the outhouse as a 'country' decoration.

I had spent the morning cleaning out the back room shelving and packing it away.  The back room will be one room that will be completely replaced when the remodel starts.

Anyway I thought a bit of quiet time was in order.

I took some Antique stain and began to stain the skull.

I wasn't sure I was even going to like what I'd done, but it was such an old skull I thought I'd just mess around with it and see what happens.  

I sort of like the color and the way the staining brought out the age in the skull. The areas that had been gnawed on were slightly highlighted.  I set it on a rack to dry.

Then I turned to my new find.  A 'possum skull.

After it dries, I will retrieve the rest of the teeth that I have and put glue them into their places.  

The 'possum has such a flat head compared to that of a raccoon.  

I also had two ground hog skulls.  One with teeth and one without.

I used a 50/50 mix of Elmers Glue to seal and preserve the skulls.

'Possum skull in the middle, ground hogs on each side and raccoon for reference on the wood.

I'm thinking that someone reading this is really curious as to why I collect skulls and paint them or seal them.  My veterinarian and I are huge fans of skulls.  He has a huge display in his waiting room.  Frankly I am quite jealous of his amazing collection.  Of course his skulls are animals from around the world.

All skulls are the result of what I find while hiking in the woods and...

I do it for art.

Some painted skulls can sell for quite a bit of money.  The one with the red dots on it sold for $200.  I've given two others away as gifts. I collect antler sheds also and hope to have enough to make a lamp or something very artistic one day.

This is another old doe skull that had seen better days before I stained it and finished it off.

The really fresh bones are left alone to show off their natural color.  
I can't wait until Spring gets itself sorted out.  I have a garden to plant and outdoor things to do.

Oh yes, and the remodel.  The start date is getting closer!