Finds...flowers...fun...

"It's raining...it's pouring..."  -nursery rhyme

I am linking up with Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.  Head on over to see some beautiful photos, and interesting finds.

I cannot remember a time when we have gotten so much rain for such a long time.  Usually, when it rains here, it is just a brief shower, and then the sun comes out.  Not lately.  It has rained steadily for several days now.  And for several times this way for the past month.  One of our photo challenges for our local photo club was "doors".  This was my find...this lovely green door.  This is the photo I submitted for my challenge.

Everyone at the meeting liked my green door, and the reflection on the sidewalk.  

I thought about using this picture... 

because one child is looking through a door window...while the other is looking down the street.  It has a nostalgic feel to it, and reminded me of the street photography captured by Vivian Maier.

photo by Vivian Maier

I found a wonderful field filled with wild flowers thanks to all our rain.  

Can I say that I am fascinated with dandelions.  This field was loaded with the big giant kind.  Are they still called dandelions?

I am not sure I would classify the next photo shoot as a fun adventure...I just know it was definitely an adventure.  My friend, and fellow photographer, Stephanie DeFranco, asked me if I wanted to go out to shoot some stars.  I am always game.  Only when she came to pick me up, she did not have her brother with her.  This was important because when you shoot the stars, you go out into a remote, very dark place.  We need the male protection, because we are wimps, and we get scared easily.  We ended up at Bottomless Lakes.  It is very remote, and very dark.  We wanted to shoot the Milky Way, but we did not see it, nor any rattlesnakes (thank goodness)...just lots of stars, darkness, glowing eyes, and rustling in the bushes.  It was sort of scary.  I did not get the best shots, but some interesting ones I guess.

Across Lea Lake

Buildings around Lea Lake...the bright glow is from a light that is continuously on at this building.  I like the way the buildings, and stars are reflected in the water.

One of the sink holes (you can see where this sink hole is in the first picture...it is to the right, just where the is a slight rise in the landscape.  There are two sink holes in the first picture...one in the center, and this one to the right.)

That's it for now.  Be blessed.

Our tornado, and thunderstorms...

"Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy-your work becomes a dance with light and the weather." -Annie Leibovitz

Lately, we have had a string of thunderstorms that have dropped a lot of rain.  We have also had a new roof put on our house...just in the nick of time... or we would have had to strategically place buckets around to catch the leaks.  During the lunch hour one day, we were having a super thunderstorm when the sirens began to blare a warning that a tornado had been spotted.  I ran outside to see if I could see it to take a picture...and to see if it was heading our way.  I did not see anything because of all the trees surrounding our house.  Luckily, some other people were in good spots to get nice pictures and shared them with me.  So none of these pictures are mine, but they do document our very skinny tornado.

One night I went out with my friend, StephanieDeFranco to try to get some shots of lightning.  We got a few before we decided we had better leave, before we got struck ourselves by lightning since we were out in the open.

Doesn't this cloud look like an alien spaceship? 

All this rain has done wonderful things for our flowers...

our lilac bush...

wildflower from the old airport...

wildflower at the old airport...

more wildflowers...old airport

Our backyard...

taken with my iPhone with lens baby 

backyard...

backyard

Diane DeFranco's rose bush was loaded with these gorgeous flowers.

Looks like we are having our April showers in May...along with our May flowers.  I am not complaining!  I like the rain, and the flowers.

Happy Mother's Day...

"The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the Heavenly Father." -Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.  

I got up early, and went for a walk before church.  

It was a glorious day...a great day for Mother's Day.

Since we were dressed up, I thought it would be a great time to take photos.  I had a pose in mind that I found in "Forbes" magazine.  I wanted to try to duplicate it...

Here's what we looked like...

Then our standard pose...

Then with our cat...

Then still life with peonies from our backyard...

And finally Maggie...

Maggie wishes all the mothers a very Happy Day! 

Cruella Deville...aka...Rob

"This world is but a canvas to our imagination." -Henry David Thoreau

My neighbor, and photographer, Stephanie DeFranco, has a very vivid, and awesome imagination. She decided to do a personal 30 day challenge for the month of April using characters, and themes from Disney.  She has done some amazing photos that are a must see.  Go visit her Facebook page to see all the photos. https://www.facebook.com/StephanieDeFrancoPhotography...you will be happy you stopped by to see her work.

Stephanie DeFranco... dressed up as a character from "Tangled".  Visit her site to see her edit. 

I was very happy when she chose me to be one of her subjects for her project.  I was Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmatians.  She did my hair, and makeup, then shot the scene.  She is incredible.  Here is her final picture of Cruella for day 29 of her Disney challenge.

Makeup, hair, and photo by Stephanie DeFranco