Day Thirty One

My mom likes to create stained glass windows.  She has a lot of different samples of glass that she can use to create with.  I decided to incorporate them into my photography.

Here's a box of various samples.

Some different colors of clear solid glass arranged into a rainbow display.

I really like this piece.  It looks like bubbles on a window.

And or course my favorite blue color.  These textured pieces are awesome!

Day Thirty

Wow, I have kept my resolution for almost the entire month, just one more day.  Doing pretty good!  Anyhow, here's a picture of a bird having an afternoon snack.  Anyone know what kind of bird it is?  I was thinking a finch maybe?

Day Twenty Nine

Looking out from the inside....

Day Twenty Eight

Just a few icicles hanging over an old, cracked, brick wall.

Day Twenty Seven

This cute little stone cabin is just a few miles away from my home.  I've been checking it out because it just went on the market last summer.  I love it because it is right on the banks of the Thunder Bay river, there are several little small outbuildings that go with it, and well, it's just a cute little place!  Unfortunately for me they are asking $200,000 for it which is way over my budget....

Day Twenty Six

On a recent trip to visit a relative, my mom happened to see this coyote feeding off of a dead deer that was most likely hit by a car, on the side of the road.  I was able to capture a few shots, but unfortunately since we were in a moving vehicle, they aren't as clear or close up as I would have liked.  Still happy I was able to capture this though.

This was the first shot I got after we passed the coyote.  

Here, we had turned around and were coming back by so I could try to get some better shots.  Clearly, this coyote was not happy that we had interrupted his meal.

Here he is giving me the evil eye before running off.

Day Twenty Five

Playing with shadows and light here.  This the metal roof of a local Culver's restaurant, covered in snow.

Day Twenty Four

A pretty Dove enjoying a morning snack on my aunts deck.

Day Twenty Three

This is just a fragment of snowmobilers that we have seen around here recently.  It has been a great season for them, and a great season for all the businesses who profit from them.  As much as I am not liking this long, cold winter, I know it is great for the local economy.

Day Twenty Two

Day Twenty One

Not sure what it was about this scene, but it caught my eye one day when I was out driving around.

Day Twenty

Day Nineteen

This weekend I went to help out a family member.  While we were there, I had a chance to capture some great shots of various birds and squirrels.  Here's a cute shot of one of those squirrels.  I took a ton of shots, but I let my daughter play with the camera as well.  She has a good eye, (wonder where she gets that from).  This is one of her captures...

Here's another one, this one taken by me.

Day Eighteen

My mom has this huge rug in her house that has a really cool, somewhat retro, feel to it.  Here's an interesting perspective of it.

Day Seventeen

I collect and swap postcards.  I started in 2006 when I discovered a website called Postcrossing.  It's a website where you can swap postcards with people all over the world.  I love seeing pictures of new places and learning about other places, so I thought this would be a great way to do so. Once I started swapping on Postcrossing, I then learned of another site called Swap-Bot, which I swap on now as well.  

I have boxes, and boxes of postcards, some received through swaps, and some purchased from stores, thrift stores, estate sales, and garage sales.  I also get them from friends and relatives when they travel. 

This postcard album that I purchased at a garage sale is full of old collectible postcards.  Many of them are linen postcards, and they also have old stamps on them, as well as messages from the original sender.

I've been trying to collect a map postcard from each state in the United States.  I've got quite a few so far, but still haven't completed the collection.

This here is one of my favorite postcards.  I have a great aunt who lives in Woodstock, New York, so my grandma picked this up for me the last time she went there to visit.

Day Sixteen

We made a batch of cookies.  Not just your regular run of the mill chocolate cookies, no, these were made with a touch of Hershey Chocolate Spread.  I recently received a free sample from Hershey to try. We often make our chocolate chip cookies with a half cup of peanut butter added, but this time we replaced the peanut butter with the Hershey Chocolate flavored spread.  They were delicious!

Day Fifteen

I took a trip to a neighboring town today and just happened to catch this out of the corner of my eye.  I can't believe this is the first time I've ever seen it.  The town of Atlanta is the "elk capital" of Michigan.  Every year on the last weekend of September they celebrate their annual Elk Festival.  

Day Fourteen

I love barns!  They are are full of history.  I am lucky, I live in a rural farming community so there are many barns for me to choose from.  Here is one a couple of miles from my home.  This one is obviously still a very functional barn, unlike many around here that are falling down.  I really wish we had a barn on our land, but I think the closest we will ever get is a pole barn.

Day Thirteen

I took a quick drive through Chelsea, Michigan over the weekend.  Chelsea, located 25 miles west of Ann Arbor, is the home of the Jiffy Mix company.  Here's a close-up shot of the brand name on the side of their grain mill.

Here is a shot of the Jiffy Mix plant.

And finally, this here is a picture of the Purple Rose Theater Company.  Actor Jeff Daniels was raised, and is a current resident, of Chelsea.  He opened this non-profit theater in 1989, when it was still just a garage.  They began renovation on the garage in 1999 and it was reopened in it's current state in 2001. Jeff's father served as mayor of Chelsea at one time. More information about the Purple Rose Theater can be found here.

Day Twelve

Ever tried a pomelo before?  I hadn't until I tried this one today.  If you didn't know, a pomelo is a citrus fruit that looks and tastes similar to a grapefruit.  The only difference I really noticed was that it had a thicker membrane, less fruit inside, and the color of the skin is green, not yellow.  My daughter and I shared this pomelo as a snack.  It was very delicious.   

Day Eleven

Sharing one from the archives today.  I did keep to my resolution by taking several pictures today, and I am sticking to my blogging resolution as well.  Just do not have time or energy to download today's photo from the SD card, so I will share this one that I took from my phone back during a warmer season. Enjoy.

Posted via Blogaway

Day Ten

A tiny little glimpse of sun came out today.  The weather is warming up, but now they are saying we are expecting rain.  That is going to lead to freezing rain and icy roads.  I'm heading out of town tonight and am looking at a four hour drive, so I am hoping I can beat the nasty conditions.

Day Nine

The temperatures finally rose enough to where I could venture outside without freezing my fingers off today. I had chance to take several good shots.  Didn't have to go far to get this one, just a walk outside to my driveway.  These are the impressions left behind from the tread on my husbands truck tires.

Day Eight

Today I had to look around for something to take a picture of.  It was kind of an ugly day outside, and I didn't venture out of the house except to feed our livestock and shoot a few more bubbles.  The wind was blowing again, so I was still unsuccessful in capturing any more frozen bubbles.  I did some digging through various items, and I found my new pack of watercolor pencils.  I love taking pictures with lots of color!

Day Seven

Today I made my first attempt at shooting frozen bubbles.  I probably would have had better luck if the wind wasn't blowing so much today.  This was the only bubble I could get a shot of before it popped.  They are quite cool when they pop though, almost like shattering glass.  I going to make another attempt tomorrow when the wind dies down. What do you think?

Day Six

Since it is so cold outside, we brought our bunnies in to keep warm.  We let them romp around in our bathtub, and if we need to use the tub, then we have a large tote that we put them in.  They seem to like coming in and socializing with the rest of us.  Here's one of the bunnies.  I love how his eye looks like he has eyeliner around it. So cute! 

Day Five

The snow piled up on this bird house is bigger than the bird house itself'.  Took this picture at my mom's house today.  Wonder if there are any birds residing here? Hope everyone has had a great weekend.  We are in the midst of a winter storm and it's supposed be a negative 30 degrees with the wind chill.  Too cold for my liking, but the kids are happy, school has been canceled for tomorrow.

Day Four

This may look like some alien landscape to you, but it is actually a macro shot of stone that is a combination of azurite, chrysocolla, and malachite.  I fell in love with malachite many years ago when I went through a phase of beaded jewelry making.  I really like using malachite beads because I love the green color.  I purchased this particular stone from an auction on eBay.  I love the colors as well as the botryoidal formations in the malachite.

Day Three

I took my kids to school this morning.  Being that it was -17 outside, it was just too cold, and I wasn't ready to crawl out of bed to get them on the bus. We live in a rural area, so their bus ride is about an hour long. Driving them to school gave us that extra hour to stay in bed and snuggle up under the blankets.  Anyhow, when I finally got up and drove them to school, I took my camera with me so I could capture some morning sunrise pictures.  Here's a pretty one I took just up the hill from my home.  I love blue skies!

Day Two

I forgot to take my camera with me today while out on my ventures, so I had to use my smartphone to take my picture for today.  While I was out, I went to Hobby Lobby, one of my favorite stores.  Taking me in there is like taking a kid into a candy store.  So many possibilities!  Here's a shot from the jewelry making aisle.  Look at all the pretty beads.

Day One

My New Year's resolution is to be more creative this year.  I love photography and take tons of pictures, but I never really challenge myself.  That is until now.  I decided that this year I would follow the steps of many other photography bloggers, and create a 365 blog.  I am hoping through this journey I will become a better, and more disciplined, photographer. Some photographers choose a theme for their 365's, but I think I'm going to be easy on myself, and just be sure to post a photo of any kind every day.  I know this probably won't be easy, but I'm going to try my hardest to stay committed.

On that note, here is my first photo of the year.  I really couldn't decide what my first photo should be, but I finally settled on this one while putting my Christmas decorations away today.  These colorful glitter bottles were made by my daughter and I.  I love glitter!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you enjoy the blog.