Thanksgiving week, a photo a day

post #219
       Last week I said I would take a photo a day for this week.  I did it, even though a holiday week makes for some random images.  Here are six days, the photo -- and sometimes more than one photo for one day. I start from near my home, a sight I often pass, at all times of day and night:

.
       We traveled on Tuesday, heading west, to be with our son and his family.  Even the dog seemed glad to see us -- or am I just imagining that to be true....

      Wednesday we were up and about downtown Denver, checking out the blue bear sculpture,

     and traveling on the light rail and passing freight trains carrying coal.  I loved the lines and the colors here, and of course I love moving trains:

     There were also Thanksgiving preparations that evening,

      with more to do on Thanksgiving day.

     
     On Friday my granddaughter and I went to the wonderfully humid Botanical Gardens to meet a Kentucky friend, who is an ace photographer.  The day was sunny and warm, but the two following photos were taken inside the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory.  I chose the topics for how interesting they were to me.  

      Then yesterday more family came, some of us got dressed up for a Christmas photo taking session, and there was again good eating, this time mostly Mexican.  I made the last two photos after doing the family shoot. They are a happy way, for me, to end this post today.

 

fourth and final year of my most popular blogs, and news (Arts Fair, George Ella Lyon book)

post #218

A bluebird nesting box in our yard, opened recently to reveal an even more crowded living situation than my study!  It is nice to have beautiful companions in crowdedness....

        Who would think it.  A post from a year ago ends up on my top three from year four.  It is called a change of seasons sweep-up: post #164 on 11/17/13.  There is mistletoe, barns, a four wheeler, and information about the upcoming annual Arts and Crafts Fair at Morehead State University.  I am thinking the number of page views might have something to do with the Fair, actually, since two weeks later, on 12/8/13, for post #167, I have some photos from the Fair -- which also made the top three posts for the year.  In fact, there have been recent viewers!  I do give the link for Monarch Butterfly stations, however, a hot topic in recent years.  The post is called Updates: monarch butterfly stations, the local arts Fair, and frogs changing colors.  
         I love that little frog whom I would not have noticed perched on a milkweed pod had I not been looking carefully at the plants almost every day, for art's sake.  Here is another photo of the frog when I went back to revisit him later in the day.  He had moved to a lower leaf, still green:

tiny!

This is just another version of the frog earlier, on the milkweed pod above the leaf.

       The top post for year four includes a couple of milkweed in winter mode, several interesting but far from awesome photos of some mourning doves making do during a snow storm, and two scenes from down near our waterfalls. I don't even show the waterfalls, shaped by ice.  I have NO idea what draws attention to this post, #171, on 1/5/14.  A good mystery to have.  Maybe, now that I think about it, it might be due to the simple mention of milkweed in the title.

      By the way, I am doing the Appalachian Arts and Crafts Fair at Morehead State again this year, on Saturday, 12/6/14, in two weeks.  The hours are 9-4.  Of course my own hours are a lot more than that -- prep time earlier in the week, set-up time on Friday afternoon, and regrouping time after the 4 pm closing.   As my new bumper sticker points out, "ARTWORK IS WORK."
      This year I will have my photo note cards, as I always do, but I will have many more 8 x 12 photos matted in 12 x 16 archival mat board, each in a protective sleeve, $25 each.  I will be sharing a double booth again with Jennifer Reis!!  As I say every year after she and I do this, "ARTWORK SELLING CAN ALSO BE FUN!"
       If I manage to be on top of my game, I will post a photo from the Fair in a special blog post early that day!!  Girls gone wild!

         Speaking of artwork, it is a privilege to announce that George Ella Lyon has two books coming out in November.  The trailer for the first book, VOICES FROM THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, has just been released, and she sings on it! Beautifully. The book contains poems written by two poets, George Ella and J. Patrick Lewis. They imagine the voices of people who took part in the march.  (Published by Wordsong, an imprint of Highlights, 2014)
        The link to the trailer is HERE.  I love the fact that her singing sounds louder and stronger just as the resolve to be there became stronger for those many people who went.

        This coming week, my plan is to take a photo a day for next week's post. I haven't actually ever done that yet, and I think it is way past time to try it.  I'm rewarding myself for finally studying the instruction booklet for my "new" camera....  In the meantime, here is a photo to keep you warm.  It shows all the wood my husband has prepared for this winter for use in our wood burning cook stove!  It is currently sheltered in the barn, with some logs used already since I made this photo.  Surprise, Frank, and thanks! 

three popular posts during the third year of my blog, and regional seasonal art venues

post #217
        My weekly posts have readers from all over the world, but the most come from the USA.  As I start on my 5th year of doing these posts -- every Sunday -- I have been sharing a few of the ones most viewed during each of the first four years.  Today is for year three, starting with post #122 on 1/27/13, titled "with a wood stove in our kitchen."
       Appropriately for our unusually early cold weather it shows our wood cook stove in action.  Indeed the stove is providing heat here today.  I don't know if visitors to this post were researching wood cook stoves and my post came up or whether they were experiencing cold weather and needed to think warm and toasty!

ash holder drawer, on the bottom

       That post also includes some winter photos by photographer John Flavell, so perhaps that could also be the reason for the high viewing numbers of this post....

        A second popular post is #148, from 7/28/13, titled "the country way of making room for the stuff of photography -- Sideway Gallery."  I am so fortunate to be able to have had this space for my work for almost four years now.  Living in the country makes this place both possible and necessary.

        One of the most popular posts ever is #114, on 12/2/12, featuring more of the photos Chris Garris had recently made in Indonesia.  Three of them are below.  The official title is "photos of Indonesia, part 3."  It also has photos by Carolyn Franzini, from her visit to Borobudur.  Thanks again to you both.
        

Ashley and Carolyn at Borobudur

        Before signing off, I want to share information about an art venue that has reopened this month -- in the Kentucky Market Pavillion along Interstate 64 near Owingsville, KY, off exit #123.   The displays look great, and they have great food.  The best info is on their Facebook page -- basically they are open daily 10 - 6, and noon - 5 on Sunday.  I have some notecards there, a selection of 12 x 16 matted prints, and copies of Counting on the Woods, signed by both myself and George Ella Lyon.  (Phone: 606/674-6688)
       I also sell photo note cards at CoffeeTree Books and at the Kentucky Folk Art Center, both in Morehead, KY, and at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, KY, right off exit 77 on Intersate 75.
        Enjoy!!  And stay warm!!  Buy local, wherever you are and whenever you can!!

Blog highlights, for the second year of the four

post #216
        The big election is over, and the candidate I have supported didn't survive the onslaught of money and meanness.  I am still proud I could vote, and for her.  My rural county and several others near here gave her the majority of our votes as did the big cities. (Kentucky has 120 counties, so they are small enough that we think of ourselves primarily as part of a county.) 

       Well, today I return to blog reviewing, for my blog year #2.  I'm just mentioning my most viewed posts -- popular for whatever reason.  Who knows why.  In fact, who ever knows what makes anything or anyone "popular!"

• On 3/25/12, I talked about the different cameras I use.  The post is called "a plethora of cameras." (I liked the way those words sounded together.)  My tools haven't changed much since then, except that my best Canon camera is now a really better one.  I continue with my iPhone 4G as well as the Lumix point and shoot I can take out in the rain or under water.

• On 1/8/12 I titled a post "The privilege of living in Appalachia."

• On 6/10/12, my topic was part of the draft of the Appalachian Alphabet book George Ella Lyon and I are still working on.  Specifically, it's the letters Q, R, S!   If you have time to check out just one of these former posts, I recommend this one -- it has the greatest variety of photos. By the way, George Ella's latest book has just been released:  What Forest Knows, illustrated by August Hall and published by Atheneum.  It is getting some fine reviews!!

• The post that got the most views was my tribute to Mike Mullins, from Hindman, KY, who died very unexpectedly.  He was the Executive Director of the Hindman Settlement School, and the power behind the annual Appalachian Writers Workshops there. I knew that many people who appreciated Mike would not be able to make it to Hindman for the funeral, in late February, 2012, so I am glad I was set up to be able to share some photos with them. 

      To finish this post, I'm going to yesterday.  I left home early to attend a conference in Midway, KY, just west of Lexington.  The topic was a report about energy options for Kentucky.  I found each presentation truly riveting.  And there was also discussion about the election, led by former Governor Martha Layne Collins.  I'm so glad I was able to be there.  
       I did take my camera with me, of course, and the first two photos are near home, showing that I indeed  left early!!)  The two maple tree photos are mid morning in Midway.  We don't see trees like that so much in my part of Kentucky.  A great day -- except I would have loved to have more morning time for photos in Midway, which is horse country beautiful.

the neighbors, untouched photo

 

behind me at that same spot

Midway College campus

      Today is sunny here, lovely, leaves keep falling, our wood cookstove is back in winter position, and I will be back here in a week....

midway between Halloween and the election....

post #215

"Well, here she comes again, with that black thing in her face!"

    I saw this goat on my way to visit my clever neighbors who always have an amazing Halloween display.  The family hay ride and party had to take place two weeks ago, but LUCKILY two of their creative creatures were still there to greet me the day after Halloween:

   










 The leaves have been changing all through October.  Here below are three photos from last week:

fallen leaves on the driveway, facing the way we "leaf home":

the barn, behind the sycamore

the chicken house/tool shed building, with sign

       My milkweed project lasted a year, but I have been keeping an eye on the plants this year as well, out of habit.  I have seen hardly any of the fluffy, sailing seeds!  This year would have been a bust as far as following the plants month after month.  
      Then, just the other day, I noticed a single milkweed plant in a totally unexpected location, with seeds opening!  At last.  I took this first photo Thursday evening, with its lovely sedate artistic display. 

  
      This second photo was taken after our Friday night storm: wind! rain! first freeze!

       Many thanks to someone for the comment on my blog last week about my letter to the editor!  I'm sorry not to be able to write back, but I don't see the email address the comments are sent from.  
    
       The sun is shining today which is why I decided I would not continue my blog review until next weekend.  I want to get outside!!  But I do have one last democracy directive to throw your way.  The election is soon, on Tuesday, though the political shenanigans continue.  My hope is that if enough people get to the polls to vote, Kentucky might actually elect Secretary of State Alison Grimes to be our US Senator and change the course of history. 
      
      Alison came to nearby Morehead Thursday night, for some speech giving and photo taking.  She could so entirely do a great job as our US Senator.  I will be calmer next week once this whole thing is decided.  

       PLEASE VOTE, where ever you are, and bring a friend with you!!  We need to make a special effort this year to do so to honor the many citizens who are being shut out from voting because of repeated Republican attempts to make it harder to pass muster at the poles, despite hardly any voter fraud anywhere in the nation.  In Kentucky, we also need to honor the convicted felons who have done their time but are still blocked from voting! 

posts from the past, color, and politics

post #214
       I have said that this month I would do a kind of review of this blog, now that I am starting a fifth year of weekly posts.  I began this blog thinking I would do just a few photos every week, with some commentary, focusing on Appalachia and photography.  However, I have found that by now I usually incorporate a dozen or more photos, and I have covered quite a few topics.  
       For the first year (October 2010 - October 2011), here are the posts that garned the most attention:

• the most viewed was "Tobacco as art, part 1," followed by "Tobacco as art, part 2,"  in September 2011.  I think they must come up when someone researches tobacco.   I explain in them -- and again now -- that I am totally appalled at the terrible health damage tobacco does, yet it has long been an honorable way of earning a living where I live.  Need I add that it is also very compelling as art.
• I mostly do Appalachian moments, but I also have reasons to travel.  For example, in July 2011 I went to visit my British stepmother. The resulting two posts from England were the second most viewed posts of my first year: here is the first one and the second one.  Not everyone has the chance to travel, so it's a pleasure for me to  provide a mini-look at other countries and other places in the USA.
• On 4/28/11 I did an extra, mid-week post which generated a lot of interest, about an effort and exhibit encouraging photos that are re-imaging Appalachia.
• Then there are the two posts showing some neighbors making sorghum molasses.  How cool is that!  Here are both links:  here and here. 

     
      Currently, this is what shows up here this past week.  I have often photographed this field, but this time I was struck by the fact it looks to me as if the colors from the trees have spilled over to the field and washed down the hillside.  I made photos from several vantage points, and I am sharing three of them today.

SO, now, one last extra that might not be of interest to everyone, but it is something I care about:

          For the true democracy obsessed readers of this blog, I am including my humble effort to speak out during this election season -- a letter to the editor.  It will be appearing in two local newspapers this Tuesday, a week before our national midterm elections.  Kentucky has a US Senate contest.  As usual, a lot rests on elections, and I continue to believe we all need to vote.  Also, I have many readers/viewers in other countries besides my own, and I thought this particular effort of a concerned citizen might be of interest.  

 To the editor:

         I’m a Kentucky voter Senator Mitch McConnell claims to speak for, but he doesn’t listen to a word I have to say.  Instead he acts like his mind is made up and he just wants us – all of us in Kentucky – to be happy if he can replace Harry Reid [US Senate Majority Leader.]  Harry Reid may or may not need replacing, but the real issue is why hasn’t there been some actual legislation, say, to help coal miners who face an increasing rise in black lung disease?  (Folks, this is 2014.  Why aren’t we moving forward on this situation instead of backwards?) 

        In fact, why is the loss of coal jobs being blamed on Obama since it started over 30 years ago?  And Mitch has been in the US Senate all that time!

       When we’ve needed action on these and many other important issues, we only got gridlock.  Then, if you remember, there was the incredibly wasteful and inexcusable shutting down of the US government. For weeks. I hold the Republicans responsible for that.  In ignoring or forgetting about such facts by the next election, we put our nation’s health in jeopardy.

        As a woman and a citizen who always votes, I am proud that this year Alison Grimes is running such a strong campaign for the US Senate seat.  She is working hard, speaking powerfully, and raising lots of money.  Yes, she is young (35), but that is the idea – it‘s called new blood, new energy!  There’s no question about her passion for Kentucky and her future capacity for leadership.  Alison  has earned my vote.

        Democracy is the gift we live with, but it requires an informed and participating citizenry.  This means thinking for ourselves – and voting.  Please join me in ignoring all the big money efforts to make us act on our fears instead of on our hopes.     Ann

rainbows, monarch follow-up, color and stories

post #213
        Two weeks ago, a lovely brief rainbow happened in our county.  I saw it by chance, from our house which is in a hollow (Appalachian speak for the space that's between two hills.)  I just had time to take a few quick snapshots.  Soon after that, I drove to the local fire department fish fry fundraising auction, and, again by chance, had a great conversation with Cynthia McAuley.  She grew up here but lives now with her family in Lexington.  She asked me if I had seen the rainbow!  It turns out she had taken a great photo of it on her cell phone.  So, here are two photos of the same rainbow (sort of) AND another guest artist on my blog!  Thank you, Cynthia, for coming over to talk with me and for being willing to share your amazing photo.  (Notice the double rainbow visible in Cynthia's image.)

from where I was

from where Cynthia was

       Speaking of color, while spending some time last week sitting out in the chill trying to sell my art wares, I met Rosemary Fannin.  She made this log cabin design quilt. We had tables near each other, and I really enjoyed getting to know her. I love the colors she uses.  She made the second quilt using a totally different color scheme.  I can't do what she does, but I sure can appreciate the hard work required. Persistence is a good trait for us artists to cultivate!

just a corner of another of her quilts

These colors are more the tool I need as a photographer. I love Sharpies.  I use them to sign books or write info on the back of photos I give to, say, someone who let me take his or her photo.  This photo was taken in the University of Kentucky Art Store, where I buy most of the paper I use for my photo note cards.  I couldn't resist making this photo.  All those Sharpies!  All that color!!

      

      Now to touch on last week's post about Monarch butterflies.  I had a lot of viewers!  Thank you all for sharing my enthusiasm.  I just heard that two young grandchildren I love, ages 5 and 3, were totally taken by the ten minute video where the Monarch caterpillar disappears into its own hanging green bag.  
     Also, I asked Rachel how she managed to get a sticker label onto the monarch's wing.  She sent me the instructions from MONARCHWATCH.org    I highly recommend this site for those interested in knowing more about these treasured creatures.  Here is a quote from the site that explains clearly about the monarch migration patterns: 

       In all the world, no butterflies migrate like the Monarchs of North America. They travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two way migration every year. Amazingly, they fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. Their migration is more the type we expect from birds or whales. However, unlike birds and whales, individuals only make the round-trip once. It is their children's grandchildren that return south the following fall.
      
      I am spending this weekend working on my note cards (more on why next week), so I want to include one more photo.  It shows how I have temporarily taken over the kitchen counter as I inventory how many copies I have of some of the prints I use to assemble my cards.  I don't have time to make a totally professional shot, but at least this gives a flavor of some of my work. I have posted many of them on this blog over the past four years.
       I feel as if these images are my friends. They each have a story.  Actually, we all have stories and tell them in many ways, gifts we can give each other throughout our lives.

Guest photographers, milkweed and monarchs!

post #212

       I am so looking forward to sharing these photos today. The first group is from Rachel Carpenter who has a Monarch Station at her home in Indiana.  The second batch is from Lucy Pryor, now living in northeast Kentucky, like I do.  We have each known the other two for a long time, and our stories definitely overlap. Even so, I had no idea about Rachel's work until a week ago, when Lucy forwarded me these photos by email.  Rachel wrote "I collect caterpillars and raise them on milkweed and then once the butterflies hatch I tag them with tags I get from Monarch Watch."

        Esssentially, the story goes from left photo to right photo. After the additional written-down information Rachel sent just this morning, to help explain what it is she does, the other larger photos follow  --

 

from Rachel: The way I do this is that I check the milkweed on our property for caterpillars, or sometimes I even get eggs.  Then I collect them and put them in a wooden box that Johno [R's husband] made.  The front and back are screen and the front is a door.  Then I basically make a "bouquet" of milkweed leaves.  I just use a yogurt carton with water in it.  I change out the leaves every few days for fresh ones.  We have a lot of milkweed in our yard, so that is easy to do.  Then when the caterpillars are satisfied, they climb off the milkweed.  If they weren't in captivity they would crawl away, but since they can't leave they just climb to the top of the box.  They get into that "J" shape, hang there for around 24 hours, then they change into the chrysalis.  Here is a great ten minute video that I found on youtube that shows the transformation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4WYor6UMtU  I have gotten to see that happen a few times.  Then the rest of the photos are just of the chrysalis over the 3 weeks or so that it is a chrysalis.  It gradually darkens and you can begin to see the butterfly developing.  By the time it is ready to emerge the chrysalis is completely clear.

      Thank you, Rachel!!  Here are some of her other photos:

drying off?

Rachel has labeled this monarch for Monarch Watch monitoring.

      In earlier blog posts I have mentioned the work of photographer Betty Hall, in Lexington, KY.  She has a blog (here) that also shows her Monarch Station and her backyard butterfly garden.  She has been interested in the welfare of these beautiful creatures for many, many years.  And her photos are amazing. (note: she sells notecards at Good Foods Coop, in Lexington, KY.)
       My last offering for today are some monarch photos taken with great care and patience by photographer Lucy Pryor.  Thank you, Rachel and Lucy, for being guests here today.  And thank you everyone who has been working so creatively to preserve monarchs in our changing world we are each called to care for.