returns, to the folk art, to our place, and to the milkweed

post #235
     Yesterday I finally returned to the KY Folk Art Center to redo some photos I made a week ago, this time using my good camera instead of my iPhone.  I am much happier with the results, though who knows if the difference is noticeable on this blog.  But since I do these posts mostly for my own happiness, it has been worth the extra effort.  So, as a follow-up to  last week's post, here, now, are two more photos of that intriguing laundry scene by Robbie Mueller:

       Back home, until the neighbors come over to mow our fields, I asked for a temporary single path to the barn!  It turns out to be a wonderful thing to try to make a photo of.  These are three of my tries, the last one being with my 70-300 lens, the first two with the 124-105 lens.

 


       I share the next two photos as a way to think about how to hold the camera. You can see the two same bugs on the flowers in each photo, so it is clearly the same bunch of daisies, but I think the photos look quite different, which fascinates me.  You may or may not agree, but I'm just saying.

       Then late in last night's evening light, I drove the car up to the milkweed plants at the end of our driveway that I had photographed for a year beginning in June 2013.  Last year they were pitiful, but this year they once again seem to be flourishing.  Maybe they have loved all the rain we had in April. Or something like that. I took the car so I could sit in the driver's seat, with the window down, and use my trusty bean bag on that window ledge as a way to hold the camera steady in that low light. The wind has mostly stopped blowing by then; all is quiet and full of wonder.

       There remain two photos, of quirky visitors to our place.  Though all are welcome, some, like the deer, are pretty hard to live with sometimes, especially when it comes to sharing the garden.

a visitor on our cow bell doorbell

a visitor on our steps

          THANKS FOR BEING A VISITOR -- perhaps quirky, perhaps not -- TO THIS BLOG!

warmed by so many beautiful butterflies

post #223
      A wonderful Christmas present - a family outing to MAGIC WINGS, in South Deerfield, Massachusetts.  I have heard about such places but this was my first time to go to one.  We went from winter's chill into a warm and steamy building populated by 50 kinds of butterflies! and flowers! and other creatures! 
      I had brought my camera.  However, I didn't realize that my lens would do the fog-over thing after the change from outside to inside.  This slowed me down some, though I know I could have prepared better for that possibility.  But, in any case, I don't just take photos in such a place.  Or even a lot of photos at one time.  I enjoy just being there and experiencing a new adventure -- sitting and watching and listening to the quiet butterfly music and exclaiming at some unexpected discovery.  Thank you, thank you, sweet family.

Notice: winter trees, blue sky, no real hint of the beauty that awaits within

  The transition room has some bugs in cages, a hint of wonders to come:

These "leaf bugs" look like, well, leaves!!  The yellow one and, parallel to it, the green one!  These hungry "buggers" are obviously NOT Massachusetts natives.....

     There is a butterfly in here, but I took the photo because I love waterfalls and lush plant growth.  Another visitor commented that in the spring the flowers at Magic Wings are even lovelier.

    We found the chrysallis cabinet. We were there in the early morning, so, after hatching, several butterflies were hanging around letting their wings dry.  I had visions of those nurseries in science fiction, or in The Giver.

the view looking up, to be reassured that no snow was falling

This "largest" moth had the largest signage!  I wonder if the sign follows the moth from sleeping place to sleeping place.  And do larger moths take longer naps?

NOT a butterfly

recent buffet offering

a buffet discovered, seen through my steamy lens

gathering eggs while there are not many human visitors nearby

speaking of visitors -- when was the last time you had a butterfly land on your head or elbow???

 

 

I was particularly taken by this butterfly with see-through wings.  They can't live in cold climates, I was told, because they can't hold enough heat in their wings.  The next two photos show the same species.  

This is a photo of a photo in the lobby.  I guess I am not the only one to be fascinated by these beauties!

a very special hatched and growing creature, trying her wings

End of summers, many visitors during 15 minutes

post #211, and, I'm proud to say, the start of my fifth year of doing these weekly posts

       I have wanted to share what I saw in a brief period the afternoon of September 17, 2014.  It is part of that aspect of photography that celebrates paying attention.  Seeing.  Noticing the light and the moment.
      First, a photo at the pond, of a weed hanging over from the edge, gently touching water.  To me it looks like it is tiptoeing out, reaching ever farther.

       I then walk back to the house, passing the well and the "End of Summer" plants nearby.  A neighbor gave us these plants many years ago, and they never disappoint. She called them End of Summers, though I know other plants also can go by that name.  
      I stop because I noticed a single butterfly, but I end up filming many of the other visitors as well.  They just keep showing up.  I must have hit some kind of prime time!  Busy, busy!
                               

       I don't want to leave out the grasshopper who's hiding close by.  He looks kind of lost but also very peaceful.  Note: There are so many times when I am seeing stuff with my camera that I wish I had a biology degree. That was certainly true when I made the photos for Counting on the Woods by George Ella Lyon.  I had so much to learn back then, besides how to use a tripod and such. Even a single biology course in high school or college would have helped.  

     
      So, to finish today, one last insect I saw recently that might not find a proper home on some future blog post.  Location: on our chicken house outside wall.   Name: I have no idea but would love to know, as usual.  The shapes and lines fascinate me.  Enjoy its beauty:

milkweed tell-all, part 2 of 5

post #180
       I am loving reviewing my milkweed photos with these blog posts in mind.  Today I am  including a few non-milkweeds as well.  It feels like the best way to share what else was happening at the same time in a plant's short life.  I come at this project as an artist and not as a biologist, though obviously the two perspectives overlap.  
        NOTE: I am planning to publish this before 9:30 a.m. (daylight savings time!) which is earlier in the Sunday than usual.  I am needing to drive a couple of hours west, to Lexington, in order to volunteer noon to 3 at the annual Kentucky Crafted: the Market.  This is a great event with over 200 juried artists displaying their wares -- to wholesalers on the Friday and to the public over the weekend.  It is taking place at the Lexington Convention Center, often referred to as Rupp Arena which is part of the complex.  It is open until 5 today and I recommend it highly.  We are proud of our hardworking Kentucky Arts Council!

      Now, to continue on from the last post, here are images from late June through August, blossoms fading and falling, seed pods growing and hosting....

This is where I left off last week -- late June, flowers still doing fine.

      I think these garden photos are very telling.  (Thanks, Sandy and Junie, for letting me admire your hard work.)  The beans are ready, the corn is growing, and so are the zucchinis!  Talk about a big seed pod!!

          (Just have to include this sky photo from up on the ridge that day.  Amazing!)

    I was away quite a bit in July last summer, so I MISSED some of my milkweed's transition from big flower to big seed pods.  Luckily I have this upcoming summer to fill in this lapse.

Location #2 --  Hello young pods!!

     Back at location #1, the meadow has been mowed for hay, taking with it my milkweeds, but bringing on the deer....

...mostly because of these gems.  Everyone around here had one of the best apple seasons in forever.

These are Joe-Pye weeds, who, like milkweed, are happy to grow along our back roads.  They attract butterflies, just like the milkweed does, but they are a lot taller than a milkweed.  Monarch butterflies, however, are particularly bonded to just milkweeds.

first photo of a milkweed bug

Happiness was discovering this beautiful spider and her web bridging these two milkweed plants!!

       

I didn't have my tripod with me so this image is done hand-held, as we say.

       This last photo (for today) shows a hint of things to come.  And I have been saving the milkweed bugs for their own show, soon.  Thanks for joining me on this journey.  For some reason, this past week I have had blog visitors from over twenty countries, so I am now curious about how many places in the world have milkweed plants.  In any case, welcome to all of you!