Week 21

Picture 142: This is a Tiger Swallowtail getting some nectar.  It is a bit worn so I hope it already did its parenting thing 

Picture 143:  We went to the park on Sunday.  Owen wasn't big on the swing this time.  He did LOVE the slide.  At least, I think he did.  What do you think?

Picture 144:  A rose is a rose is a rose.  Then I look at the rose in our planter and think maybe it is more than a rose.  It is a beautiful sight.

Picture 145:  The yellow roses have bloomed this weekend also.  We are very lucky to have such good luck with our rose bushes.  Good job Brady!  

Picture 146:  Two toads were checking out the freshly turned dirt by the planter.  This toad seemed to be a bit calmer.  It just sat there while I snapped a ton of pictures.  Now I just need a picture of Frog.    

Picture 147:  Yes, this is an iris.  However, this is a different one.  Also, I did the "Holga-ish" tweak.  Check out my flickr stream for the original to compare.  he yellow roses have bloomed this weekend also.  We are very lucky to have such good luck with our rose bushes.  Good job Brady!  

Picture 148:  I am ending this post the way Owen ended his trip to Londonderry this weekend--by falling asleep.  My beautiful baby boy!   

  

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 20

Picture 135:  A roasted red pepper.  I turned it into roasted red pepper dip.  It was AWESOME! Just think spinach artichoke dip but with roasted red peppers instead of spinach and artichokes.Yum.

Picture 136:  A fly in the garden roasted just hanging out on a flower.  It let me take a bunch of pictures and didn't try to bite me. That was nice.

Picture 137:  A strawberry in the making.  Hopefully this one will be big, red, and tasty.  There are about 200 strawberry plants out there.  We should be getting some serious harvest this year.  

Picture 138:  A very long worm in the garden.  I couldn't get all of it in the picture.  It was about 8 inches long when it stretched out.  It was just resting in the dirt, then something spooked it.  That was when the worm moved super fast into a hole and was gone in about 1 second.  

Picture 139:  We have two lupine plants this year that survived from 2 years ago.  We put out seeds in 2010.   A few plants sprouted then and last summer.  This is the first year we have flowers.  PRETTY!

Picture 140:  A bit closer to the lupine.  Look at those water drops.  Look at that COLOR!  They are totally awesome flowers.  YEAH! 

Picture 141:  And, because I just couldn't get enough of a good thing, I had to put in another iris picture.  Yes, Owen is a good thing too, but he was way too wiggly this week.  I will have to focus on him when he is awake with better lighting conditions. 

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 19

Picture 128:  Owen is looking one way, Papa the other.  There are so many interesting things to look at in the traveling barnyard.  

Picture 129:  Goats are pretty cool.  I love the horns.  The novelty might wear off after a while, but it sure would be different to have a pair of horns on my head. 

Picture 130:  This goat has had enough.  Just take her home.  Enough with the petting and picture taking and little kids.  Let's go!  

Picture 131:  Early morning dew on a tulip.  If you look close, you can even see some fuzz on the petals.  Such gorgeous color in this flower. 

Picture 132:  Iris flowers are so complicated.  I love the many parts of the flowers.  I just have to keep looking at them.   

Picture 133:  Another look at the iris.  This time really looking at the petals and how they curve.  I am a bit bummed we have only had three iris flowers so far. 

Picture 134:  The iris in context.  There are lots of green plants around the iris. I also love the light coming across the petal on the bottom right.  This is the last photo of an iris for this week.

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 18

Picture 121:  The only moose I've ever seen in Concord.  It will have to do for now.  You can find this moose on Broadway.     

Picture 122:  Owen and Papa pre 5K.  I don't know that either one of them was all that smiley after 3.14 miles, but they did survive.     

Picture 123:  I think these are azaleas. These aren't in our yard, but it would be nice if they were.  Maybe next year.      

Picture 124:  A transplanted strawberry looking very happy on the back forty of Hidden Farms.  And, just to be all official, we now have a motto: agris in urbs. If you can't read Latin, the motto means "Farm in the City".  It really is.

Picture 125:  Using just a bit of post image processing, I was able to make this tulip look the way it does when the sun hits it just right.  It seems to glow.      

Picture 126:  Or maybe this is the way to make the tulip stand out.  I am going back and forth here between these two.  So close, yet so different.

Picture 127:  Owen doing what he does best right now-standing by climbing onto something.  This is a chair in the MUB at University of New Hampshire.  For Owen, this chair was much more interesting than Ira Flatow.  

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 17

Picture 114:  My two guys walking to town.  Brady is looking where they are going.  Owen is looking where they've been. 

Picture 115:  This hook holds up the wind chime that sounds like the Booth Bay Harbor bell.  I love it when the wind blows here at Hidden Farms. 

Picture 116:  The peach colored quince blooming this year.  I love the soft colors.  Every year, the bushes are beautiful when they bloom. 

Picture 117:  Our neighbor cat is always looking for adventures.  Today he was stalking some little animal.  I don't know if he was successful, but he had fun trying.   

Picture 118:  This little ant got stuck in the sap of one of the pine trees that will soon be cut down.  Will he become part of a piece of amber?  

Picture 119:  I love this tulip.   It is on its last legs.  I love shadow of the stamen on the petal.  What a cool flower.   

Picture 120:  The violets in the yard are beautiful.  The post processing style is called Orton-ish.  I love it!    

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 16

Picture 107:  Just a bit of a really cool clock that Brady's Dad restored and gave to us.  It would work, but then we would have to constantly wind it.  I like it to be quiet.   

Picture 108:  What do I do when I am waiting in line to get an oil change?  Take pictures--what else?  And also I try to figure out what the heck this  means.  The car in the mirror was pretty far away.

Picture 109:  This dog gave me a knowing look.  I don't know what she was thinking, but I am sure she does.   

Picture 110:  Here is what is under my hood: lots of engine parts.  Now the car is ready to go since the oil has been changed.   

Picture 111:  Owen looking at something at stage right.  What does he see?  A toy?  Most likely.   

Picture 112:  Rocky is an exceptionally cute kitty.  He knows it, but that makes him that much cuter.  He couldn't be more of a love.  Well, okay, he could stop spitting up hairballs, but no kitty is perfect.  

Picture 113:  My two guys being very, very safe.  Not that Owen went out to cut down trees.  Good job you  two! 

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 15

Picture 100: A glowing daffodil on the way back from downtown.  Spring has sprung and here is one of the flowers.  

Picture 101:  A magnolia really looks sharp in black and white.  Does it bother you that the top of the middle petal is missing?  I can't decide if it bothers me or not.  

Picture 102:  Same tree, different flower.  Always cool to look closely at the parts of a flower.  Too bad it is getting toward the end of its bloom.   

Picture 103:  A Texas Scarlet flowering quince--at least it looks like one.  I love the bright red and the green for contrast.  I haven't yet taken a picture of our quinces.  Time to see if they changed colors again this year.   

Picture 104:  Soft focus helps these look even bolder, if you ask me.  Same plant, different adjustments.   

Picture 105:  Has there ever been a happier baby?  I think not.  He LOVES being tossed up in the air.  Who can blame him.  That is fun.   

Picture 106:  An example of exemplary child rearing.  He did have chicken quesadillas so he had some salt with his fat and sugar.  

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/ 

Week 14

Picture 93:  I only have my macro lens now so the focal length (I think that is the term) is always 60 mm.  It is great on the color, crispness and so many other points.  It is picky when it comes to autofocus though.  I decided to play around with the new options in Picasa.  This is "Lomo-ish".  I didn't think too much when I snapped these three woodpecker holes.  

Picture 94:  Here is a flower I couldn't identify--yet!  I also messed around in Picasa to make this "Orton-ish", but it really isn't that "Orton-ish".  It seems more "Kinkade-ish" to me.   

Picture 95:  Owen fell asleep again while we were out hiking.  Who can blame him?  It was cold and we went out twice as long as we had planned.  We did feed him bananas when he woke up.   

Picture 96:  More messing around in Picasa.  This is a posterized photo.  It looks all creepy and mysterious to me.  

Picture 97:  Owen is in HD here.  Picasa has so many new automatic finishes, I can't figure out which one I like best.  This does make the picture pop out at you.  Hi Owen!   

Picture 98:  This rock looks much more interesting when I fuzz the outlines.  The crystals are fuzzy and the dried pine needles are much more of a contrast.     

Picture 99:  Before I cropped, cinemascoped, and letterboxed this picture, it was totally blah.  Now it seems really cool to me.  Thanks Picasa!    

And, as always, for the photos that didn't make the top 7 this week, check out my flicker stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonyacarlson/