Compass Grass

The winds in the dunes create these circles. The dunes are ever changing, shifting the sand. It's hard to imagine how these grasses survive in this environment.

Blue Skies, Red Tractor

The hayfield and a tobacco shed have been leased by our neighbor to a local
farmer. He grows and sells vegetables, greenhouse flowers, bedding straw and hay
at his stand, and grows several acres of tobacco at various locations. The
haying operation is an interesting one. After the hay is cut and dried, it is
raked into rows and is then baled, tied and stacked onto the haywagon in one
pass over the field. When I was a child, my mother's father, Grandpa Eastwood, worked the fields with a team of horses. He did it all. After cutting, he would turn it with a tedder and put it into rows. the haywagon would be driven by and a crew of two or three men would toss forkfuls up to a man on the wagon. Hay was brought to the barn and put into the haymow by the forkful. Grandpa was an Englishman and loved his tea. Mother would make tea for him as he worked the field and send barefoot me over the newly cut field for his afternoon tea break. I took shoes off on the first day of school vacation and by September the soles of my feet were really toughened up.
The smell of new mown hay brings back that time in my life, and the pain of running over the sharp stubble.

Goldenrod

The old tobacco shed was falling apart. The doors were secured shut until kids found this place for a hangout. Doors were repaired and the shed put to use. In late summer, goldenrod abounds here and on the borders of the hayfield. I wanted to get black-eyed-susans to take hold. Like Johnny Appleseed, I scattered seed every year. I was rewarded with only one small brave plant that produced one little blossom. Nature knows what it wants and it was not black-eyed-susans!

Backlighting

I took a photography class when I got my 35. This was quite a few years ago. We were supposed to use backlighting. At the edge of a marsh, in a local state park, I took this shot. It was fall, I remember and the sun was warm with a cool breeze. My kind of weather.

X's and Y's

The inside of an old tobacco drying shed. Soon, tobacco filled it to the rafters. The side slats were closed during rainy weather. The green tobacco leaves started to turn color, first golden and eventually brown. When I walked by as it cured, the smell was very intense. It was taken down in late fall and baled. Tobacco grown in these parts is "binder" tobacco, I believe. " Wrapper" is grown in the Connecticut River valley and is called "shade grown" because it is grown under fabric tents. I worked as a kid in a tobacco shed sorting leaves that had been re-hydrated with steam. The smell permeated my clothes and hair. I think most of the workers were older women. The smell from this shed brings back that memory.

Milkweed

Milkweed pods always give us a treat when they open and the seeds float away. They do attract Monarch butterflies, although I did not see any this year. This is an old photo taken with my old 35.

Snow and Shadows

My favorite subject. I like this photo a lot. This is not a very scenic area, but over the course of four seasons, this old tobacco shed provides a lot of opportunity for a variety of shots.

Sue's Poodles

This is a collage I created from photos of my friend's dogs. Rocky is the silver one, a large toy poodle. He had a short dog show career, but apparently grew over the standard height. He is very bright and lovable. The beautiful black boy is Sydney, who came down from Nova Scotia. He is also very smart and fun to be with. These two have "replaced" a pair of dogs that Sue lost. Both were senior citizens and led a wonderful long life, but they have left an empty place in Sue's life. They were actually irreplaceable and Sue still grieves over their loss.

Ferns

My mother had a collection of ferns. They still grow here. Some of the large ones line the north side of the house. These Maidenhair ferns are on a slope on the south side shaded by some evergreens. They were especially beautiful this year.

Ginko Trees

There are two in the back yard here. They are not spectacular, but are interesting. Their leaves are fan shaped and green. In fall they turn yellow and are very pretty. At the first cold days, they drop their leaves. Sometimes in a matter of a few minutes the whole tree will shed them. I always watch for that. Sometimes they will lose them overnight.....not one leaf left. Ginkos are a link to our prehistoric past. In existance for 200 million years! I just looked this up on Wikipedia. They survived the Hiroshima bomb, having been found at the epicenter of the blast, they lived without malformations. One of ours produces fruit, although not anything you would eat. The seed is enjoyed by our squirrels. Apparently, there are male and female trees so I guess we have one of each. Their leaf design has been used in a lot of fabrics.

Squirrels

One year there were no acorns. In the early summer, the oaks had dropped the tiny undeveloped acorns. Also, the nut trees were barren and pine cones were few. I read that this was "nature's way" of controling the squirrel population. Thinking that did seem cruel on nature's part, I got raw peanuts at the feed store and, along with sunflower seeds, fed our squirrels through the coldest part. Somehow, it has become an obligation on my part and I have continued doing it ever since. I don't think it was the wisest thing to do since they, and the chipmunks and wild birds, now depend on me. We also have increased their numbers. Now, we have six to eight every day looking for their hand-outevery day. Actually, after a snow storm a couple of years ago there were thirty plus!
Every year I think I will stop in late spring and just not put anything out, but they still come. They are fun to watch.

Sassafras

I love the shape of these leaves and the way they turn bronze in the fall. There are several sassafras trees in the woods where I walk.

QUILTS

My sister is an "old school" quilter. She will machine piece the blocks,
but always hand quilt to finish. No machine quilting for her! I cannot imagine how many quilts she has made over the years. Actually, quilting is a family tradition from back when quilts were utilitarian and never did they buy fabric for them, using what was available in the home. Our Aunt Lily worked for a time in a corset factory and brought home scraps of fabric to use for quilts. Real blankets were rare. We just layered on more quilts as the winter got colder. No central heating back then.

Photo one is my sister in her easy chair That's our dog "Rosie" at her feet. She used to make a "Reunion Quilt" to be given to one lucky family at the annual family get-together, which was held in either Vermont or Connecticut . The value of such a quilt would be in the hundreds of dollars. I doubt if the winners knew that it took the better part of a year to plan and complete one of these. The second photo is a flower one won by Cousin Harriet. One year there were only kids quilts. Three, I think, divided into age groups. Those children who did not win got a pillow with a quilted top. The second picture is one of those quilts with Cousin Tiny and her husband, David holding it up.

The third picture is not a reunion one, but a gift made for our cousin, Ann. It is called "Who Let The Cows Out". Ann is a dairy farmer so it seemed appropriate for her. The fourth quilt is "Family Ties". Every one was asked to donate a tie to be used in the Reunion Quilt. This was a beautiful one and went to Texas when it was won by our cousin Charlie's daughter. One year, all families were asked to design a block representing their family. Some did interesting ones and others sent photos for us to design for them. We did the best we could, using a farm theme for Cousin Ann and a Vermont one for Cousin Harriet, etc.. This one went to our cousin Harold's son here in Connecticut. He designed the flag block. There were a lot of photos in this one. We had learned how to print on specially prepared cloth . These quilts were meant as keepsakes to be handed down to the next generations. Hopefully, some will be used that way.

More often than not, the reunions were held in Vermont. A couple of times, they were held in the Senior Center which used to be a one room school house. We always enjoyed the chance to go up to Vermont to visit with our cousins.

Mallows

These pink Mallows grew by the water on Jordan Cove. I looked for them every spring. There were white ones on the other side of the cove. I entered this photo in the photography contest at work.If you look closely, you can see dew on the petals. I must have shot this in the early morning.

On My Walk

In summer you would walk right by this sapling and not notice it, but, in autumn it is absolutely beautiful. A better photographer could have taken a better shot.

Journey's End

This old car is abandoned in the woods where I walk. I like to think of its' history. How many errands it went on or taking kids to school. Did it take a family on vacation or to a funeral? How did it end up here? There's a saying that it's not the destination but the journey. Or is it the other way around? I seem to have reached my destination and wouldn't give up the journey ever.

Autumn Walk

This path is part of my walk through the woods in back of our house. It is now called "Barlow Park, named for the man who donated this property to the local land trust. He wanted to develop it for what he called a "complex" (what the heck is that?), but needed a right of way to it , but no one bordering it would sell him. He eventually gave up and donated most of this section to the trust. I call this path "Tobacco Road" because some of this used to be open fields used to grow tobacco and this was a road to the street. I have named other parts of my walk. There are "Fern Gully", (which of course is a low area with ferns, where deer often are) and "Skunk Alley East" and "Skunk Alley West" where you could see skunks in the early morning heading back to their dens at the edge of the field.
I think Barlow has retained part of his property with the idea of development. A good selling point, I suppose, is the so-called park. Anyway, when I see this photo, I can hear rustling leaves under my feet.

Jordan Cove

I lived here for years in a small cape house at the end of a lane. It was owned by my employer. It is my most favorite place in the world (although I haven't seen much of the world). The large rock to the right I called "Bird
Rock" because of the cormorants that perched there. In the winter, it froze over and kids from across the cove would play hockey. When the tide came in under the ice, you could hear the ice cracking all down the cove. We had ospreys, hawks, egrets, many kinds of ducks and nesting swans. The game warden would addle the swan eggs to prevent more cygnets hatching. Actually, they weren't very friendly and would attack boaters to protect their young.
I entered this autumn panorama in a photography contest at work and got the Best-in-Show ribbon!

Hunger

Some art from the cape. Couldn't pass this up. I hope this ended in some one's collection. Love it!

Invitation

I like "Eat" signs for some reason. Don't see many any more. This is one from Cape Cod.
Don't know if we ate there or not.

This Hat............

We went to Key West, more than 20 years ago. It was an extremely cold day in Ct..
I had an eye injury and was supposed to stay out of bright light. We arrived in Florida to warmth and sunshine, although the Key Westers apologized for the cool weather.
I bought this hat there to keep sun out of my eyes and off my brain. I still have it.
Not sure it was very flattering to me!

The Red Shed

One of the first shots I took with a digital camera (Kodak Easy Share). After an overnight snowfall. Only a couple of inches on the ground, but it looked like more.
The red shed is no longer there, replaced by a vinal covered one. It was once a kennel when I fancied myself becoming a dog breeder. I did get involved in the "dog world", but not as a breeder. This shot was taken from the bathroom window. Later, I got the snow blower out and cleared the driveway and made paths for our dog, Rosie.

Spring-Early Morning

The tobacco shed on one of my early morning walks. I used Photoshop to convert from color. It is one of my favorite shed photos.

Snow Fence

This is an old photo taken with my old 35. I'm not sure what rule of composition it follows, maybe none. I just liked the converging lines. It would probably not win a composition, but I keep coming back to it and find it an interesting shot. Taken at Waterford Town Beach.

Petey

Petey was a good cat, easy to live with and lived to a ripe old age. She was a teen-ager when she died. I was living alone and putting in long hours at work, so the animals did not get an excessive amount of attention. She became sick and I got her to a vet, it was a new place. Petey became extremely ill in a very short time. It was very close to Christmas. The vet took blood and said she would send it off to the lab. The bill was very high, I remember. A couple of days later, I got home from work to find Petey had collapsed in the cat pan. I called the vet, who waited for me and she administered euthanasia solution. She said she had not sent the blood off yet (!!!) so there would be no charge! I think it was around two hundred dollars for the tests.
I'd prefer not to dwell on the end of Petey's life, because she was a dear little cat and was a wonderful personality. She might be waiting by the Rainbow Bridge for me....I hope so!