Life on the Farm

books

2012-01-26T21:22:00.001-06:00

A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann

flowering in January!

2012-01-21T18:46:00.001-06:00

There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation's braggart lords.

~John Muir, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, 1916

i heart faces challenge: best face photo of 2011

2012-01-09T08:35:00.001-06:00

vanished snow

2012-01-08T08:38:00.000-06:00

The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Terri Guillemets

Christmas bells

2011-12-31T14:15:00.001-06:00

                                                                 I heard the bells on Christmas Day
                                                                 Their old, familiar carols play,
                                                                 And wild and sweet
                                                                 The words repeat
                                                                 Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
                                                                     ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

frosted

2011-12-23T18:40:00.001-06:00

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

~Norman Vincent Peale

mirror on the wall

2011-12-18T12:32:00.001-06:00

There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton

furry faces: i heart faces photo challenge

2011-12-12T18:19:00.001-06:00

i heart faces challenge: feet

2011-12-06T07:49:00.001-06:00

water drops

2011-11-27T08:58:00.001-06:00

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

gingersnaps

2011-11-26T16:42:00.001-06:00

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening (butter can be substituted)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp ginger

1 1/2 tsp cloves

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Additional sugar

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugar until light colored and fluffy.

Beat in molasses and eggs; set aside. In another large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda,

ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly with wire whisk. Gradually mix flour mixture into

creamed ingredients until dough is blended and smooth. Roll dough into 1 1/2 in, balls.

Dip tops in sugar; place 2 1/2 in. apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for

11 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool on wire rack. Store in tightly covered container to maintain

softness. Yields 3 dozen. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

autumn light

2011-11-24T07:34:00.001-06:00

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward

gerbera daisy

2011-11-18T08:32:00.001-06:00

God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars;

but on earth he planteth his name by tender flowers.
~Jean Paul Richter

frosty morn

2011-11-16T07:19:00.001-06:00

Some colors exist in dreams that are not present in the waking spectrum. ~Terri Guillemets

I heart faces photography contest ~autumn splendor

2011-11-15T13:43:00.001-06:00

Golden light

2011-11-13T08:51:00.001-06:00

A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least,

but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart. ~Hal Borland

bokeh

2011-11-11T08:55:00.001-06:00

There are two kinds of light - the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures. ~James Thurber

sunrise

2011-11-07T12:58:00.001-06:00

Oft when the white, still dawn lifted the skies and pushed the hills apart, I have felt it like a glory in my heart.
~Edwin Markham

kitty

2011-11-05T20:07:00.001-05:00

I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult.

It's not. Mine had me trained in two days. ~Bill Dana

frost on the barberry

2011-11-05T09:11:00.001-05:00

Nature never goes out of style. ~Author Unknown

window…

2011-10-26T21:10:00.001-05:00

The eyes are the window to the soul. ~ Proverb

weeds

2011-10-26T08:09:00.001-05:00

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. ~Doug Larson

frost

2011-10-25T14:12:00.001-05:00

For she is a fair maiden, fairest lady of a house of queens. And yet I know not how I should speak of her. When I first looked on her and perceived her unhappiness, it seemed to me that I saw a white flower standing straight and proud, shapely as a lily, and yet knew that it was hard, as if wrought by elf-wrights out of steel. Or was it, maybe, a frost that had turned its sap to ice, and so it stood, bitter-sweet, still fair to see, but stricken, soon to fall and die? ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

wild berries

2011-10-22T14:20:00.001-05:00

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

mums the word

2011-10-16T10:55:00.001-05:00

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we

get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts. ~Dodinsky

fall leaves

2011-10-14T07:21:00.001-05:00

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~John Burroughs

Golden light

2011-10-14T07:15:00.001-05:00

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.

~Edwin Way Teale

autumn glory

2011-10-13T21:06:00.001-05:00

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

Ryan

2011-10-04T18:22:00.001-05:00

mums!

2011-10-02T13:38:00.001-05:00

Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers - and never succeeding.
~ Gian Carlo Menotti

sunflowers

2011-10-02T13:22:00.001-05:00

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”

~ Helen Keller

Red Rose

2011-09-18T13:39:00.001-05:00

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.
~ Abraham Lincoln

Morning Dew

2011-09-18T11:03:00.001-05:00

Beauty, sweet love, is like the morning dew, Whose short refresh upon tender green, Cheers for a time, but till the sun doth show And straight is gone, as it had never been.
~Samuel Daniel

baby pippa

2011-09-17T14:53:00.001-05:00

I HEART FACES CHALLENGE: from a distance

2011-06-06T12:25:00.001-05:00

Those are big Rocks! (Photo taken in Glacier National Park)

Having fun with My Camera: Water Drops

2011-05-30T09:26:00.001-05:00

                                                                                      Splosh!

                                                                  Caught this one in mid-air!

                                                            That one made a good splash!

                                                                 This is making me thirsty….

                                                              Gurgle, gurgle, plop…



                                                   Which color version is your favorite?

                                                               This one’s kind of cool!

                                                                         Red with Sparkle!

                                                          I like the colors in this one…

                              I really like the sparkle. I had way too much fun with this!

Miscellaneous

2011-05-24T12:44:00.001-05:00

A random selection of photos taken May 22nd

Foxes!

2011-05-24T12:29:00.001-05:00

We discovered that a fox and her four kits are occupying a den right behind our

heifer barn. One of them was fairly curious, he kept peeking out of his hole and

playing hide and seek with me. After a little patience I got close enough to take

some good pictures.The others were too shy to come out and play until after I left.

I Heart Faces: Yellow Challenge

2011-05-23T13:35:00.001-05:00

Check out the bright yellow boots! I’m jealous :)

I Heart Faces Challenge: Motherhood

2011-05-09T20:57:00.001-05:00

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge: Soft and Sweet

2011-05-01T11:10:00.001-05:00

Here’s my entry!

last year

2011-04-20T07:13:00.001-05:00

Favorites from March 2010!

These friends are still that goofy……

This kitten is still that cute, but a little more pudgy…..

Spring had pretty much already sprung…..

The little red truck is still a “Limited Edition”……

Neighbor boy came for a visit……

March Madness!

Pretty calves, always calves to be found…..

Spring Color!

Coming up Roses!

Still a pretty boy!

Fun at the Farm!

Silly Boys

2011-04-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

Baby Red’s Baby Red!

2011-04-16T18:23:00.001-05:00

My red show heifer, Saffron, just had a baby red bull calf today. His name is Surf…a hungry big little guy!

Catching up!

2011-04-03T13:37:00.001-05:00

It’s been a very long time since I’ve added anything new to this blog, so here it goes!

An attempt at HDR (high dynamic range) photography. This is three different exposures combined

Snowy Textured branches

2011-04-03T11:33:00.001-05:00

Snowy Textured branches, originally uploaded by Farmgirl18.

Looking back at winter and hoping it's over!

i heart faces challenge: innocent wonder

2011-01-24T20:55:00.001-06:00

Click on the icon to see more great photos!

snow, cold, and it’s not even “winter” yet!

2010-12-18T20:51:00.001-06:00

I Heart Faces Challenge: Pet Faces

2010-12-13T08:01:00.001-06:00

The challenge this week is “pet faces.” When I saw what the topic was I immediately though of this photo.

My horse Dundee can be hilarious!

Click here for more great pet faces!

horses

2010-12-10T08:47:00.001-06:00

I was having fun with my camera the other night (which is now quite a while ago)….here’s the results!

Dundee:

Deja vu!

Arching his neck and showing off!

Loving the backlight!

Jack:

What eyes!

In color and black and white…..which do you like better?

Dundee & Jack:

Best Buds!

sunrises

2010-12-08T19:19:00.001-06:00

Worth waking up early for!

i heart faces challenge: self portrait

2010-12-06T22:04:00.001-06:00

It’s been a while since I’ve done any i heart faces challenges. So here’s a self portrait!

Click on the icon to see other’s self portraits.

it’s been a while….fun at the Wisconsin state fair!

2010-09-04T18:42:00.001-05:00

It’s been a busy August with all the preparation for State and County Fair. That would explain why my last post was July 20th! It’s been a fun August as well though. So without further ado….here’s what I’ve been keeping busy with: Here I am getting my Holstein heifer, Olivia, ready to show. The Wisconsin State Fair has the distinction of being

the largest Junior Dairy show anywhere! A typical age class of Holsteins (lets say a summer yearlings, which is from June 1st

to August 31st) will be split into at least two groups further divided by age, and in just one of those two age groups there

can be 40(!) heifers!

Here we are ready to enter the ring! One thing I have never been able to understand is why they have dairy exhibitors

wear white pants when the show. They are extremely hard to keep clean, especially for someone as messy as me!

Olivia is quite the little “prima donna” and loves to show off. I think she knows her speckles are very eye-catching.

Here we are in the show ring. We placed in the red ribbon group. (There are four ribbons, blue, red, white, and pink,

and each in that order). I was pretty happy with that; though it’s always nice to get a Blue. The judge admired her

straight topline but said she needed to have more openness of rib and carry a little less condition to get into the blue group.

Here’s a view of people waiting to enter the show ring.

My brother Ethan showed a heifer named Alandra and they placed at the top of the white group.

My cousin Katie did exceptionally well showing her calf, Nyssa. They placed third in their class, earning a blue ribbon.

They did really well in Showmanship too, placing third out of eighty in her age division.

As always, State Fair was lots of fun!

i heart faces challenge: “over my Head”

2010-07-20T09:05:00.001-05:00

I tried being a little creative with the theme this week. What’s over my head is this shot? The camera!

Fireworks

2010-07-07T20:37:00.001-05:00

I had fun taking fireworks photos last weekend!

I heart faces challenge: teens only

2010-07-06T20:36:00.001-05:00

Here’s my photo for the teen’s only photo challenge at i heart faces. It’s of a teen and by a teen, me!

glacier!

2010-07-04T19:36:00.001-05:00

We’re back from our vacation in Montana and I haven’t updated this blog in a while, so here’s a photo from our trip!

It’s from the Iceberg Lake Trail, Many Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana.

…and here’s a panorama from the Iceberg Lake Trail!

i heart faces challenge: celebrating teens

2010-06-21T06:49:00.001-05:00

This weeks challenge features teens. Here’s a photo of my teenage friend and her horse.

kittens!

2010-06-19T08:36:00.001-05:00

Skittles, a cat at our farm, had kittens about three weeks ago. They are really cute right now. She had them in

an unused calf hut, taking advantage of the nice straw bedding. By the way, they are looking for a home!

This is Klondike. He’s a boy.

This is Tootsie. He’s a boy too.

Here’s another boy, Snickerdoodles.

Finally, the only girl is Carmel.

i heart faces: play

2010-06-08T17:31:00.001-05:00

Mom and Dad at play! They had fun imitating the “American Gothic” painting. My Dad loves making funny faces.

sadie

2010-05-20T07:20:00.001-05:00

A week ago we had a red heifer calf born on our farm, which is pretty rare for us. Out of 800 animals probably six of them are red.

Sadie parents, Destry and Sasha, are both red carriers, but are not red themselves. Since they both carry the red gene there was about a 25%

chance that their calf would be red, so that means there was about a 12% chance that we would get a red heifer calf. And we did!

Her name is Sadie and she is so cute. She has big long ears, and the brightest eyes with a lighter shade of red around them? Her white hair is

bright and provides a beautiful contrast to her auburn coat! Sadie is a really smart little calf too, she is a very good eater.

i heart faces: faces & flowers photo challenge

2010-05-17T18:00:00.001-05:00

My Mom and Dad are fun to photograph. They naturally bring out the smiles in each other!

Click on the button for more great face and flower photos!

awww-drey

2010-05-02T19:38:00.001-05:00

I was very excited to get five calves out of my cow Ara in the past week. They are the result embryo transfer.

I own Ara with my brother Ethan. We ended up with two bulls, Ace and Ariat, and three heifers, Audrey, Anna, and Alexis.

Audrey is my favorite. She’s such a cutie. I call her Awwwwwwww-drey.

i heart faces: “smiles” photo challenge

2010-04-26T06:49:00.001-05:00

Here’s my entry for the “smiles” photo challenge at i heart faces.

Click on the logo to see more great smiles!

having fun with horses

2010-04-24T21:36:00.001-05:00

I went over to visit my friend a few weeks ago and had fun photographing her and her horses!

on the blog again!

2010-04-23T19:24:00.001-05:00

After a bit of a hiatus when our computer was down I am back to blogging again.

I thought I’d post this picture of my favorite little spring flowers. Johnny Jump-Ups!

i heart faces: fix-it friday #49

2010-04-02T07:55:00.001-05:00

This week's photo comes from Jessie who blogs at The Lucas Zoo. This photo is of her adorable daughter, Violet.

I really liked the catch-lights in this cute little girl’s eyes.

The Original Photo. Fix #1 I cropped it to 8 x 10 and ran Pioneer Woman’s “Boost” action.

Fix #2 Here I ran Pioneer Woman’s BW Beauty. Fix #3 Here I ran Pioneer Woman’s “Seventies” action.

HAVING FUN WITH COWS AND CALVES!

2010-03-30T21:11:00.001-05:00

i heart faces week 13: dramatic b&W

2010-03-29T07:21:00.001-05:00

As always my little brother makes some great expressions for pictures!

Click on the logo below to see more great dramatics black and whites.

aurora

2010-03-27T19:23:00.001-05:00

A sad thing happened on Thursday. My cow, Aurora, died. She was due to calve the 9th of April, but something went wrong. she suffered a severe torsion (twisting of the uterus) and there were three different tears in her uterus. Her calf had died and had gotten so bloated that it burst through her unhealthy uterus wall. The vet did a C-section to remove the calf and sew up her uterus. He said she was a pretty tough cow to live as long as she did. The dead calf was essentially poisoning her. Part of it was protruding from her uterus and the fluid from the uterus had spilled into her body cavity. We did our very best to try and save her, but she died that night.

Aurora was a sweetie, very polite and friendly, and so well behaved. We even won showmanship at the county fair last year. She was my favorite heifer to show, she knew exactly how to hold her head up and responded to the littlest cues I gave her. I enjoyed showing her at county and State Fair last year and was hoping to show her again this year. She was also special because I owned her and she was my first bred and owned animal that I showed. I miss her, but losing cows is part of farming, just as losing loved ones is part of life. There is a time for everything.

I am looking forward to the birth of her siblings in April. Maybe one of them will look just like her!

fix-it friday #48

2010-03-26T07:12:00.001-05:00

This week's photo comes from Natalie P. This photo is of her adorable little gal, Abigail. I loved her eyes and the great composition of this photo!

The Original. My Fix. I adjusted levels, added a soft light layer, added a high pass layer to her eyes, and dodged a bit the lighten

the whites of her eyes. I also slightly brightened and increased contrast. Lastly I ever-so-slightly sharpened the photo.

My first time using Pioneer Woman’s actions! Here I used “Slight Sharp”, “Slight Light”, and “Soft Faded.”

new faces

2010-03-24T21:25:00.001-05:00

We just brought some calves home from another farm and had them isolated for while so we could vaccinate them. They’re cuties!

i heart faces week 12: “Focusing on Angles”

2010-03-22T07:57:00.001-05:00

My brother found a toad and we had lot’s of fun taking pictures!

Click on the logo to see more great “angles.”

muddy buddies

2010-03-19T08:08:00.001-05:00

Jack and Dundee really enjoy rolling in the mud….

…..and getting these tangled in their tails!

fix-it friday #47

2010-03-12T07:37:00.001-06:00

This week's photo, which was sent to us by Amy Pinney, is proof positive that many, many photos are fixable and we can save many precious moments even if they are taken in less-than-perfect circumstances.

Amy wrote: "The photo I'm submitting is one of my daughter watching her Grandpa play Pinball. It's very closely cropped to include just her face and arms propped on the machine, which you can only see enough of to know what it is. I'm very interested to see what the I Heart Faces team can do with it!"

Here’s the original photo on the left and my fix on the right. The first thing I did was adjust Levels, then I cloned out the dark arm? in the left corner and cropped the photo. I dodged a bit under the girl’s eyes and then I increased the saturation.

Springtime

2010-03-11T10:10:00.001-06:00

It’s Spring time on the farm and besides lot’s of babies and melting snow it means lots of mud. We had to chase the heifers into the barn this morning and with the rain we’ve gotten in the past few days it was really muddy. I mean so muddy that when you walk you almost get your boots sucked off! The heifers didn’t mind it at all, but us people who had to chase them in weren’t too happy. I’m just glad I didn’t fall down in it!

fix-it friday #46

2010-03-05T05:29:00.001-06:00

“This week's photo came from Sarah Halstead who blogs at Loving My Life. The little cutie-pie is her son, Dustyn. Sarah wrote that she was ‘having issues with overexposure in the top left corner and with blemishes on his face.’”

The original. Lightened the shadows in his face and added more color/contrast.

Used healing tool to remove blemishes and added vignette.

Converted to black and white. Selective color.

the girls

2010-03-03T20:04:00.001-06:00

Samara is a very hungry baby calf.

Kayla likes to much on her hay.

Fire is friendly and curious.

Flame, and her sister Felicity want to know what’s going on.

Bo takes after her mother in being very docile and good natured.

heifers

2010-03-03T07:40:00.001-06:00

The other night when I was watching the heifers for heats I brought my camera along to snap some pictures.

This barn holds about 120 breeding age heifers. They really enjoy their pasture access.

This poor girl’s too short to see over the crowd!

i heart faces: week 9 “Hilarious outtakes”

2010-03-01T22:18:00.001-06:00

My brother Ryan is always good for laughs!

Click on the link for more hilarious pictures!

Fix-It Friday #45

2010-02-26T21:54:00.001-06:00

I had lots of fun fixing this sunny picture of a cute little girl. Click on the logo below for more fixes.

Here’s the original picture.

“This week's photo comes from Caroline at Frogmum. She writes: ‘My daughter is standing in our front garden - I was laying down. It was a beautiful day, but her face was in full shade & looks a bit blurry. She looks too dull against the blue sky. I'd like to be able to pull the whole thing up and make her pop out without losing the beauty of that blue sky.’“

Here’s my first fix. The first thing I did was crop the picture to a 5 x 7 to get closer to the girl.

I selected just the girl and adjusted levels and dodged to lighten her face and make her stand out more.

Next added a soft light layer to add some “pop” and bumped up the saturation before sharpening.

I had to try a vignette. I like how it emphasizes the cute little girl even more.

Last of all I tried some fun texture.

snowgames!

2010-02-25T20:56:00.001-06:00

Last Monday night at AWANA, (our church kids program), the kids had lots of fun playing “Snow games.”

I had lot’s of fun photographing them! Here’s the “snowball” game. The object was to get as many snowballs, a.k.a. rolled up socks, across to the other team’s line.

See that moving blur on the bottom? That’s my little brother running for his life! Now that’s a snowball fight!

Mrs. Scharine gathered the kids together and showed them how to “build a snowman.”

They were very enthused!

Then the teams took pictures with their finished product.

Then the older kids went to their council time and the youngsters came out for games!

This young lady did a great job memorizing Bible verses and won an award!

Fix-it friday #44

2010-02-19T09:48:00.001-06:00

It’s Fix-It Friday again at i heart faces! Click on the logo to see more great fixes of this cute little girl’s photo.

The original photo Fix #1. (Cropped to 4 x 6,adjusted Levels, added Soft light layer,

added a vignette, and sharpened)

Fix #2. Converted to black and white. I don’t know why but I Fix #3. Now for a touch of selective color!

really like this photo in black and white!

Which is your favorite?

A new arrival!

2010-02-13T19:33:00.001-06:00

We have a new arrival at the farm! Her name is Cato and she’s from Minnesota.

She’s a very sweet heifer born in September, and she’s pretty too!

Fix-it friday #43

2010-02-12T09:46:00.001-06:00

It’s Fix-It Friday at i heart faces again! I just love this little girls eyes and cute expression.

The Original photo:

Here’s Fix #1. I burned out the distracting background, added some “pop” to her eyes, and used the dodge tool to

lighten the shadows on her face. I also tweaked the color so it was a bit warmer. Lastly I sharpened the photo.

Fix #2. I tried a crop. I wanted to bring more attention to the eyes.

Fix #3. Here’s how it looks in black and white.

Which Fix is your favorite?

magical morning

2010-02-11T12:19:00.001-06:00

It was such a pretty morning with the sun glinting off ice crystals on the trees.

I couldn’t help but pull out my camera!

Kisses

2010-02-09T07:18:00.001-06:00

The theme for the contest this week at i heart faces is “kisses.” Here’s my Entry:

My mom and dad will celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary this April. In this picture they’re sneaking a kiss at Hayman Falls.

Click on the logo to see more “kisses.”

Puddles & the rug

2010-02-07T12:55:00.001-06:00

Our kitten Puddles has been sick the past couple days. When she wasn’t feeling well she would just mope around. She’s feeling better now. Do you know how I can tell? She’s playing with the bathroom rug again!

sunrise at the farm

2010-02-02T08:10:00.001-06:00

Week 5 - My Story in Photos: "Places I Love"

2010-02-01T21:24:00.001-06:00

This week at i heart faces the theme is “Places I Love”. So without further ado…

The farm….I truly enjoy my time spent at the farm. There is always plenty of work and fun things to do.

And it’s where all my favorite Holsteins are!

In the morning too!

We go hiking at Devil’s Lake in Baraboo (Southern Wisconsin) almost every summer. I love it!

Hayman Falls is a gorgeous spot to visit in the Fall.(Sorry :) Play on words!)

The highlight of my Summer….The County Fair!

Click here to see other’s favorite places.

fix-it friday #42

2010-01-29T08:40:00.001-06:00

It’s another Fix-It Friday at I heart faces. I loved the picture they gave us to work with and had lots of fun applying textures.

Click on the logo to see all the great fixes!

The Original Photo

Fix #1

I cropped the photo, adjusted levels slightly, added a soft light layer, and sharpened with the unsharp mask.

Fix #2

Applied pareeerica’s *Starry Aqua Skies* texture to Fix #1.

Fix #3

I tried a different crop and used pareeerica’s *Milky Way* texture.

Fix #4

This is the same as Fix #4, except I added another texture by pareeerica,*White Xmas*.

Fix #5

In this fix I added pareeerica’s *Swirly Fabrix Pattern* texture.

Which fix is your favorite?

wishing for summer!

2010-01-27T14:30:00.001-06:00

It’s another cold winter day and I’m ready for summer! I guess the next best thing to the real thing is pictures.