Thursday, September 5, 2013

Crawford County Nature Preserve

On my days off, instead of going into St. Louis for the zoo or arboretum, we decided to explore some of the Parks around here. This one is fairly new and certainly new to us. It is a nice place to visit and will be even better as time goes on. It is still a work in progress.
It has a very nice shelter, perfect for family events.
And a walking trail.
We passed several people fishing in the lake.
It also has a fountain. I took tons of pictures, but liked this one framed by the trees and...
 ...the one below. Hubby took several pictures, too.
 We didn't see a lot of flowers, but there were a few. There were several varieties of wildflowers along the path, but the sun was too bright where they were growing.
 Along with some lichen.
 Does anyone know what kind of tree grows these?
Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Photoshop Fun, a Cat, and a Barn

While my rambunctious pup is napping, thought I would take the time to post. Fergus is doing fine. We are working on house training. Not an easy task. Must watch very fast dog run around and try to get into trouble at all times in case he darts behind something to do his business. He has figured out he gets a treat if he cooperates outside. Now if I can only get him to ask when he needs to go outside. I taught Willie to bark at the back door. I read about someone else tying a bell on the door knob. Any suggestions?

Hubby and Bro O were getting in a little target practice the other evening. I was bored when I thought about the picture below. I took this picture a while back and really like the little girl with the umbrella, but it has too much background clutter. I had been reading my Phtoshop for Dummies book, learning how to put a specific object into another background, so decided to take a landscape shot to give it a try. Since she was standing under a tree with dappled sunlight on the umbrella, I walked to the dam side of Bro O's pond and along the woods, taking several shots. 
This is the original picture.
This is Umbrella Girl transplanted onto the dam.
This one in front of the woods. I think it turned out the best. Now for the fun. I didn't tell Bro O about this project. I emailed the Dam shot to him and told him I took this picture near the pond when they were shooting guns, and low and behold an odd little girl showed up in the shot. I asked if he knew who she was. I got an email back stating they had no idea. Sis-n-law said looking at the pic gave her goosebumps, but they decided it must be one of the neighbor girls playing dress up, adding that she sure was wearing strange clothes. I emailed back with an explanation. It isn't perfect, but it was good enough for a prank. 
 A leftover from a photo club assignment, put a book in it. Liked the cat in a basket.
Lastly here is the barn. These folks sure to like red. I wish I would have had time to take a picture of the house, which was across the road from the barn. It had the same red metal roof. However, Hubby was driving and refused to stop. Just because there was a car behind him...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful labor day weekend.
Linking to Barn Charm

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Fergus

Meet Fergus. 10 week old Border Collie. Full of vim and vinegar. Will keep me hopping for sure.
I'm in love! lol
Happy Sunday!
Linking to Camera Critter Sunday