PHOTO CHALLENGE - BIRD

A new visitor arrived at our pond early this evening. I ran back to get my camera.

On closer inspection, I realized he was with a friend. They swam further away when they saw me.


I sat and watched awhile and was happy I did. . . 

because soon they took flight.


It's the little unexpected treasures that come upon us. . .  that make life so worth living.


                                   
Check out Photo Challenge- Bird at RAZMATAZ
                        happy day!

HUNTING AND FINDING

Joining in for Photo Challenge - Easter
with Chania at RAZMATAZ 


happy day! happy Easter!

HORSE BEHAVIOR

 They watched my every move. They knew what time it was and stood there. . .  waiting. But I had other plans for the moment.

I walked to the farthest paddock, stood by the fence, clucked my tongue and called "come here!"
They just stood looking and wondering why I wasn't feeding them now. After all, it was grain time and they knew it.


Did you know horses have incredible memories? 
Every time you interact with a horse it is a teaching moment, because they don't forget a thing. It's important to always make that last memory a positive one, or one in which the human is in charge. They are also creatures of habit expecting the same thing done at the same time. 


We both stood our ground. They weren't moving and neither was I.  We kept eye contact, but noone moved. Not until I turned my back and looked the other way.
Curiosity took over and and Lilly came running to me. It was no longer a battle of wills.

Oftentimes, when horses are unsure or confused, they will not move. But as soon as you turn your back and release eye contact, they become curious and move towards you, as long as they don't feel threatened.

Big as they are, horses are prey animals, and the least little thing can scare them and their means of protection are flight.  They would never deliberately hurt you, but being in the way of a 1200 lb equine who may run and buck out of fear, can seriously injure and even kill a person.


No matter how well a horse is trained, and how experienced a horse person is, a horse is still a horse with horse instincts. Awareness and caution keeps people and horses safe.


As soon as Lilly came running, Leah followed. Horses are herd animals and when one moves to a different area, the others will follow.

Even though it was grain time, curiosity got the better of them, and they trust me. 

They stood and posed for some pictures. Thank you my sweet beauties! Now I need to go feed grain.
                                   happy day!

Linking to:
 Photo Challenge - Outdoors at RAZMATAZ. 
 Farm Friday at Wabi-Sabi Wanderings
 Farm Friend and Farmgirl Friday  

PHOTO CHALLENGE - DOOR

 The door inside the great room looking into the front hallway.
See other photos at RAZMATAZ
                               
happy day!

PHOTO CHALLENGE - PETS

This is Romeo. He is almost a year old.


He spends time looking out the window at the birds and squirrels . . . 

and daydreams about what it would be like to actually catch one.

He seeks out the best places to sleep. . .
                     choosing the sunshine . . .

or places that are cozy.

He even taught Juliet about sleeping in bowls.

Sometimes he forgets he has grown and falls asleep anyway.

He's not always perfect, but then again, who is?

And I don't have actual proof he was playing the x-box, but you never know.

He's a lovable cat. He sleeps most of the day, and romps through the house with Juliet, all night long.


 Sometimes he is awake in the day, especially if the house is full of children, but he chooses an out of reach spot to watch. Smart, smart kitty.

                                      

Check out others at the Photo Challenge 

at Chiana's blog,RAMATAZ

happy day!

FRIDAY PHOTO CHALLENGE - WHITE

WHITE??
I didn't think I had anything. Then I started to look around.

                     white stones

                  white feathers

                         white eggs

                  white sand dollars

white mane

and white pooch on white mattress with white sheets and white comforter.

(This picture was taken another time but I just couldn't resist including it!)


All the photos were taken inside under incandescent light, except for the pooch. That was natural light. . .what a difference. I should have waited until morning . . .sigh.

See more WHITE photos at this week's Photo Challenge hosted by Chania at RAZMATAZ


                                         happy day!

PHOTO CHALLENGE - PERFUME

It was empty, but I liked the color and knew exactly where I would photograph it,

in the barn on the hay. 

I guess I am *farmer* through and through :)

See more photos 

at the Friday Photo Challenge,

hosted by Chiana at RAMATAZ,

happy day! 

PHOTO CHALLENGE - JEWELRY

This week's photo challenge is JEWELRY. 


I love my necklace made by ceramist, Brenna McBroom of Asheville, North Carolina.  It measures about two inches in diameter and hangs on a twelve inch rawhide cording.

Brenna does beautiful work. You can see her website here and her Etsy shop here.

See more photos at the Friday Photo Challenge, hosted by Chania at RAZMATAZ


                                 happy day!

FESTIVE- PHOTO CHALLENGE

Festive is the feeling we get when we collect greenery for the house
                  inside 

     
 and outside

or when we unwrap, one by one, our Twelve Days of Christmas. . . 

to add to our window frame

or the fabric we gather to make into gift sacks

or the wall hangings we hang.

We have only just begun to decorate and we look forward to the season.


Chania at RAZMATAZ hosts the photo challenge. Check it out to see more festivities.


  happy day!

LA VIGNETTE - PHOTO CHALLENGE

Today's photo challenge was to first show a vignette and then show the whole area . 


We tend to show the best and crop out the rest. I know I do!  We have too many things going on at one time (and animals in the house!) to have constant order. Plus it's not within us, it's not our priority, that sense of organization and order.


This is a grouping atop our piano. The plants and pine cones were gathered from our land and a card is one my sister made using her photography.


Now. . .here is a bigger picture of the same area, when Romeo our yellow kitten jumped up at the last minute. Do you see him? Meanwhile, Juliet had been there all the time and was cropped out.

and an even bigger picture

You can see the light green bookcase and folding chair I moved in there for art supplies and games on Thanksgiving day.. That was a week ago, perhaps I'll move them one of these days.


Chania at RAZMATAZ hosts the photo challenge. Head on over to see other vignettes.




happy day!