It's all about the lighting, (Lots of sunshine) and an award for me

One of the secrets of good photography is lighting. It really is all about the lighting. Just look at the pink from the sunset on the side of the house. Beauty! I got this one on the way back from our walk the other evening.
This lovely old tree stands at the end of our driveway. The lighting almost makes it look spooky. It really isn't spooky at all. We call it "The Guardian".
The barn looks one way in the evening light, you can feel it is the end of a long old day. I don't think it looks tired, just relaxed. It looks different in the early morning, like it is just waking up. I feel like having a big stretch when I look at this one. I love the way the sunlight sparkles from the dew on the magnolia leaves.
The view from our front porch, with the railings back where they belong. Isn't it a lovely sunset?
Here is the same sunset from the road a few minutes earlier. How about this one for awesome? Love it!
Bright sunshine filtering through the trees in the early evening, this was taken earlier on the same evening walk.
You know I love classic cars! This is SUNSHINE! (I wonder what people think when they see the crazy lady pull over to take pictures of their cars).

What says sunshine more than a tree full of birds?

Now for the award.

Thanks to Jeanne Klaver from Daily Reflections from Atwater Pond who was kind enough to offer me this award. Apparently she enjoys looking at it (that makes me happy).
The instructions are as follows;

1. Thank the person giving the award.

2. Copy the award to this blog.

3. Place a link to their blog (so far so good, all easy stuff).

4. Name seven things people don't know about you (that is a little harder).
5. Nominate seven bloggers who you admire (this is the hardest part, I love reading your blogs).

6. Place a link to these bloggers.

7. Leave a comment on their blog notifying them of the award.

So, here goes

1. Earl Grey, hot with milk is my favorite tea but any British tea will do just fine. I am enjoying a cup of "P.G. Tips" right now.

2. My favorite incense is Egyptian Rose, I also like sandalwood and several others. Incense is much nicer than nasty chemicals from an aerosol can.

3. I do not like butterscotch and am not fond of black licorice.

4. I like to do calligraphy and illuminated letters.
5. I am just a little nuts about heraldry, (the whole "Knights in Shinning Armor" thing).
6. I have lived in Utah, Illinois, Idaho, Great Britain, New Mexico, and South Carolina (as well as two long months in Texas and a total of about three months in Italy).
7. I grew up in a big happy family. I was the youngest so my older brothers and sisters had quite a bit to do with raising me (they will tell you, I have always been spoiled, but that is OK, I deserve it).

As for the seven bloggers I admire,

1. Life Through Reflections...

2. Richard Jesse Watson: My Inner Zoo

3. We Three, Ginger cats tales

4. Drawing a line in time
5. Cottage Garden Studios

6. WaystationOne

7. Corner of Cat's Mind
I know I have nominated number three before, but it is such a great blog! There are several others that I read and enjoy regularly. What is your favorite?

Ok, one more picture of sunshine. Spontaneous says hello (she is even cute when she is grumpy).

Kat

An Award for me!

As I mentioned in my last post, Jo at http://jo-thegoodlife.blogspot.com/

has passed the "you are a great read award" to me. First let me say that this is one of the nicest possible compliments. My writing is very important to me and knowing that someone enjoys it that much makes me very happy. Thank you Jo. For everyone else, if you enjoy reading my blog, I would recommend you click on the link and check out Jo's.

As part of the award, I am supposed to write ten things about myself so here goes.

1. I was born and grew up in the Rocky Mountains. I was lucky enough to grow up on the outskirts of Ogden Utah. When I was 11 we moved to a house with 3/4 of an acre. That in itself does not seem like much, but at the back it joined onto a huge meadow, an Apple orchard and hills that were too steep to build on. There were two irrigation ditches, even the small one was big enough to ride an inner tube down (and we did). I had free range to roam and play and imagine. I spent many happy hours sitting on the bank reading "Nancy Drew" books.

2. I like gardens. Flower gardens and vegetable gardens. My Dad put in a vegetable garden big enough to feed us quite well. This was in the early 70's and he was interested in organic gardening. We composted and recycled before it was popular. Their were mature grape vines on the property also. Dad made some very good wine. As an adult, my sweet Hubby and I put in a formal garden for our house in New Mexico. We coaxed and cajoled amazing things from it, it looked like a little bit of England. Then the Air Force shipped us elsewhere. (Maybe I should do a post on that garden, it was amazing).

3. I love to read and have wanted to write since I was eight years old. I am still a bookworm. Our lovely home has a library full of books. We also have a bookcase in the downstairs hall, another in the upstairs hall and even one in the bedroom. I need to get yet another to make room for more nursing books.

4. My Father died when I was 13. The following summer my Mom sent me to stay with my Aunt Pat while school was out. Aunt Pat lived in Vernal Utah. Vernal is a SMALL town. It's main attractions all involve dinosaurs. It is near Dinosaur National Monument. I learned to love Dinosaurs and archeology. I learned to appreciate my heritage (I am, what my Mom used to call "Heinz 57" or as she also put it "a mutt". I am; English, Irish, Scottish, and Native American from two or three different tribes). The most important thing that I learned from Aunt Pat, was to have faith in my own artistic abilities.

5. My first job away from the family business was as a Phone solicitor. (cringe) No, I didn't do it for long, but hey a girl has to do something, right? I have also; sold Avon products door to door, worked answering calls to an 800 number, waited tables both fast food and formal dining, and I have even been a metal fabricator. At 20 I decided I needed some stability and training so I joined the Air Force. I thought about it as a teen and it was always in the back of my mind. In Jan 1984, I finally did it. Twenty-one years and a few months later, I retired as a Master Seargent.

6. I have two associates degrees. The first is for Aviation Technology. The second is in Nursing. I am working towards my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. I love being a Registered Nurse and only wish I would have started sooner.

7. You may have noticed I like to take photos. I carry my camera everywhere I go except work.

8. I have traveled quite a bit and plan on doing a lot more. The most exotic place I have been is Morocco. The most romantic is Venice. The list of places I have not been yet is much longer than the list of places I have seen. Good thing my Sweet Hubby likes to travel as much as I do.

9. I am spoiled rotten! My sweet Hubby and I have been married for 25 years (26 this December). He takes very good care of me. He is my love, my friend, my life.

10. I like computers and am pretty good with them most of the time. I took my first computer class in 1985. We did not use windows or word (word was introduced in 1983, but I did not hear of it or learn to use it for several years). I believe the Internet existed, but was not in use by the general population. It was not even mentioned in the class.

I have a young friend who occasional works with me on computer issues. She says we combine my "old school" with her "new school". I love it when "old school" figures something out that she has been stumped by. My two favorite programs on this computer are Photoshop Elements and mahjong.

That was harder than I thought it would be. Now the fun part, I get to pass the award to some of my favorite reads. There are several that I read and enjoy regularly but my favorites are (drum roll) The ginger cats at http://wethreecats.blogspot.com/ , Linda at http://mouseski.blogspot.com/ (which has nothing to do with cats) and The Wumpus at http://2.thewumpus.com/ (yes cats).

Joining in is entirely voluntary, either way, I want these three to know how much I enjoy reading their blogs. (I already told you I like cats). Hmm, maybe I should create an award for my favorite photo blogs. What do you think? Can I just do that?

Thanks again Jo!

Kat