James Brubaker

One advantage of using a phone camera is that I have it with me when  a moment in time flashes a thought through my brain.  Three moments in time flashed through my brain today and the phone camera was handy – I wanted to cage the sunlight 1. playing with golden beams  2. playing with shadows, and 3. highlighting the beauty of youth in the garden.

The reflecting lake of yesterday’s posting, but today the sun painted golden beams on the steam (fog) rising from the surface while still reflecting the tree line and the sky.

The sun is playing with shadows and highlights to frame the new rose.

The sun’s rays highlighting the brand new flower – somehow shadowing the two more mature flowers

I wish for the sun to shine on your days.

I love to hum songs in the morning as I work my chores.

First thing this morning – these deer made me think of a song. Why because the poor buck must now decide which is most important to him – The Doe or the garden – In another couple of weeks the question will not even pop into his head – He will know for sure – but now he just noticed that the doe does not have antlers – soon he will notice other differences – No decisions then – you just wait and see!!!

The song – Decisions, but I want it all so I get it all
I wanna eat the whole cake
I’m not sharing, I’m not sharing
You should have learned how to bake
Miley Cyrus

Getting ready for my one hour of horsemanship I was reminded of the song “Where have all the flowers gone” Perla and I know the answer to that question!!!

The clouds are more clearly reflected then the real ons in the sky – This morning as Perla and I went along this lake, the song of reflections popped into my mind:
Look at me
You may think you see
Who I really am
But, I am only the reflection
Christina Aguilera

I have no song about trimming your toe nails – but I found at least 50 references to how to trim your nails on the web – most started out this way “When it comes to toenail trimming, many people take a minimalist approach: a quick clip when they notice their toenails are snagging their socks” Then they had some things to sell you to do it right!
This is John – Every 6 weeks he does it right for Perla – and he has purchased many tools to do it right – Thanks John.

See the difference – Left foot done – Right foot about to be done!!!

What is that a shadow of – You know it is me taking the photo with my i-phone – but what are the tracks in the dew and what is the shadow to my right? Scroll to bottom to find the answer.

Our little corral area is also a full hook-up campground used by family. Jim and Sue saw scenes like this, in the evening, after they pulled their trailer unto the pad in early August.

By the way – Sometimes after I update our Photo Club site I have no time to update my own site here, so use the link on the left to see some fun photos and some great talent from the TGO (The Great Outdoors) Camera Club.

Sunset over the little bay below the corral.

After a full meal we relax.

The answer: The tracks in the dew are the ones I put there as I pushed the horse poop cart. The Cart is used to haul poop from the barn to the poop piles. The poop stays there for two years. The piles are turned often.  After that you have great garden compost! At the time of this photo, of course, I am on my way back to the barn – the cart is empty!

I been enjoying time with Perla this summer – This morning we had about 15 geese in the pasture – Geese can be real problems in a pasture – They can eat a lot of horse grass and they can deposit a carpet of poop that discourages horses from eating the waning supply of late summer grass.

So, I select one young goose of the 15 or so and just follow it on horse back, finally it flies off – all the others geese call to it – it circles back goes to land – Perla and I are there – off again we go – it flies off again – after several of these – it’s parents and siblings take off with it – to protect it I think – they found greener pastures I hope – anyway Perla and I learn a lot about “directive riding” as we do the “Goose Game”

Another thing we do is ground driving – just as if you were in a buggy driving a horses down the road in Lancaster, Pa.  but I am walking – seems only fair since Perla is walking. Anyway this is the view one gets from my position. I decided to look-up this view in the dictionary:

From Merriam Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary – a very stupid or foolish person. For example: “She angrily told him to stop acting like a horse’s ass.”

Hey – I think I will do more photo idioms over the next weeks???- In the meantime, why do you not check out the TGO PHOTO CLUB site with I also write – Just for fun http://photohappenings.com

As I drive to tend Perla, I have one radio station – NPR – they said look skyward tonight – I did – but first I went to the internet to get pictures of what to see  – I did – then I went out side and I saw it with my own eyes! WOW! I saw the battle between Mars and rival  Antares!!!

From the internet: On Wednesday evening (Aug. 24) as darkness falls, check out the south-southwest sky to see an eye-catching planetary/stellar lineup consisting of three radiant points of light: two bright planets and one of the brightest and most colorful stars in the sky.Tuesday (Aug. 23) a somewhat less straight — but still striking — line-up of the three will be visible.

The two planets — yellow-orange Mars and yellow-white Saturn — will appear to form a nearly perfect vertical line in the sky with the 15th brightest star, the reddish supergiant Antares.

Interestingly, the name Antares means “rival of Mars.” (“Anti” comes from the Greek word for “against,” and Ares was the ancient Greek god of war, whereas Mars was the Roman war god.) In fact, Mars will pass 1.8 degrees above Antares, and it will shine at a brilliant magnitude of minus 0.4; Antares, by comparison, will shine at magnitude 1.0 (lower magnitudes appear brighter), making Mars more than three times brighter than its rival.

Hope the sky clears that I may see it again – maybe you will too!  Maybe you will do a little fishing too.

In the evening before the stars. What is this fish eating?

I have been testing Gif file format: – You like it?

Yesterday’s post challenged Caroline to study clouds to find images of art – Just like her Grandfather – Yes, the man who folks say is often in a cloud!!!

She really made me proud that she took the challenge and made me laugh at the same time with this photo. She txted me that she would send more soon – I am looking forward to them!

Caroline wrote: “I see a crab eating pizza – how ’bout you?”

I showed it to friends – we studied it – we turned it sideways, then upside down – then back rightside up – and we all laughed together “WE SEE IT.”   Do you?

I was prompted to look up some famous quotes that I could use  just in case we did not see the art image Caroline saw:

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau (1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian.  His book Walden, is a reflection upon simple life.

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” Henri Matisse (1869-1954) by the 1920s was increasingly hailed as an upholder of the classical tradition in French painting.^[  His mastery of the expressive language of colour won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism.

Yesterday’s posting,  AUGUST 18, is below this line ———–

Sunsets are always scenes of beauty – My neighbor had his teen-age children and their frinds here on a weeks vacation (at least a dozen I think) – every evening on my un-used dock some sat – some in love I think , some photographers I think, some escaping the adults I think, some all three I think – at any rate it was the call of the sunset at this dock that drew them here I think.

I can never look at the clouds over the Bay that I do not see a “thing” – On this occasion I saw the happy Irish mouse-like Troll with long ears laying on his back singing out of a book??  Do you?

The following photo is as I took it – Do you see any cloud images in it ? I think I do.

A pony tail cloud image – Go out a see what you see in the sky! With a digital brush stroke or two – the image jumps out at you – or me I think!!!

“Stock Photo from Manufacturer – see hole on bottom”

Icelandic horses are survivors – and Perla has been a mother who also assured the survival of her colts –  I think she needed to make sure that she was well fed to assure enough milk for the colt.  She is the first to the feed source, attempts not to share, and leaves only when all food is gone or I saddle her up and ride down the hard surface road where very few weeds grow up thru the cracks – You got the idea, right! SHE LOVES TO EAT. and the Icelandic’s digestive system has evolved over the centuries to waste nothing – any intake of grass, weed, or woody bog plant, is converted to fat reserves – just incase an extra long winter hits Iceland! Or the Vikings need the grass sod to build houses or stole the limited pasture/tundra space to plant food for themselves!

Anyway, the veterinarian says she must loose 15/20% 150/200 pounds in 4 months – or laminitis  will cripple her!

Some more background:  Perla must also protect the herd – well, I think she must really protect her position in the herd – and that can not be done if she is not with the herd – so keeping her in the barn alone and controlling her intake of growing green stuff is not a good idea – Why? Do you know about extreme cribbing?  Extreme cribbing means Perla would chew on the walls of the stall in the barn – and kick them, push on them –  until either her teeth wore down to nubbins or the barn structure was compromised and the barn may fall down around her head. Neither is a good idea!

So a muzzle with a little hole in the bottom is the answer – she won’t starve but the muzzle controls volume – unless we (Perla) figures out how to remove said muzzle.

Survivors are smart horses – she prioritizes well – spend hours eating thru little hole – get energy – wait until humans go to bed – then go to furthest away fence post and rip the dam…. thing off – go eat lots, then stand by and wait for humans to wake up and find the muzzle that she has hidden near far away post. Ha, Ha, Ha!!! says she.

But I am smart too – I modify the muzzle design each time I find what I think is a weakness in it’s design – so you see I am in a battle of brain power with an equine – Who is the smartest ? not sure yet – the vet says after 3 days she will settle down and accept muzzle and forget that life was ever different for her – she will accept the muzzle as a part of her nose and just assume that is the way she was made. Well, since the muzzle is off all night I am guessing it will take at least 6 days? – I will keep you informed!

In the mean time – click over to the TGO Camera Club Home Page – See menu to the left – Members have been shipping me great stuff to post there!

Now I ain’t smart, that is a fact. So, I went to Google to find why the turtle crossed the road? Well, I did not find any help with that question –  but I did find what smart people had to say about chickens crossing the road – ‘spect it applies to turtles too.

Albert Einstein said “The chicken did not cross the road, the road passed beneath the chicken. — Isaac Newton said ” Chickens at rest tend to stay a rest while chickens in motion tend to cross roads.

Now the real question- Why do turtles cross the road?

I do stop and set them off the road on the side they were headed for- I hate to see squashed turtles.

’cause I think they are on their way to find love – so to Google I go again: Song – extended and my modified version

Titled:  “When I find my love”  – Lyrics: ~something like “I cannot find my love – trouble is a lonely road – I can not wait to find the one I want – so I set my way across the road heading for the pond………

Now go look for love in the bushes, the ponds, or where it is safe!

Here is the Saturday’s version of this blog – if you you did not see it, scroll down.

Just a sittin’ looking at my garden.

“I was looking back to see if you were looking back at me”, “I never stop losing my breath every time I see you looking back at me”, “Here’s looking at you” Think these were all some song writer’s way of writing a title and words of admiration and/or love.

But I applied these words to this garden snake who was just a looking’ at me – and me at him. Love to watch snakes! And it seems this one was interested in watching me.

We stared!

What makes a GREAT photo? – My idea is: “Unless a photo is offensive from a moral or social point of view it is a great photo if I enjoy seeing it”

I often look at my collection of photographs. Some days I like one, the next day another – it all depends on my mood that day, what I have been thinking about as I ride my horse down the country road, or what I saw at dusk from my canoe.  These things in my day sort of shape my mind for that day.  So, you see, I see things different each day.

On this relatively hot humid day here on Drummond (It is 70 degrees and sunny already at 10:00 am – after a day yesterday of rain). I looked into my camera memory and found photos I took in the rain yesterday. – My garden stood out!

My heart saw flowers this morning – Just wait until this pm and my heart will see something else – Look at your collection of photos and see what your heart sees – Maybe Grandkids, spouse, garden, good food, vacations, – What ever – I bet you have some GREAT Photos! Enjoy them:

Garden Corner

Rose Cluster

A Rose in the rain!