The past week was and likely the next will be consumed with taking care of my children as they trudge through their experience with H1N1. Son finally lost his fever on Friday; this afternoon daughter came downstairs and announced she didn’t feel well. Instant cringe – I’d thought we were doing so well. Son was ill from November 1st on – and nobody had been sick. Now he’s better and …. well, that’s what I get for thinking. So now daughter has a fever of 101.3 pre-Motrin. She is claiming the same symptoms son had when he started. Goody?

Before my house became a cootie nest, I was able to get out and do two photo shoots with two families of children. At the first shoot, unfortunately the light wasn’t as good as we’d hoped. We got some great photos, and some meh, they were okay photos – so we are going to re-shoot if I’m ever not taking care of sick kids. I’d like to have everyone completely healthy for a few weeks before taking pictures of people’s young children. Not cool to potentially expose others to this.

The second shoot went very close to perfect. The weather cooperated beautifully, there was plenty of light, no clouds and it was warm. The mom did her research and found an excellent location that fit into what she wanted for the back drop. It also didn’t hurt that the youngest was a serious ham and loved the camera and being the center of attention.

I’ll share photos from both shoots over a few entries, starting with this one. Between the two shoots, there were five kids, so I’ve got a lot of material to work with.

Somehow, my ‘I’m going to update my photography blog every Saturday’ mantra really slipped out of my ability at the end of August. There were many wonderful day trips, and an over night stay in Chicago, as well, that kept me away from this blog. Not away from my camera, of course, but now I have a happy back log of several hundred images. I’m trying to get better about my bad habit of quickly scanning a set, picking one or two I like, putting them up and … forgetting about the other 60 or 70 photos. There are some good ones in every set that I need to remember to look at.

The above photo was taken in Kenosha, Wisconsin on a day trip to Lake Michigan. I think if I could live on the edge of a lake or an ocean, I’d be a happy camper – but only if I never had to work again. Having to go to an office job every day with the water being footsteps away would drive me buggy. We also made a few stops along the way to Kenosha, at the Jelly Belly Warehouse in Pleasant Prairie as well as a few other places.

We had a meeting in Chicago early September, for an ongoing case. We went in the night before and stayed in a hotel – which had a sushi restaurant on the ground floor. Score! The next day, after the business aspect of the trip was handled, we spent the day walking around the city, enjoying the sites and the beautiful weather. We did the tourist thing and enjoyed ourselves. Surprisingly, I was sad to leave. I think I have a crush on Chicago.

There was a trip to Oregon, Illinois as well as Byron, Illinois. We enjoyed the weather and took lots of pictures.

There were a few special events where I displayed my photography. The market is winding down. I’m making a long running list of where photography fits into my life and where I’d like it to be. Making a game plan, of sorts. I love photography. I truly do. I especially love it when OTHER people love my work – and it’s not entirely about them purchasing it. I enjoy it when people tell me what they think of it – honestly. I love it when people tell me _why_ they like a particular image. Granted, I am not complaining about selling items – but that’s not why I do this. To be honest, sometimes I can’t explain why. It’s a strange affliction, I guess. Haha.

And now, fall is here. My favorite season. I could take pictures for hours, just in a patch of weeds. Pumpkins will be featuring as well.

I’m going to need a bigger external drive soon.

Happy Fall to you!

We’ve been working in the garden a lot lately. I pulled out the dead/dying pea plants and tugged out some other plants at the end of their life cycles. We’ll probably try to plant a new bed of lettuce before too much longer in the hopes that we’ll get another crop before fall.

Fall is approaching. Most of the time I would be so happy to see it come; fall is by far my favorite season. Pumpkins! Cooler weather, the smell of burning leaves. Fires in the fire pit while sitting on straw bales, apple orchards, baking … the holidays that come….

Somehow, this year, it’s bittersweet. While I still enjoy fall, I’m bummed to see our garden slowing down.

We do have a ton of plans to make next year’s even better, however.

What’s your favorite season?

This was taken August 9th.

This was taken about 20 minutes ago. Today is August 12th.

Two Purple Beauty bell peppers, two ears of “Early & Often” hybrid Sweet Corn, a few small onions, a handful of beans and about three cups of peas. Oh, and some tomatoes. The E&O corn will definitely be planted next year. We’re pretty happy with it. We only have two bean bushes because we aren’t big bean eaters. The tomatoes … well, they are possessed.

We’re more than pleased with how our little garden has grown thus far. This year (our first growing season in the house) is our first year for the garden – and our little experiment has been great, thus far. We have so many ideas of how we want to do things next year. In fact, it’s created a bit of a monster, to be honest.

We have a lot of ideas on how we can make next year’s garden bigger without physically expanding the beds and better. We have a better idea of how we are going to plant things (taking into account, for instance, the fact that the tomatoes are on steroids and should have had more space between them – but these aren’t acting like “normal” tomatoes). We know to cover the carrots & cucumber seedlings until they get at least three inches tall to discourage bunnies. We know that our side yard is a veritable wind tunnel and have plans to shore up the ends with selective plantings. We know not to plant super sunflowers at the east end of the bed because they grow amazingly tall and shade that entire bed. I also know not to expect that the cabbage seedling the boy brings home from school will die, and now realize that it’s not okay to put it just anywhere – because it isn’t dead. In fact, it’s somehow thriving … and it’s shading my carrots…. you know, the ones the bunnies didn’t help themselves to.

We have pumpkins taking over our front yard. Well, one pumpkin is taking over – the other two are behaving nicely (so far?). We didn’t plant them. They are volunteer plants. I couldn’t bring myself to tear them out (which also explains why we have a single midget corn plant struggling to exist in an itty bitty crack alongside our driveway). At any rate, this picture is already way outdated because this pumpkin is obviously SO much bigger than it was. I will take another one soon.

Life is amazing.

On our walk along the river this morning, I was surprised at the number of yellow flowers we encountered. Summer does bring out the yellows, also evident in some of the sun bleached vegetation. We got out early and beat the heat. The rest of our day will be spent doing errands, having meetings and making plans for various photo-things.

I am considering a regular give away tied to this blog but I am not entirely certain what would be the best way to go about it. I’ve mostly decided, however, that the best thing to do is jump in. I do know the winners will be picked at random from comments to that particular entry.

A (small) sampling of tulips.

Old Settler’s Days has come to a close for another year, ending a short while ago with a fireworks display. The kids and I found out we can see some of them over the tops of the trees from our front yard, and with a few steps to the right, can see all but a few in their entirety. Rather nice, that. All the magic of fireworks and none of the hassle of finding a parking spot or walking with a bunch of other people. The fireworks this year were very nice, and I daresay they went on longer than Beloit’s Fourth of July display.

Today, I had the pleasure of participating in the Winnebago Library Garden Walk, in Winnebago, Illinois. The town is not too far from my hometown. My good friend and I went and set up, myself inside the library and her outside on the lawn. Several additional vendors came and participated as well, selling items as varied as plants, vegetables and fishing lures. I had a pleasant time, met some great people, and left behind a limited showing of my work. I will pick up the prints on August 15th, but until then, they are hanging in one of the rooms for the community to enjoy (and take home with them, should they wish). It’s rather exciting to me, as this is really the first “public exhibit” of my work.

The flower pictures I’ve posted here are new, taken this weekend at my mom’s home. She has a large variety of flowers and plants in her yard, and watching things evolve over the days and weeks is a treat. It’s always difficult to know what to show on my blogs and my other online homes, and what to print for sale at my events. Tastes vary widely and much as I would like, I’m still unable to read minds. Drat!

I hope you had a great weekend. Tomorrow – another week begins, with new adventures.

When time is lacking, I dig through the previous shots (preferably ones that are already up on flickr so I don’t have to “do” much). One of the really nice things about photography (for me), is that I can look at a photo and know where it was taken. That’s such a big deal for me because I am horrible with names & faces. I’m not too great at remembering a lot of what happened in my life between the ages of 22 and 32. I forget “important” dates regularly, yet somehow always seem to hold onto ones that (at this point in life) serve no purpose, such as February 9th, 1993.

When I look at a photo, I remember where it was taken. I remember where I was, in stages and in location. I remember my emotions at that point in my life. My photography serves as a visual guidepost in my life; one that I love to click through (and nag everyone with “remember when?” questions). Amusingly, my kids typically remember where & when photos were taken as well.

in my mother’s living room.

in the bedroom of my old apartment.

in the yard of a friend I’m missing greatly.

at Lake Victoria, in South Beloit park (which has been closed too long).

pond stalking at a friend’s home.

Sunday is becoming my husband and I’s favorite time to drive unknown roads hunting for pictures. With a reliable car, we are much more adventurous than we had previously been. Day trips are beginning to formulate in our head as well as two-day trips and various overnights.

At the moment, though, I’m very pleased with the drives and the gems it produces. Old rustic country structures have a fond place in my heart. They make me think of my family’s farm in North Dakota. The urge to take pictures of every barn I see before they all vanish and become corrugated red metal prefabbed structures is so great, it’s suffocating sometimes.

There are so many things to catch, it’s surprising. I can drive the same road five times and see something different every time – or see the same thing from a different angle. There’s a lot to be said for old rotting barn wood and crumbling silos. One has to imagine what stories go with the structures. Who lived there, what they loved, lived, learned.

It sure keeps me going back.

On Friday, we made the trip to Madison, Wisconsin to tour the Henry Vilas Zoo. The Henry Vilas Zoo officially started in 1911, when the first animal exhibits were made. Admission to the zoo is free, which is a novelty in this day and age, where sometimes it seems like we pay admission for everything.

After we made it there, through multiple accidents and traffic backlogs – we had a very good time. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals, and mom enjoyed taking pictures of said animals.