Filberts

Another nut crop we grow locally is filberts. From the trees I've seen these are much smaller than the walnut trees.

English Walnuts

OK back to local crops. English walnuts are another crop we have locally. Some of the orchards are very old and the tree are huge and gorgeous. In my younger years I used to do the u-picks for the walnuts. Messy! The green hulls turn black before they release the nuts and the black comes off on everything.

A few years ago one of the growers cut an old orchard because he said the wood was worth more than the crops.

The Courtship

I'm doing two posts today because I fell asleep and didn't get one posted yesterday.

This story has to have multiple photos. My apologies to Salty and others with slow connections.

Today I was at the Wildlife Safari and this little black buck was really strutting his stuff trying to get the female to pay attention to him.


He flirted shamelessly...


...and even tried a few tricks... but to no avail.


Even the sika deer ignored him


and the little female walked off with the buck following after.


Eventually the female DID allowed the male to share her salt lick. Sometimes a guy just has to settle for what he can get.

Blueberries

I posted about the crops around Silverton awhile back, but have never showed you our local crops. One of my favorites are the local blueberries. I wish I had these in my back yard. Yum...

Lookingglass Rd

More of those wonderful round hay bales. The town you see in the distance is Roseburg, my home town. Lookingglass is a little community out of Roseburg and this scene was taken from the top of a hill headed out on Lookingglass Rd

Feeding Time

This is the before picture of my yesterday's post. I wondered how they moved those big bales and now know they use a tractor. The farmer was loading the bales into the cattle feeders. The cows were waiting patiently.

Dinner Time

I could never get tired of looking at cows. There is just somethinig so peaceful about them.

Artichoke

I discovered this lone artichoke in a flower bed at work. I don't know anything about them but I think you're supposed to pick them before they flower. I think seeing the flower is worth giving up eating the veggie though.

Awakening Squirrel

I caught this little guy just coming out of his hole.

Beautiful Illusion

(fine print) Now that I have fooled you all I have to admit I cheated here. I didn't tell you because I wanted to see if you could tell. This is my flower but not my butterfly. I added the butterfly later. It is a "tube" in Paint Shop Pro. Ben, you were closest to discovering the truth. The flowers were tiny and the butterfly should have been bigger to be more in proportion.

Canada Visitor

This Canada Goose has two fairly large babies following her around. I couldn't get them with both their heads up at the same time.

Just Playing Around

On The Road to Tyee

I really like the darker weeds mixed in with the dry grass here.



I'm changing the number of posts that show on the page from 10 to 3. Hopefully this will help speed it up. Let me know.

Sloooooooow

This is not my photo. I picked it up on Google Images. Just needed something to represent slowness :)


I didn't realize my blog took so long to load. I'm open to suggestions on what I can do to make it faster. Does multiple photos in one post slow it down? Or is it the country counter?

Salty, I can't imagine you being patient enough to wait 15 minutes for it to load! Does my Wildlife Safari blog take as long to download? It doesn't have the countries counter.

Do others have a slow download of the site too?

Thanks

Hey, It's Hay!

The haying is done in the Umpqua Valley. The hay from this field has been hauled off to the barn



Round hay bales still dot some fields



And some bales are protected from the rain in neatly sealed plastic cases.

What the best dressed cows are wearing this summer

Weird Stuff

Ever since I've been into photography I've tried and tried to catch a robin pulling a worm out of the ground. I have yet to be sucessful but I came somewhat close today. I caught the robin just after it had pulled the worm out of the ground.

But, alas, I didn't get a clear shot and no matter how hard I tried I couldnt make a decent photo out of it.

So, I figured if I can't make a decent photo I'll make a weird photo. I think this looks a bit sci-fi

Baby Rhea

I started posting to my Wildlife Safari Blog again this week. This is part of my post on that blog today. This little guy is so precious I had to bring him over here for you to see too. I've never seen a cuter baby :)

Editing.. sorta

I have been working on the photos of the wedding I shot a couple weeks ago and am almost finished.

I've been trying some new things but I don't know how well people will like my playing around. I need some opinions. Can you tell me which of these you like and/or don't like?

Thanks :)

Cow Bird

I think I have exhausted my supply of Silverton photos but its too hot to get out and take new shots.

This is a shot from my archives. I love the bright eyes.

Raspberries

These berry rows seemed to go on forever. My guess is that these are raspberries. I stopped at a roadside fruit stand and raspberries and strawberries were both available.

Bee Hives near Silverton

What better place to raise honey bees than near fields of flowers. I stopped by these hives, rolled down the window, snapped as fast as I could and rolled the window up quickly. Whew!

OK We're back in the Silverton area. There are 3 fields of flowers in this shot. I believe the flowers in the front field are snapdragons? I love the varied color.

I don't know what the white with the tire tracks in the far field is.

I had to work a little bit to get the background black on this one.

Rose in Rain

A change of pace.

I went to the coast today and the weather was wonderfully cool! It even sprinkled a bit :) I went to Shore Acres Botanical Gardens and the flowers were beautiful.

I'm not sure how this came out with a black background but I like it. It came this way from the camera.

Headed to the coast to cool off. If I don't get back tonight, this will serve as a place holder.

Happy Birthday America

Last Days

I've seen lots of old buildings in all stages of disrepair and decay, but this one wins the prize. The blackberry vines have taking over and may be all thats holding parts of the building up. The old homestead may no longer be of any value but my guess is that the family memories and stories that could be told here are worth so much more than gold.

Peace In The Valley

Same area sans flowers.

...as we walk in fields of gold...

They walked along listening to the singing of the brightly colored birds and looking at the lovely flowers which now became so thick that the ground was carpeted with them. There were big yellow and white and blue and purple blossoms, besides great clusters of poppies, which were so brilliant in color they almost dazzled Dorothy's eyes.

"Aren't they beautiful?" the girl asked, as she breathed in the spicy scent of the bright flowers.

"I suppose so," answered the Scarecrow. "When I have brains, I shall probably like them better."

"If I only had a heart, I should love them," added the Tin Woodman.

"I always did like flowers," said the Lion. "They seem so helpless and frail. But there are none in the forest so bright as these."

~The Wizard of Oz~

I'm Dreaming of a White......

...field of flowers...

It almost looks like a Christmas scene :) Beautiful white flowers with a few gold ones scattered around the field.