Part III Fav Photos

We have snow. Lots of snow. Not as much as on the east coast, about 6+ inches with more on the way. It snowed lightly yesterday morning a really fine, soft snow that sparkled and glistened like the artificial snow that I sprinkle on my Christmas village that has an iridescent glow about it. The Garden Spot looks like it has been sprinkled with glitter.

I went out tonight to photograph my little LED garden lights. You can see the sparkle in the snow. It really is quite pretty. I needed to use the tripod to get better focused shots. More snow on the way, and it is supposed to get really cold.

With the Garden Spot sleeping soundly under a blanket of snow, it is fun to look back to the sunny warm days of summer.

Let's begin our journey down memory lane in the far northeastern corner of Colorado at Anderson Wheat Farms. While I had fun shooting the wheat harvest, I also took photos of the old buildings on the farm and the some of the old machinery. The farm does not have livestock, so the barn stands only as a reminder of previous owners.

Old trucks and tractors bring back all of those nostalgic memories of our grandparents  who farmed with what seems to be pretty primitive farm machinery. Today with trucks that sport Sirius radio and GPS and tractors with on-board computers that can calculate nearly every vital statistic the farmer needs to know about his crop, we wonder how the past generations eked out a living.

There is something so classic and nostalgic about old trucks. I have fond memories of an old red 1950 chevy truck that I learned to drive in. While this one is older, it does rekindle memories my grandpa's old truck.

I think our hen house is one of the my favorite places here. I like the Texas star with the Hobby Lobby flag that is fading and will need to have it's color refreshed.While the hens can't see the embellishment, nor do they care much about such stuff, I like it.

This is a fav photo with holly hocks and the old hand cultivator with Head Gardener's hat and gloves. I took a lot of photos that day of the cultivator and the hat and gloves. I don't know if I ever put any of them on the blog.

Holly hocks grow wild here. So much so that they have been reduced to weed or nuisance level. We dig them out by the shovel fuels, but I do keep a few around because I like them, but I do not want them taking over. My favorite time at the Garden Spot is as the sun sets behind the Rocky Mountains casting a warm glow and long shadows on the garden. During the heat of the summer, the day has cooled and we go out to pull weeds, water, or just  lean on the fence and give thanks for the wonderful life we have here at the Garden Spot.

This photo was actually taken very late in the summer when the holly hocks should have died back, which they did, and then they had a second coming.

Another wild child, the Sunflower always pleases. I have a moratorium on digging up sunflowers. We get quite a varied collection of volunteer sunflowers. We never know what we will get until they bloom. I did plant some Teddy Bears last summer that failed to germinate. 

I can see my little dwarf cherry tree out the bathroom window. I do have quite a struggle with the robins. Last year they beat me to the fruit. It does not produce many cherries and each spring I expect it not to make through another winter. The trunk is looks pretty weak. We plan to plant a medium sized cherry tree this spring.

Granddaughter Elinore is a most creative little girl. She really does over step her boundaries sometimes when she is in her creative mode, but I just have to love her creative notions and then remind her that she should not rob the hen house to practice her art, that eggs are not craft supplies. With all of the trees on the property, we have a lot of nests that fall from the branches during wind storms, which I like to gather up. I don't know why, other than that the nests are such marvels of architecture And the birds have only their little beaks to build a water tight nest. Amazing. So the naturally colored  chicken eggs, a bit of weedy flower, and an old nest made a lovely little gift for this grandma.

Mid summer the two older granddaughters spent the week here so that they could go tothe vacation Bible school that the two local churches held for children. The circus also came to town with lions, tigers, and dogs. I should have taken a better camera. It was a rather sorry circus, I have to say; however, the girls loved the tigers and the trapeze girl.

I'd have to look up this rose name. It is not the same rose that I featured a couple of weeks ago. This one has a very tight, lovely flower. I photographed it in the living room with the lace curtain behind it before I planted it. I am sure that she will be glorious this summer.

If I were to describe life here at the Garden Spot, I'd say that it is "Just Peachy." We are enjoying those wonderful fruits that I worked so hard to can last fall. Hopefully our own trees will produce this year. One produced a couple of teeny tiny peaches last year, but the rest fell off. I was feeling pretty inadequate when someone else complained that the same happened to their peaches. I felt better--a bit.

Life here at the Garden Spot is also berry good. Another hope: more strawberries. They have been slow to produce. The best have been the ones Jen dug up from her garden when they built the addition to their home. So sweet and juicy. The black berries were disappointing as they got a beetle infestation. The little boogers wedged themselves inside the fruit and ate away. I think they were Japanese beetles, one that we had not seen here before.

Look at the boys running, their manes and tails flowing in the wind. Pop had only been here a couple of weeks. Horse lover that I am, (if you follow me on Pinterest you will see my passion), I take hundreds of photos trying to get the perfect picture of Sundance that I can frame as wall art instead of buying horsey framed art.

Now this is a classic photo. While Kevin Costner danced with wolves, Cousin Carol (60 something and comrade in horse obsession since we were kids) runs with horses. I call this photo "She who Runs with Horses." Probably the best photo of the summer for a number of reason.

With a bit of cropping and some more editing, this photo has possibility, but I want one that shows his wild streak in his eye.

We fondly call her Icky Nicky. Or the Head Gardener does. I love the pink echinacea. The Garden Spot will never have enough of these sumptuously pink pleasers. A nice way to end my Fav Photos 2013 series. 

So there you have it, a bit of a review of last summer. 

By week's end, I hope to have a big surprise for you all. Stay tuned.

Well friends, the Super Bowl game did not go well from the Broncos! first play. if you were watching. We lost. 40 something to 8. True Bronco fans know that the team had a record setting year none the less,  and there is always next year. Thank you for indulging my spirit, although I was surprised that many of you were rooting for Denver too. I had fun with the posts. 

Now life can go on. We have exciting things to look forward to: The Winter Olympics, Tax Prep, and Garden Planning. 

It'll be Spring before we know it! 

Thank you for visiting and leaving wonderful comments. 

I love reading them and then dropping by to see you. 

Have a fabulous week.