In the Country OOOOPS!!

A quick update....after my snaffu yesterday I'm linking with Rural Thursday...today, a September Thursday.  I'm finally caught up!

I'm so darn delighted that I have zinnias blooming that I go out every day to see how they're coming along and how many I can pick.

Why not take a jaunt down country roads and see what other photographers are capturing...

I'm joining up with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday today!  Won't you join me in a merry romp through wonderful photography?  Just click below...

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Well I feel silly! Today is W E D N E S D A Y!!!  I missed Texture Tuesday by a day. Well I'm still gonna visit...still gonna play as if today was a day ago, but I might also pretend like today is tomorrow and join Rural Thursday.  

Texture Tuesday On a Spring Day

Hello my friends and welcome spring.  I'm a bit late in welcoming the gentlest season of the year, but better late than never as the saying goes. Last week was a stunner with temperatures in the 80s and glorious pink sunrises...

Yes, the sky was streaked with clouds as the sun cast a pink glow over my corner of the world.  I lived along this country road for over 20 years and passed this barn every time I headed west.  I don't know who lives there now, but I'm calling this the Boynton Barn in remembrance of the elderly couple that kept this farm in perfect order.  Here's another view of the sunrise.

 All of nature seemed to be on warp speed last week. Flowers bloomed, trees blossomed, and leaves burst green nearly overnight.

A pretty little farm cat that lives down the road sat in the evening sunshine peering at me while I photographed the magnolia tree in the yard, her spring green eyes echoing the color of the grass. 

And oh the magnolia....

stretching its twiggy arms to the sky praising spring and all the possibilities.

Per my usual Tuesday I'm linking up with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  This weeks theme is all about pink and at least one of Kim's textures.

The top photo, Boynton's Barn: A layer of Kim's texture shine, a texture from French Kiss, and some fiddling with levels.

The second photo of the sunrise is pretty much SOOC except for cropping,  minor levels and hue/saturation adjustments.

I'm quite sure the blossoming tree in the side yard is a dogwood.  The dogwood photo processing began with a new layer set to soft light, opacity 67%.  Next came levels and hue/saturation adjustments.  A layer of Kim's texture, be still with a layer mask to remove the texture from the blossom followed by a layer of another KK texture called embrace finished the photo. 

The next photo I call cat eyes was simply processed with a few adjustments of levels, contrast/brightness, hue/saturation and of course, cropping.

The final photo looking up at the blooming magnolia was processed to create a soft spring aura.
After desaturating the photo, I used a Coffee Shop action: soft and dreamy and added two layers of Kim's embrace texture at 66% opacity and 100% opacity.  One layer of distressed jewell's texture 3 was added at 42% opacity. Finally, the text was added and there you have it.

Please stop by

and be amazed at the beauty of talented photographers everywhere! 

Textured Barn on Tuesday

It's Texture Tuesday which gives me an excuse to use Kim Klassen's fabulous textures.  It was photographer's choice this week: Use Kim's wonderful texture, autumn burst, or show how the word "DO" inspired your photography creativity using at least one of Kim's textures that she offers to subscribers.  And by the way, did I mention, they're free?  

 A world lies within the walls of a barn. Neighborhoods of animals converse across rails while slits of sunlight cast a beam on yesterday's straw dust.  Mothers cry for the young, owls scream in the dark, and stamping, snorting and cud-chewing provide a background.  The laughter of long-gone children remains high above the floor bouncing from rafter to rafter. Oh yes, those four walls that make up a barn are a community, country, and world all its own.

I must admit...I did some heavy processing on this one.  It has two layers of Kim's autumn burst texture, one upside down.  I changed the colors by using a 60s app, fiddled with opacity and levels, softened it and turned the exposure up a bit.  In short, I highlighted, softened, faded, twisted, colored, and added to this photo of a simple barn on County Road G.

Check out how others used textures for their inspiring photography at...............

Country Traditions

A tumbling-down barn

These are the things of a rural life and Thanksgiving. 

Clyde lives on my sister and brother-in-law's farm. I'm sure he's thankful he's not a turkey!

One of my favorite dishes belonged to my grandmother, my mother, and who knows who else. It'a  rustic Bennington dish that always comes out in the fall. 

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving.  I cook like my mom did, everything from scratch.  I want turkey on my table with all the trimmings of potatoes mashed smoothed with velvety gravy cascading over the mound.  Unlike most of my family I prefer dressing to stuffing, but it must be fragrant with lots of sage and onion.  I want sweet potatoes laced with brown sugar and butter.  I don't care what's on top, pecans, marshmallows or nothing at all.  It's all good.  Homemade rolls heaped in a basket waiting to play host to a pat of golden butter, and pies...apple, pumpkin, and oh how I long for a pie filled with rich, homemade mincemeat. I'm the only person in my entire family that adores mincemeat pie, so it's just not worth making.  *sigh

I'm looking forward to entertaining family for Thanksgiving.  I have my To-Do List ready for today and tomorrow is grocery and baking day.  The scent of apple and pumpkin pies and my mom's cloverleaf rolls will mingle together in a spicy-yeasty fragrance. Then there's creating a Thanksgiving tablescape, getting out the dishes, platters, and bowls needed, and oh so much to do!   

Have a wonderful day!