“Bright Rectangles” is the photo challenge theme for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge being guest hosted by Becky at The Life of B this week. Go to Becky’s blog post here and Cee’s post here for a little background and to see their photographs with bright rectangles.
Metal Plant Identification Tag on Rose Bush
I took these pictures Saturday, April 3rd, at Reiman Gardens on the Iowa State University campus. Plants aren’t particularly rectangular, but plant identification tags, stone steps, stone walls, railings, bricks, windows and their various shadows are!
When I started a list of possible subjects for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge I soon had a long list of words with “ch” or “ck” in them. I finally chose childhood as a common theme.
Childhood Rocking Chair
While extracting my childhood rocking chair from the piles of stuff in the basement, I had to move a box of children’s books my mom brought to me rather than throw away. There was also a bag of vinyl records my husband couldn’t bear to see discarded, including a few child friendly recordings.
Hickory Dickory Dock, Pinocchio, Tom Tucker & Dickie Bird, Donald Duck, Sherlock Hemlock, School
Three Charlie Brown stories by Charles Schulz!
Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz
The last two photos are from my archive. Taken at a special exhibit at Reiman Gardens a couple years ago, they are of larger than life-size childhood games.
My favorite of Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenges is the week we get to Pick a Topic from her photo. You can see it here. There are always so many possibilities!
Railroad Crossing, Elkhart, Iowa. March 21, 2021.
I went on a photo scavenger hunt for Railroad Crossing Arms. My first thought didn’t work: boring gray sky and too much traffic. So I decided to head north on a road running parallel to the railroad tracks. Found a RR Crossing in Elkhart where one of the taller structures in town – a water tower – and some spring trees could be captured in one photo. Even better, the sun finally came out!
Road to Alleman, Iowa. May 30, 2019
The picture of a road to Alleman with its grain elevators dates back a couple of years. I tried to duplicate it yesterday but the clouds in the original photo are ever so much better! Topics: road with yellow and white lines, tall structure, and blue sky with clouds.
The third photo is of the tallest building in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. And it’s one I’ve shared before – for a photo challenge with the theme “city.” Not only does it have a tall building, there is a traffic light too.
Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge the third Wednesday of February is to use her picture to pick a topic (or two or more!) for your pictures. Click here to see her picture; it shows yard/gardening tools as well as a portable outhouse on a trailer with trees in the background.
Abandoned Outhouse. Neumann Ranch Dump, Montana. August 2008.
In my search for a picture (just one!) with a garden tool, I discovered photos of an old outhouse that had been hauled to the ranch dump. Tipped on its side, it’s definitely no longer in use!
Besides just general messing around with a camera in hand that day, Dad intended to dig a few potatoes. So here’s a picture of a shovel in use.
Digging Potatoes. Garden at Neuman Ranch, Montana. August 2008.
Same ranch, same characters, same intent and maybe the same shovel four years later. This time with trees in the background.
Dad Digging Taters. Garden at Neuman Ranch, Montana. August 2012.
Switching things up, I remembered an outdoor cleanup day at a church that might show some tools. To my delight, I found a photo that shows a bit of fun while getting the work done with a rake.
Caleen with Rake. Muscatine, Iowa. November 2012.
Finally, for a little winter work, here’s a broom and a snow shovel being put to good use.
John and Don Clearing the Deck. Muscatine, Iowa. December 2007.
Stack of Round Hay Bales. Neumann Ranch, Montana. August 2012.
The scale of a stack of round bales is tough to fathom so I left the front of Weenie Truck – Dad’s name for his small pick-up – in the frame when cropping the first picture to share for Frank’s stack challenge.
Here’s a different angle – two bales high and who knows how many bales long.
One last picture, showing my nephew – then about six feet tall – checking out the stacked bales.
Blue Flower, Morton Arboretum, Illinois. June 2013.
Blue-Green was the February color for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge. I gathered the pictures and had them uploaded to share on a blogpost, but did not get around to finishing it. (Sigh.) Though more than a week behind, here it is.
Blue Hydrangea, Missouri Botanical Garden. June 2012.Remembering Baptism, St. John UCC, Melbourne, Iowa. January 2019.Panoramic Awareness Pavilion by artist Olafur Eliasson, Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Des Moines, Iowa. January 2021.National Balloon Classic, Indianola, Iowa. August 2013.
Thinking about the photo challenge “Assemble” and with every good intention (and we know about that) to join the challenge, I took pictures while I made Valentine’s Day cookies for my neighbors. It’s past the deadline, but I thought I could still share my pictures of making sour cream sugar cookies!
Find a Favorite from Assembled RecipesAssemble the IngredientsMix by Hand (see the heart?)Find the Heart Cookie CuttersRoll and Cut OutBakeAssemble Ingredients for the FrostingSimply FrostedPink Frosting and Red SprinklesYummmm
It was a cold and foggy morning in central Iowa. Since Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge today is Macro or Close-up, I put on my winter boots, warmest coat, hat and gloves before heading outside with the camera to attempt to digitally capture the frost.
Rime Ice on Needles.
These are my three favorite pictures of the morning (2/3/2021). And I didn’t even have to leave the yard!
Rime Ice on Leaf.
Hope the temperature is just right wherever you are! (Indoors, with a quilt and a hot chai latte.)
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2/3/2021: Just learned that the white stuff on the trees this morning was not frost. It was rime ice. There’s a difference that has to do with how it formed. Since it formed from freezing fog (think water droplets), it’s rime ice.
Window. Rocky Mountain College Campus, Billings, Montana. Photo: TLClark, 12/2020.
In her post for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge: Alphabet – Word that Ends in W, Cee included a photo of a window with a shadow that made me think of my first picture in response to the challenge. Being able to see things through the window as well as seeing the tree reflected in the window caught my attention.
Two pictures of snow, both taken while out walking.
Snow. Ankeny, Iowa. Photo: TLClark, 1/2021.
There’s plenty of snow to photograph in central Iowa if you don’t mind being out in the cold. We finally had a day with enough sunshine to create a shadow on the snow.
Shadow on Snow. Ankeny, Iowa. Photo: TLClark, 1/2021.
As much as I like snow – and I do as long as it doesn’t interfere with safe driving – it needs balanced with a little color. Here at home, I walk by this row quilt every day. Each row in the quilt was a free pattern from a different local quilt shop. The theme was “Home Sweet Home” and the way the designers at each store chose to interpret home still makes me smile!
“Love” by Robert Indiana, Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Des Moines, Iowa. Photo: TLClark, 1/8/2021.
I couldn’t resist sharing this picture of an iconic sculpture. It’s not the only LOVE sculpture done by Robert Indiana so I imagine it may not be the only featured in response to the All You Need Is Love! photo challenge by Dutch Goes the Photo!
