The Critters at Rick & Barb's

The first stop on our 2 week RV vacation was at Jeff's brother, Rick, and sister-in-law, Barb's place. They've added some new critters to their family! Sammy (aka Samson) did inadvertently pose for a nice portrait of himself for me. He's a very pretty horse, altho Barb says he needs to be worked with before he's really good to ride. A bit rough around the edges, I guess!

The two chickens, above, are two of the 5 (I think!) that they've got. They are laying chickens, so Rick & Barb will soon have to just walk a few feet to enjoy absolutely fresh eggs! The white chicken is called a Leghorn (yes, as in Foghorn Leghorn!), and the other is a Rhode Island Red. They really do love to pick at the corn on the cob after we humans are finished with it. And, when they are done, the horses (Rick & Barb have 2 others beside Sammy) finish off the cobs, so no waste!

This last photo is of Sammy just clowning around with me! He's a very friendly guy, and just kept getting right up to me so I could pet him and give him some attention, I guess. So, I just decided to take a close up shot of him!

Enjoy!

The "Kids" Next Door!

While I was wandering around taking sunset photos, I also visited with the "kids" next door, Patches and Jazz. The first photo (above) is of Patches as we played peek-a-boo between the bars of the corral. He loves the attention!

This shy little beauty is Jazz. She's been here for several months now, and this is the closest that she's allowed me to get to her in all that time. She is just such a little treasure !

And, finally, here's Patches again - what a character he is!! Just had to play the big brother, protecting little sister, Jazz. From what? My camera lens, I guess!! By the way, that's our house shown behind Jazz.

Enjoy!!

Another Fabulous Sky !!

What a show the sky put on yesterday evening! I love the above photo. I call it "Back Yard" because I took it from our back patio, but it's really Patches' (our neighbor's horse, also in the photo) back yard, as well. I think Patches help give one a sense of perspective and appreciate how "big" the sky is here!

The above photo reminds me that there is something much bigger than we are. Whatever you call it, God, Allah, Supreme Being, there's something out there bigger than all of us, and I like to think she's rather a cool being - after all, look at this sky!!

The cloud (above) was just highlighted in the coolest way, sort of like the creme filling in a blue Oreo cookie!

This photo was one I had to include in this collection because there are just so many layers that you can see - the mountain, darker blue clouds, lighter blue sky patch, pale grey clouds, the glowing clouds, the paler whitish clouds and finally, again, a sort of pale grey clouds in the farthest distance, and closest to the mountain in this photo. It is just amazing, and magical (I seem to use that word here a lot when describing the sky). How wonderful.

And, finally, this photo captures the evening sky finally coming in to claim this part of the sky. A peaceful conquest, that will be relinquished the following morning. True balance in life. Enjoy.

It's Winter in New Mexico!

Isn't this a lovely shot? I was lucky enough to see this view out of one of our kitchen windows and took it before the ice fog disappeared - 10 minutes after this shot, it was gone! Yes, that is snow on the ground. We're having winter here and on Thursday about 4" fell throughout the day. The roads were very icy, and I couldn't get into the office, so I just worked from home. They are predicting more snow for tomorrow, so who knows what that may mean in terms of getting into work then - we'll see!

I feel so lucky to be living here. What a great place to live and be a creative soul. And, it's ironic how colorful this desert landscape frequently is! The ground may be sandy or terra cotta, but the big sky is incredibly colorful. Patches, our next door neighbor's horse, seems to be enjoying the view, too, doesn't he?

Well, onto creative pusuits for today. I joined an internet group - www.atcsforall.com - that is specifically for trading ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), and I've signed up for 2 of the swaps (there are tons out there!) - I need to mail off the ATCs for the swap due in December, and start working on the January one. They both call for using photos, so from my perspective, it's the best of both worlds!

Take care - enjoy your day! Nadine