Katie and I are still in Florida. Lots of pretty things here.
Tag Archives: Photography
Ocean spray is good for my furs
A beautiful spring day at the beach.
Katie here, continuing as your tour guide. Today I take you to see the Atlantic Ocean in northern Florida. Though to be honest most of what you’ll see is me. But that’s why you come to visit my, ahem, mama’s blog. Right?
I thought so.
Showing off my true form, and proving I’m not fat! It’s just fur people!
This will have to be short as I had a very long day yesterday driving in the car for miles and miles and hours and hours and then today I got to walk on the beach forever. So I’m behind in my sleep quotient and I need to get to bed.
I’m visiting my intended Mr. Reilly Cowspotdog in Florida for a couple of days. He didn’t feel up to frolicking on the beach so I sacrificed and went to inspect one of his beaches for him. I always do my duty, yes I do.
Everything’s OK under these rocks, Reilly!
It was a little bit warm, at 63 degrees, but very windy which kept my furs fluffy and cool. There was hardly anyone else on the beach.
Nose into the wind and on a mission.
That meant that mama could let me run free most of the time, though she had to hook me back up to my leash when joggers went by because I like to tell them off and mama says that’s rude. Whatever. It’s Reilly’s beach and I’m just making sure everyone knows that we shelties rule!
I got the zoomies for a little bit, I was so happy!
Mama took a few pictures of things that were not me, but not very many. Mostly I kept her entertained by all the fun I was having. She likes watching me enjoy new things. I guess that’s why she takes me with her on so many of her adventures.
Artsy pelicans.
My only complaint about this adventure was the first wave. The tide was coming in and I forgot how wet the ocean was and I was standing there and a wave came up and went right over my feet! I jumped and mama laughed and I twirled around trying to get it off me and then it left. I was mortified and never let it happen again! Mama didn’t get a good picture, but this is sort of how I looked.
Wet feet! Wet feet! Wet feet! Get it off of me mama!
Oh, and another embarrassing thing was that mama kept trying to get a picture of my behind with the wind blowing all the fur forward. She says it was cute. I made sure she didn’t get a decent shot. Then just as we were leaving she said she got me AND the danger flag.
Drats. Never let your guard down with a mama and her camera.
Anyway, I’m outta here, I have things to do and people to sniff.
Talk to you guys later. Don’t look at my behind.
Signing off for now, Katie, beachcomber extraordinaire.
Mama! Don’t you embarrass me!
How I spent my Gotcha Day
This looks like a magical place!
Katie here! Did you know that March 31 is my Gotcha Day? That’s the anniversary of the day I came home to live with my mama and daddy. Well, this year I am down in the South with my mama and you know what? She forgot my anniversary! She didn’t remember until we got home a whole day late!
But I forgive her because on the actual day we were so busy that even I forgot to ask for an anniversary treat! (Plus I got lots of treats because we were out adventuring all day long!)
Lots of big faces everywhere.
Saturday morning, my Gotcha Day, my Uncle and my Aunt and mama and I went to a very interesting art compound about an hour south of Columbus Georgia. It’s called Pasaquan, and it was built by a hippie kinda guy back in the 70s. (Mama says don’t say back in the 70s cause according to her that was just a couple years ago. Whatever mama.) You can hear him talk about it if you go to the link above. You can also google it and find out more. It’s been restored and is supported by Columbus State University and the Kohler Foundation.
The hippie dude, whose name was Eddie Owens Martin, called himself St. Om, and spelled it St. EOM.
Signed and dated.
It was a warm day but Mama and my Aunt and Uncle made sure I had water and got to sit in the shade a bunch. Still, being the model that I am, I had to pose in front of some stuff.
Lots of pretty color here!
I tell you, the colors here were so bright that sometimes I had to squint my eyes! Oh wait. That was the sun. Well anyway. We walked around all over but my favorite spot was this circle of sand. Whenever we were near there, while mama was busy taking pictures of stuff not me, I would run over there and stand in the sand. I wonder if she got my message that I wanted to go to the beach?
It’s cooler at the beach mama!
Mama would look around when she got done with her silly camera and say, “where’s Katie?” HA! Sometimes I was standing right behind her. And sometimes I was at my beach! After awhile she just never let go of the leash. Darn.
Just one of many crazy and beautiful walls.
There was a cool house there, with these funny steps up to it. I ran right up the steps because they were nice and wide…
Come on up!
…even though I knew that I’d have to pose on them for mama. I’ve got this gig figured out. Pose for a picture, get a treat. Sometimes mama would say “OK sweetie, this is the last one.” But I knew she was lying. It’s never the last picture!
We stayed a long time. They even packed a picnic lunch and ate it under some trees. Mama couldn’t stop taking pictures, and a lot of them weren’t all about me!
I think that guy was watching me.
There were plenty of places where I could rest in the shade while my peeps explored. We had the whole thing to ourselves except for a little bit where one other guy was there taking pictures. Mama says she’ll have to bring daddy here some day.
This guys’s watching me too mama!
I think the man that created this had a different sort of mind than me. For example, just about the only animals in any of this work were snakes. No dogs. I don’t know what he was thinking. Though he did have two big shepherds that kept him company out here in the country.
Layers of walls filled the space.
There was so many colors and shapes it was almost overwhelming. It’s definitely a place you should visit if you’re ever in that part of Georgia.
All sorts of color everywhere.
Full disclosure though, there are some art pieces depicting naked men and women. So maybe don’t bring your kids or your mother. Shelties are OK though.
Call ahead for the hours. We hear they change by the season.
Mama says there is so much more to show you but maybe she’ll put together a slide show later. She says I have to get off the computer now and go outside to play. She says too much screen time isn’t good for me.
Geeze. I didn’t even get to tell you where we went next on my Gotcha Day! I guess I’ll have to wait till she falls asleep and do another post. Shouldn’t be long, she’s old and falls asleep all the time.
Over and out, your art critic gal Katie.
She told me this was the ‘last’ picture. I doubted it. I was right.
Stormy weather
Yesterday the evening weather guy mentioned a large storm front through the middle of the state. I glanced up to see his weather map featuring a bright red and yellow streak bisecting Alabama. And moving rapidly toward me.
I got up to look outside.
Oh my. Grabbing the camera I ran downstairs and out to the dock.
Spellbinding
What an amazing cloud, with even darker skies to the north. I felt the wind coming down the lake, the waves changed direction and the chop crashed into the side of boats and rocked against the shore. Not so far out there I could smell the rain. I managed to get a few shots as the cloud moved rapidly from north to south, and then I ran as fast as I could back up the hill and into the house.
The rain slashed across the windows as I climbed the stairs to a freaked out Katie-girl. We watched the storm together for a bit and then just as fast as it arrived it was over. Whoa, I said to the dog pressed tight to my side. What the heck was that?! Don’t know, mama, she said, but let’s not do that again any time soon.
OK sweetie. That’s a deal.
WordPress photo challenge: Sunset
When I saw this week’s prompt I knew immediately the sunset I wanted to show you.
Fire to the south of me.
I was in northern Michigan in December of 2015 when one evening the sky just exploded. To the south it was burning in orange and reds, and to the north the sky was sighing in shades of pink and purple.
Cotton candy to the north of me.
The air was pinkish gold. I couldn’t shoot fast enough, and I never felt the cold.
The waves were tipped in light.
Though I usually limit myself to one photo for a photo challenge, this time I just couldn’t decide. So since the sunset itself was divided between fire and sweet I decided to go with full disclosure.
The islands out at the horizon were crowned by gold and purple.
Picture me turning from south to north and back again, trying not to miss any detail.
It just kept getting better.
It was amazing and I’m so glad to be able to relive it through these shots.
What a place to sit and enjoy the show!
And, as always, I’m glad to share them with you.
A firestorm in the sky.
Barn hunting
I’ve been watching this barn as I come and go. Today there were horses so I had to stop.
Katie and I like to go exploring, mostly looking for good places to take a walk, but sometimes just to see what’s there. And along the way there have been a few barns.
You know me and barns.
I’ve driven by some of them because there was nowhere safe to park. That always breaks my heart. I imagine pulling in a driveway and asking whoever was there if it is OK to take a picture of their barn. “Why?” I imagine them asking me and I realize I have no real reason to need an image of their barn. I just want it. So I don’t stop unless I can do it anonymously and from a safe distance.
I could spend all day wandering country roads looking for barns.
This red barn was sitting right in front of me while I was stopped in construction traffic last week.
Can’t resist a red barn.
I shot it through my dirty windshield, just as traffic was beginning to move. At the time I thought maybe I’d drive back out that way to see if there was somewhere to park so that I could take a more studied shot. But tonight I decided that the through the windshield image wasn’t that bad.
And you’ve seen this last one before. A couple weeks ago I saw it, and turned around, parked on a side road and walked a country block to shoot it. Along the way a huge dog in someone’s back yard snarled and barked and I realized that probably walking along any country road was a stupid idea. Because down here hardly any dog is contained, and I was lucky this one couldn’t get over the fence.
Still…it’s a beautiful barn.
A hidden gem.
Took time to notice
Ann, over at her blog The Year(s) of Living Non-Judmentally, posted recently about noticing the things around us. I used to do that, notice little things, when I was a runner. I don’t run anymore, but on a good day I can still notice pretty or interesting things.
Yesterday was a good day, and I thought I’d show you a few of the things I noticed. They made me smile, I hope you smile too.
Hey!
What about me, mama? Aren’t I pretty?
Why yes baby, yes you are.
I thought so. Geeze…
WordPress Photo Challenge: Favorite Place & Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Faces
New York City is one of my (many) favorite places, and Lady Liberty’s facial expression reminds me how strong we all are.
Mountain dog continuing saga
Katie here!
I thought this sign was pretty. Plus it helps me remember how to spell Cherokee.
Early yesterday mama was complaining that it was cold. Really really cold. I checked and it was a balmy 36F (2.22C) when we went out to explore the yard around 4 a.m. I don’t know what she was complaining about, it was perfect if you ask me, but she never asks me. At 4 a.m. she mostly grunts.
Anyway, she was messaging with a friend later in the morning and mentioning how cold it was and then it hit her. Cold. Sheltie. Hiking in Alabama. She figured out she shouldn’t waste such a good opportunity to take me somewhere fun. And, because she’s a good mama, she hopped right off her comfy sofa and bundled me up in the car and away we went!
Her friend Jamie told her last week about this cool trail called the Cherokee Alpine Trail not too far from where we’re staying. So she looked it up and decided we’d explore it!
Turquoise waters on a sunny day.
My goodness, what a beautiful place! Though I had to ask mama why we drove for like 20 minutes so that we could have a view of the lake when we have a view of the lake from home? Mama said to hush. But it was really really windy and cold up there, so we headed to the woods as fast as we could.
Hurry up mama, let’s get to the hiking part of this adventure!
The whole Alpine Trail is 4 miles and mama says even though it was refreshingly cool four miles would be too much for us, so we decided we’d just go part of the way and see how it went. Mostly it went downhill.
This is the last time I’m posing mama!
Mama was kinda worried that we’d have a long climb to get back to the car, but I told her what did she think it would be, seeing as we were on top of the mountain at the parking lot? Nowhere to go but down!
Watch your step mama! I’ll wait for you!
She was trying to hold my leash and hang on to her camera and not slip down the pine straw covered path. Eventually she just let go of my leash and let me trot down at sheltie speed while she bumbled her way down behind me. I had to wait for her a bunch, but I didn’t complain. You have to be patient when you’re hiking with a senior citizen.
Isn’t this the best fun mama?
We got down to the bottom of the mountain and I got to play on the lake shore at a pretty little beach. I just loved it!
Worth coming all the way down here, right mama?
I ran and ran, back and forth, barking at the waves and grinning the whole time. Mama told me they were just teeny tiny waves but I wanted to show them who was boss so I told them off. Mama did a lot of eye rolling.
I got the zoomies on the beach!
Then she said we had to head back up the mountain. It felt like we had already walked a gazillion miles and she was worried I’d get tired. I didn’t want to go back the way we came and pointed out that the sign said the parking lot was the other way anyway, and only .6 miles away!
Ahem…mama…I think we should go this way.
Good thing I can read. Mama would have taken the long way back!
The trail went up and down and all around through the woods. Sometimes it was just stuck on the side of the mountain and you had to watch where you were going. Mama let me walk it without her hanging on to me. That works best for us. That way I’m not dragging her along too fast.
This is a good spot to rest while I’m waiting for my mama.
Mama said I was a mountain goat. I think that’s a compliment.
When we finally got back to the car mama checked the map again cause it felt like we walked all four miles, but darn it, it really was just a little over one mile. I think miles should count double if they are straight up or straight down, don’t you?
Back on top of the mountain again!
On our drive home we got sorta lost. The GPS said to turn left but some guys were paving the road so we went straight and eventually the GPS took us on a little road that just got smaller and smaller.
Go ahead and take the long way home, mama, I’ll be resting my eyes in the back.
Mama was starting to say bad words and she didn’t even breath when we had to go over a rickety one lane bridge. But she got to see a barn so that made her feel lots better even though it took us twice as long to get home as it did to get to the park.
Obligatory barn photo.
When I got home I took a really long drink and then wiped my face on mama’s bed. And then I took a nap.
What you lookin at?
What a great day! I think the temperature in Alabama should never go above 43 degrees. I’m sure everyone would agree that it’s better to be cool than hot. Am I right?
Maybe I should try to get that on the next ballot. It would probably be the least controversial issue there!
Talk later, your Mountaineer Princess-gal Katie.
A little wind in my furs.
Change Is Hard 