Black Friday Surprises!

November 29, 2016 | Allison

Guys, (or rather girls) I super excited to show you the things I bought for Black Friday! We went shopping late Thursday night and a little bit on Black Friday too. Did you go Black Friday shopping? Anyway, let me show you my goodies. 🙂

A cute backpack, a beautiful ESV Study Bible, and… (wait for it) a new camera! 😀 😀 😀 Woohoo!

The backpack: My old backpack has seen its better days, so I was really happy to find this pretty one at JCPenny. (And if you’re wondering why I need a backpack when I’m homeschooled – I use it to hold my co-op things. 😉 )

camera-2 — Yuck. Not a very good picture.

The Bible: Family Christian Bookstores had a 50% discount off of the whole line of ESV Study Bibles! My old Bible barely had any notes, so I really wanted a Study Bible. And I love this one! It’s beautiful and has lots of footnotes and cross-references and even a few illustrations. (Why why why didn’t I get any pictures of the inside? *facepalm*)

The cover is imprinted with swirly ivy designs that were quite fun to photograph…

And the camera! I’m really excited because it’s my first dSLR camera. 😀 It’s a Nikon d3400, and it came with two lenses – a standard lens and a zoom lens (I think). I might do a review of it later, but for now I’m still learning how to use it. 😉 There are several things I miss about my old camera (mostly ease-of-use), but I do like how this one has manual aperture and shutter speed options! I can’t wait to take some softened photos of a waterfall.

For the rest of the post I’m going to dump heaps and heaps of experimental photos on you, so take a deep breath and do some scrolling-finger exercises before we begin. XD

: Aww, Casey kitty!

: WILLOW FLUFFBALL!

: Oh my goodness this might be one of the cutest pictures I’ve ever taken of Willow. XD

: Can you see the improvement on photo quality here versus my last camera? (Snickers does not look impressed with my new equipment, but he DOES look cute. XD)

: I don’t know if it was the camera or what, but Lily was super scared when I took this picture. She was racing around like crazy!

: I love the blurred background and bokeh here! My new camera is good at that.

: Random chicken. XD (I think I was experimenting with aperture.)

: This photo looks dSLR-ish, doesn’t it? I love how the top is in focus and the bottom is blurred. That’s my favorite. 😀 *Happy sigh*

: Funny Fact: Casey loves this plant. As in, she loves to eat it. XD

: I got a few decent photos in the dark. (And heh heh, I kind of stole this photography idea from my sister who did a beautiful post about it here: https://abarefootgal.wordpress.com/2016/11/27/christmas-light-photography/

: We’re revamping our Schoolroom. This is the Nature Shelf, and more specifically, this is a duck egg in an I-don’t-know-what-kind-of-nest.

: The classic camera-with-its-human picture. XD

dsc_0100-1280x960 — When I turned on the flash it made these little rainbow-y circles appear.

: I really like how these drippy photos turned out. 🙂

: For some reason, I kinda like this one too. I guess it’s the reflection on the stone or something?

: BOKEH!

: In case you haven’t noticed, I l♥ve waterdrops.

dsc_0134-1280x853 — SUPER CREEPY PHOTO OF OLAF ALERT! She has some serious red eye (perhaps because her eyes are already pinkish-red XD). Yikes. That really is quite creepy. XD

dsc_0133-1280x853 — Aww, Liliputian again! I’m pretty pleased that this photo turned out pretty well even though I used flash. My old camera did’t take very good pictures with flash.

Oh my. That was a LOT of photos, wasn’t it? Yikes. Hee hee, I hope you enjoyed this post in spite of (or because of) that!

***Allison***

P. S. I always think of so many things to write for P. S.’s, but when it comes time to actually write them I can never remember what I was thinking… 😦 XD

Random Photography + Some Sad News :(

November 20, 2016 | Allison

Hey, guys. I was going to post about that mysterious thing I’ve been hinting at, but unfortunately I can’t really anymore. You see, what I was going to post was that Willow had baby bunnies! But… *SNIIIIIFFF* they aren’t alive anymore. 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 They were doing just fine even though it was quite chilly, but I think the really windy day we had today was just too much for them. *Cries* Here is one picture to remember them by:

004 — This is a picture of one the day it was born (I think). There were five all black babies.

*Sigh*

Okay, now that’s over with. 😦 Let’s move on to happier subjects, right? I’ve collected several random photographs from my extensive collection.

Let’s start with some cuteness to cheer us up, shall we?

allisonsunset-schoolroom-012-1280x960 — Aww! Look at these two wittle cuties!

allisonsunset-schoolroom-013-1280x960 — It’s always fun to find a litter of barn kittens. 🙂 (You can tell this was a while ago by Megan’s shortsleeves. XD )

allisonfall-034-1280x960 — Why hello there, Lily! XD She cracks me up.

casey-2-1280x960 — Casey looks kind of… I don’t know what… startled? XD

And some miscellaneous pictures…

allisonart-bunnies-002-1280x960 — Watercolor is so fun. ♥

allisonart-bunnies-091-1280x960 — Ahh, a lovely sunset.

And last but not least, a few pictures from our uncle’s pond.

pond-2-1280x960 — Reflections are so pretty!

pond-4-1280x960 — This is Buster. He loves to swim in the pond, as you can tell from his muddy fur. 😉

pond-5-1280x960 — Megan was fishing (she didn’t catch anything), and Buster was chasing her hook. XD

pond-6-1280x960 — Isn’t this gorgeous? The reflection is almost perfect!

pond-8-1280x960 — Ripples are a fun abstract photo opportunity. It kinda reminds me of a Van Gogh painting, ya know?

I’m sorry about the sad news… but I hope you enjoyed the rest of the post. 🙂 Thank you, my loyal readers! ♥

***Allison***

Casey the Cute

October 7, 2016 | Allison

The other day I felt like taking pictures of Casey, so I did. I took a lot of pictures. (Somehow that seems to be a recurring theme… XD )And since I know how much my dear readers like pet pictures, it follows from simple logic that I should post a few of the aforementioned pictures on my blog.

Sooo… I present…

CASEY THE CUTE!

allisonbaby-bunnies-009-1280x960 — AWWW!

-Allison(puppies, creaming corn) 010 (1280x960).jpg — My cousin said Casey was praying. XD

allisonpets-walk-skidloader-043-1280x960 — Aww! Casey sleeps in the weirdest places. XD She sleeping on top of our computer desk in this picture. (By the way, that black thing with numbers on it is our Weather Center. 😉 )

allisonbaby-bunnies-003-1280x960 — I love this picture! I just kind of got it by accident.

-Allison(garden game) 048 (1280x960).jpg — Casey acts like a dog sometimes. She loves to be around people, and she eats almost *anything*! XD She apparently loves corncobs that someone unwisely put on the floor for her to eat. XD

allisonbaby-bunnies-011-1280x960 — Her eyes… ♥

allisonbaby-bunnies-029-1280x960 — I love how cats eyes look from the side – like glass marbles.

allisonbaby-bunnies-032-1280x960 — Selfie! XD

Do you agree with me? Is she not ADORABLE?!

***Allison***

County Fair Photo Entries 2016

August 4, 2016June 8, 2017 | Allison

Greetings and salutations! XD

Our county fair opens in about two weeks, and I’m so excited! These are my entries for the photography section of the fair. (The fair categories are in bold). The links will take you to the post where the photo was first featured on my blog. Enjoy!

Abstract: {Flower Overload, Part 2}

Action: {The View from the Roof}

Artistic (which means creative photo editing): {CWWC}

Close Up: {More Snow Pictures!}

Humorous: {Bunny Therapy}

Landscape: {Vacation, Part 1: Niagara Falls}

Patriotic: {Boom, Crackle, Bang!}

People: {The View from the Roof}

Pets: {Meet Casey the Kitten}

Pictorial: {Mystery Revealed! #8}

Rural (Um, I’ll take out the county name): {Gone Fishing}

Wildlife: {BIBPC #2: Praying Mantis’ Feast (and Other Critters)}

There we go – a few photography highlights from 2016. 🙂

Which photo was your favorite? Do you have an annual fair where you live? Do you enter things in it?

**Allison**

P. S. Hayley and I are renovating Art Lab! We’re adding a few more artists to the group and starting it up again. We’re also going to collect and repost all of the Art Lab posts onto the official Art Lab blog, so you can scroll through the posts with ease. 🙂 You can follow it if you like! Hopefully there will be an Art Lab post up tomorrow. 😀

The Warm and the Fuzzy: Part 2

July 17, 2016 | Allison

Are you ready for some more Warm and Fuzzy? Cat lovers, read on. 😀

Casey:

A mini photoshoot of Casey on our fuzzy cube: (from the room makeover)

(Click on any photo in the collage to enlarge.)

The Story of the Feather Boa:

We put a feather boa around Jinx, and Casey got SO scared of him! She must have thought he was an awfully strange, fluffy, pink-and-black creature. XD It was hilarious!

-Allison(on the roof, reunion, cats and bunnies) 004 (1024x768) — Look at her! XD

-Allison(on the roof, reunion, cats and bunnies) 012 (1024x768) — Jinx is resigned to his fate.

Casey tried to poke the strange creature to see if it was scary, and it was!

Jinx:

Here’s another GIF of Jinx with the feather boa. He was trying to clean himself but it didn’t work too well. For some reason I think this is hilarious! XD Poor guy. 😛

Jinx’s yellowish greenish eyes looked so pretty against the green leaves that I had to take pictures! XD

(Again, click a picture to enlarge.)

Kittens and Violet:

Remember the barn kittens from this post? Here they are again! My cousin adopted one of the gray and white kittens, and I think farm employees took the other ones.

Violet’s eyes are really pretty! I edited them to make them stand out even more.

And that’s about it! Which picture was your favorite?

Do you like cats or dogs better? If you like dogs, you’ll love the next episode of Warm and Fuzzy! 😀 Hee hee, that sounded like a movie advertisement. XD

***Allison***

P. S. If you are a participant of WordCrafters 2, please read this! I will be on vacation the 20th-31st of July, so I won’t be adding parts to the WordCrafters 2 page. BUT! Please continue writing your chapters – just notify the next person on the list when you’re finished. I’ll update the story when I get back. Gracias!

The Warm and the Fuzzy: Part 1

July 11, 2016July 13, 2016 | Allison

Hee hee, I love that title. XD

My camera is loaded down with adorable pictures of bunnies, kittens, puppies, and other cute things. You’re going to get several doses of cuteness because I have too many pictures to fit in one post! Today I shall begin with bunnies.

Ahem. (Note: I edited most of these pictures.)

Willow:

-Allison(bunnies, mystery pictures) 029 (1024x768) — I love her little ear tufts. XD

-Allison(bunnies, mystery pictures) 028 (1024x768) — Look! I got a picture of her licking the cage! (Wait, Willow, why are you licking the cage?)

Diamond:

Clemmie: (CutePolarBear, here are lots of pictures of Clementine, as you wished. 😉 )

Clemmie 1 (1024x768) — AWWWW! It looks like she’s praying. XD

I don’t have as many of Lily and Olaf because they weren’t in the photoshoot on the deck.

Lily:

Olaf: (with Clementine and Diamond’s rump XD )

This is a sneak peek of next Warm and Fuzzy post. (Hint, it hast to do with an animal that starts with “c” and is in both of these pictures. 😛 )

bunnies 2 (1024x768) — AWWWW THAT’S SO CUTE!

Did you like it? Let me guess… yes! 😀 What was your favorite picture? Who was your favorite bunny?

***Allison***

P. S. I wanted to do the room makeover post today, but we weren’t quite finished with our decorations. Hopefully tomorrow!

Of Kittens and Cuteness

June 13, 2016June 13, 2016 | Allison

Calm down, calm down, guys. I can’t type when you’re squealing like that. XD All right, all right, I’ll show you the pictures.

(Note: most of these pictures are edited because kittens are just a teensy bit hard to photograph sometimes. 😉 )

Ahem. We shall start with our own dearest Casey. SHE IS SO CUTE! If she’s cute in pictures, she’s even more adorable in real life! (See more pictures of her here.)

-Allison(doll, mystery pictures, bunnies) 011 (1024x768) — Casey taking a nap beside some (rather dusty) mice. Hey, you’re not supposed to like mice, remember?

-Allison(doll, mystery pictures, bunnies) 037 (1024x768) — Stttttretch!

Casey (1280x960) — Casey can be quite the deep sleeper. Mom picked her up like this and Casey didn’t bat an eyelash. Well, she doesn’t have eyelashes, but still…

Now for some really tiny, just-born kittens! Megan found them in the cow barn. The lighting was really bad so my pictures aren’t anything gorgeous, but at least you can see their little selves! There were five kittens in this litter.

kitten 2 (1024x768) — This little guy is all white!

And last but not least, an adorable VERY FLUFFY black and white kitten! My siblings say there were other kittens, but this is the only one that I have seen. Maybe I can get more pictures of this guy’s brothers and sister if we can ever find them.

edit 2 (1280x960) — He looks relaxed here, but he normally wasn’t. XD

edit (1280x960) — IS THAT NOT THE CUTEST FACE? Sorry Casey. 😛 Casey definitely has a sweeter personality than this kitten, but just look at his FACE! Those eyes! 😀 (By the way, this is one of the photos that I edited.)

That was a lot of kittens! We know of at least three litters of barn kittens on our farm currently, and then we have Casey and Jinx, our kitten and cat.

Did you survive the cuteness tidal wave? If you’re still in good health, what was your favorite picture(s)?

***Allison***

Meet Casey the Kitten

May 19, 2016May 23, 2016 | Allison

*Warning: after reading this post, you may need a kitten. Also be aware that you may get a cuteness overload. 😉 :D*

I have a little someone to show you! I’m pretty certain you’ll like her. Here she is:

SOOOOO CUTE! Yes, we just got a kitten! We decided to name her Casey because it means brave. Why brave? Well for one thing, she is very adventurous and curious. For another thing… well, read this:

We rescued Casey two days ago – she had fallen about 8 feet down a shaft in the wall of our parts shed! She must have been walking around the attic when she slipped and fell down the hole. Our neighbor heard her meowing, so that’s how we found her. My dad was the one who actually rescued her by cutting a hole in a board next to where she was trapped, and now… she lives with us! She is the sweetest little kitten ever. ♥

Even though she was a barn cat before, she is completely tame (almost more so than our grumpy cat Jinx that we have had for years XD ). Sometimes when she’s in a playful mood she’ll wrestle with your arm, pounce on a piece of paper, or tumble around on the floor. When she’s worn out, she loves to cuddle in your lap and go to sleep. It’s ADORABLE! 😀 I think she got hoarse from meowing so much when she was trapped, so now most of the time her meows are silent and it looks like she’s yawning. 😀 Anyway, let’s move on to the pictures! There are gobs of them, so get ready…

Go!

Casey is a good student, but even she tends to take naps in Math class. XD (My sister is practicing her math facts on the iPad.)

We took her outside and Carmen played with her while Megan and I took pictures. 😉 Casey always runs after us if we leave her. SO CUTE! (Click on any image in the collage to enlarge.)

027 (1280x960) — I LOVE THIS PICTURE SO MUCH OH MY GOODNESS IT’S ADORABLE! ♥

019 (1280x960) — Is that a roar or a laugh, Casey?

Casey the mighty stalking tiger cat.

Casey among the flowers.

If you haven’t died of a cuteness overload yet (Jacylnn, Clara, Misty, I’m looking at you. XD ), don’t you agree that CASEY IS THE CUTEST WITTLE THING EVER?! Ahem, I think I’m a bit prejudiced. 😉 BUT SHE IS SO ADORABLE! Right now she’s sitting in my lap.

First rabbits, now kittens. Your cute-o-meter should be filled up for a few days at least. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed this post!

***Allison***