Quote Edits

February 20, 2016February 22, 2016 | Allison

I’ve been using this great photo-editing site (PicMonkey) to make quote edits recently. It is SO much fun! PicMonkey has some great fonts, but my sister told me about another website (1,001 Free Fonts), that has gazillions more free fonts, so I also used some of those.

All of these edits were made by me, from pictures taken and edited by me. The quotes are either verses from the Bible, quotes from Pinterest, or part of the lyrics songs or hymns.

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#1. This is one of my favorites of the edits I made. When the world is storm-tossed all around you, cling to the Rock that stands strong above the storm.

#2. Stop and smell the roses – take time to enjoy the little pleasures around you. (Picture from this photoshoot.)

#3. I love this verse, and the ones that go with it. Why should we worry when God holds all of creation in his hand? The third and fourth edit are consecutive verses, so they go together.

#4. (Picture from this post.)

#5. Always look on the bright side. Find the blessings in disguise.

#6. Kind words are as pleasing as honey. Or more so! (This picture was from my “Bee Tree” post.)

#7. From the Doxology…

#8. Great things can come from small deeds.

#9. From the song “Waterfall,” by Chris Tomlin.

#10. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made the whole wide world.

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I hope you enjoyed reading those quotes – I enjoyed making them! Which was your favorite?

A lot of those pictures came from a big Western trip my family made in 2013 – some more of those pictures may show up in a “Photos from of Old” post. 🙂

***Allison***

P. S. The first WordCrafters story is finally finished! (At almost 10,000 words o.O :D) You can read it here. It’s a wonderful story – thank you SO much everyone, for participating!!

P. P. S. I know I haven’t been posting much about Farm Life, but the fact is, not many post-worthy farm things happen in winter. I suppose you’ll have to make do with photoshoots and stories and tutorials until spring. 🙂 There’s a clay tutorial coming up soon!

A Winter Walk (Without Snow)

January 6, 2016February 14, 2016 | Allison

Yep, we went on a walk around our farm the other day with our friends, and sadly enough, there was no snow. 😦 The last couple of years we’ve had really early snow (at least for us), like in October and November, but this winter there has been nothing but a puny little flurry. 😦 Anyway, I still got some pretty pictures, whether there was snow or not, so here goes!

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Some of the trees on our farm have huge bracket fungi on them.

These are dried Jimson-weed pods. They have quite the thorny complexion, don’t they? In summer, Jimson-weed has a sort of morning glory like flower. A note here: Jimson weed is actually poisonous, so don’t go around stuffing it into your mouths – not that anyone would want to. XD

A simple twig looks pretty up close.

This is a very tiny, shriveled persimmon. We have a little persimmon tree on our farm that annually gives about four dried up fruits which are almost always to high to reach. Once we actually got to taste one, and it must not have been ripe because, boy was that bitter! It made your mouth dry up like a cotton ball. Blech! But then for Christmas Eve supper we found two “real” persimmons at the grocery store, and those were actually pretty good! They tasted kind of like a mild, sweet melon or something. Plus they were about ten times bigger and plumper than any of our persimmons. XD Have you ever had a persimmon?

One of our friends. 🙂

Group picture!

I took a picture of Maggie running and it turned out really funny!

We walked up a wet gravel road, and Maggie left cute pawprints behind her. I edited this picture on my camera so you can see them better.

We went into a woods, and Maggie must have sniffed out some creature or other, because she started furiously digging under a rotting stump. She dug a hole so big that her whole head went practically underground! It was really funny, and we stayed there watching her for a long time. But she never caught anything. XP

And last but not least, we took this walk when my sister Megan (center)first got her new camera, and my little sister (left) and my friend (right)were watching her work it. I edited this picture (as you can see!) on my camera with the “Painting” setting. Doesn’t it look neat?

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and picture from a winter walk! Which picture was your favorite?

***Allison***

P. S. Don’t worry, I will do more Photos from of Old posts, but I’m saving them for a little later because the next ones are from springtime.

P. P. S. Wow! I seem to be doing a lot of P. S.’s on my posts lately, don’t I? 😀

Mystery Revealed! #5 (Christmas Edition)

December 19, 2015December 19, 2015 | Allison

Drum roll, please! Duh-duh-duh-DUN! Thank you very much.

And now I will reveal the mysteries.

#1. Ornament

#2. Evergreen needles (specifically needles from our Christmas tree. ☺)

#3. Poinsettia

#4. Ceiling fan (for some reason I really like this picture)

#5. Gift bow

And that’s it! Now. Here are the winners, with links to their blogs if they have any. The winners are…

#1. Rapunzel! She is the only one who guessed everything right – Congratulations!

(Wait! Actually, my sister Megan got them all right too, but it’s easier for her, like she said in her comment, because she lives in the same house as I do, and sometimes she sees me taking pictures of the things… But I’m still very glad you guessed, Megan!)

#2. Genna and Josie

#3. Misty and Emma

#4. K. A.

I just did first and second place winners this time, but if you want to see the blogs of the other people who guessed, please go check them out via the comments below.

Again, thank you so much for playing, everyone! No matter how many you got right, I had lots of fun reading your guesses, and I hope you had fun playing too!

***Allison***

Photos From of Old: Entry #1

December 10, 2015January 6, 2016 | Allison

My sister Megan did a post about stories from of old that she had wrote when she was little, and I think I’m going to do a series about photos that I either took before I had a blog (*gasp!*), or photos that never made it into posts. This first entry was way back when we had a litter of adorable kittens to play with in the chicken house. And the first picture is a random bluebird. I also edited two of the pictures on PicMonkey just for fun.

And the edited ones:

Which picture was your favorite? Would you like me to continue this series or not?

***Allison***

Mission Christmas Tree

December 6, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

We got our Christmas tree yesterday! We always go to a Christmas tree farm and cut our Christmas tree down with a saw, so this post is for you poor unfortunates who don’t or can’t have that experience. *Wink* @ Loren and Mallory. 🙂 (Oh, by the way, I was going to tell you before. Mallory is my friend, and she just recently started a blog where her bunny, Snickers, “posts” about his life. It’s very cute – you should check it out! Just click Mallory’s name above.) OK, down to business!

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We don’t always go to the same tree farm every year, but this year we went to a big Christmas tree place called “Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm.” (I know, very original name, right? ☺) They have quite a large amount of space to wander through, and several different varieties of trees to choose from, including Colorado Spruce, White Pine, and Concolor Fir.

-Allison(Christmas tree and bunnies) 011 (1280x960)

-Allison(Christmas tree and bunnies) 026 (1280x960)

I think we got a Colorado Spruce (though I’m not sure), but the Concolor Firs are really neat because if you rub their needles between your fingers, they smell like citrus!

First, my brother picked up a handsaw from one of the saw-poles scattered around the farm. Then we began the search for the perfect Christmas tree! We trekked all over the farm, winding in and out of big trees and small trees; young trees and old trees; trees with long, soft needles, and trees with short, prickly ones. We went up and down the hills and along lots of paths. Finally, we ended up where we had started. At last, in a corner of the tree farm, we found our tree!

The tree was a little too tall, so we cut part of the bottom off. The nice thing is, my mom and dad can kind of measure how tall the tree should be – if it reaches the top of their hands when they stretch their arms out, it’s a good size. (My parents are both pretty tall.) The kids like to yell “TIMBER!” when we cut down the tree.

And now we had to drag the tree all the way down the hill to the “packaging” center. The kids started by taking turns, and my dad finished when we got tired. 😀

The people at the bottom of the farm set your tree in a stand and turn on a machine that vibrates the tree to shake all of the dirt and dust on it. As you can see, our tree was pretty dusty from dragging it down the hill!

The next part is really fun to watch. The people working at the farm take the freshly-cleaned tree and set it on a sort of conveyor belt thingy. They attach some sort of hook to the trunk, and p – u – l – l the tree through a hoop with net in it. The tree gets all wrapped up in the net. It looks like a cocoon or something!

The purpose of wrapping the Christmas tree is to make it easier to carry on your car or truck. Dad strapped the tree to the top of our car, and off we drove!

At home we set the Christmas tree in it’s stand, watered it (with just plain water), and adjusted the screws in the stand so that the tree stood up as straight as possible. Then came another fun part that all of us kids love – cutting off the netting! We each took a pair of scissors and snipped off every last bit. It’s fun to watch the tree unfold from its bonds. 🙂

Then we put on Christmas music and started decorating! I love the decorating part. (As you have probably noticed, I love pretty much everything about getting a Christmas tree!)

First we put the lights and star on, then my mom carefully put the glass balls on, then everyone could help with the rest of the ornaments. Finally the tree was chock full of decorations, and we could sit back and look at our work. So pretty!

Here are some more pictures of the ornaments that I took in the dark. They remind me of a Christmas I Spy Book.

And here is one where I moved my camera around while holding down the shutter button.

Did you get your Christmas tree yet? When? Do you get artificial or real trees? Have you ever gone to a Christmas tree farm?

***Allison***

Crystal Pond, and Treasures Found There

November 13, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

Somewhere on a farm, hidden away in its own little secret world of trees and brush, there is a pond whose shores are littered with millions of sparkling quartz crystals… Well, OK, Crystal Pond isn’t quite as romantic and fairy-tale-like as all that, but it is still one of my favorite places on our farm.

Don’t get confused by the name – the water in the pond isn’t crystal clear, but rather the land around the pond has pretty quartz crystals scattered on it. Sometimes there are a bunch of crystals, sometimes… not so much, especially when the pond is high. The bad thing is, the pond is kind of surrounded by a defense wall of thorns, prickly evergreens, and brush. Yeah, it’s just a tad hard to get to. But once you get inside, it’s nice and quiet and peaceful. There is always some treasure waiting to be found along the shores or in the scrubby woods beside the pond. Crystal Pond has several of my favorite things around it: water, moss, rocks, and mushrooms!

Here are, um… a LOT of photos.

Moss:

A beautiful quartz crystal!

This rock looks like it has a heart in it.

And… lots of mushrooms!

Aren’t these such cute little mushrooms? They look like they are made of playdough or something.

And some close-ups:

I also found a strange, lonely, frilly mushroom with no identity tag. Does anyone know what it is?

And some other things:

A pill bug going busily about his day (I edited this picture),

An interesting plant (I think maybe a Chinese lantern?),

Some bright red berries,

An ivy vine with berries,

And a beautiful pine tree.

And that’s it! Are you still awake? 😛 If so, what was one of your favorite pictures from this post?

Bye ’til later!

***Allison***

Even More Fall Photos

October 31, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

I know, I know…. you’re probably getting tired of fall pictures, but I just can’t help it – fall is so gorgeous this year!

See you in November!

***Allison***

Fall Hiking: Part 2

October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 | Allison

Next up! A hike in the mountains. This is a spider we saw at the very beginning of the hike, but he was scared of my camera so he ran away and hid under his favorite leaf. 🙂

Below is a rock that looked like someone cut a heart on it, but I’m pretty sure it was natural.

Does anyone know what this weird red clump-of-berries-on-a-stem is called?↓

Here’s a strange fuzzy-looking fungus – isn’t he so cute? 😛

Now for some gorgeous fall trees!

There was an overlook at the top of the trail where you could crane your neck (and camera) to see a small but very steep falls. I edited this picture because it wasn’t very good to begin with.

For some reason there were also a lot of ladybugs at the overlook. I took a few close-ups of this pretty lil’ gal resting on my jeans.

And that’s it! I hoped you enjoyed the virtual hike – and trust me, you got off easy – that trail was TIRING!

***Allison***

Bee Tree

May 17, 2015February 14, 2016 | Allison

So from the poll results in my last post, I should either keep doing my blog the same or do more crafts. Unfortunately, no craft tutorials can be found currently in my brain, so I’ll stick with “keep doing it how you are” for this post. 🙂 Which means… you get to see pictures of a bee tree! I was so excited when we saw this fallen tree in a woods on our farm with bees swarming around it – and honeycomb inside! Here she is!