The penguin

Sooner or later, I knew they were going to arrive.

Our weather has been so very lovely. How could they resist?



The chickens aren't too happy about it, I can tell you that much.

Rain

I am so thankful for old plaster walls and ceilings.

Our littlest one has a habit of leaving a trail of complete destruction wherever she goes, like the Peanuts character Pig-Pen, except it's not dust.  It's everything.  Absolutely everything.  I really do try my best to stay a step ahead of her, but it's just impossible.  I cannot win.

Our little Bean dumped some water onto the floor.  In her defense, she then brought me the lid of the container and said, "UH OH!".  I ran upstairs to the scene of the crime with a gigantic towel, to find only a little water.  Perhaps more impressive was the fact that my guilty little Bean was completely dry.  Not even a drop on her socks.  But the evidence, the empty container, spoke the truth.  It must have gone through the floor.

I made it back downstairs in time to hear the four-year-old announce in his don't-worry-I've-got-it-all-under-control voice, "we will call this room the rain forest".

Sure enough, it was raining.  If we hadn't been in the house and also in the deepest part of January, it might have been a soothing sound indeed.

Thankfully, our old plaster ceilings can handle a bit of rain much better than the drywall of a fancy new house.

Later that afternoon I giggled at my preschooler as he sat in the living room with an umbrella.



With a sister like that around, it's always a good thing to be prepared.

Scavenger Hunt, January 30

I'm having an identity crisis with my blog changes lately, but I decided to keep using my "old nichols farm" watermark here too, because it matches my flickr username.

Scavenger hunt at Ashley's!

1. Texture

The dim lighting in our basement that required ISO 5000



and ISO 6400



definitely added some texture to these. I am totally embracing the grain my 5DII gives at extreme high ISO settings. It's so uniform and pretty. Almost film-like in a way. (yes, these are also lensbaby shots)


2. Fog

I really tried. I tried to get the fog in my breath since it was a lovely -5F. But it was also windy and it blew away too fast. Apparently, I wasn't outside long enough because my glasses didn't fog up when I came back in. And then when I took a hot shower, I guess our house is really really dry because the bathroom mirror didn't even fog up.

So I'm posting a pic from last November. Not fog literally, but I was shooting through a mental and emotional fog during my Grandpa's burial ceremony.



3. Button

Hey little Bean, could you show me your button?



YAY! Again?



Okay. Nevermind. Where is your brother?



Those are my very favorite buttons. I love their oldest brothers the best of all, but he wasn't here to show his off.

4. Beverage



Hmmm... two hands looks silly. Maybe I shouldn't have spent all that time setting up the tripod, and just gone with one hand.

5. Seventies

Seriously!? This one had me completely perplexed.

It's all about personal interpretation, right? Right.

I give up.

Mmmm... happy.

I tried to take a picture of one floating in a glass of milk. But it sank before I got my camera settings right. So I had to eat it.

I dropped another one in the glass. It sank too. I ate it.

Third time's the charm, right? Nope. I ate that one too.

It wasn't such a bad deal.



You Capture - Happy

Shooting the moon

The snow crunched under my feet in that certain way.  My jacket protested every move I made with an extra-crisp stiffness.  It proved my suspicion beyond a shadow of a doubt.

It was colder outside than what the website told me.  They can't fool me.

Friday night as I walked out to The Road They Do Not Plow, I briefly wondered why I insist on doing this on the coldest night.  Every time.  But then, it's January in North Dakota and why should I expect anything less?

I sunk my tripod into two feet of snow.  At least I knew it wouldn't blow over.

I yanked the thick fuzzy mitten off my right hand and traded it for a lighter one that would allow me to push buttons and spin dials.  My fingers were already numb.  I looked back toward the warm glow of the house.  Why in the world was I doing this?

Soon enough, as I fumbled around with the gear I had hauled, my beast of a dog realized we weren't going for a walk.  She'd had enough of this nonsense.  I was abandoned as she headed back to her cozy bed of straw in the barn.

And then, I was reminded why I torture myself so.



Standing here under an endless prairie sky, with coyotes howling off in the distance, I feel so small - but not alone.



I stand in awe when a long exposure shows a dark night for what it truly is, in ways my human eyes cannot see.



I don't care how cold it is.  Whether I walk away with decent photos or not, this is worth fingers that hurt for the next two days.  Although, I might stick a thermometer out the front door after I get back to the house, to see how cold it really is.  You know, just for bragging rights.

Happy mess

We spent the last few days of 2010 hunkered down in the house. The snow and wind blew all around outside.

The boys were unleashed upon some craft projects they got for Christmas. Boyish craft projects. Little molded trucks, paint brushes, copper sheet metal (it was really more like thick tin foil), and a tiny mallet and embossing tool.

They. Had. A. Blast.

And a little problem.

The Bean wanted to play too.

How do you avert World War III?



Finger paint... and lots of it.

I even had to scrub the wall when she was done, and she wasn't sitting that close to the wall.



I Heart Faces - "Smile"

Favorite 10 of 2010

This image is my absolute favorite of the entire year. The boys were showing off the upstairs of their lilac house.



Second fave. He'd been dust bathing with the chickens, and was trying his best to convince me he did not need a bath now that he was in the house. This one took the "people" category of a local contest, which proves that craptastic 1-hour Walmart prints can, in fact, save the day when you've procrastinated and have no other option. Or, possibly no one else entered the contest.



Underwear on the head. Honestly, what's not to love here?



Grandpa's burial ceremony.



That was the day that put to test my theory that I am emotionally detached while I'm shooting. Once I finally put my camera down I was a complete mess. Knowing this gives me hope that one day I might be proficient enough to volunteer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.

Soybeans ready for harvest.



This one cracks me up every time!



And, yes, all three were laid by our chickens.

I can just feel the late summer evening captured here. This is what makes our harsh winters bearable.



Totally random, I was testing my focus and couldn't throw this one away. My baby girl and the pink shoes she chose all by herself.



Self portrait.



Open your eyes to the beauty in everything.



linking this post with You Capture

How the rubber chicken rides

In a period of less than 30 hours:

We had an appointment with a neuropsychologist during which our oldest son told his Daddy to "pass gas" for Mommy. Except he used a different word.



Then during the long ride home, we endured the many sounds that accompany the dear-Lord-please-let-this-drama-be-over-soon moments of a child's first loose tooth. It was excruciating. For all of us.

A little orange hen was invited into our kitchen.

You all think you know where I'm going with this but you are soooooo wrong.

She sat calmly in the middle of the floor where the kids fed her popcorn and read her a stack of books including What's Up Duck. Apparently it was just what she needed.



She's feeling better now, thanks for asking.

The kid pulled his tooth out in the middle of the night. All by himself. Quietly. Then he repeatedly lost and found it in his bedding while he waited for morning. I, on the other hand, hardly slept because I was terrified of the horrors that I knew that loose tooth would unleash upon us the following day.

For once, I was pleasantly surprised.

But not for long.

Our impulsive four-year-old was viciously attacked by a toilet seat. He was lucky to have escaped with only minor injuries to the middle toe of his right foot. I'll spare you any further details of that one.


{ISO 25600, just because I can}

And, although the rubber chicken is that close to having beads explode out it's... ummm... rear end, still it rides on the rear view mirror. I'm starting to wonder if I should put it out of it's misery.

That book

I love reading to my kids. What parent doesn't?

But we have one book in particular that causes me to cringe every time I see a small person toting it toward me. Truly, I mean that in the, ummm... nicest way possible. Tumble Bumbleis a great book. The animals are cute. The rhyme is clever. The illustrations are charming. Really.

The darn thing sure looks innocent enough.



It's just that... well, look carefully at this page.

It doesn't matter the time of day. It gets me every time. Every time.



Even as I'm typing, without looking at that picture... I am yawning. Just thinking about it is apparently enough.

Please tell me I'm not alone.

And if I've made it to that page, it means I've already managed to stay awake through this one. It's not a small victory either, believe me.



The main problem here, I think, is that I'm left zonked out in my comfy chair while my kiddos are piling more books up in my lap. I'd really like to read those books too. It's only fair that my kids should fall victim to this mysterious phenomenon as well.

If that were the case, we would read this fantastic book before our nap. Every. Single. Day.

And, if that were the case, you would not hear me complaining at all. Nope. Not one bit.