ReluctantFarmChick.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY SKYWATCH!

One of my brothers and his wife are visiting for Christmas.  It’s so much fun having them over.  One of the things we (especially my kids) have been anticipating is his taking us flying.  He is a flight instructor and he promised to fly us over the farm and the area.  We were going to go out on Tuesday, and he took his check-flight and everything, but the plane he had reserved was broken (they found out when they were still on the ground).  So we stayed safely down.  Wednesday was rainy and not great for flying.  SO, the plan to post a flying Skywatch was nixed.

SO, the backup picture is one my daughter took with her new Christmas camera.  Just this morning.  Over the farm.  And the cows.  And the not-lately-seen pond.  I know you’ve been missing it dreadfully.  The sky is perfectly clear today.  Would be a great flying day, but we’ll be stuffing ourselves and enjoying family and opening presents.  Hopefully the weather obliges us tomorrow so next week you can have a fly-sky-watch.

You can see other Christmas Sky pictures from around the world by visiting here.  Maybe you can join too – so we can see YOUR sky!

It’s hard to believe this is my 12th Skywatch post!  In some ways I feel like I’ve been watching the sky for way longer than a few months.  In other ways I still feel like such a newbie/amateur.  But skywatching is in my blood now.  Not a day goes by without some sky observation – whether out loud, or just an internal conversation (you know – with the voices).

I was heading out the door on Sunday and Prince Farming said "if you want a cool sky picture, you should take it now" (or something along those lines).  My arms were full of stuff – so I handed him the camera, and this is what he got.  I always enjoy how the mist hangs around here in the mornings – but these layers were particularly interesting and appealing and mysterious.

Last weekend we were driving into an amazing sunset.  By the time we could pull over for a shot it was too late to see the fantastic display, but I got this picture.  I love silhouette shots (probably because with this kind of light and my kind of camera – and my kind of skill – that’s all I can get).  This isn’t stellar – just a sort of "happy spot" for me – so thanks for obliging me.

This one didn’t turn out too badly – still silhouette-ish though.

The light in the late afternoons has been stunning – really highlighting the awesome colors.  I keep threatening to go for a "walk-about" to get some different fall shots.  But here is a familiar view – the light makes the place look less like a farm and more like a park.  Or it would, if I knew how to take this shot differently.  How blessed are we!?

That pile of something near the tree is where Prince Farming is digging out a tree stump.  Aren’t you glad that tree isn’t there anymore?  You wouldn’t see much of the pond if it were.  The stump was a bit hazardous to the equipment.  Prince Farming had borrowed a little excavator (you remember – for the barn plumbing job) and tried to dig around the stump enough to get it out.  No luck.  He’ll have to wait his turn with the dozer to get it out the rest of the way.  And the cows have moved to the far field – those black specks in front of the far tree-line is part of the herd.  They seem to be loving life.   Last week I saw them run – just for the sake of it.  Don’t know if it was to warm up a bit, or because something spooked them.  I looked for dogs, but saw none.  They just sort of took off.  Too funny.  The herd is going to double some time this month – our farmer friend "Uncle Robert" has been holding on to a small herd for us.  When it’s convenient he’ll load them up and bring them over.  I hope their introduction to our farm is less blog-worthy than the current herd.  You were spared the details because they came during my pre-blogging life.  But they inspired me to start blogging because of all the adventures (and mis-adventures) they created.

You can see more amazing sky pictures from all around the world by visiting here.

If any of you have missed posting a Skywatch entry for one week, you might understand how I’m feeling.  It is amazing how many skies there are to share, and missing one week just really makes a person feel behind.  But I’m going to shake these feelings of behindness – goodness knows they’re manifesting all over in my life – and I’ll just enjoy the opportunity I have now to share.  So glad to be back.  Life feels a little out of balance.  There’s nothing like a few skies to browse to wash the tension out of my shoulders (only to have it wrenched back in when I realize how much time I’ve spent visiting sky blogs and how much behinder I just got!)

Fall is in full swing.  The colors haven’t been as intensely varied as in years passed, but I’m still enjoying the colors.  And the cool air (it’s been downright COLD this week!).  The skies change too – I’ve never taken the time to observe the sky changes before this year.  It’s been so much fun!

The clouds seem more dense on some of these fall evenings.  I love to watch them – these were traveling at quite a clip.  They had some other places to see.  Wish they’d take me along!

These clouds were content just to sit and watch my pond.  And the cows.

With the sun coming up a bit later, it’s easier for me to see some colors from the Library window.  I love how the mist just hangs in this picture.  This is quite typical of where we live – sometimes it takes quite some time to burn off.

The color on this evening was SO dense it made the whole farm feel orange. 

Happy fall, and happy sky watching!  Thanks for stopping by.  You can see more amazing sky pictures from all around the world by visiting here.

So many of you leave happy comments about the sky over my pond.  Last week TheFishingGuy asked about the sky over my barn.  What an idea.  Same sky.  Different perspective.  Got on my little Rhino with my little camera, and here’s what you get.

This shot even has a few left-over hay rolls that hadn’t made it into the barn yet.  They’re all safe and warm now.

And here’s the same sky over the field.  The field looks particularly green.  That happens after the hay is mowed and then we had some rain – which has happy new grass growing.

There have been some spectacular sunrise shots on recent Skywatch posts.  I dream of having a cool sunrise.  I’m sure there is one out there – but from my vantage point, here is what the sunrise looks like:

Actually, the sun would be rising from the opposite direction, but since you know how close the pond mostly seems, you know I’d never see the sun, if I can barely see the pond.  Here’s what I saw when I swung around to the east.

Beautiful, ain’t it?  Actually, it is pretty.  Just not with the stunning, dense colors that some people see when the day overtakes darkness. 

Just so you don’t go through complete withdrawal, here’s a pond sky for you.  I’ll settle for cool sunsets.  I’m not usually up in time to see sunrise – colors or not.

You can see more very amazing skies, clouds, sunrises and sunsets from various angles and from all over the world right here.  Better yet, take a shot of your own, and share it with us – everyone can play.

My biggest Farm Regret is not being able to travel.  There’s always so much to do.  Since I’ve been doing Skywatch Friday it has occured to me that even though I’m sitting in one place here on the farm, the earth is rotating and spinning, so I’m actually getting to see skies from all over – these skies have seen the parts of the earth that I’m yearning to visit.  It has become a fun thing for me to imagine what my skies have seen as they’ve "passed over" other people and places.  Just a bit of whimsy as I share the clouds from Gredemeer this week.  Happy Skywatch Friday!

You might not be able to see it very clearly, but there is almost a "pillar of cloud" in this shot:

The reflection of these clouds in the pond makes it look like there are ripples in the water:

These clouds looked extra fluffy against the very blue sky:

Same day as the above shot – just an additional set of texture here.  It’s amazing how quickly the cloud formations and textures change.  The "naked" mountain top on the right has been strip-mined for coal.  When they are done they have to introduce plants back to make it "natural" again. . . there’s a term for this, but it’s not coming to me at this insomniac moment.  Maybe "reclaimed"?

You can see clouds (and other skies) from all over the world by visiting here.  You can play along too, and share your skies, which may very well have flown over Gredemeer some time in the not too distant past!

EDIT:  9/11/08 Skywatch post is actually here – sorry about that!

Here’s a non-evening shot of my wonderful kitchen window view.  Can you even imagine how beautiful it is in the fall?  And in the spring?  I will share.  I promise.  Soon there will be pictures of neat round bales of hay out there, beyond the pond.

Can’t really see how stunning the sky is in this shot.  You know the saying . . . "Red at night is the shepherd’s (or sailor’s) delight" – this was beautiful.

Since you always get to see the view from one direction, I decided to swing around and show you the opposite direction.  This would be my library window view.  That "road" is our drive-way . . . a long and dusty one, right on the edge of our property.  Beyond the immediate neighbors is family land again.  Prince Farming’s parents and brother own that next hill.

For more stunning sky shots from around the world, and from the other side of the pond(s) visit this site. 

It amazes me how the sky from the same vantage point is so new and different every day.  Not always stunning and photo worthy (IMO), but different all the same.  Here are two shots, taken of the same sky, in the same direction as this shot was last week.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the seasons bring different looks. 

This shot was taken just a couple of days ago.  It’s amazing when you look outside at just the right moment and recognize a photo-worthy sky.  Very cool.  And very new to me.  Of course being somewhat limited in my photography skill and equipment, I’m sure that a hundred others would have taken a totally WOW photo of this same moment.  If someone can explain (in very slow, simple language) how to improve this shot using a PHD camera (Push Here Dummy) I’d be most grateful. (btw – I knew to turn the flash off.  thank you.)  The shots I took of just the sky (without the pond) didn’t show the color as intensely as the reflection in the pond did.  And truly, the colors were equally brilliant.  I guess the creative thing to do would have been to crop the sky out of the shot and just do the pond reflection thing.  Ah – yes.  This is why I blog.  

This same photo could be placed under a new heading brewing in my mind.  Something along the lines of "Things I See at the Pond"  or maybe "Gazing out my Kitchen Window".  C O R N Y.  Anyway – I really do enjoy my kitchen window.  And I am thoroughly loving the things I see in, around, or near the pond.  I do have a collection of photos started.  But the collection will be appreciated more fully when people other than myself will be able to identify the tiny dots on the picture (ie I need to find the other lens).  So you can anticipate more Pond Watch photos in the future.