Flowers & Bee Friends

I took the 105mm and the 50mm for a spin and got these shots. Some of the simplest things are the most beautiful.

First Day of Fall

Charm and I enjoyed a brisk mid-morning ride today. We started out through the woods and ended up in the south field. There is a swampy area that we were overlooking and I had the opportunity to snap this picture with my iPhone. From my viewpoint, I could see the depth, shadows and hidden color. I used Snapseed and Instagram to bring all of these features out of the photo.

Then we cut across the open field and our trot soon turned into a gentle lope over to the road. As I looked East, I noticed the herd in the pasture saw us and were definitely curious and started running over to the near fence line. So I urged Charm to meet them. Again we loped across the open field to her herd mates. It was a fun little ride!

My visit to Rock Island, Wisconsin

Rock Island Shoreline

This past weekend I was able to escape for a couple nights for the annual Washington Island trip with the horses. This year, Sofie and I decided that we were really curious about Rock Island and wanted to spend a little time discovering it. We were able to catch the noon ferry ride over and hiked around for a couple hours trying to soak it all in.

Cars aren’t allowed on the island, or bikes. So we walked with the other tourists that were enjoying the beautiful day. There is a campground on the island, and I would actually like to camp there sometime. They are primitive sites, but it would be an awesome adventure.

Here are a few pictures that I took during my short visit. I’d like to go back, and am trying to convince Adam that a night in October would be perfect (fall colors? yes please).

I hope you enjoy these pictures. It wasn’t the best time to shoot since the sun was shining high, but I think you’ll get a flavor of what the island is like. Please click on the picture for a better view.

A hint of fall.

The typical trail on the island. Only foot trails, no bikes allowed.

Fliterary Butterfly

Loving all the different colors and textures.

The gate at the top of the hill.

The Island Boathouse. The first thing you’ll see upon arriving at the island.

Washington Island in the distance

Gorgeous ground cover, including thyme.. it smelled amazing.

Rock Island Lighthouse (Pottawatomie Lighthouse). The oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin.

The steps leading to to shore below the lighthouse.

The top of the Boathouse, Viking Hall.

These Saddled Prominent Caterpillars are an invasive species and are defoliating the island hardwood trees.

Fiery Searcher Beetle. This guy is also called the Caterpillar Hunter and aids in the caterpillar control.

More pretty ground cover with a rock hedge.

We are hiking back down the hill. It was around 2pm and a gorgeous day. Washington Island is in the distance.

Trying to notice the little things.

There really wasn’t a bad view anywhere.

Early Mornings

I have had a few early mornings at the barn lately and that has allowed me to capture some beautiful pictures of the horses in the pasture. These were just taken with my iPhone, but I like how they look.

Last Saturday, my friend Sofie and I loaded up the horses and headed off to the local trail for a morning ride. Upon arriving at the trail, I noticed that Charm had some bruising on her left front heel bulbs. I had ridden her earlier in the week through some fields and noticed that she just wasn’t as peppy as usual, but I just chalked it up to her being lazy.

Well now I noticed the bruising. We rode anyway, took it easy, but I realized afterward I probably shouldn’t have ridden her.

When I got back from the short trail ride I asked Tracey and also Randy and Shirley to take a look (thanks guys!), and they agreed it was bruised but there didn’t appear to be any signs that an abscess was forming.

I headed out again on Tuesday and Charm was still a little sore on it, but Shirley and I agreed that it looked much better than it did over the weekend.

Charm had the week off from giving lessons and this morning when I checked on her, she seems to be back to her old self! She had a bounce in her step and her pep back. I couldn’t see any sign of bruising anymore, thank goodness!

You see, there is a weekend of trail riding ahead of us and I want to make sure Charm is up for it! She will be wearing bell boots just to make sure she doesn’t bruise them again.

Wish us luck! I will have PLENTY of pictures to share.

Green Darner

I was in the right place at the right time to quickly capture this beautiful dragonfly as it paused on a cone flower.

Busy Bee

Here is another Cinemagraph I just created. I think I may start to get addicted to doing these. My mind is swimming with ideas!

In this one I also had the foreground flowers move with the bee. I like the effect it gives.

I wish the quality was a little better, but since I am working with a GIF, I can’t expect much. It’s still fun though!