#140 Closely Cropped (Theme #55) For Iona

As we were driving home from the cemetery today, I saw one of Iona's hay rakes in a field. I told my husband "wait, wait", but someone was right behind us and he couldn't slow down or stop for me to take the picture. I had my camera in my hand and snapped a quick one as we went by--then cropped it for better detail of the hay rakes.
This was my original "drive by shooting".

#139 Polka Dots (Theme #237)

These lilies have polka dots in the centers--enlarge to see them better.

#138 Transparent (Theme #335)

The wings of this dragonfly are transparent.

#137 Angels (Theme #11)

These angels were keeping watch at the cemetery today. Looks like they've been on duty for quite a while.

#136 Risky (Theme #261)

Socks has picked a risky place for his new perch. It's not so bad sitting on the wood stove in the summer time, but come winter, he'll probably wish he'd picked a cooler spot!

#135 Rest in Peace (Theme #260)

I went to the cemetery today to put flowers on my mother's and two aunts' graves. Afterward, I wandered around taking pictures of whatever struck my fancy. I came across this broken winged angel sitting on this tombstone with words that fit this theme perfectly.

#134 Mural (Theme #126)

This mural was on the wall of a prayer garden at the academy where campmeeting was held. I don't know what kind of paint was used, but they had put plexiglass over the painting to protect it from the elements. I believe it was painted by students several years ago.

#133 Tent (Theme #318)

Last week, my son and I went to an old-time campmeeting where many of the attendees stayed in tents like these. This is our tent, shortly after moving in and setting up (my daughter came and stayed a couple days--hence the third bed).

This was taken across the parking lot in an effort to show the number of tents--there are about 10 rows of tents behind this first row.

Campmeeting is my son's favorite event of the summer. (I enjoy it, but he lives for it).

#132 Spelling Errors (Theme #297)

The title of this freecycle ad caught my attention first, then when I went to the ad itself, I found it peppered with additional misspellings.

#131 Recycled (Theme #254)

re·cy·cle
To recondition and adapt to a new use or function

My son recycled some aging/slightly stale (leftover from Mother's Day) hot dog buns for lunch today. He made them into cheesy garlic bread. Very tasty!

#130 Kite (Theme #164)

I was driving past a college campus the other day and saw some guys flying these huge kites. It was very windy--a storm was blowing up--lightning was flashing behind me as I took the pictures. The fellow with the yellow kite was actually airborn for a few seconds.

#129 Orange (Theme #213)

A very happy orange gas tank--despite the fact it seems to be "living" in a junk heap.

#128 Dangerous (Theme #74)

This picture should be enlarged to see the poorly drawn details of this dangerous experience. A couple weeks ago, we were on our way to our son's piano recital. As we approached this yard, a man was riding his lawnmower up the grassy bank (see poorly drawn arrow by skid marks in the dirt). My husband and I both said at about the same time--"that looks dangerous!" About that time, the mower flipped over--trapping the man underneath it--right near the drop off to the ditch below (see poorly drawn illustration). We stopped--another vehicle who saw it also stopped--and helped the man get from under the mower and back up the bank. His arms were scratched up (which he said was from mowing around trees) and he seemed a bit shaken up. Just a bit further, and he and the mower would have gone over the ledge to the ditch--a drop of 8 or 10 feet--doubtful he would have walked away (even shakily) from that.

#127 Footwear (Theme #107)

Footwear for sale at the Colonial Fair--perhaps the Colonial version of Crocs?

#126 Fashion (Theme #93)

Clothes like these were once the height of fashion--no more--unless you are a re-enactor.

#125 Magical (Theme #179)

This magician at the Colonial Fair asked this little boy in the audience to assist him. The magician started out with a single length of rope which he cut into smaller pieces and then tied into the rope above.

Then he placed the rope in a bag and had the boy shake it up. When the boy took the rope out of the bag, it was in one piece again.

#124 Button (Theme #38)

Buttons for sale at the Colonial Fair.

#123 Cutlery (Theme #73)

Cutlery (and a few other items) on display in a merchant tent at the Colonial Fair.

#122 Tools of the Trade (Theme #332)

My son and I went to the Bledsoe's Fort Colonial Fair on Friday afternoon. There, we met a French lace merchant (who came to our country to escape the French Revolution--only to find that there were no lace makers here--so he was having to teach lace making so that he would have lace to sell). He showed us the tools of the trade and demonstrated and explained the process of lace making. He said a child of three--if they knew left and right and could count to four--could do it.

Even though this particular piece of lace required 160 bobbins, he only worked with four at a time. A piece of felt covered the bobbins he was not using so they wouldn't get in the way. The lace pattern is on the roll in the center of the pillow. As the strands of thread are twisted, pins are placed into the blue paper on the roll to keep the holes in the lace open. As the lace is made, the roll is turned and the pattern repeats. He explained that the ability to make lace was desirable for a woman as it made her a more desirable marriage prospect since she could bring in some money for the family.

It was a very interesting demonstration.

#121 New (Theme #198)

These are the two newest members of our family--Pepper (above) and Socks (below).

When my neighbor (for whom I had been caregiver for several years) died in March, I inherited his cats. I took care of them for several weeks at his house while the family was getting the estate settled, then brought them home between our trip to Michigan and our camping trip.

Pepper has settled in quite well, but Socks is having more adjustment problems. He hides most of the day--comes out for a while at night--once in a while shows up in the daytime. He was used to being able to come in and out through a cat door but can't do that here because of our dogs.