Nine on the ninth__July

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All right..!! All caught up, if still late by a few days, with this post..!!


Earlier this month my wife and younger daughter visited Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

Iowa State has had a horticultural garden since the early 1900s to support its educational goals. The current Reiman Gardens is the third 'edition' of this garden. The current location was chosen to provide "a larger, more visible location to beautify the entrance to the city of Ames and Iowa State University." While it still seems a bit hidden to the average city and ISU visitor they certainly got the 'beautify' part right.


Lets take a look.





A large stone slab marks the Visitor's entrance to the Gardens.

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As you first enter the Visitors Center you find a large 2500-square-foot butterfly wing. There are double door entrances and exits with vestibule areas where visitors are told the simple rules of the short walk through the wing. One thing they warn you about is:

"Check for hitchhikers before you exit. Butterflies can land on you and catch a ride as you leave."




...as evidenced by this butterfly that seemed to like my daughter's t-shirt.


Believe me, the sweet older ladies (volunteers I assume) that run the entrance and exit stations and the butterfly wing itself take their responsibilities very seriously and also make the experience a fun time for the visitors. Young kids seem to love the beauty of the butterflies.

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But let's not forget the Gardens is also about . . .plants and flowers..! Here are just a few of my favorite photo-memories of the day.

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An outdoor horticultural garden is also about walks, and arbors, and water structures, and shady paths, all the things that help foster the sense of peace and wonder found in the beauty of God's natural world. The Reiman Gardens certainly excels here as well...

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But wait..!! I did not even get to the pics of the dinosaurs found this summer at Reiman Gardens. Dang, will have to save those for another post..!!



...tom...
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Nine on the ninth__June

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OK, OK. I am trying to catch up. I may even get July's nine on the ninth done in the correct month. But first, to make short order of June's late entry...


Once again, in the tradition that is 'nine on the ninth' ...lets 'git 'r done'.





Prepping our son's old bedroom walls before repainting. We painted over old paneling years ago. Yeah, we hand-painted those stripes, the grooves in the paneling that was in place ...on two walls. Luckily the closet and built-in dresser (shown here) and the doorway took up much of the walls. I just remember it being a pain in the arse ...what were we thinking..?!?

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A summer meal for friends and family: grilled bacon-wrapped steaks and stuffed jalapeno peppers, fruit salad, vegetable salad, pasta salad ...and, of course, a nice bottle of red wine. Yummy ...as I remember anyway. (And I forget what was for dessert ...if anything.)

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An interesting pattern of lines, curves, light and dark on a curtain strongly lit from behind by the setting sun. The color is slightly off ...but still interesting to me.

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What is up with these larger 'puffy Cheetos' that are out there now..?? Why are the bags not marked to indicate they hold the larger size..??

By the way, the Cheetos dot com site is real slow loading for my DSL connection ...I finally gave up. Might be a good test of your connection speed.

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Chopped onions and knife.

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Interesting parallel lines in the center frame of a sliding glass window.

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Two photos of 'stuff on the kitchen floor'. Hmmm, given the usual 'state' of our kitchen maybe I should make that a formal tag.


Top is a bag of spilled 'waffle pretzels'. What you get when you pull the bag out of the cupboard upside down ... with no clip in place. Yeah, my bad.


The other is a single frozen pea that fell on the floor. Once again, the patterns and colors caught my attention.

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So there we have it, yet again. About a month late, but hey, it is about 'git 'r done', even if much later than planned.


...tom...
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Nine on the Ninth__May

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OK, OK. It is a blog, not like it is national defense surveillance or your computer's virus checker. So it is a little late. Better than other things that can be late..!!


In the tradition that is 'nine on the ninth' ...lets 'git 'r done'.





Some early flowers that are planted alongside our main driveway. Always a bright way to arrive at or depart from the homestead...

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While red and yellow seem to dominate this particular garden bed (if only because they are the youngest daughter's school colors...) there are some other colors mixed in there.

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This crabapple tree and its flowers were featured in last year's Crabapple Glory Days post.

These pics were captured after an early evening rain with the sun coming out later to highlight the water drops and colors. As I said last year, our two crabapple trees are gloriously colorful about two days each spring. ...sigh...

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These were after another early evening rainsquall passed through. As the sun sank low in the west I knew there must be a potentially good rainbow in the east. Voilà..!! I did not even see the second rainbow, trying to form, until I downloaded the pics later.

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A local barn and house now form the anchor of a city park in a nearby community. Maintained by the Johnston Historical Society in Johnston, Iowa, the buildings, the windmill captured here, and a small pond/lake make a great inner-city retreat. Of course, inner-city means something much different in Johnston, Iowa than it does elsewhere..!!

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...and number nine: a flag flapping gently in the breeze on Memorial Day, 2009.

This flag is one we purchased from a 9/11 memorial event in our area several years ago. There are more pictures here and an essay on my Epinions page that explains more about the event and its meaning to me.


So there we have it ...a month late, but hey, it is about 'git 'r done', even if much later than planned.


...tom...
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Nine on the Ninth__April

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Nine on the ninth . . .just a few days late.

Lets get started..!!



Bottles of wine, on the shelf, waiting to be drank... Yes, I have told the wifey they should probably be on their sides, ..no..??

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Chocolate Easter eggs in the bag. Family and friends got rid of most of the 'junk food' that day and the rest went to workplaces to be shared the next day. Certainly do not need it in the house..!!

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Three shots follow of a spider found in our basement. He was dropping on a thread from the rafter. But about a foot from the floor he began a long climb back up. Not sure what the white stuff he is carrying with him is. I assume it is the 'silk' that he was stringing out, dropping on, and then climbing back up.

The last shot is of him 'resting' on the rafter after climbing back up.

The middle shot is probably the best 'real life colors' pic of him.

Spiders creep me out ...yet fascinate me at the same time.

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My favorite t-shirt. An old softball fundraiser shirt bought from a team in Georgia, as I remember. Baggy, full of holes, a worn-out rag my wife threatens to throw away every time it is in the laundry.

She would not do that to my favorite shirt . . .would she..?!?

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Springtime cometh..!! Perennials (irises..??) ..sprout along the fenceline of our property...

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I just love the colors of this one. Have no idea what the plant is, but it looks great with the blue pots.

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One more reminder that time stops for no one. As evidenced by the slight blur of the pendulum as it swings back and forth, back and forth, back and ....

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Anyway. That is it. Nine for the ninth ...late in the evening of the 14th. Better than last month ... and not bad considering my daughter had our camera (for some reason) for too long the past month.

Until next month..!!



...tom...
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Nine on the Ninth__March

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OK, OK. Just a wee bit late with 'nine on the ninth' this month.

The whole idea, at least as I try to apply it, is to motivate myself to take more pictures, to be more critical about which ones I post, and to further my photography 'experience' . . .whatever the h3ll that means.

So here I am, two weeks-plus late, grabbing some photos over the last day or two, and throwing them up here late at night. ...sigh...


Anyway . . .away we go. Oh wait..!!

Do note that I am just going to 'center' them all. I have found the blogspot/blogger does a crap job of formatting the arrangement of photos across various browsers and video displays/monitors. So the heck with it this month; I will just post everything down the middle and see how it looks.


OK . . .now ...away we go..!!



Lead with your weakest stuff, right..??

A cardinal, a regular visitor to our crabapple trees, photographed through triple-pane window and plastic film ...with digital zoom dialed full on. Could have tried to go outside and capture him ...but surely he would have flown away. (Did I mention wifey is a 'cardinal nut'..??)


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Some postcards picked up to send to an Eps friend currently hospitalized. As I told the wifey . . .they have to shout 'Iowa'.

Well, lets see: giant ear of corn, cute pigs, and a windmill. That and 'Iowa' emblazoned all over them. Mission accomplished.


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Cupboard door under sink, rug in front of sink, wooden floor. Kinda interesting patterns ... and I am desperate for a kinda decent picture to use here...


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Fruit, light, shadows. I like this one. I would try to 'isolate' the pineapple and bananas more next time, but still works for me...


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Cup ...coffee ...shadow ...reflection.


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Light from a western-oriented window streaming through a bottle of dishwashing liquid. I like the color of the fluid, the light, the shadows, the diffraction...


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Nighttime, walnut tree, moon ...not as good as I wanted but . . .meh. I really liked the color of the moon ...so I did not try to correct the color of the overall picture. Which leaves the branches looking a bit strange ...but I love that moon.


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That later-afternoon sunlight streaming through the window again. Falling on the cabinets opposite the sink in our smallish galley kitchen. I love the way the molding on the doors breaks up the lines of light.


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Our son came over for dinner tonight. Parked his car on the street (despite room for a half dozen cars in our two driveways.) Daft neighbor backs his pickup into the rear of it. Idiot, son and neighbor. Says he is good for it. We will see.


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Anyway. That is it. Nine for the ninth ...early in the morning on the 26th. Promising myself a better effort for next month. It is almost/is spring time..!! Lots of outdoor color and activity coming up..!!



...tom...
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Nine on the Ninth__February

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