photo-of-the-day

farm-romance_2241

Continue reading

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Pumpkin Pie will be coming soon? Or is that some sort of melon? Whatever it is, I bet it will be tasty.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

photo-of-the-day

farm-romance_1254

Continue reading

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Look at those tiny little feet so perfectly gripping.

    My Cast Iron cookbook arrived yesterday and I sat down and read it cover to cover. It is fantastic! I also love the little family stories and historical bits of information with photos. My Mom gave me her set of 3 skillets which I have been using for years. Plus I have two Le Creuset pots that are daily staples as well. Once you cook with cast iron, everything else just pales in comparison. Another feature about your new book that I loved are all the wonderful photos of the farm. Little snippets of places I know and love just make this book a must have. As you might imagine, I have my eye on a few of those apple recipes which I plan to try as soon as Warren returns. Last night I made the basic cornbread recipe cut in half and I enjoyed it very much. Using a recipe from your BakeOver magazine, I made the black bean mixture and then placed the cornbread on top and baked it in the oven. Yummy! With just me at home, there are lots of left overs,which is another great outcome. Thank-YOU for all the time it took to create this wonderful guide to cast iron cooking. I hope many, who have never tried cast iron, will give it a try and join the generations of devotees!

    • MaryJane says:

      Our first real review!!! Love you Winnie. Your words make it all worthwhile.

      • Winnie Nielsen says:

        No, THANK-YOU!! Now, I can’t wait to see the bread book when you have time to complete. You know how I love the story of the Joseph C. Barron flour mill in Oakdale, Washington. Oh to have a flour sack from those days or one of his calendars like the 1912 one you show in your Ideas book! To me, this mill is the story of American life at the turn of the century when hard work and honesty were values people shared and honored. In 1912, my Dad was 10 years old and one of four boys living on a dairy farm in Omaha, Nebraska. I wonder if his Mom got her flour from a mill similar to Joe Barron’s? I already know that this book will be worth the wait and will be another must have for me!

        Happy Sunday!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Firefly Experience

“When I walk through a quiet forest in the middle of the night full of fireflies, I feel like I am in a magical forest. I see fireflies being a mere reflection of stars under the Milky Way, I feel connected to everything in the universe. They are communicating to me. I am listening …”

Photo by Jud McCranie via Wikimedia Commons

These are the poetic words of photographer Radim Schreiber.

Schreiber was born in the Czech Republic, but now lives in a fairyland called … Iowa.

Yup. The Hawkeye State. Corn fields and combines.

Sometimes, it takes a fresh perspective to see the ordinary as extraordinary.

“When I first moved to Iowa, I was mesmerized by the abundance and brightness of fireflies during summer nights. During my childhood in the Czech Republic, I had never seen anything like that,” he recounts on his website, FireflyExperience.org. “It was in 2003, and I was on the plane when I felt inspired. So, I made a sketch on a paper; it was a glowing firefly on a silhouetted blade of grass, with the moon in the background and the dark-blue sky. Since then I had this image in my head, waiting for the right time to materialize.”

Taking advantage of recent advancements in the low-light capabilities of camera equipment, Schreiber began to photograph fireflies in 2008. “The most challenging aspect of firefly photography is the fleeting nature of fireflies. When they glow, they like to fly or move. They never seem to be still for very long, and so I struggle to quickly compose my shots. It was sometimes almost complete darkness and I took the photo right when the firefly illuminated … and all that when being bitten by other insects. This truly shows my patience,” he says with a smile.

Photo by Jud McCranie, http://www.fireflyexperience.org/photos/

Perhaps even more delightful than his photos, though, is Schreiber’s Firefly Experience, which you are about to experience right here.

But before you do, be warned: if you are far from firefly country or have never known the magic of fireflies in person, you will pine. Yearn, even. Fireflies are just that fantastic.

Willing to take the risk? Then, immerse yourself in the Firefly Experience …

Continue reading

  1. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    If you love fireflies here’s the place to be , in the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee
    2017 Synchronous Firefly Viewing Dates:
    https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/news/2017-synchronous-firefly-viewing-dates.htm
    Yep -10s of thousands of fireflies all glow at once, its so popular now that they have to limit visitors so as not to bother the fireflies.

    I have always loved lightening bugs , as we called them when I was a kid. Really now who doesn’t love them? Would catch them every evening and put them in mayo jars to make a lantern, and let them out later on. My parents who were very strict about bedtime, would let me stay up a bit later for the firefly season, happy happy memories.

  2. Winnie Nielsen says:

    What a cool, cool video of Fireflies. Their concentration in the woods creates a magical experience. Thank-you for sharing.

  3. Rebecca Darrington says:

    Born and raised in IOWA! I will never live anywhere else. Something about Iowa gets in you. I can’t explain it, but its there. We have our own “Our Iowa” magazine, it shows how wonderful the state is. The firefly’s are just as said. So magical!

  4. Krista says:

    So very beautiful. Sadly I haven’t had the chance to experience fireflies. It has always been a dream of mine to visit a place and catch them in Mason jars just like a kid. Fireflies look so magical and fascinating! A must for my bucket list.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

photo-of-the-day

farm-romance_0906

Continue reading

  1. BB king says:

    Ooh, I do so love your hummingbird photos ! Always so lovely

  2. Winnie Nielsen says:

    What a perfect photo!! I have been enjoying two different types of Hummingbirds at my feeder lately. They even sort of do a little chirp as they land to feed.

  3. CJ Armstrong says:

    Love hummingbirds and we have a “show” every morning around our feeder which is at the edge of our deck on the east side of the house. We usually sit out there with breakfast and/or coffee, with our cat out with a halter and on her long leash, so we sometimes leave the back door standing open.
    The other morning two hummers flew in the house, one flew back out but I had to go see about getting the other one out. It flew around into all the rooms and flew into the big south window behind our couch. It was stunned and fell down to the sill. I was able to catch it and carry it outside. It was chirping but I wasn’t sure if it was okay.
    I laid it on the edge of the deck, stroked it a bit and after a couple minutes it “woke up” and flew off in a hurry. I was grateful to see it was okay!
    We’re trying to remember to shut the door so they don’t do that again. We have at least three “regulars” who hang around a lot. Just in the last couple days a rufous showed up . . . very bossy and agressive little bird!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *