no competition

If you are a professional photographer, don't worry - I'm your job security.

Saturday was such a pretty day, and I didn't have any plans, and my niece had asked me several weeks ago to help her get some pictures of the baby, and Brooke had to bring me something anyway, and my sister thought she could talk Lulu into pictures if the baby was involved, so we decided it would be a good day for a photography session. Whew!

Things didn't go as planned.We should have gotten a clue of how things would go when he peed all over Brooke when she was changing him for the first pictures.

These two are the best ones of our first attempt. Not a happy baby - he really doesn't like bright sunshine.

He looks just like his daddy in this one. I love those blue eyes. We were trying to come up with a workable plan and decided he might be happier outside.

Sister had this vision of Lulu in black and white, hair surrounding her, with a serious expression.

Lulu thought the idea a little ridiculous.

We got this. And decided maybe she would be happier outside too.

This is comfortable Lulu.

She has never been one to do much posing for the camera.

But give her that nephew and she totally relaxes.

She loves that baby.

Even when he pulls a wad of hair! After this we gave her a break sent her for a wardrobe change and tried to do some of Eli.

Again, not happening. There were times when we was happy...

Anybody know how to photshop that pacy out of his mouth. After this he was given permission to take of those clothes and take a nap so that we could take a few more shots of Lulu.

We got a few good ones and headed to the house. But on the way back I remembered the really pretty patch of black eyed susans near my drive way and demanded that she pose for just a few more. I didn't realize that because of the glare from the gravel road, the sun would be blinding at that moment. So Lulu's already squinty eyes were impossibly squinty.

"Open your eyes!" And then I get this -

then this -

We headed to the house for real this time. But Eli was awake when we got there, and Chris had just pulled up on the tractor. We couldn't resist putting the baby in the driver's seat. And I think this expression sums up the day.

What the hell are you talking about?

Eli might not have laughed much, but we sure did. 

two day outage

Living in the country has its ups and downs. Finding a way to connect can be a definite down. Where I live, I can't get DSL. We can't get cable. Cell coverage is iffy at best. It's just something we are accustomed to. So for me, it's satellite TV and satellite internet - and of course they are from different providers, so I can't bundle for a discount.

For the past two days we have been "experiencing an outage" with our internet. I do have to say that I got a call saying it would be up Friday morning, and when I got on today, it worked. But it was strange, and inconvenient, to be without an internet connection for two days.

And then this afternoon, the TV just went black. No static. No blinking. Nothing. Several minutes later we got a message that said something about the sun causing the disruption to our service. Really? The sun? We've had satellite TV for many years and never have I gotten that message. It didn't stay out for long - only a few minutes.

I discovered the internet was out on Wednesday evening. I had been sitting out on the deck watching the cows and the shadows move across the field.

The sun sets on the other side of the house.

The trees at the other end of the field glow - seemingly on fire at times.

It was a peaceful few minutes even with the crunching of the cows eating grass - have you ever listened to how noisy cows are when they eat? Like dry limbs rattling in the wind. Like a covey of quail taking flight.

It didn't take long before I had some company.

Mewing every few seconds. Sometimes the peace and quiet of the country can get really loud.