We have a WINNER!!! (of the July's Free Photo Contest)

The judges have spoken!!!

Once again, it was an almost impossible task 

to choose just ONE winner.

For those of you that need a reminder of 

all of the photos that were entered

into 

the FREE PHOTO CONTEST for July....

click on THIS LINK.

See?

Hard to choose just ONE winner, isn't it?

But...

my wonderful randomly-chosen judges

did it.

(Bless their hearts).

So....

(drum roll please).....

July's winner for the theme of "ACTION or MOTION" 

is......

LINDA REEDER....

for

this SPECTACULAR PHOTO!!!:

An excellent choice!!

It has action (the bird catching the other bird...just stunning!)

AND

the fabulous motion of the wind on the white-capped waves....

Special mention also goes to:

--Larry

--Grandma
--Nancy (they loved the boy's expression and action of the water!)
--Kearsie
--J.J.

I loved them all, I truly did....
and I want to congratulate and thank all the people who entered the contest...
you are outdoing yourselves every month!!!

Every single judge I have contacted have a very difficult time
choosing a winner...they have loved them all!

Keep those wonderful entries coming in!

And now that I am saying THAT,
remember to submit
your AUGUST's entry....

The
theme
is:

Sunrises or Sunsets

Get your picture into me (following THESE RULES) no later than midnight on August 31st.

(I have removed the rule that you couldn't have previously published it on your blog).

That date will be here before you know it....
so dig through your archives...
I KNOW you must have a gorgeous sunrise or sunset picture in your files
to send in...
or
go out and get one tonight or tomorrow morning!!!!

Antique Car Show: Part TWO

Today I am continuing my series

on showing you the classic cars

from two antique car shows

we attended this summer.

There were so many different kinds of cars there...

so many wonderful details!

Look at this hood ornament! You don't see these anymore!:

And the insignias!:

The cool dashboards and steering wheels!:

Another insignia!!:

I love seeing these coming down the road!:

I LOVED this old camper!!!:

And these "lipstick" tail lights on this classic Caddie:

Look at this car's rear!!!

AWESOME, isn't it???

No wonder Cadillacs were sought after back in the day...

I have more pictures to share with you in future posts...

stay tuned!!

*************************************************************

Ok.

It is time for my first reminder about this month's FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!

August's theme is:

SUNRISES OR SUNSETS

Go search your archives...I KNOW you must have one in there somewhere!

NO?

Then grab a partner and go sit at the beach or on a mountain and watch the sunrise or sunset together...

(hey, it just may perk up your love life at the same time as getting a photo for the contest!, wink, wink)

Send me your photo by midnight on August 31st, following THESE RULES...

Hurry, the month will be getting away from you before you know it!!

Antique Car Show: Part ONE

We attended two antique car shows this summer.

I just love going to them.

So for the next few posts,

I

will be sharing photos

of them with you.

Don't ask me the names or years of the cars....

I am worse

at naming them

than I am

of naming wildflowers.

LOL

But I know I love them all.

Their classic lines,

their colors,

their grills...

their interiors...

everything about them!

Look at this beautiful BLUE CONVERTABLE!!:

Loved, loved, loved it's grill!:

And the dashboard!:

Look at THIS classic beauty!:

Shouldn't Bonnie and Clyde be in there somewhere?:

This red spare on the rear of this car

had me

the minute I saw it!:

And the ART DECO side windows?

Help me Rhonda!:

Somehow, it just looks more natural

in

black and white.

Right?:

Stay tuned....

I will be doing a few more blogposts

with more pictures

of these beautiful cars!!

Flowers and more flowers!

I have some photos from garden flowers

and

flowers in the woods

today

for you!!

Actually,

this first photo

is a thimbleberry bush where the flowers have gone now and the very raw (not ripe yet) thimbleberrries are forming:

Here is what the blossom looked like before the berries form:

A close up of my Iris in my garden...I loved this variety..I call in my "rusty Iris".

I have no idea of its formal name:

Another shot of one:

The whole flower:

These musk mallows grow all over here in the woods and beside the highway.

We took some white ones and some pink ones and transplanted them into my garden.

They do well there and are a great "filler" when the others are between blooming:

A bee on some blossoms in the woods:

My "almost white" Iris in my garden.

(They are all gone now, sigh):

You can be sure I will have all of these

on my screensaver

when the howling snow

comes outside

my window

in just a few months!!!

(I have to keep my sanity SOMEHOW then, right?)

Here They Are!! July's Photo Contest Entries: Motion/Action!!!=REVISED

(This is a revised post, due to the fact that I FORGOT to post

one entry!--and I have TWO posts today...so make sure you go down to read the next post too!)

Hang on to your cameras,

put on your eyeglasses---

because

this

latest month's

PHOTO CONTEST

entries

are superb!!!

The theme for July's photo contest

was:

ACTION OR MOTION

And boy, are you going to love

seeing

the entries we got.

We received

15 entries!!

The entries come in all month

and I try and keep track the best I can...but

sometimes, I accidently skip one.

My deepest apologies go the Linda R. for not including her marvelous photo
the first time I posted all the entries.

And since I did forget one this time, I did this a revised post, revised on Aug. 8, 2010.


Luckily, I hadn't contacted the judges yet, but I will be doing so this week.

That being said,

grabba cuppa coffee (or tea, or wine!),

sit back and relax...

heck, put your feet up, too...

Here we go..............

(remember the theme: Motion or Action):

This one is from Linda. Her blog is called: "Up a Green Tree".

This one is from Squirrel Queen. She has two blogs. One is called: "The Road to Here" and the other one is called: "Through Squirrel Eyes".

This one is from Kearsie. Her blog is called: "Sounds Like Tomatoes".

This one is from Scott Pierce. He does not have a blog to share with us.

This one is from Nancy. Her blog is called: "Ordinary Miracles& the Crazy 8".

This one is from Mistaya. She has two blogs. One is called: "Life''s Adventures" and the other one is called: "Life of a Rescued Pound Puppy in her own Words".

This one is from Larry. He has two blogs. One is called: "Larry's Creative Zone" and one is called: "Larry's Photo a Day".

This is from Katie V. She does not have a blog to share an address with us.

This one is from J.J.  Her blog is called: "The World According to J.J. in L.A."

This one is from Sara. Her blog is called: "Greyt Days".

This one is from Connie. She has two blogs. One is called: "Far Side of Fifty" and the other one is called: "Far Side of Fifty Photos".

This one is from Blissed Out Grandma. Her blog is called: "Blissed Out Grandma".

This one is from Grannyann. Her blog is called: "Ann Tucker's Blog".

This one is from Photogirl 0207. Her blog is called: "A Bella Life".

 This one is from Linda R.  Her blog is called: "Linda's Letters".
 

****************************************************************************
Weren't they WONDERFUL??

Don't you just LOVE how people interpret the themes
and come through
in such artistic ways???

Thanks to everyone that entered...you did it again!!!
You made this contest special.

So, who is your favorite????
Can you pick just ONE???
The judges have their work cut out for them again.

OH,
I almost forgot...
WHAT IS AUGUST's THEME??????

The August's FREE PHOTO CONTEST's
theme is:

SUNRISES or SUNSETS!!!

Get up early or stay out and catch
a gorgeous
sunrise or sunset
(or dig through your archives!)
and
submit ONE PHOTO fitting the theme
by MIDNIGHT
on
August 31st.
Follow THESE RULES.
And please remember, if you have a blog, when you send me your photo, please remember to tell me
a. your blog name
b. what name you want me to say it is from
c. your blog address.

Please do this, even if you submit photos frequently.

I do not memorize your blog addresses and names and it is so much easier
if you include that information when you send me your photo.

Thanks so much!

Don't wait to enter, you will forget!!!

OH, and also:
go below this blogpost....
I have another one for you to read today, too....

Ah, yes,...another LOCAL Police Report!

For those of you new to my blog (and thanks for joining us!!)...

Occasionally, I do some attempted humor.

I do some regular themed things on here besides photography.

One of the regulars I do are copies of my

LOCAL POLICE REPORTS

along with MY COMMENTS in bold italics.

So today, that is my treat for you.

Read the circled Local Police Reports BELOW:

In case you can't read them well, here is a repeat of what they say, along with my comments:

1. 11:40 pm: woman crying at Lincoln and Cleveland:
We, in the north, are usually a pretty happy bunch.  So, I guess it makes news when someone is outside crying. We care, PEOPLE, we care!!!  Someone called the police to cheer her up, I guess....hope he came with his police stripper outfit and some music. I know that would cheer ME up...how about YOU?

2.  9:21 am: VOLUNTARILY missing person, later located, reported at the Police Station:
Now this is interesting. Someone VOLUNTERS to go away....(don't all people running away do it voluntarily?) Did they raise their hand at home or work and say: "Pick me, Pick me...I wanna volunteer to run away today!"?  Is this an official game of hide and seek? I am sure the police scratched their heads at the person calling in. I am sure it went something like this:

Person calling: "Hello? Police Station?  I am calling in a missing person report. Well, he really isn't missing...he woke up yesterday and said he was bored and asked if he could volunteer to disappear.  I really didn't want him to go missing, because I wanted him to clean the garage..but he insisted. So, he's missing."
Police: M'am...have you been drinking? 
Person calling: Nope. Just worried because he hasn't come home yet.
Police: Well, is the garage clean yet? Maybe he is waiting for you to pick up those oil spots and Christmas rubbermaid boxes always in the way of his tools? He'll probably return at sunset, or when the garage is done, whatever comes first.
Person calling: I suppose. Next time, I won't tell him ahead of time that I have a project in mind..that way, I won't have to call you.
Police: We'd appreciate that, M'am.
Person calling: So you aren't even going to do a house call to interview me? Because I saw a few of you selling those Policeman Ball tickets and yessiree....I likey what I saw!!!
Police: CLICK.

3. 4:56am: Suspicious situation: person crying, 700 block of Champion.
What did I tell you?  We don't have people crying here that often. When they do, someone calls it in so they can get help. Either that, or we have a LOT of sadness here because this is the second report in the same night.  Hmmm. I wonder if it was when the stock market crashed? That would explain it! Wait a minute! I bet it was that guy that ran away because he didn't want to clean the garage!!!????

Out in the Woods and in the Garden!

I have taken several photos in the woods and in my garden this summer.

So, today, I am sharing some of them with you.

My peach poppies only bloom for about a week or so, but I love seeing them.

Once it rains, they fall over and they are done, so I always hope we don't get any wind or rain the week they bloom:

I am not sure if these are part of the stems of the poppy,

or

if it is two slug bugs.

I wasn't about to touch them to find out. LOL

So I just took photos of it instead!:

We went to a place called Fummee Falls and this was the steps we had to climb to see the falls:

(My calves and thighs said thank you very much!)

A white and purple Iris in my garden:

Fummee Falls...worth the climb!:

A spooky picture

of

a turkey vulture on a barren tree:

Sweet little doves:

A purple and striped striated Iris...it smells like grapejuice!:

More photos to come (in future blogposts)

 of our lovely summer in the U.P. of Michigan!