Photo Challenge #5 - FOOD

Who doesn't enjoy food?? I actually think I'm much better preparing it and consuming it than I am taking pictures of it, but I gave it my best shot!! (No pun intended!!)

Here is a platter of wonderful fruit that the family consumed on a hot day! It still makes my mouth water just looking at this one!!
Here is a pan of nachos I made for dinner the other night, before I put the cheese on top.....you wouldn't have been able to see all the goodies once they were covered in cheese!! It looked so pretty!! This is one of the Ryan family favorite dinners!!
And I HAD to take a picture of this beautiful dessert that James made for me the other night!! I love it when he kicks me out of the kitchen and says, "Mom, I'm making you a surprise!" I never know whether to be thrilled or worried!!

That's it for me this week! I'm off to see what's for breakfast!!

Photo Challenge # 4 - REFLECTIONS

This is funny, more than anything.....last night while we were out for our ride, I was trying to come up with a picture or two I could use for this week's photo challenge of reflections.....well there wasn't any standing water in sight. Now that was frustrating in itself. I knew that with my work schedule, I'd have to come up with something then or not have an entry this week, and I really do want to participate!!
Then I had this idea....use the side mirror on the car! Great, except for here we are driving around on dusty, dirty roads!! Oh well, I made an attempt and I guess that counts. And I'm having fun at it!! Dusty is enjoying the fact that I'm participating in this weekly challenge as well, and it's becoming a family thing as James often chimes in too!! So thank you, Wendy and Helen, for providing entertainment for those of us who wouldn't necessarily come up with it ourselves!! Incidentially, while I've been preparing to post this, Dusty came in and said, "It's OK to post that picture as long as you're posting others with it today that show that you REALLY do know how to take a picture!!" LOL I agree with him wholeheartedly!!! This is definitely not my best effort, but it's all I've got!! I DO like the fact that I got a double reflection....the reflection of the fenceposts on the side of the car, in the mirror.....kind of weird, eh?? Anyway, gang....this is it for this week!!! TFL!!

An Evening Ride in the Country

We love to go for a ride after a hot summer day. Riding "out in the country" isn't difficult for us, as we live in a VERY small town and it's about a mile to the "edge of town"!! Riding out in the cool, irrigated fields in the evening is just a wonderful way to unwind!
We are in the heart of Colorado's "corn country" and I always think of the saying, "knee high by the 4th of July!" Here we are on June 21st! The farmer's in this area plant their corn in staggered lots to extent the corn season as long as possible. As you drive along, you'll see corn at all different stages of growth. We can already almost taste our "Olathe Sweet" sweet corn!!! YUMMY!!


Our rich, fertile valley is used to grow many crops....corn, potatos, beans, onions, tomatos, peaches, cherries, apples, sod (for people's lawns!) and Christmas trees just to name a few! Everything is so green at this time of year, as they started irrigating about a month ago.

A pretty sunset taken from the mesa above our house.

Even with the awful price of gas, these rides are pretty cheap. We take our time, don't go very far, stop often to listen to the birds and watch for deer and to breathe the wonderful air!! The peace and quiet of the evening is rejuvinating!

More Pictures from Escalante......

Because Wendy has requested it and because I'm trying to figure out how this blog thing works, I'm posting more pictures from our trip up Escalante Canyon last weekend. These are some of my favorites.

This weekend is Father's Day, so there's no telling where we'll end up! Dusty's daughter, Lori, will be visiting us from Denver and we'll see what Dad feels like doing on his special day! Happy Father's Day, one and all!!

Photo Challenge

We took a drive up Escalante Canyon......only about 20 miles north of our house and then in another 12 miles to the west. It's very pretty, as you can see from the pictures. We keep trying to go places and take pictures in the area so you can see what it looks like around here. We have such varied terrain....from the desert to the mountains, all within a very short distance.

Escalante Canyon is fun to explore and James had a great time, wandering around and hiking up the sandstone rocks! There are a few cabins along the way, built in the 1800's and early 1900's by settlers. It's truly amazing that they are still standing, to walk through and explore!

I had a lot of fun taking pictures. Even though I'm not yet participating in the weekly photo challenge I thought I'd try my hand at this week's challenge of framing my pictures!