Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Creamer's Field Christmas Tree

Creamer's Field Barns

December 20, 2010

That beautiful old Spruce tree made a lovely Christmas tree.  Sadly, because of damage from bark beetles, it had to be cut down last October.  I posted this photo and others, along with the story of the tree, in January.  You can read about it HERE and HERE.  For those of you who may have wondered, a new tree was planted in front of the farmhouse this summer.  While it's a very nice tree, it will be many years before it reaches the size of the old tree, as you can see in a photo I took on October 27th.

I am linking up with Amy's Barn Collective #11.

Sharing a Treat

The Pump House, one of our favorite restaurants, is just a little ways up the road from my house.  I've posted photos of the Pump House before, and you can see some of those HERE and HERE.  In the winter their parking lot is often a good place to see Ravens, our most plentiful wintertime bird.  The attraction for the Ravens isn't the restaurant, but what's across the road.  To you and me it's a dumpster site, but if you're a Raven it's an all-you-can-eat buffet!

February 2, 2010

I'm linking with

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 89

with my Index #4852

and

Eileen's Saturday's Critters 52.

Snowy Fence

In my last post I showed the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field around 1:45 in the afternoon.  Earlier, at 12:45, the fog was a little heavier around the barns.  Creamer's Field is behind my granddaughter's school, and I was on my way to pick her up from kindergarten. 

 I couldn't linger for long, but I took a few shots from a little different vantage point than the later shots, which were shot from the front viewing area, the most common view you'll see of the barns. 

There are a lot of split rail fences around Creamer's Field to help define the area for the many migrating birds who stop here on their way north and south.  You can see two rows of fences in these shots, enclosing the field to the west of the front viewing area.

I am linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Creamer's Barns

I've taken a bit of hiatus from blogging, but hopefully I'll be back to my normal routine now and can catch up with everyone soon.  Thursday afternoon when I passed Creamer's Field the sun was shining and most of the fog that had been hanging around the old dairy barns had lifted. 

Our snowfall had been much lower than normal, but early last week we got about six inches of new snow.  It was a welcome sight, and everyone who likes to play in the snow was happy.  Skiers, dog mushers, and snowmachiners finally have enough snow to get out and enjoy the season.  It looks more like a normal winter now!

I'm linking up with Amy's Barn Collective #10.

For a bit of summer color, the photo below is from my garden on July 27, 2012,

and is Index No. 6952 for Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 88.

A Taste of Spring

Since so much of the country is buried in snow right now, I thought a little spring color was in order.

Vashon Island, Washington

March 30, 2014

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run  "A" Round Ranch Report.

Vintage Fashion and Autos

Fairbanks is home to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, which features pre-WWII cars, along with fashions from the era and photos from those early days in Alaska.  I'm posting this photo of a 1906 lace tea gown, which is my photo index #7834, and linking with Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 85.  I posted a photo from Fountainhead for an earlier Foto Friday Fun in August, and you can check out that post and earlier Fountainhead Museum posts HERE.

I just can't imagine wearing something like this for afternoon tea, but then I'm more comfortable in jeans or sweatpants.  For that matter, I can't imagine attending an afternoon tea either.

Behind the lovely dress is a 1904 Buckmobile Runabout.  It is one of two known to still exist, and originally belonged to a doctor in New York.  The sunshade could be put up when the vehicle was parked and it touted its smooth ride. 

Click on the photo below to enlarge it and learn more about this interesting vehicle.

The Museum has a fantastic collection and is a delightful way to spend several hours.  You can see more at their website HERE.

Reflection

April 16, 2012

Breakup at Creamer's Field

I am linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report

Creamer's Field Residents

As many of my posts do, this one features the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field.  Today I'm also featuring one of the critters you'll almost always see when you visit there, and you can see them lined up atop the barn in the photo below.

There is a large flock of pigeons who love perching on the barns, and they especially like the cupolas.

The photo below was taken in August of 2013 on a gray day, and I did a little playing with it to brighten it up.

It's my Index No. 7777, which I'm submitting to

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 84.

I included it in a collage on a post I did in 2013, A Walk Around Creamer's Field, which you can see HERE.


I created another collage with some of the photos of the pigeons I took that same day.

I am linking up with Amy's Barn Collective #7

and

Eileen's Saturday's Critters

In a Far Away Place

Although I never left town, I may have seemed to have been in a far away place this week.  In October of 2011 we really were far from home, some 3100 miles or so in New York State.  When we visited the Hudson River Valley and Frederic Church's home, Olana, it felt even further away, both in miles and time.  Approaching the house, you get a feel for what lies ahead when you walk along the intricate fencing.

You may have heard of the Hudson River School.  It was a mid-19th century art movement that included many landscape painters who painted scenes of the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area.  Frederic Church, 1826-1900, was one of those artists.  He painted many scenes of the Hudson River Valley, but his crowning achievement was Olana, the Persian inspired mansion he built on his property overlooking the Hudson River.  It was completed in 1890.

Sadly, no pictures were allowed inside the house, but it is every bit as fascinating as the outside, and in much the same style.

The house is absolutely fantastic, but what takes your breath away is the view from the house of the Hudson River Valley.

Visible from Olana is the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, a cantilever truss bridge built in 1935.  I wonder what Mr. Church would have thought if he looked out his window and saw a bridge crossing the Hudson.  I have a feeling he would not have approved.

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

The photo of the bridge is my Index No. 1031, which was the number this week for Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 83.

Invasion at Creamer's Field

Normally an early winter view of the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field looks pretty peaceful.

However, Saturday some critters from the last Ice Age invaded the field in front of the barns.

We didn't make it over on Saturday, but they were still hanging around on Monday when Sydney and I stopped to visit.  Fortunately for us they were all friendly!

If we would have seen them during the Ice Age, those big cats wouldn't have been so friendly, but would have been on the hunt for that Steppe Bison and the baby Woolly Mammoth and perhaps even the Sandhill Crane. 

The visitors at Creamer's were created for the Creepy Critters program "Massive Cats of Ancient Alaska" that was held for the Halloween program at Creamer's Field on Saturday.

At the end of the last Ice Age, they wouldn't have been dealing with the snow, though.  Interior Alaska was a vast grassland while most of the rest of the northern part of North America was buried in ice.  Camels, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed cats roamed the land and shared this ice-free grassland with fox, lynx, and early people just 12,000 years ago.  Below is a view of the animals who lived there then from an information board at Creamer's Field.

Ice Age animals visited Creamer's Field for a Halloween event in 2012 also.  You can see them HERE.  My son-in-law Johnnie helped build those critters, and one of the mammoths made its way to his house.  The mammoth now resides on their lawn, and is pictured below in August 2013, along with my granddaughter Lyra.

I'm linking up with The Barn Collective #5

at Amy's Rose Street Reflections.

Storing Blueberries For Winter

Grizzly Bears, Denali National Park, September 15, 2014

I'm linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

A Trip Back in Time

Old Sturbridge Village, October 23, 2011

Old Sturbridge Village is in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and is an 1830s New England Living History Museum.  It's a fascinating place to visit!

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report

This is also my entry for

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 82

with Index #1313.

This week's number is 13, but I cheated a little bit.  When I searched for Image 13, this photo that was taken on October 23, three years ago today, popped up.  It was a good match for Good Fences too, and the date made it the perfect choice.