Who knew a heart shaped rock could be so photogenic!!

Can you find the heart shaped rock in the pile?  This reminds me that out of all the people in the world, God knows me by name and knows my heart....

I went for a walk along the coulee close to our house and found this 

heart shaped rock along the way!  

An old piece of tin with grass growing through made an

interesting back drop as well.

A clear blue prairie sky in the background.

Looking forward to a trip to Victoria this coming week.

Our first official "empty nest " get away.

Hope to get lots of photos along the way.

Photo Challenge - TREES

Time for another photo challenge over at Donna's, be sure to check out the other people who are sharing their photos this week!

I really like trees and I guess since I have grown up on the prairies, I really like "lone trees" against the vast prairie sky. 

Most of the trees are bare as we have had some strong winds.  We got some fall clean up done with raking leaves up.  I don't really like the bare landscape, and look forward to some snow to cover up the drab colors.  Although, in Souther Alberta we don't seem to get as much snow.

This was one of my favorite shots just taken with my Iphone.

This row of trees is on the grounds of the community college.

This is a tree in our yard, i took this shot last winter.

Collage made in Picmonkey

This little tree, which is a sour cherry tree of some sort, was the last to have its leaves change color.

It was a foggy morning when I took this picture, just a few days ago.

This is the same little tree in a photo I took last year.

Had some fun editing it in Picmonkey

There is a coulee just a mile or so from our property.  This lone tree stands on the edge of it.

Oh how I would love to have a house built on the edge of this coulee!

Here it is right out of the camera

And with some editing fun

I even brought some of Mother Natures color into my kitchen this year.

Have a great week end everyone and be sure to check out the other pictures at the party.

Donna's Photo Challenge
Mosaic Monday

How does your garden grow....

We have been enjoying some beautiful summer weather here!  The flowers are really starting to bloom and I have daisies again!!  Rome wasn't built in a day, and it is taking some time to get this yard organized.  I have planted some new perrenials and I am hopeful that they will come back next year and the next...

When I saw these bed posts at the Restore, I knew the perfect place for them.

Best part was they were $5.00 each, Darrell cut them down so they would

make a nice grouping for the garden.

I enjoy "before" and "after" blog posts and participated in a June Makeover Challenge that was hosted over at Thrift Diving with Serena.  She put out a challenge to finish a room makeover in the month of June.  Since I was working on my guest room, I decided to participate.  It is great having a deadline to work with and you can visit all the wonderful before and after posts by the bloggers that jumped on board.  

Have a great day everyone and hope you have sunny skies where you are.

I should really be in bed.....

It is 12:33 am!!  Sometimes I can be a really night owl and I get busy editing pictures, just for fun!  Here is what I came up with using Picmonkey and a tree!!

Here is the original picture

Some collage making

And who knew you could make it look like the tree was painted onto a brick wall....

Kinda cool,,,or maybe it is just late!!

Good night everyone and have a great week end!!

Linking up to :

Mosaic Monday
Friday Fences

Quiet Sunday and a winner!

We have a winner for the packet of handmade cards.....Diane of  Lavender Dreamer is lucky #8.  I will be sending off some snail mail to her this week!  

Leaving you with a picture of a church in Oyen, AB  It is closed now, but I remember being in the little town for a hockey game.  The bright blue sky on a crisp winter day is my memory of this photo.

We are having "soup Sunday" at our house today.  Neices, nephews, our kids and Darrell's brother and his wife will total 16.  So thankful that we have family close by to share a meal after church today.

Have a great day!

Little Church on the Prairies

Today, Darrell and I went to Havre Montana....just a 2 hour drive from our place.   Thought we would travel on some roads we have never been on before.   Well, lets just say, I don't think I have to return to Havre anytime soon!  We did get in on a BOGO sale on shoes though!!

I forgot to take my camera, but thank goodness for Iphones!  This little forgotten church on the prairies caught our eye.   It was in the middle of nowhere!  I just wonder what it was like to have people attending it and where they would have come from on a Sunday morning?  Old buildings always make me wonder about the people that used them....hmmm.

I hope you enjoy the solitude of the photos I captured.

Have a great long week end everyone!

Thanks for stopping by the country.

On the Road Again...

Our oldest son, Kaleb, is in a band called the Social Threat.  The band consists of Wade (vocals and lead guitar), Kyle (vocals and drums) and Kaleb (bass guitar).  They are a punk rock genre and have been having fun doing shows in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

A couple week ends ago, I was travelling east to Medicine Hat and the band was on the road travelling west to Calgary.  My sweet shot for this week is one that I took while driving.... yes, I have to admit I was driving...but I did not cause an accident  or anything  :)  I put the camera on sports mode, held it up to the window and kept looking down the "divided hiway" for any sign of the big white van cruisin down the road.   While staying on the road, I took a chance with the click of the button to capture the band in motion!  

The composition is not too bad,,,what do you think?  

Here's the unedited version for the "Before an After" blog hop over at Pixel Perfect...

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Wordless Wednesday

Show off your Shot

Before and After Blog Hop

Thanks for stopping by everyone!  

Have a great week....

Monday on the horizon

Another summer week end behind us.  I am not ready for the summer days to be over.  We have enjoyed entertaining on the decks, fires in the outside room, the windows wide open,  the frogs croaking, and the summer list could go on.

This is Ruth, my dearest friend!  

We enjoyed a nice supper served on the deck tonight.

Spinach salad, flatbread pizza with bbq sauce, chicken, peppers, spinach

Delicious!!

Our plates were almost too big for the table!!

They are from Ikea,,,,,

We had a good visit, getting caught up on each others lives.

Time to call it a day.  I think I will curl up in bed and try to get my book finished that seems to have been on my nightstand forever...almost done!!  Have a great week everyone!

The morning sky:

Monday, August 15,2011

7:15ish am

"This is the day the Lord hath made..."

"Sieze the Day"

One crazy prairie storm...and getting somewhat caught up.

Hi everyone!!  There is one wicked storm brewing this evening.  We have had pouring rain, a bit of hail, wind and more rain.    I am finally finding myself in front of the computer .  Other than checking quick emails and making a few comments on some of your blogs, I have been busy this past week.  I am finally done working my fulltime "fill in" shifts at work and am back to my glorious 10-2 shift!!  We have had a busy week and a bit of BnB guests.  Holland, Switzerland, Edmonton, Moose Jaw are some of the places people have been visiting from.  I enjoy that about our BnB, meeting people from other places.

The Santo family from Switzerland.  

Their comments from our guest book at the BnB

"Dear Darrell and Dawna, we thanks you so much for your warmhearted hospitality! Your house is very beautifully furnished, we are very impressed.  A lot of details, and are all in the right place.  The flowers this morning were wonderful and the breakfast, dear Dawna, was very fine.  Thanks so much for all.  I hope we can come back in a few years.  We wish you all the best   If you are in Switzerland one day, you are very invited, to visit us."

It really is a small world, and in about a months time, Darrell and Ben will be in Switzerland and do plan on visiting the Santo family!!  Ben leaves for Sweden on July 28th...he is going with Hockey Ministries International and will be helping with on ice coaching and counselling at 2 hockey camps in Sweden.  Then on Aug 13th, he will meet up with his dad and grandpa in Zurich for another 2 weeks of seeing where Grandpa Florian was born and spent his early childhood.  They will have quite the adventure!!  Turns out that the Santo family's farming operation is only about 1 hour from where Darrell, Ben and Florian will be !  Ben will be travelling on his own to Sweden, so I know I will be a little bit anxious next week...you can say a prayer for me!!  I am glad that he and I  travelled to Europe last spring with the school trip, atleast he will know a little bit of what to expect with international travel.  

Ben getting on the airplane to come home from Frankfurt last April

Can't believe it is time to let them spread their wings more!!

We finally have had some really hot weather here on the prairies!!  On Saturday, after getting breakfast done for a full house at the BnB and getting all the rooms made up for the next group of people, I decided to sit in the sun for awhile, sip some iced tea and read my book!!

Same picture edited in Picnik

I decided to even let the watering can sit for a few hours....

Here is the same picture after doing some editing in Picnik.

Sunday evening and Monday my parents, aunt and uncle, and my moms first cousin and his wife were here.  We enjoyed sitting on the decks, looking at photo albums and visiting.   

My mom, Ben and cousin Donna

My dad, enjoying some ice cream on a hot day!

My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Alvin

Where has the time gone,,,,glad we have photos to remember them by!

Some interesting clouds in the prairie sky!

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by the country!  

I will try to get caught up on my blog reading soon!!

Gold on the Prairies!

I had a great drive to Red Deer today.  The small community we live in has a population of 3000.  We are about 2 hours to Calgary, or Red Deer or just a little over 2.5 hours to Med Hat.  We can get most everything right here in our little town,,,but what girl doesn't like a day of shopping!  Although, I wasn't in the city for long...I am a very quick shopper!!

Anyways, the weather was windy and stormy this morning when I left.  I put my camera in the car, a habit I am trying to get into.  I was glad I did, as the fields of canola are in full bloom and there is nothing quite like seeing the prairie bursting in yellow.  I stopped to shoot a little barn that is surrounded by canola.  The landowner cleared some old carraganas from the field, but left the barn!  I see that a piece of it was removed, but for the barn was left intact.   I guess he knew I would be needing a subject!!    I have also shot this barn in the winter.  Quite a difference when the prairie is full of color.

Cloudy skies this morning...

Coming home late afternoon, the sun was trying to make an appearance..

So, I pulled off the road again to shoot the barn with some different light.

Those are the Handhills in the background.

Don't you just love the wide open spaces !!

No traffic jams, no long lines, just peace and quiet.....

The only thing I dislike about coming home from a day of shopping is unloading the car and putting everything away!  I wanted some new summer clothes for work and found some great sales today!!  and of course found a few good items at Homesense.   After getting home, I went for a good hour walk and think I am ready to call it a day!  

Thanks for stopping by the country!

Posting to Photo Friday

Mellow Yellow Monday

Barn Charm

Project Aliciawww.projectalicia.com