Corn and Apple Festival Part 2

As promised,here are a few more pictures from our annual festival.

What would a Corn and Apple Festival be if there were no corn   or apples.

I will not be showing the free apple cider,but they back a big truck into the street and serve small sealed cups of apple cider to all who want it.

The free corn is a bit more of a production,so I will try to show some of that.

This old tractor sits on a side lot and it is used to power the cooker for the corn as well as the husker.

Unfortunately,when I was there they were not husking the corn,so I have no pictures of that.

Here are the bins of corn,ready for the cooker,which you can also see.

Several men oversee this operation.

To the left you can see the volunteers who are handing out the corn as people walk by.

This picture shows some of the line-up,waiting for their one free cob of sweet corn.

The town has got this down to a science and the line flows very smoothly,and quite quickly.

On the long planks are bottles of pourable butter and salt shakers.

The town also makes sure that everyone gets their corn,even the people in the booths.

One fellow takes a shopping cart,with a cooler,filled with freshly cooked corn and a load of apple cider and makes his way down the street,handing out corn and cider to the vendors.

This fella enjoys his free corn.I might add that this is a very common sight on the street over the days of the festival.

I have mentioned A Rocha in previous posts,and they also had a booth.They were giving out samples of a fruit smoothie.

This was not just any smoothie.

Look carefully at the back of that bike and notice the base of a blender on it.

Someone got on the bike and pedaled away to generate the power to drive the blender and make a smoothie.

I cannot do a post on the festival without showing my favorite booth.

This is our son Steve and Jake,at Steve's display.

No,he doesn't sell anything right there,but hopes to generate interest in people who want to get their pictures taken by a pro.He had a good weekend,inspite of the fact that the weather was not ideal.

Thought for today:

Happiness isn't the easiest thing to find,

but one place you're guaranteed to find it is in a friend's smile.

44th Annual Corn and Apple Festival

The 44th annual Corn and Apple Festival in our hometown of Morden has come to an end.

This event takes place during the last full weekend in August.

The activities start on Friday at noon and end Sunday at about 6PM.

There are activities for all ages and tastes.

Of course face painting is a big one,especially for our Granddaughter,Kai.I think she is the cutest butterfly around.

After the face painting it was on to the rides.

All the rest of my pictures were taken on Sunday,

therefore the rides were not in operation.

They are only allowed to start until noon,so as not to interfere with the downtown worship service.

As you can see the sky was grey this morning,but all events went on as planned.

The Ferris Wheel looks pretty,but I prefer to watch it from on the street.

This slide is very popular with the kids.

Depending on the weight,a person can travel quite fast on the way down,again,not for me.

This fellow has been at the festival for many years.He takes his spot at the center of the street,and before long has children lining up to get their balloon creation.

I must say that he makes some very intricate designs.

I bet he gets real tired standing on those tall 'legs'.

When he walks he actually is really good,looking almost natural.

For Jake and me the big event is the Sunday morning church service.People from all the different churches attend.

Most of the local churches don't have a service on this day,but encourage the people to come here.

This year we had some local talent,like this quartet.

These are the Glencross Quartet.

We have known most of these fellows for many years.

They sing well and give a good gospel message in song.

Our special guests this year were Mike and Lynda Randle.

Mike gave the morning message and blessed our hearts

with God's Word.

Lynda has sung on the Gaither Homecoming shows.

She has a powerful voice and a great testimony.

These pictures are not great for quality,but they do give you a glimpse into our festival.

I will be doing another post about this,in a day or two.

I found some new toys to play with in Photoshop Elements.

To start with I wanted to show you another image of the Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Isn't this a handsome bird?

O.K. on to the new toys.

To some of you this may be old stuff,but I guess Im a slow learner.I just found these Grayscale Masks at About.com.

This is a fun way to add a border to the image.

A couple of days ago we had some thunderstorms pass by.

As the sun was about to set,the light on the now distant clouds was so lovely.

This image is taken on our yard,again,I added a mask for interest.

Note the Willow on the left,it was at the top of this tree,where the Flycatcher was sitting.

Here is one more shot of the same thunderstorm clouds.

I love all the details in clouds like this,and the orange glow of the setting sun just enhances that.

A third version of a Grayscale Mask was used.

All pictures by Ruth

Though for today:

Remember,there's no cloud too dark,

For God's light to penetrate.

If we keep on believing,

And have faith enough to wait.

Around The Yard

The last few days have been busier as far as birds and Butterflies are concerned.

We have finally seen some Hummingbirds at the feeder.

Of course I would like to get that perfect shot while the Hummer is hovering,but that is easier said than done.

I will settle for just a decent shot,like this.

We have had quite a few Butterflies around.

I think this is one of the Sulfurs,but would welcome correction.

I just like the way it looks against this yellow flower.

While shooting the butterflies,I noticed two bees on one flower.

I tried to get a quick shot and ended up with this.

I am not disappointed that they are both in flight.

We used to have two large apple trees,but are down to one.

Jake pruned it quite severely last year,so I didn't expect any apples,but look,we have some.

These are the Goodland variety and make a fantastic pie.

Earlier this spring Jake and I saw a Life bird,the Olive-sided Flycatcher.I got a couple of pictures,but nothing really good.

I looked out the back door the other day and look who was sitting on the top dry branch of our Willow.

This is the Olive-sided Flycatcher.

I got a number of really good pictures while it was sitting,but this is my favorite.This was definitely a lucky shot,but I'll take it.

Today has been a little cooler and that came along with high winds.The forecast is for hotter temperatures again by the end of the week.

Morden is getting ready to host the annual Corn and Apple Festival this coming weekend.

This means the town will be filled with visitors and action.

Thought for today:

In God's economy nothing that happens to you is ever wasted.

A Special Moment !

I want to share with you a moment of my time.

I have never had a manicure,and don't care to wear nail polish.

Last night all that changed,at least for a short time.

My granddaughter,Kai came for a sleepover.

She had brought along two colors of nail polish,

and was prepared to give Grandma a manicure.

Before you see any of the pictures,please remember,she is 4 ½ years old.

Grandma ended up with more color on her hands,than ever before.

Kai likes to have her nails done in multi colors,so this was what I 'needed' as well.

Her hands are not  as well coordinated as that of an adult,so the paint did not all stay on the nails.

This was a delightful experience,with a girl who I love dearly.

Kai and I went shopping,and I made a point of showing off my new nails to some of the cashiers at the stores.

You should have seen Kai beam,when each one praised the beautiful job.

I dutifully kept the polish on until Kai went home,but by now it is gone.

For all you ladies out there,take a good look,this might just start a new trend.

Thought for today:

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.

More Winnipeg Pictures

I am taking you back to Winnipeg,the capitol city of Manitoba.

These pictures are still from our visit there on August 5th.

No visit to Winnipeg,would be complete without a stop at the St.Vital park.

There was not a lot of action,but I found these Mallards to be rather cute.

We walked within inches of them and they would not move.

Of course as I had said in a previous post we were at the English Gardens.

Our main purpose was to photograph birds,but when they are not around,flowers are a good second.Don't get me wrong,I love capturing flower images,at least they don't fly away.

Jake and I went for a little walk in a forested area and found these little flowers.

The picture is not very sharp,but I thought they were worth posting.

I have no idea what they are,but I like the unique shape.

This is one of Jake's pictures.

I love the yellow glow created by the flowers.

The Goldfinch almost blends in with the surroundings.

The following two pictures were taken while driving(Jake was driving and I was taking pictures),and using my Canon Power Shot.SX110.

The building here is the Royal Canadian Mint.

Coins for many parts of the world are made here.

One of their most recent creations are the medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The medals are displayed on the outside of this building.

This is a closer shot of the Mint.

Some facts which I found on the internet,may be of interest.

The Mint produces 1 Billion coins each year.Now that is a lot of pocket change.

They tell us that their high speed circulation process can produce 20 million coins each day,that is 750 per second.

If you are ever in Winnipeg,take a tour of this place,it is fascinating.

Thought for today:

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.  

The English Gardens

On August 5 Jake and I went to Winnipeg,to one of our favorite photo spots.

The English Gardens,almost always give us good photo opportunities,

and this day was no exception.

Of course we hoped to see at least some birds.

This Red-eyed Vireo stopped long enough to get a good shot.

We heard more birds than what we saw.

It seems they mostly wanted to hide in the foliage.

The flowers were spectacular.

I have to give credit to the gardeners,employed here.

They are busy reworking the gardens constantly.

Clusters of Goldenrod remind me that although the temperatures are high,fall is fast approaching.

The vibrant colors of these Snapdragons should be attracting the Butterflies and bees.

Unfortunately,I did not see much activity around these,

except for one photographer,who enjoyed the brilliance.

We noticed a few Cottontails around

This one had chewed all of the leaves from the Lily plants in this area.

Here he is up on his hind legs,reaching for the last few tender leaves.

Thought for today:

Smiling lets the world know that there is hope.

A New Record!

The record has been set!

On Saturday August 7,the city of Winkler together with Children's Camps International

set a new Guinness Record,for the most combines on one field,during harvest.
Here are a few of my pictures,taken with a Canon SX110.

Children's Camps International is a nonprofit organization which sends children to camp in third world countries.The Harvest which was held on Saturday raised funds for this purpose.

Here is a look at a small part of the crowd,waiting for the combines to start rolling.

Another look at part of the crowds.

They had food available as well as entertainment,from 9Am to 5PM.

You will notice that people try hard to get above the crowd,for a better view.

Looking down one of the line-ups of combines.

They had a line-up at each end of the field going to the center,where the people waited.

This picture is indicative of the 'color ' most seen on  the field.

John Deere is a very popular brand in these parts.

It was hard for me to get all the 200 combines onto one picture,

This is the best I could do,and I must say it was an impressive sight.

There were 100 at each end of the field,with a couple more on standby,just in case someone had trouble.

The count down was broadcast over loud speakers,for all to hear,

on the count of one,all the machines came to life and started to gather up the harvest.

These pictures are limited in their scope,but I invite you to visit my son's blog.

He is a professional,and was on a helicopter,circling the field.

The pictures he has do a much better job of showing the whole picture.

Click on the link below to enjoy a series of his shots.

Personal Expressions Photography

Thought for today:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Weeds Of Beauty

Weeds! We want them out of our gardens and lawns.

They grow faster than any cultivated plant,or so it seems.

But,when we stop to look at weeds,they really are quite lovely.

These yellow weeds were growing beside the Lagoons.

I know I do not want them in my garden,but they are lovely here.

Another weed also at the Lagoons.

Such a beautiful color.

All I needed was for a butterfly to visit these flowers,but alas,that did not happen.

This weed has no flowers,but is still showing it's beauty,as it stands at attention beside the water.

This sunshine yellow flower brings  a smile to my face.

It may not be on any gardeners most wanted list,

but it has as much beauty as many expensive plants,

look at those delicate petals.

My next picture is not a weed to get rid of.

Many times we say,children grow like weeds,and they surely do.

This is our precious Kai,who is growing up so fast.

She had just gathered a few flowers to take home,when her Dad got this picture of her.

I think the best flower in  this bouquet is the one holding the flowers.

The above picture was taken in our back yard.

You can see that the plants are allowed to grow wild there.

Yes,part of the yard has lawn,but we leave some areas wild,to encourage wild flowers.

Thought for today:

 A weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want something else.  In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit.  Weeds are people's idea, not nature's.  ~Author Unknown