For Scorpio

A beautiful type of hummingbird moth I found at an overgrown lakeside. Its tweeked in Photoshop with a watercolor effect and Haiku.

Moultin Color

In Alexandria Louisana is a wonderful little zoo that we visited one morning in September. My first crossing of a wood bridge just led me through more habitats, but on the way back, the carp were being fed and they roiled into a mass of color.  It was beautiful to see all the reflections and color of the fish in a hurry to gobble up the pellets.

The Face of Boswell, Oklahoma

Yep, Black Angus Cattle seem to dominate the landscape!

Soul Sister

Hey, Are You Looking At Me!  I am to cute, to ignore.  Can't you see me pressing my nose onto the glass to get you to pet me!  Ok, I am 500 lbs but I am a cute girl, a Soul Sister in the feline world.

Haiku

Lately I have felt bad about some of my old photos just sitting around on cd's or in storage boxes and thought I would re-vitalize them and try putting some Haiku words with them.  Its been an incredible exercise and I see these old photos with new eyes.  Now I look at them and try and add not only color, but sound, smell and enviornment with seasons.  It changes everything.

Dragonflys

Dragonflys are coming to an end here at our place and we didn't have as many this year as in years past.   This little guy has some appeal to me with the back light.  He is perched on a stem of lavender and was quite the model.  I shot this with my 150mm Sigma macro lense at 400 ISO 1/60.  I keep trying new exposures for macros so my subjects are more focused.  This one could be better but I like it anyway.

The next dragon fly is the same one!   Now I am facing the brick wall and he is lit by the late evening sun and the brick wall really sets him off nice.   Wish it were sharper but I like the colors and composition.

                                                                              

Savannah Cats

What a treat to get up close and personal with my friends Savannah's.  These little guys are like a 24/7 entertainment center.  Playing in cat agility tunnels and inventing games.  The big ears don't miss a sound and the eyes never miss the smallest movement.

They are so intense and creative.  They have such expression and I tried to capture that in my photos (I have lots of photos!).  These photos I took indoors in the early morning with my canon xti and my Tamron 28-75 lense with flash. 

 

Ranch/Kennel For Sale or Trade by Owner

  A cattle ranch that went to the dogs! We have had  many wonderful years here with our dogs and  events.  This panorama is  from our back porch where we have enjoyed great BBQ's and friendships throughout the years.   Over to the left is the old Windyglen van parked at the shop and clubhouse.  To the left and behind that are the RV sites.

Windyglen was always about the dogs - Rain or shine we had some of the best big National events hosted here.  Boswell's catering truck is seen here in the middle of one rainy trials.  The whole 40 acres is field fenced and gated.  The RV sites have hookups and water - there are 16  30 amp hookups on the ranch, and 4 at the small sister 2 acre property plus septic there.

This is the front of the property.  To the left is North and to the left of the little cabin is the gate to the pasture and RV hookups.  To the far right is South.  Mail box is right at the road, school bus comes by and UPS and FED X make regular stops at Windyglen!  Its always lovely and green here even in hot September.

2009 The house got a makeover.  New floors, new paint, new roof!  1700 sq ft. is a great size for new home owners or peole wanting to downsize.  We enjoy Dish TV on our big screen TV and Hughes net for internet.

The kitchen is open and bright with gorgious new sink and faucet.  The kitchen has wood cabnits & wood pantry off to the right and a large laundy room going to to the back garden area. 

The dining area is spacious.  The kitchen is behind us and the bedrooms and bath are ahead.   The wall partition on the right is open allowing you to walk around from the halls into the dining, kitchen and livingroom.

The BIG bedrooms are 16x20, both with walk in closets.  Only two bedrooms but with the spacious size we  have room for furniture & computers!  The warm southwest painted bedroom has a master bath  and  big walk in closet & a door that goes out onto the back porch, so it can double as a mud room!

Yeah, the kennel!  Or if a person prefered a shop/cattery/greenhouse/barn!  Built in 2004 to code with septic of its own.  Florescent inside and outside lights, covered kennel runs, the chain link runs are 4x10 with indoor outdoor openings.  There are 9 runs on each side.  Both ends have roll up doors (as seen on the pic on the left the white door rolls up and allows a great breeze to go through.  Heating/AC unit was installed 2008. Has shower/toilet/utility sink/washer dryer/fridge/freezer.  Heck someone could actually make it a living quarters!  Shade trees surround the facility along with many water spickets - there is a well that we use for the kennel and outside watering, and we use the rural water for household use.

Misc. photos, gated area leading out to pasture, inside kennel, one of the 9 outdoor gated approx 20 ft x 300 ft, all accessable for mowing.

The shop area & carport, the center is an isle with 3 cedar storage rooms on concrete floors - the big open area was our club house/and tractor/mower/quad parking.  The big walk through takes you to the RV parking and the dog trial fields.  This shop has been welded with extra re-inforcement, is wired for lighting, and shop work of all kinds.

The garden area is approx 40 ft sq.  Has a gates to the front yard, a gate to the turnouts and a gate to the back yard.  This is right off the kitchen and laundry - the border has 3x4 foot sections around 3 sides.  Misc. photo of the outside of the kennel runs.

This little 16x24 ft cabin is a multi purpose building.  It has propane heat, ac, Dish TV and can be used for a guest cabin, utility cabin or whatever a person can immagine.  The Pasture Gate to the field and RV's is just behind the cabin which is north.

Feel free to write and ask for more information.  We are listed For Sale By Owner at $219,000.   Will consider a trade for house with small yard.   For over 40 years Windyglen has enjoyed the Sighthound world of running dogs but now its time for a new adventure.  Sally Papin  mopheads@windyglen.net

 or Don Papin pappy@windyglen.net  580 317 7418 cell.

Located SE corner of Oklahoma.  Boswell is on Hwy 70.  21 miles from Hugo, OK, 52 miles from Durant, OK, and 63 miles from Paris TX.  Boswell is 12 miles from our address.  The property is FLAT, completely fenced - no restrictions.  This use to be a cattle ranch, but with the sandy loam soil its perfect for horses.  Being in the middle of PRC rodeo country there are many horse ranches locally.

Boswell is about 30 mins away from Antlers the Deer capital of the United States.  We live 1 mile from the Red River that borders TX and Oklahoma.   Casino in Grant is about 20 mins away hosting a big new hotel, fancy resteraunts and gambling with entertainment.  In Durant the BIG new casino http://www.choctawcasinos.com/Durant.aspx

 Resort on Hwy 75 has it all.  So if you think living rural offers NO entertainment, you just gotta check it out!

Hwy 35 which goes up to Oklahoma City and Dallas is just 75 min to the west.  Dallas is about 2 1/2 hrs.   Tulsa is an easy drive up Indian Nation taking about 3 hrs on the senic turnpike.

We hope to hear from you!

Scissortails of Oklahoma

  This Scissortail was actually playing in the updraft and landing over and over on the powerline.    They are fiesty little birds, always scrapping and fighting.   Taken early morning as the sun was up, & caught the lovely color under the wings.

Backlight

One of last years cool shots of an Iris.  The sun was just coming up and the light was catching the edgs of this great white beauty.  I have often tried to capture the edges and shimmer of the iris, the depth and texture of the delicate petals.  I used my 150mm Sigma macro lense.  Doesn't give much dof but got the nice crisp edges.   Can't wait for the iris to bloom this spring.

Fadim's Snow

This was the start of snow last week - 7 inches by the end of the day was the most we have ever had.  Fadim was really enjoying the fun  flakes and he really got silly.  Its a bit hard to take a decent photo of a moving dog with the snow and low light but I thought this was pretty cute and worth the effort it took to try and get just one silly shot.

Weather!

The after snow was lovely in the early morning and our house measured a little over 7 inches of dry powder.  The dogs enjoyed romping in it but quickly got snowballs all over their feet and coat which didn't come off without alot of effort.  Not sure if this is record snow for this area but most folk around here can't believe how much cold wet, sleety,snowy, did I mention wet rain weather we are having this year. 

Will It Ever End!

Winter is still here in SE Oklahoma offering lots of diverse weather.  Sometimes I find some small forms that lend themselves well to the Macro Lense.
This little leaf looks so fashionable in its cloak of ice crystals.

Its a bit Fishy!

Sometimes when its just to ugly out to try and find something bright and cheerful to shoot, take a visit to one of the Aquariums and see what you can capture.  Last summer I  in the hot summer to visit the Tulsa Aquarium.  I used a couple different lenses to try for a good shot.  This Lion Fish was really co-operative and was shot using a little Canon Reble Xti.

Is It Spring Yet?

I am just dying for some color.  The winter months are so colorless and bland in SE Oklahoma .   I shot this photo with my macro lense and played around in photoshop to give it that ethreal look.   As I recall these flowers were very abundant and I didn't give them much consideration at the time but now I would really enjoy a handfull of them at my back porch.

The Beauty of DeadHeads

Its been a really cold winter for many of us and makes it hard to find anything exciting to photograph.  After all the color of the flower gardens have gone I get "un-inspired", but if I look close there are wonderful opportunities to take advantage of even in the cold frosts. 

Some of the things that I often am drawn to are the dead heads and seed pods that are still intact.  The way the petals wither and collect the frost and twinkle in the first light make them come to life again.

This particular DeadHead looks like its so fragile that it would shatter at the first touch, but now it will live forever as a digital image.

Enjoy!

Photography in SouthEast Oklahoma

January 2010 is the beginning of this photography blog and for all photographers in our area to enjoy and gather info on a new Photography club: ShutterBugs of SE Oklahoma.  The club is for all photography enthusiasts no matter what skill level or camera.  The Club is free and we hope to grow and offer lots of exciting field trips, day shoots, list assignements at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/shutterbugsOK/
and sharing of our great photography through the eyes of the lense.  As the blog grows I will list some of my favorite links and ideas for great shooting suggestions to keep your eye constantly looking for that great shot!