God Bless America

Land That I Love

I want to thank Christian Photo for giving

me the opportnity to have a photography

show during the month of October.

It has been a wonderful experience

and something that was on my "bucket list"

and can now be crossed off.

And thank you to all of you who have

visited Christian Photo, viewed my photos

there or taken a look at my work

here on my blog.

I appreciate that you

took the time to do so.

My sincere thanks go out

to all of you.

And Adam from Christian Photo,

you rock for making this happen!

State Fairgrounds: Agriculture Building

I know the Agriculture Building

at the Iowa State Fairgrounds

holds a lot of memories

for many Iowa residents.

I thought it was pretty with the

sun coming thorugh the trees.



Close Up

I was playing in Photoshop

and took the previously posted leaf photo

and cropped in close.

I really liked the results.

Do you have a preference?



The Beauty of Autumn

Indian Corn

Red Leaves after the Rain



Pumpkin

Here's a happy little pumpkin,

still in the field,

still on the vine,

waiting to be

chosen by some boy or girl,

as that perfect

Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin. 

It's only a few days until Halloween.

Have you chosen your pumpkin yet?

Still Autumn

I thought I needed some

fall color in here.

I took this photo

on a recent morning,

after it had rained,

and the sun was starting to come out.

The fog had lifted.

The leaves were glistening.

It was another beautiful morning.

Here's proof that not all the

autumn colors are gone.

There are still many

beautiful

trees and plants out there.

You just to have to open your eyes.

Photos for Sale at Christian Photo or Online

Just a reminder that for one more week

my photos will be displayed and for sale

at Christian Photo in Des Moines.

All are framed and ready to be hung in

your house! Please take a look at Christian Photo

if you've not had a chance, or if you had already

looked and considered purchasing something.

I recently put them all on sale, so if

you were holding off until later,

now is a good time to purchase a photo

at even better price.

Christmas is coming so a nice framed

photo for a loved one would be

a thoughtful gift. I have a lot of

outdoor scenery, flowers, a collage of

outdoor scenes, a collage of Des Moines scenes,

an Iowa State Fair photo, one of the National Cathederal,

and a variety of one of a kind photos.

Any of my photos can be bought

through me by contacting me at my

email address, alliecatphotos@gmail.com

I will ship unframed photos to anywhere

in the U.S. Prices vary so please

contact me if you're interested.

Thank you!

Beautiful Day

Winter Day at Jester Park

Here's a winter day at Jester Park

(yes, last winter--we're not quite

ready to have any weather

like this, and it is only fall).

If you've looked at many of my posts,

I've shot a lot of photos at Jester Park.

I also give it rave reviews.

It is one awesome county park,

filled with an abudance of wildlife,

so many places to camp, walk, golf, hike, play,

or shoot photos of the scenery along upper Saylorville.

I'll say it again: if you haven't been there before,

it's time you head up towards Granger

and check out Jester Park.

Drive slow and watch for wildlife.

Enjoy. Play. Take some photos.



Silo Silhouette

There are many beautiful places

in this world,

and I hope to someday

have the opportunity to see

more of them,

but for right now,

I'd have to say that living in

Iowa

gives me the opportunity to see

gorgeous scenery

every day of the year.



The Green of Summer

The green leaves of summer,

before the changing seasons

brought us the fall colors.

I liked this photo because

of the hints of blue sky

blurred in the background

behind the crispness of the

leaf in the front.

Any photo you see on my

site you can buy. Contact

me at alliecatphotos@gmail.com

and I'll give you pricing information.

Angel

The photos I chose for my

art show at Christian Photo

will still be there until the

end of October. I hope

you have a chance to

stop in and take a look.

They are all framed and

ready to be hung on your wall.

I have photos of nature, farm life,

Des Moines, and just Iowa

in general. They'd

make a nice Christmas gift

for someone special--

maybe yourself!

I came across this statue

of an angel cradling

a young child

when I was at Mayo Clinic.

I found it very touching.



Adventureland's Carousel

I enjoyed riding the carousel

around and around

when my son was little.

That park will always hold such

fond memories for my family

and of my own childhood.

I look forward to spending

time there again next summer.



Joy in Yellow Flowers

Today's cool, rainy weather

had me missing summer.

I took this photo

at Ledges State Park

in August. The flowers were so

bright and beautiful, and there

were so many of them blooming

in an area as you enter the park.

My challenge will be to continue

to find beauty in whatever weather

and winds may come my way;

there's always something God gives

us that we can find joy in.



In Bloom

We have a number of flower beds

scattered around our yard.

Within those beds we have

a nice variety of flowers,

blooming from early spring

through fall. There's

always something in bloom.

It's quite nice.



Ocular Histoplasmosis

A different sort of post today.

These are photos of my left eye. I have a rare eye disease called Presumed Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome (POHS). The photos show spots of scarring in my left eye. While this eye disease can be treated as it progresses, there is no cure. I have no central vision in my left eye. I have scarring in my right eye, but the scarring there has not started bleeding so, other than a blind spot, I've never had to endure the injections in my right eye that they use to treat my left eye. I only need the injections when the blood vessels in the scarring, left from the histoplasmosis years ago, begin to bleed again. This disease leads to legal blindness. No cure, only treatment. Not a good diagnosis to get.

I'm posting on this today as I'm part of an online group

of about 150 people from around the world who have this disease. One of them, a young woman, just became legally blind. The disease gets almost no research money as it's rare. I understand that those diseases that affect many get the money. It's just very sad that there a group of us slowly going blind and the best our doctors can do is experiement as no one knows the best way to treat it. I have a fantastic doctor and I have every confidence that he keeps up with the latest information on this disease. Sadly, there is so little information  To all my friends with this disease, I wish you the best and may a cure be found before it's too late for more of us.

So I'll keep taking photos

and depending on my camera

to be able to see

better than I can.

This last photo shows a group of photos taken of my left eye, put together to show more of a complete picture of my eye.



Tree

What I can say?

The beauty God shows us

can't be put into words.



Doolittle Prairie

This photo was taken

at Doolittle Prairie State Presevere

north of Ames.

I loved finding this treasure

of land.

Part of the land has

NEVER been plowed.

Part of it was once plowed,

but has since

been restored to native grasses.

I took some beautiful shots

when I visited this prairie.

Reminds me that I need

to take another trip out

there one of these days.



Iowa Barn

I love the old barns found

all over Iowa. This one was

quite faded and broken when I

came across it. Sadly, the

next winter this barn fell

down completely. I hate

to see these old wooden barns

fall away. They have such character.

Snus Hill Grapes

This photo shows grapes

from an Iowa winery.

The grapes taste great and

make really good wine.

Visit Snus Hill if you're in

central Iowa.



State of Iowa Capitol Library

Shhhhhhhh!

These ornate steps

and railings are in the

library

at the

Iowa State Capitol

in Des Moines.



Chatty Geese

This photo comes from

Racoon River Park

in Des Moines.

It struck me as funny

that the other birds were all

off in one area enjoying

the beautiful day in the water,

while these two were off on their

own, looking as if they

were in deep conversation.

The nice sparkle off the water

provided a nice background

for the two chatty geese.



Adventureland Reflection

I took this photo at Adventureland.

Adventureland is one of my son's favorite places

and we've been there many times

over the years. 

This photo shows two roller coasters--

the Dragon is the one with the two loops

and behind the Dragon

is the Tornado--

a favorite for me since I was

a child. My siblings and I would

ride the Tornado, and then run back

and get in line and ride it over and over

as many times as we could.

I was with my family

at Adventureland

when I  noticed the great

reflection of thes coasters

into the pond.

I  like that

at the top of the hill

on the Tornado

you can see the cars,

filled with people,

just about to go down

the hill.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

It made a nice reflection shot.

May Adventureland live on

for future generations!



Winter Trees and Open House

I love looking at the ordinary

in ways that are unordinary.

I was taking photos on a winter day

at Jester Park when

I looked up and noticed the trees and the sky.

I liked the view.

Here's me.

Probably the only time you'll see

a photo of me on my blog.

Yesterday was my open house

for my photography show

at Christian Photo.

This picture was taken

during the open house.

Thanks to friends and family

who came to the open

house, and to those who

support me even though

they weren't able to be there.

I am so thankful to Christian Photo

for giving me the opportunity to display

my work.

Thanks Christian Photo!



And last, but not least,

I couldn't leave out the one

who really runs the show at

Christian Photo,

Vinnie.

He's a great

little dog.

I think he might be the

manager

of the joint. : p

Church Pews

This photo was taken at

The Kathederal, the old church

near the MLK exit off of I-235.

A non-denominational church,

the group has been working on

renovating this church for

several years. It is gorgeous

inside and out and will

be even more so once they've

completed restoring the building.

I love to see old buildings being

renovated rather than torn down

and I'm excited to see the end

results of this church.

All the work is being done by

volunteers and I know they'd

take any help that is offered.

Wheel of Fortune

This photo really shows

my quirky sense of humor.

I was driving down

an Iowa highway

and spotted this

large tractor wheel

in a field,

all by itself,

no one

and

nothing around.

I turned around

and drove back just to

photograph the wheel.

It amused me.

Why?

Why?

Why

would there be a

large wheel,

standing up, 

in a lonely field?

Autumn Leaves

We've had such gorgeous

weather lately.

The trees have been

so pretty.

I love autumn and

I enjoy taking photos

that show how

beautiful autumn can be

right here in

Iowa.

Plymouth Stained Glass Window

Today's photo comes from

Plymouth Congregational Church

in Des Moines. They were kind enough

to let me take photos of their beautiful

church and stained glass windows.

This particular window is one of my

favorites. On the other hand, I have

lots of favorites in this church.

Umbrellas

Another photo I didn't

have room for in the show.

I took this photo in Rochester

(the Minnesota one, not the New York city)

while at Mayo Clinic last year.

I love Rochester (and have previously

posted many photos from there) and

need to go visit again, but

just for fun and photography

this time.

No appointments,

no schedule,

no doctors

(even though they're excellent).

Just me wondering

around and taking

photos.



Sunset, Barn and Prairie

My photography show starts today.

October 1, 2012.

Christian Photo in Des Moines, Iowa.

I had a hard time choosing which

photos to put in the show.

I couldn't include everything!

So I'll be showing here

some of the photos that

I didn't put into the show.

If you're in the Merle Hay neighborhood,

stop by and see me at my

open house on Saturday, October 6

from 1-3 p.m. at Christian Photo.

And since my photos will be there

during the month of October,

stop by any time just to check

out my framed photos.

Buying a few never hurts. :)

I'd love to hear your feedback,

either here or at my email address,

alliecatphotos@gmail.com