Cornucopia

Today, I just need to say. I'm a Derby City girl who moved to Music City. I am from the Bluegrass State and now reside in the Volunteer State.

I used to photograph Kentucky and Indiana. Now I photograph Kentucky and Tennessee. Today I share a cornucopia of images I captured in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, to herald a new season approaching. Fall is coming.

Tis the season for all things pumpkin, pine cone and acorn. Go crazy with witches and brews and spider webs too. ENJOY!

Fall Approaches

Fall is approaching here in the States. You can feel it in the air. While a heat wave grips a portion of the Eastern United States, there are still signs of Fall on the horizon. Last week's chill conjured up images of leaves in bright reds, yellows and oranges. Pumpkins are popping up in storefronts. Fall signs to 'Gather' and 'Give Thanks' are everywhere. Soon the nights will be chilly and the days will be brisk. Heaping mugs of cider will warm our bones. A steady hustle and bustle will be heard in every pumpkin patch and farm stand. I can't wait for the season to begin, so here's a little something to get us in the mood. I captured this image some 15-20 years ago in Brown County, Indiana, at the height of the Fall season. ENJOY!

Happy Independence Day!

Stopping by briefly to wish everyone in America a Happy 4th. I am a tad bit under the weather so I won't linger. Just wanted to wish everyone a 'sparkly' holiday. ENJOY!

Autumn, Nashville, Indiana

Who doesn't love small artist's communities filled to the brim with shops, shops and more shops. Nashville, Indiana is one of my stops when I travel to Mustatatuck NWR. The small town is only twenty minutes north of the refuge so I tend to visit in Spring and Fall especially when the seasons are changing.

Moonshine Leather Goods shop is one of those storefronts that beckons you to capture a quick photo. This shop was once home to my favorite store in all of Nashville. Originally the store was packed from the ceiling to the floor with plants and ferns and hanging baskets. Some of the most unusual plants were sold here. The store had two main attractions, a coffee shop and the plant and gardening shop. Sadly, the recession happened to that shop early on. However, Moonshine Leather Goods has transformed it into a great leather shop making it the perfect place to shop for belts and bags and such.

It is especially fun to shop in Nashville during the seasons and take in all of the decor. In Fall, Halloween decor is peppered throughout almost every shop. Winter brings holiday decor, and of course, you can always find tons of gifts for the giving in all of the shops. During the holidays you will receive a warmer welcome as you enter some shops with hot cider and warm cookies to munch on. I'm thinking of making a visit during December this year to check out the holiday decor.

If you should ever find yourself traveling through central Indiana, plan on spending the entire day in Nashville if you come. Grab a bite of lunch or dinner at The Artist's Colony Inn. It's my go to place for lunch on every visit I make. Take a dip at the old fashioned ice cream parlor located at the main intersection of town or grab a bag of warm nuts at the nut shop. It sits right in the center of town. Lots of folks stop and sit and do some people watching on one of the benches scattered throughout town along the sidewalks. I feel really lucky to live so close to a fantastic place to spend some time. It's an added bonus to take photos around town too. I promise I will be back soon. ENJOY!

Fall Equinox

Fall weather is here in Kentucky, not to mention the leaves are showing signs of turning colors.
Pumpkins are showing up everywhere and fall decorations are adorning all of the gift shops.

Can warm bonfires on cold Fall evenings, pumpkins picked fresh from the patch,
hayrides bouncing you all over the rickety old wagon
and corn mazes twisting and turning you to and fro be far behind. 

Soon September will give way to October.

OCTOBER BRINGS . . .

wicked witches with tall black hats and swishy black brooms,

black cats darting in front of you on a lonely country road,

skeletons legs dangling from a creaky old rocker, 

ghosts, ghouls and goblins whizzing by, eekk,

and big black spiders weaving huge sticky webs on the corner of the porch.

Soon it will be All Hallow's Eve. Have you got your 'Fall' on yet? ENJOY!

Ode to a Pumpkin

It is that time of year. Are you seeing them everywhere you turn? Pumpkins. In shop windows, on front porches, in the pumpkin patch, in the front yard, on the sidewalk. Sitting on tables, sitting on chairs, sitting on patios. In, on and sitting everywhere.

There are carved pumpkins, painted pumpkins, appliqued pumpkins. There are pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread. There are orange pumpkins, black pumpkins, silver pumpkins. There are tall skinny pumpkins, short fat pumpkins, huge obese pumpkins sitting on their side. The pumpkin is the very essence of Fall in every way it is displayed, eaten and enjoyed. And so goes my Ode to a Pumpkin. And yes, I have pumpkins decorating my patio, my tables and even in my home office. ENJOY!

Soaring by Elder Heart

As we approach the most colorful of seasons, I wanted to share an image I captured in Brown County, Indiana, in the small arts and crafts community of Nashville, this past weekend. Beautiful blue skies, fluffy white clouds, calm breezes and plentiful warm sunshine with a much cooler temp made for the perfect day to visit Nashville.

On the patio of the town's Visitor's Center, I captured a few images of the new art sculpture 'Soaring' that stands eighteen feet tall created by Southern Indiana Veterans, Elder Heart, under the guidance of local artist, Jim Connor. Elder Heart is a Veteran's organization that participates in many public and private projects around Southern Indiana. The metal sculpture featured huge colorful leaves, with single leaves at the top, and multiple leaves at the bottom, seemingly depicting falling leaves. It was the perfect image to bring you my favorite quote for Autumn by Albert Camus. ENJOY!

Scarlet Cockscomb

As luck would have it on my journey today, I crossed paths with a very large scarlet Cockscomb blooming near a shop I visited. Today was the first day in many many weeks that I got outdoors to take photos.

Visiting Nashville, Indiana or as we locals call it 'Brown County' is a treat at the end of Summer and before Fall gets going in full swing. Most of the Summer's flowers are still blooming and the leaves haven't turned yet. Coupled with all of the colorful shops in the small arts and crafts town, well you guessed it. It's a fantastic place to take photos. And the icing on the cake is most of the Fall decor is out on display for fresh pickins'. The large Cockscomb plant I photographed was covered in 'bugs' in all shapes and sizes. In particular there were many 'lightning' bugs all over the blooms. Today was the first day in many weeks the temperature was a comfortable mid seventy and there was no humidity and my schedule was finally in my favor. And for that I am grateful. Back soon. ENJOY!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Hallowed Night! To all you Ghosts, Goblins and Ghouls! May your night be eerie, eeky, spooky and scarry. ENJOY!

Happy Halloween!

Have a 'trick or treat' evening my pretties! DON'T FRET OR FRIGHT. I'll be busy handing out candies to all of those good little kiddies whilst . . .

. . . Booing and Hissing and Swishing to and fro on my witches broom, flying from bat cave to cemetery grave searching for all of those evil ghosts and goblins. To be sure, I'll be stirring my witches brew and picking my long crooked witches nose too. Happy Halloween to Everyone! Actually, I'll be at my sisters enjoying in the annual frivolity and fun that is this Halloween night. ENJOY!

Getting Your Scare On

A few weeks ago while visiting Nashville, Indiana, and the lovely shops there, I noticed several had displays all decked out for Halloween featuring various ghoulish characters. So I thought I'd post one to help you "Get Your Scare On." I know usually kiddos are the ones who get to dress up, but if you have a chance, perhaps you should be a kid again and dress up for All Hallowed's Eve while handing out candy to the tricksters. After all we're all still just kids at heart. ENJOY!

Brown County Fall

I thought a little color just might be the order of the day. Outside we have a beautiful blue sky, a balmy 80 degrees, very low humidity and a nice breeze. OMG! How happy am I. Finally, a decent weekend is ahead. And while I've been under the weather the better part of this week, I am going to try and get out this weekend and take some photos. For now, this Fall scene I took Autumn 2011 while walking around Brown County's, Nashville, Indiana, will have to do. I can hardly wait to start decorating for Fall, but I suppose I should wait a few more weeks at least. What's not to love about Fall. Pumpkins, gourds, squashes, wreaths, fall leaves. Not to mention skeletons and goblins and ghouls and the like for the most important event in Fall . . . Halloween. ENJOY!

Wisteria

Wisteria image I captured last Spring in Nashville, Indiana, at the arts and crafts village, with a little texture added on. ENJOY!

The Chicken Coop!

Pulling from my archive today. I have long wanted to post this image of a hen pecking in the yard at the farm I stop by on my way back from Nashville, Indiana, every fall. I loved the image before I gave it a tweak in my software but I really liked the feel of the after shot. I basically pencil sketched it first, then I gave it a 1960's feel. Then I darkened the shadows and saturated the color after giving it a dip in the lohomish which is one of the effects on Picasa. Let me know what you think. As I mentioned earlier this week, Picasa 3.9 is new software that is totally free and has some of the Picnic Premium features, so even if you use Gimp or some other software, you still might want to give it a try. I also use Paint.net. I use Paint mostly to take backgrounds out and add textures. I'm guessing it's very much like Gimp. Have a fantastic weekend whether it's snowing, raining or just wonderfully sunny wherever you are. ENJOY!

Color Splash!

Just a little bit of color from one of the pics I took in Brown County last weekend. Hope your weekend is going well. The weather here is gorgeous! ENJOY!

Purple Haze!

Well, I felt a slight change of pace might be in order so I'm spreading a little "purple haze" to brighten your weekend. I mean seriously, I know you're inundated with orange and red and yellow from the Fall colors, so why not a little purple. This beautiful cabbage was growing alongside a gorgeous purple painted pumpkin sitting next to the sidewalk in Nashville, Indiana, today as I was strolling by. Naturally I had to stop and take a few pics. ENJOY!

Makeover Monday!

When you love an image, you should use it to create something more. I loved this image of the wrought iron chair from a recent trip I took to the quaint little arts and crafts village of Nashville, Indiana. And although I have posted it before, I wanted to do something more with the image so I gave it a little white wash effect. Let me know what you think. It's a heat index of 106 degrees here today so stay safe everyone. ENJOY!

Shop Window III, Nashville, Indiana

Just some really cool shop windows I wanted to share from my last trip to Nashville, Indiana. Wouldn't it be great if everyone's windows had window boxes with beautiful flowers all spring, summer and fall. ENJOY!

Shop Window II, Nashville, Indiana

Hope Everyone Is Having A Fantastic Weekend. ENJOY!

Shop Window I, Nashville, Indiana

All of the quaint little shops of Nashville, Indiana decorate their windows so beautifully. I consider many works of art. I thought I'd post a few images of these beautiful windows in the next few days. Here's a new shop which had grass growing on the roof. I believe this is the Acorn Cottage. I failed to write down the name of it but am fairly certain from checking online that I've got the right name. Whenever I feel certain I'll post photos of a shop, I give the shopkeeper my blogspot address so they can check it. I hope if you live in the Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio or even Illinois states, you visit Nashville, Indiana. Stay over night and do a weekend. It's a great place to visit. I live a little over an hour away so it's a great day trip. I may go back later in October. There's something about the leaves turning and the streets strewn with leaves and all of the shops dressed to the max with autumn decor that I can't resist. This weekend I'm spending at home way under the weather. A really bad sinus infection snuck up on me. But I'll be back out there this coming week, rest assured. ENJOY!

POSTSCRIPT: Least you think I may have forgotten "Rest in Peace" to those who lost their lies in 9/11. And peace to those whose loved ones were lost.