Rachel's Images

I know I have mentioned our family’s front field before. Tonight, I visited it again. The golden magic light and the field were mesmerizing!

We spend most evenings working with the fair animals. Several of my nieces and nephews house their animals at the farm too, so it is usually hard work but fun to spend time with cousins. And how can you beat this view?

The woods on our family farm always brings peace to my heart. Fair preparation was in full force this Thursday evening, and I needed a break from the organizing, planning, and packing. I took a walk down one of our lanes, breathing in the quiet air.

A visit to the Lavender Labyrinth at Cherry Point Farm & Market has been a tradition since I discovered it several years ago. The light was striking when I decided to make the drive south for a visit. I had the labyrinth almost to myself as I peacefully wandered through. The bees were especially attracted to this lavender. Quickly, I composed this hard-working bee. I loved the sunlight on the wings.

Brad’s friends Jonathan and Shannon Ray gave me this mug. I thought the details of it were exquisite!

We spent most of the day getting ready for fair. Before I knew it, it was almost 10 o’clock! David Benjamin brought his cactus plant out and said I could take a picture of it. I looked at it closely for a second, thought of a way to shoot it, and told him what a great idea that was!

I have watched many storm clouds over the years. I have seen the sky change colors. Never have I ever seen a sky turn purple like tonight. I was so in awe I almost missed the photograph!

It was another busy day between work and fair. It is difficult to make any photographs during the fair shows, because I am helping the kids and do not have time. I knew these flowers had started to bloom in the yard, and I liked the dark tones of my dining room table. I knew the two would work well together.

My niece, Lucy, and my daughter, Kasey, spent time washing and walking their steers together in the show arena. Tomorrow is the big day! All the kids’ hard work with their beef and sheep comes down to the show.

Whew! Beef and sheep shows were today at fair. It was a long, hot day. I am so proud of the kids and their hard work! Fair is so quiet this year, with no midway due to COVID-19. With only a handful of campers, it feels like a ghost town. I took a walk with my camera and fell in love with this orange sunset tonight.

Brad and the kids came out to the fairgrounds for dinner tonight. After we finished eating, some of the kids were riding bikes and scooters on the campground roads. Others were drawing pictures in chalk on the pavement. Julia drew this and it called to me to make a photograph of it.

The last day of fair is here. The auction was today, and the animals have sold. One last night to soak in the feel of a familiar tradition. I found this spot on the trail between the fairgrounds and the Walmart parking lot. You would never think it would look like this back in that little woods.

I came across the Woodland Farm Market driving back from dropping the kids off to their dad one weekend. I was in heaven! They have the biggest, most flavorful blackberries for sale here. I bought many quarts for the blackberry jelly that I was making and have every year since!

I had Rose of Sharon bushes at my old house. I wished that I could have taken them with me. Much to my surprise, when I moved into our current home, a Rose of Sharon bloomed in our front yard!

A purplish leaf fell to the ground today. I hope it’s not a sign that fall will come early.

This tire swing in our apple orchard was hours of fun for me! My sisters would see how high we could get it swinging. On windy days, we would look out the window and say the ghost was playing with it that day. My kids love taking turns on it now.

I love the feeling of being among tall trees. It is hard to explain the feeling that I get looking up at them towards the sky.

There are so many fun things you can do with your camera. You can take a basic everyday item and turn it into a unique photograph. Here, I took a notebook of Kasey’s and used it for my photo of the day.

Some of my favorite memories growing up were made in our apple orchard. The tire swing, baseball diamond, and the biggest dandelions were there. Let’s not forget the apples. We would eat them right off the tree, or make homemade apple sauce, pie, crisp, or butter. The apples that were too bruised I would pick up for my brother, Kevin, to put out for deer. This apple tree is in my yard, and we love it.

When I was a little girl, I would pick huge bouquets of flowers from my mom’s garden. I would take them into our playhouse, and using wax paper, I would make them into bouquets that I assumed one would buy from a flower shop. I made handmade cards that customers could include with the flowers. It was a vision of mine to put a sign at the end of our road, and have people come visit us and our garden, and buy bouquets from me.