Abandoned House: Series One; Losing Ground

So, these two aren't the best. But, you can see that in addition to gaping holes between the rock under the house and the Earth, the stones of the actual foundation are cracking apart.

This is actually under the house!

We also found the foundation of a structure that existed behind this home, but I didn't photograph it. I re-discovered the well (it spooked me on my first visit), but again, I didn't photograph it. I should have. Darn it.

Abandoned House: Series One; Handcarved

The details on this house are simply exquisite. What I can hardly believe is that this house has been abandoned since before my Nana (grandma) moved into her current home. She has been there ever since I can remember, and I am 27. I am 99% sure that she moved in before I was born. So, it has been like this for over 30 years.

Sadly, there are some serious cracks in the foundation. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

See the table in the first photo? I totally cleared that when I leaped off the porch. LOL! Louis was a foot or two behind it, and I landed right next to him.

All the first level windows have these scrolls carved under them.




I cannot imagine how long this took to do - or how much it cost.

Friday Photo Shoot Out- Skylines

For some reason I was under the impression that this week's theme was "Go your own way".

So, I only have one photo to contribute to Kate's theme. (Love this idea, Kate!) You won't be disappointed if you visit her blog - and this is the same Kate who is sharing the "Spotlight Photos" chooser job with me. Thanks Kate!

Ironically - this photo was taken on one of my previous trips to Texas...sadly, I have posted it before. However, I think it is kind of cool that to kick off my FSOs from Texas, I have a photo from Texas - even though I am on my way there right now!

:D

Happy Weekend, y'all. :) Don't forget to click on the camera for the history of and information on the Friday Shoot Outs (FSO).

Abandoned House: Series One; eighty years

This is quite possibly the most exciting post in the series - for me anyways. That's why I'm cheating big time and posting all the photos that relate to it.
All the photos in this post were taken by Louis.

me: "Hurry up - and make sure the focus is on my face!"
Louis: "How do I know where the focus is - "
me: "The brackets light up - now hurry!"
Louis: "What are you worried about and what brack..."
me: "Someone could come running out with a club, the BRACKETS Louis, they highlight when they've locked focus!"
Louis "I'm right here, no one is coming out. What brackets?"
Me "OMG - the freaking brackets, they are boxes, they look bold - COME ON!"

And this was the resulting photo of that conversation:

yuh-hunh! That's the OPEN door behind me!

Louis did pretty good:

I lost some of my nervousness, and got pretty excited about where I was and what I was doing...

Then Louis suggested I sit on the porch. I told him to go fly a kite. He countered with the logic that he was there, and no one was going to come out. I thought of the quote from the first Transformers movie: "When you're eighty years old, don't you want to tell your grand kids you got in the car?"

Well, I SAT ON THE PORCH!

And then - because sitting on the porch wasn't good enough...I STOOD RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR. (Take that Transformers!)

Do I look scared in that last one? I was terrified.

I wasn't terrified enough to forget to remind Louis about the focus, but the nanosecond after he snapped the photo, I flew off the porch, like a winged mammal out of perdition.

Literally.

And now, I'm going to ignore the fact that since the camera was on Auto, it was compensating for the dark background and the stupid flash fired and I have a lovely flash silhouette.

Abandoned House: Series One; Rusty Memories

I touched my house.

Yup, with Louis there, my courage was quite high. I reached out and TOUCHED MY HAUNTED HOUSE!

This was the (first) piece I left my fingerprints on:

Each time I have visited I have observed that there are two chimneys. Well, duh! They probably didn't have central heating. So, one fireplace had to have been the kitchen fireplace and the other was probably the great room fireplace. As I was inspecting the foundation, I noticed this small, rusty door - and I love photographing old rusty crap!

This would have been under the kitchen fireplace. I am assuming it was a way to ventilate the fire to keep it hot enough to cook large amounts of food. The well is located directly left of this door, visible from the kitchen window. Farmers lived here. I'm sure of that.

I did research the house a bit, and I know the name of the person who owned the property in the 1800's. Cool, hunh?

Abandoned House: Series One; The Front Door

Remember how freaked I was when I discovered the plywood covering the front door had been ripped off and the door was open? (This happened on my second visit.)

It looked like this, but I used my zoom lens last time, and even at 300mm (which on my DX sensor, that's like 450mm!) you still could see more of the porch.

Oh yeah - I got really close. Louis was right next to me, so I could.

I really need to study up on difficult exposures. I knew the camera was metering for the bright parts, and I wasn't going to get much closer. So, I added ambient light using Picasa3 - but that makes it look faded and grainy. Still - you can get a better view of inside.

We could smell the remnants of a recent fire. The closer we got to the house, the more pungent the smell. This gets better - stay tuned. (No, I didn't go inside; I said it gets better, not that it gets crazy. LOL!)

Abandoned House: Series One; View from the Road

I planned a series to cover the time I'd be internet-less. If you are interested, the history of my fascination with this particular house is chronicled, thus far, in two very wordy posts, and one photo post - for the FSO. The first time I visited is this link, the second time is this link, and the photo post is this link.

Louis went with me this time. I was MUCH braver - so much so, I never even got my zoom lens out of the bag. All the photos in this series were taken with my prime lens, a 50mm. Since we are moving, that will probably have been the last opportunity I will have had to have a dedicated time to photograph my beloved abandoned house.

I will be writing more about the house and my third visit here, with each photo, instead of doing one long post on my other blog.

I really encourage you to read about my first visits. The posts I linked to here also have links on them. I apologize - unless they link to a photo album, they probably don't work. When I separated my words with photos posts from my dedicated photo posts into two blogs, I never went back and updated links.

Ok, without further ado - here is photo one in this series, titled:

View from the Road

A pirate and a dolphin

We celebrated Halloween with Louis's cousin and his family. It was so fun to trick or treat with kids - it brought back so many memories. Caesar - Louis's cousin - carved these pumpkins. I can tell you firsthand - a LOT of effort went into them. He has been carving pumpkins like this for a while, last year I think the kids had Narnia characters to match their costumes, and the year before (I think) was a mermaid and a superhero.

It was so cool to see him working on them - and he and Louie are a lot alike, it was the 11th hour and he was finishing them, Louis is also famous for that! LOL!

Of course it was pitch black when I took these, and a flash would have ruined it, and I was lacking a tripod. So, I set the camera on the (empty) candy container and fired away. These picture do not do his pumpkins justice, but I tried.

We love you guys! Thank you for everything.

I think I got carried away - part three

Happy Halloween!

Friday Photo Shoot Out- Parks

Welcome to the Friday ShootOut. This week's theme - Park Landscapes - was brought to you by JarieLyn.

After perusing these photos, please feel free to click on the camera on the right to learn all about Friday Photo Shoot Outs, and meet the fabulous members.

Way back when I was a kid (ROFL) we had a swing set and monkey bars. Most of the park looked like this:

Kids nowadays get amazing and colorful plastic contraptions to play on...

Slides were always my favorites...

Of course, some things don't change...

I won't be around this week to pick the spotlight photos. The wonderful Kate will be choosing the spotlight photos this week! :)

I am moving to Texas! Yup, I am a Michigander turned Texan. This is my last shoot out from Michigan. The rest will chronicle my journey of discovering my new town. I'll catch up with y'all as soon as I can.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I think I got carried away - part two

Twilight's got nothing on me!

Jen and the Cornstalk

Old Rusty Crap turned Black and White

Award - Over the Top

My wonderful blog friend Michi passed this award to me.
In order to accept it, I have to answer the following questions in one word, and one word only. I then get to pass the award on to six bloggers.

Here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone? charging

2. Your hair? curly

3. Your mother? jewelry maker

4. Your father? engineer

5. Your favorite food? cheesecake

6. Your dream last night? suspenseful

7. Your favorite drink? water

8. Your dream/goal? run 5k

9. What room are you in? office

10. Your hobby? photography

11. Your fear? spiders

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy

13. Where were you last night? Ann Arbor

14. Something that you aren't? dishonest

15. Muffins? oatmeal

16. Wish list item? 35mm f/1.4 lens

17. Where did you grow up? Michigan

18. Last thing you did? cooked

19. What are you wearing? sweats

20. Your TV? 52'' HD flatscreen

21. Your pets? dogs

22. Friends? true few

23. Your life? changing

24. Your mood? pensive

25. Missing someone? yes

26. Vehicle? Volkswagen!

27. Something you're not wearing? necklace

28. Your favorite store? online

29. Your favorite color? silver

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? yesterday

32. Your best friend? in Germany

33. One place that I go to over and over? bookstore

34. One person who emails me regularly? Ursula

35. Favorite place to eat? outside

And, I'm passing this award to...

Jessica - a wonderful blogger and a wonderful person!

ILiketoWrite - who has got a great eye for photography

Heather - who posts such amazing photos with Scripture verses

Barry - a true hero

Linda - an amazing woman

Keith - an amazing photographer, and author - I ♥ the Solaf!

There are so many other amazing bloggers - it was hard to pick! Oh, and a note on #20: We don't watch TV. At all. We haven't since 2004-ish. We love it. We don't even get 'free' TV, much less cable. We use that monster to watch movies. Netflix ROCKS! (Thanks Leslie!)

And, today's photo - also compliments of Leslie:

Yup - that is Louis and me in a giant rocking chair. We went to a cider mill and got 'lost' in the corn maze. When we finally made it out, we got hot doughnuts and yummy fresh cider. It was a great day spent with cousins, and their little ones. :) It was freezing - but I love this photo!

October Glory

Fresh Papaya

Friday Photo Shoot Out- Classics of Childhood

"What day is it tomorrow?" I asked my husband, late last night. He consulted his computer.

"Friday," he replied.

"I thought so...tell me, what would say is a childhood classic of yours?" I asked him. "It's this week's shoot out theme - Ellisa picked it. Remember, she's the other blogger from Michigan," I added.

Without hesitation he answered: "G.I. Joe."

Well G.I. Joe is all well and good for Louis, but me? What the heck do I remember as classic? And, what is classic that shows off my town?

Ok, how about my koosh ball. I have had this exact one since I was in the third grade. That's classic. (My former students called it "an artifact from Frau G.'s past." Yeah.)

I don't remember how old I was, but I do remember playing this game when we went camping at Walloon Lake.

Yup, it's a dice game. You roll dice and depending on how they land you get so many points.

The dice just happen to be happy looking piggies. Oink!

Ok, here is what I really did as a kid: I read.

I devoured books - still do. I read Nancy Drew (all of them), Hardy Boys (all of them), Boxcar Kids (all of them), Ramona Quimby (all of them), The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (all of them), Ralph S. Mouse (all of them), Dr. Doolittle (all of them), the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, Dune (never finished the trilogy, but I shocked my fourth grade teacher when I could talk intelligently about this book!), pretty much anything by Roald Dahl - the BFG was my favorite, Babysitter's Club, most of V.C. Andrews's stuff, R.L. Stine books, and everything in between.

This was my favorite book in second grade - yes, this is my original copy:

When my aunt got me this series, it was hard for me to feel excited. As it turned out, this is still one of my favorite series - ever. Yes, these are my originals.

My Nana (grandma) taught me how to play jacks.

And, my Papa (grandpa) taught me how to play marbles. Later in life, he taught me how to play pool.

As a kid, I hated this gum. I liked Bubble Yum - watermelon. My cousin (who is ten years older than me) gave me this gum to be mean. LOL! It's my favorite now.

They sell Clove at DFW, and after I ran out of my supply that I got the last time I was in Texas, I had Louis get me more! LOL! That's one perk of his travels. For me at least. He never flies out of Terminal D, and that is the terminal where the shop that sells the gum is located.

ROFL - I have to tell you all, I photographed all these in my bathroom! The light was the brightest in there.

Ellisa, I loved this theme. I failed miserably at showing off "My Town", but I loved digging out my old treasures. :)

I'll be around on Sunday for the weekly spotlight photos. Click on the camera for details of the FSO and to see my picks. Have a great weekend, all.

Tiger Leaf

Floating like Jewels

miles to go

Autumn Evening Walk in Michigan

Halloween Witches II

Halloween Witches I

Friday Photo Shoot Out- Sunrise/Sunset

It's Friday! Friday Photo Shoot Out!

October in Michigan has meant overcast skies and cold rain this year. So, all these are from my archives, but they all were taken in Michigan, and had I taken new ones...they probably would have looked very much like these! LOL!

Sherri chose this week's theme. For more information on the Friday Shoot Outs, click the camera icon, right there, on the right.

I admit...these are all sunset photos. I'm not one for early mornings.

Have a wonderful weekend, all!

Star Sapphire

I feel it necessary to explain...I shot this in a completely dark room. I used a flashlight, and shined the light on the stone so the star would clearly show. Then, using a cable release, I tripped the shutter. For those of you who like technical data: ISO 200, no flash, f/8, 1/6 of a second exposure.

Je t'adore

Self Portrait

Love Never Goes Out Of Style

Today's photo is the key charm I told you about on Vintage Spoons.

We spent some time with Louis's Grandmother, and she got me that beautiful bracelet. She knows I love vintage items, and she also know I am crazy about old fashioned keys. So, she had the lady who made the bracelet add this key charm to it.

I absolutely love it.

Unfortunately, the key was not fastened tightly enough, and when I took off my jacket, the key came off too! It is just a little 'o' ring that attaches the two pieces. I'm terrified I might lose the key, so for now, I am keeping it on a leather cord and wearing it as a necklace. I definitely need a new 'o' ring, or else this one needs to be soldered.

I know I don't normally post the story behind the photo (except for Friday Shoot Outs) but, like I said, these photos of my new bracelet and charm deserve the royal treatment. :)

no flash, ISO 400, f1/4, 1/50 of a second

Vintage Spoons

This is a bracelet made of vintage silver spoons. Thank you, Granny! :)

There was a key charm attached to the bracelet, however it got caught on my jacket. Luckily it was not damaged; I haven't put it back on the bracelet yet. I'm actually thinking about wearing it as a necklace. The key will be tomorrow's photo. I know I don't usually explain my photos this way, but this bracelet deserves the royal treatment.

no flash, ISO 400, f/16, 9.6 seconds - I set it to 'bulb' and counted.

Autumn Leaves

Friday Photo Shoot Out- Silhouettes

Friday Photo Shoot Out! After perusing my photos, please click on the camera to learn more about the Friday Photo Shoot Outs and see photography by other members. :)

I plan on adding to this post. Life got in the way of my photography this week - as did the overcast and rainy weather. I apologize that none of these show off my town. I am hoping that I will be able to take some silhouette photos and add them to this post - photos that will show my (crummy) town. I can tell you though, these photos were all taken at The Whitney - classic old Detroit. :)

Carrie picked this theme, and a fun one it was! Thanks Carrie! :)

I took these when I worked a wedding with Louis's cousin.

The flower girl - who was cute as a button - even as a silhouette!

The bride and groom:

And, this is me. Jessica, took this one of me. You can read all about that right here.

I'll be around on Sunday to find this week's spotlight photos, I am looking forward to it. :) Have a great weekend all - don't forget to check the Town Shoot Out Blog (click on the camera) to see this week's picks. They'll be up Sunday night.