Lake Monroe Dam

Yesterday on the way back to Hardin Ridge, we stopped by the Lake Monroe Dam off of IN-37 from Bloomington, Indiana. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue with fluffy clouds and low humidity! There are some nice shaded areas with picnic tables and there looked to be some areas for bank fishing too. 

The top picture was taken at an overlook to Lake Monroe from the top of the dam.

Here are a few random pics taken here at Hardin Ridge Recreation Area 

this last week.

At the end of White Oak's loop, you will find this pond. It is a very popular tent camping site.

The Hardin Ridge Entrance and my teenie weenie, Rocky, enjoying some sunshine.

Beautiful Hummingbirds

For my birthday last week, I splurged and got a hummingbird feeder. At one time I had one, but it broke from use I believe. Even picked up some vinca plants for some pots I had in storage. I miss having flowers in bloom spring through fall. Having to keep up a landscaped yard was work, but I really enjoyed watching my plants grow each year.

These little Ruby-throated hummingbird females are fun to watch as they fly in and out for some sugar water. Cheap entertainment as we sit on our very quiet long street in the Hoosier National Forest. Quiet at least Monday through Wednesday. lol!

Shot these with my Canon 85mm prime lens. I added two texture layers and a sharpening action.

Textures and Overlays

I have been working with textures and cloud overlays this morning...still learning how to use them. The first pic is SOOC (straight out of the camera) with no edits and the second is the finished photo.

For this picture, I used a Shoot the Moon texture from Kindling 2 Luminescent Textures Collection in CS5 and a KML Creatives cloud overlay with tweaks here and there with a sharpening action. Both creators can be found on Facebook and they are on sale from time to time also. Easy peasy. Love how layers can add so much to a photo! 

Love this photo of our grandson, Jonah, on Lake Monroe beach. 

I used a few textures on this too.

The Pileated Woodpecker

From what I have found,  there are about seven varieties of woodpeckers here in Indiana. The Pileated woodpecker seems to be pretty common here in the Hoosier National Forest. We had a pair pecking out an old log in front of our RV this morning. I am amazed at how large these birds can be...about the size of a crow.

Wikipedia states this:
The Pileated Woodpecker is a very large North American woodpecker, roughly crow-sized, inhabiting deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific coast.

Here is a neat site for bird identification. This site is amazing! You can hear all the sounds of each bird, their food, migration, etc. A must for bird watching.

Found a fawn today...

Yesterday one of our campers told us that while on his off trail walk he and his pit bull came across a small fawn. It seems there was a fawn with two other deer nearby and the dog found the little one hunkered down in some leaves. The dog sat down between the other deer and the fawn as if to be protecting it. The owner had let him off leash to run a few minutes (while owner was present) and when the dog wasn't returning right away, he discovered the fawn and the reason behind it all.

Well today, Rob, the pit owner, came to our RV to let us know that the fawn was across the road from his camping area which is a good distance from where they had seen it the day before. He believes that the fawn tracked the scent of his pit bull back to their camping area. When we went to the area it was located this is what we found. 

Just life in the woods.

It looks like it has been injured because of all the flies on the hind quarters. We tried to corner it with the small retention wall on the opposite side, but the little guy was able to get over it on the second attempt. Whatever the injury, it doesn't seem to keep it from moving...and quickly. I thought for a minute we'd be able to move it to a better location as the park has been busy with activity this weekend, but it had other plans and scampered into the woods.

My daughter was able to find some rehab sites by county listing for the state of Indiana so if the fawn comes back, I'll see if we can get it some assistance.

I, like so many, have heard all the stories of pit bulls and not in the best of light. I for one and an advocate of there are no bad breeds...just bad owners. This particular pit was very sweet and very well trained. Kudos to this dog owner!

Update:
Last night the fawn came back to the area, but sadly it was too weak to last the night. Last night I was able to call a rehab facility here in Monroe County, but they are out of private funding and were unable to help.

Some more critters over the last few weeks

Since living in an RV since September, we no longer get to luxury of wi-fi internet and are now relying on our data connections via our phones which was the plan knowing the changes we'd be making back then. Sometimes my laptop syncs up and sometimes not so much. So here are a few photos of some other visitors over the last month.

This is a striped skink we found at the park entrance. So colorful!

A baby painted turtle down at the beach of Lake Monroe here at Hardin Ridge:

This baby skunk that was taken on my phone and would have been closer if I'd had my good camera. Oh, well. He was cute, fast & stinky! We have seen two skunks cross the rode just in front of the gatehouse this week...may need to post a "skunk crossing" sign if this keeps up! lol!

Just a gorgeous pic of the beach here at Hardin Ridge on Lake Monroe. The water was really high at this time and has since gone down so the beach is now accessible to everyone.

Our Regular Woodland Visitors

We have seen many deer in and around the campground over the last month or so, but recently we've seen this trio just outside our RV. They are known to visit in the morning and last evening when it's really dark. There feet can be heard in the distance as they tromp through the leaves as they nibble on low hanging vegetation. The largest female, in bottom center, is always on the lookout for every little noise. Correction...He kept looking my way as I tried to get in for closer pics while the other two continued to munch. When I looked closer at the photo in Photoshop, I noticed he had some antlers forming which explains the big size difference compared to the other two deer. As sure as they sensed or saw me, those tails go straight up in the air with a flash of white they bound away into the woods. I never tire of seeing them as they are so beautiful!

Our Sweet Little Tabitha

Here are a few shots I captured of our second grandchild, Tabitha, born April 24th. This was taken at her two week mark. She was so tiny at birth and has been filling out nicely with each passing week. She's a keeper.

 

Hardin Ridge in Heltonville, Indiana

Here are some pics taken this last week while at the Hardin Ridge Recreation Area in Heltonville, Indiana. The first and last photos were taken along the Interpretive Trail. There was just enough water to meander along a small creek bed and a field of wildflowers as we worked our way down to the lake's edge. 

While we were working the gate duties, I spotted a Luna Moth. I haven't seen many of these gorgeous little bugs so I was glad to catch this one with my phone. Yes, I like bugs and I am not ashamed.

Luna Moth:

Dogwood in Bloom

For the last two days it's rained in southern Indiana, but I was able to get out and take a few pics between drizzles. The dogwoods are still in bloom and quite lovely mixed in with all the green of the forest background.

For a little something different, I added some textures on all of these photos.

Hardin Ridge Recreation Area in Heltonville, Indiana

We are looking forward to our next destination in the Hoosier National Forest on Lake Monroe in Heltonville, Indiana. Yes, it will be difficult...somehow we will manage. 

Many people are unaware of this little treasure in southern Indiana. There is camping, hiking, swimming & boating all on beautiful Lake Monroe south of  Bloomington, Indiana. 

Check it out here.

Iris Bokeh

Found a photo I took a few years back and I added a bit of bokeh using Bokeh-licious by KML Creatives. I love the color these overlays add to pics!

Beautiful Blooms

It's actually starting to look like spring has arrived in southern Indiana. Here a some photos of a blooming Bradford Pear tree outside my daughter's apartment this afternoon. The trees are turning green, forsythia & tulip trees are blooming also. Lovin' all the spring colors!

Maternity Shoot

Last Thursday I was able to get some pics of my daughter in her last month of pregnancy. She had weekly pics in her first pregnancy, but this one she hasn't gotten anywhere near that many photos so I'm glad she has these. I'm happy with them considering how out of practice I am in shooting portraits. 
LA

The Bunny

I washed Rocky's (my miniature dachshund) bunny toy today and it quickly became the toy to play with today! The bunny was a cute stuffed Easter toy...not so much anymore. Dachshunds much prefer to have the fluff completely pulled out of any toy in their path. When Walmart or Dollar General put all their Easter toys on sale, I buy several for Rocky to shred over the next year or so. After Rocky got his "new" toy out of the dryer, Rolo (my son's dog) decided he wanted it also as shown below. Silly pups.
LA

Seasons in Indiana

Tomorrow is spring and with that brings (eventually) warmer weather, but you wouldn't know it here in southern Indiana as the temps are a bit below average for this time of year. With warmer weather that means trips to some of Indiana's gorgeous state parks. One of our family's favorite state park is Shades State Park in Crawfordsville which is down the road from Turkey Run State Park...another beautiful park. Shades is for more primitive camping and is more quiet and peaceful. There are many trails to explore and canoeing is very popular in this area too. If you live in Indiana and love to camp, hike & explore than you must see both of these beautiful parks!

Here are some pictures of McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana, which is much closer to us here in southern Indiana. One set was taken April 17, 2012 and the fall photos where taken October 18, 2012. This park is simply gorgeous in the fall! I think I love living in Indiana where all parks seem to be beautiful...to me anyway.
Blessings,
Lee Anne

Last Year's Azaleas

I love spring and all the gorgeous color it brings, but unfortunately there is non to be found...at least where I live. While I was going through some of last year's photos taken at this time of year, I came across some pics of the beautiful azaleas that grew out our front door at the home we owned in Missouri. Unfortunately, the new owners, ripped them all out soon after they moved into the home. So now, all I have to remember them by are the many pictures taken over the six years of living there. They really are gorgeous and this scripture goes with it perfectly.

Blessings,
Lee Anne

Fav Instagram Fall 2012 Photos

With all the copyright issues on Instagram, I decided to delete all of my photos in my account a few months back. For whatever reason, I didn't post any of  them here on my blog so now I'm posting some of them now as sometimes I like to go back and look through them. Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year to photograph and the fall here in southern Indiana did not disappoint as it was one of the most beautiful we'd experienced in all  the years of living in Indiana.

Many of these were taken, because of convenience, on my iPhone 5. Using what you have on hand is better than not taken at all in my book.

You may follow me now on EyeEm under @lahomespun.

Red Barns

Here are two of my favorite barn pics taken at the end of 2012. They were taken on my iPhone5 while traveling with my family through some local countryside here in southern Indiana. I originally posted these on my Instagram account, but with all the copyright issues I decided to delete all my pics...but it's new here! ;)