Happy Winter Solstice and a Prairie Christmas!

Wishing everyone out there a great winter ahead and a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas to you and All those you Love!

See you next year!!!

Trying Our Best

"Winter Morning at Don's Old Place"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I've been trying my best to keep up...to stay on target, but life is a bit more complicated than all that; I just have to quit fighting the tide and go with it sometimes I think.

Our winter finally began...first with a full night of rain, then turning to snow.  Made for terrible driving but also a good reason to stay put and do some work in the house. 

I caught a bug from somewhere - haven't the slightest idea where, but it took the wind out of my sails...still trying to hoist them back up.  Woke up yesterday to the results of an overnight freezing fog...it was spectacular!  Around 10:30 in the morning the sun started cutting through and the time was now or never so I grabbed the camera and went for a short visit in the "neighborhood" to see what views might be found.

 

"Winter Morning, Passing Don's Old Place" 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I thought of the wonderful little gem of a summer place, one the owner used to spend summers at in his old age...he'd then slip off to one of his children's to spend his winters.  Its sold now...I don't know who owns it but I still refer to it as Don's old place.   When I arrived the sun was already dropping the frost from the trees...not that it's melting but that the air currents are starting to become active and the breeze is tipping the heavy ice crystals from their delicate balancing act.

 

 "Frosty Morning at the old Farmstead" 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

It was a beautiful setting but becoming quickly undone!  I tried not to spend too much time taking it in and recording it as best I could instead.  I then drove down the road a bit to a nice old farmstead and turned around as a bridge down the road had been wiped out by last September's epic flood in the valley.  The long early morning shadows at the farmstead's gate were wonderful and they were the last strong holdouts on frost that morning. 

By the time I arrived back to the acreage, the frost was all on the ground and the moment was over.  It was a beautiful 45 minutes, not just a visual memory. And now back to the business of the day...trying our best.

Sneaking Past!!!

 Band-winged Meadowhawk

in morning dew at Prairie Hill Farm

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

Time is sneaking past me!!!  I hope I'm not the only one that notices...it should "NOT" be September already!!!!

I'm afraid I'm a victim of technology...my work/business computer was "blue screening" me nearly every day this summer and I finally broke down and bought a new one.  Well - I found how difficult it is replacing 10 years worth of software and passwords!!!  The software thing was a the major "time eater" and is still my nemesis - Auuugggghhhhhh!!!!!  Its been 4 weeks and I still have some hurdles to get over...I liked Windows 7 better!!!!  (Sorry for complaining so much.)

I found a couple days ago I couldn't even interact with my blogs.  2 days later (with no help from google!) I finally got control back and can no longer procrastinate and am trying to get back to blogging once more.  (Oops, complaining again!)

We are right in the middle of the Bird and Monarch migrations now.  We had our first Monarch Roost on August 30th and are just now hatching out Monarchs in the pasture too...we'll see one more roost and they'll likely all be on their way to Mexico!  I do have a few caterpillars and chrysalises here inside the studio...these are from eggs I found here on the acreage and I brought them inside to "finish out" so as to give them a better chance at reaching adulthood.  (I've read that survival can be as low as 5% in the wild for eggs and caterpillars - adopting and keeping a watch can increase that a lot - so far I'm getting 100% survival).

 

 Monarch Roost at Prairie Hill Farm - 8-30-2018

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison 

It's kind of a bittersweet thing when this time of the year comes along, and all your "friends" start leaving.  This morning we only have one Baltimore Oriole left; we still have 2-3 Hummers around the feeders and the Catbirds, Barn Swallows and Red-headed Woodpeckers are still around.  But it won't be long.  At least that will bring our northern fall migrants through and then our winter residents, so there's a bright side to every thing that comes about.

If you haven't been out there, you might want to do so - Summer is sneaking past...don't miss it!

Mid Summer and Gorgeous!

 Prairie Hill Farm

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

The heat has just abated a little and the Black Flies (having undergone a second hatch) have finally calmed down a bit...now its the skeeters - but hey, the dragonflies, bats and swallows need to eat too!  The prairie pastures have continued to wow me...the insects, birds, grasses and forbs are giving cause to pause and watch.  Get out if you can...I know that life tends to get in the way, but a quiet walk is in order!

(Click on any image for a larger view)

 

 

 Monarch Butterfly (male) feeding on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) 

in the pasture here at Prairie Hill Farm

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Mass of Cup Plants (Silphium perfoliatum) in bloom in the pasture

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)  

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Fairy Napkin! OK...just a dew covered spider web! 

The "little fairy" can be seen peeking out from it lair in the upper hole in the web 

(should have zoomed in on him). 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 My favorites in the low areas of the pasture and ditches - 

Swamp Milkweed! (Asclepias incarnata)  

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Mass of Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) - delicate little plants, balanced in the left foreground by spikes of Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) 

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Mass of Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

 photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) 

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

The prairie keeps changing - hopefully I can keep up and record it...if you get a chance - get out and enjoy it.

Hope to see you on the Tallgrass!!!

One Last Stab at Winter!

"Winter at Broken Kettle Grasslands"  

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)

3 weeks till Spring!  Can you tell I'm counting the days?!  Ha!  Well I really do not want to wish my days away so I'm not being quite that crazy - just looking forward to what the season change will bring.

But in the meantime I thought I'd work on a winter landscape that had been on my back-burner for several years; I don't do winter paintings or drawing that often and I thought what better time to get one done then before winter ends outside the studio.

The landscape is of a Nature Conservancy Preserve about and hour or so south and west of us - the Broken Kettle Preserve...an amazing place to visit if you have never been there!  This 3000 acre tallgrass prairie preserve has many native species that are usually only found west of the Missouri - extremely rare or unusual finds in Iowa.  It is the home to the largest 100% pure blood American Bison herds in Iowa as well as possibly the last place in the state with a breeding population of Prairie Rattlesnakes.  A really cool place!  Thank you to the Nature Conservancy for preserving and maintaining such a treasure!!!

Many years ago I did a quick painting of this preserve, more in an alla prima style (wet into wet) and I'll post that painting below.

"Broken Kettle Winter"  

oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view)  

 

Winter is noticeably waning now with the increased length of daylight and the snow melt that we're experiencing.  I'd say this really reminded me of winters back in the 50's and 60's when I was a kid...we had some January and February thaws and many snow events...also some pretty frigid temps off and on.  But now we're hearing rumblings of early migrations building 2-3 hours south of us and did actually have a small flock of geese pass by this morning!  Oh I love this time of the year with changes taking place and something new every day!

 

"Male Red-bellied Woodpecker"  

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

 

The only drawback to all this is I am too easily distracted and have trouble staying on task inside at the easel!  A couple days ago was no exception with the bird traffic outside the window.  This nice Red-bellied Woodpecker thankfully sat still long enough for me to get a picture!  Looking forward to more distractions in the yard in coming weeks!

 

Enjoying the warmup, hope to see you on the Tallgrass!