In a Forest of Tiny Minxes

[ShadowFun]

*Whispers* She didn't mention the lock! Maybe you'll be okay!

Lock, what lock???

I certainly must know nothing about the item you are whispering about. And anyway, I’m not responsible for what the Minxes choose to adorn themselves with… even if said item existed.

That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

Yay .
It is starting to warm up around here some too..
I can not wait to get out and start taking pics again

Cedar and I like snow… but I’m definitely ready for more warmth and flowers!

I’m hoping to catch a few more orchids in bloom again. I was surprised by them last year, and I’m not organized enough to know when various flowers are supposed to bloom.

But I’m sure aware of when the mosquitoes will arrive…

Squeaky Bonus!

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Yesterday, one of our first off-trail stops was at a small clutch of cedar trees. This isn’t the section of cedars that we usually shoot at. That group is right at the trailhead… and was swamped with people yesterday.

Typically, I scramble to this spot when the ground is frozen and it’s snowy. The area the trees are in is firm, but it’s boggy all around them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to the one cedar tree overhanging the creek without likely going ankle deep in the muck.

In these pics, Cedar is standing on a massive burl at the base of a tree. It’s a pretty spot, and I don’t take as many pics of the little Luv here as I should.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

[LoneRanger]

Let's hope that Cedar is immune to musiques and other bugs for that matter!

[Vicvic]

Cedar in the wild... It's great!

[ShadowFun]

Cedar in the wild... It's great!

Thanks Victor! I hope to get more pictures of her with flowers soon!

Let's hope that Cedar is immune to musiques and other bugs for that matter!

Immune??? I think she’s invulnerable! Thanks for stopping in pal!

Bonus Toes!

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I like the composition of this photo better than the one I posted… but I didn’t quite get Cedar’s toes in focus…

For these two shots, I didn’t use my macro lens, but mounted a close up lens to the front of my 27mm “wide-normal” pancake lens. I carry this screw-on “Plus 3” filter-style lens as part of my “fast and light” camera kit… but I rarely use it. Most of the time, I grab my macro lens when I want to get close to Cedar.

But the 27mm with the close-up lens gives an effect that my 60mm macro lens won’t. It stretches out Cedar’s limbs… making her look a lot larger than she is. Up close, the 27mm doesn’t produce quite as much distortion as a wider angle lens would. I like the effect when shooting close-ups of Cedar’s body… but not so much for portraits.

The 60mm macro is best for kissing pics!

Thanks for dropping by everyone!

[Pia]

Cedar is so beautiful in the forest and the soft moss is great

[ShadowFun]

Frog Time!

“There you are SF! Can’t you hear them calling???”

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“Uhh… do you mean the frogs? Yeah… they are pretty noisy.”

“Mmmm… giggle! Doesn’t it make your blood boil!!!”

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“BOIL??? Ummm… not quite.”

“Come on… Giggle! Hop over the railing and let’s go chase them!”

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“Oh hell no! I’m not jumping in the bog and chasing frogs around!”

“But it’ll be mucky and FUN! Giggle!!!”

“Well I’m sure the frogs don’t want to be chased either. Why don’t we just sit quietly and watch them. That can be fun too… right???”

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“ShadowFun… you aren’t looking at the frogs!”


To be fair… I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them. That’s probably what the frogs wanted anyway.

Todays walk in the Forest was another last minute decision… and late in the day… just like last week. We had gotten quite a bit of rain over the last couple days, and the Forest marshes and ponds were pretty full. And, as mentioned… the frogs were out in full force.

There weren’t too many people out here today, but enough to interrupt my playtime with Cedar. Because it was so wet out, I couldn’t get very far off the trails either, without walking in muck.

But Cedar did show me some flowers I’ve never noticed before… or even realized they existed.

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“They’re like little tender babies… giggle!”

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The Common Horsetail was sprouting and flowering!

The Forest trails are lined with Horsetail all summer long. Their stiff, green segmented shoots are part of the tapestry of this area… but I’ve never noticed them flowering before… and in this pale delicate state.

Thanks for showing them to me Cedar!

and for not insisting I chase the frogs…

[4891d]

As a child, I went frog fishing once, with a country boy I had met on vacation.
I remember he lured them with a little red cloth on the end of a thin stick.
These are old memories that Cedar brings back.

[ShadowFun]

As a child, I went frog fishing once, with a country boy I had met on vacation.
I remember he lured them with a little red cloth on the end of a thin stick.
These are old memories that Cedar brings back.

Fishing??? I hadn’t considered that maybe Cedar wanted to EAT the frogs!

The sound of springtime frog ponds brings back a lot of memories for me too. Unfortunately, the arrival of the frogs usually means the mosquitoes are not far behind…

Cedar is so beautiful in the forest and the soft moss is great

Thanks Pia! I hope your little friends can find some moss to play on too!

Bonus Frog Watching!

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Frog Time 9.JPG (6.7 MiB) Viewed 195 times

Yesterday’s real objective was to get a photo of Cedar on a mossy log over the water for her Cat E entry… the frog ruckus was just a bonus!

This spot in the Forest is a swampy marshland, where a natural spring feeds the headwaters of a local river. Consequently, there are moss-covered logs over water EVERYWHERE… it’s getting to them that’s the trouble.

I had to pick my path carefully through the underbrush in order to get close to the water’s edge. It took quite a while to find a spot where I could reach a log, and get close enough with my camera to make the shot. I considered many places that would have been more awkward… and risky… but thankfully, I moved on.

I’m a clumsy guy… one wrong step would’ve had me swimming with the frogs!


Thanks for stopping by everyone!

[Vicvic]

Well done to you and Cedar for these beautiful humid forest photos. The mischievous little elf knows how to capture your attention on plants and frogs!

[ShadowFun]

Well done to you and Cedar for these beautiful humid forest photos. The mischievous little elf knows how to capture your attention on plants and frogs!

She certainly does Victor! Here’s one more bonus photo from our previous outing. I forgot to post it!

Hoomans Everywhere 11.JPG (4.34 MiB) Viewed 159 times

Thanks for stopping by!

[agent0013]

“But it’ll be mucky and FUN! Giggle!!!”

How dare you not give her what she wants!

Lovely photos as always!

[ShadowFun]

Blossom Time!

It was cold yesterday morning… almost freezing again.

The weather this Spring has been really up and down. It’s been rough on the flowering things. Before heading into work yesterday, I thought I’d stop at the Art Gardens and see what flowers might be hearty enough to deal with the cold.

First stop… to see what Persephone was up to… and Cedar, of course!


“Giggle!”

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“Hey there little Luv, whatcha wearing?”

“Do you like it??? It’s my Blossom outfit!!!”

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“Oh yes, it’s quite fetching… Are we gonna see some flowers today? I see Persephone is still wearing her winter blanket.”

“Yeah, she’s not a super hottie like me… giggle… but she’s poking her foot out!!!”


We scampered off into the gardens… on the hunt for flowers.

Many small groundcover plants were flowering… and the daffodils of course, but I could see there were still many plants struggling with the fluctuations in temperature. We’ve had quite a few weeks where temperatures have soared and then plummeted again.

I imagine it’s been very confusing for the green growing things.

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“Don’t be sad SF… it’s all part of Life!”


Indeed… and I’m grateful to be able to enjoy it. Especially with my tiny friends!

Our next stop was to visit the flowering trees. The Gardens has some unique trees for my region. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time yesterday morning to go to deep into the park… but that didn’t mean Cedar couldn’t get a little climbing in.

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“These are almost bigger than me… Giggle!”


Maybe next time, there’ll be some more blossoms for Cedar to play with!

Thanks for stopping by!

[john1972]

Yay did you help her wipe the dirt off her boobies ..

One of my medium format lenses quit working ..
I have to pull that apart and find out what is up with that or ill have to use the older one ..
I am bummed..
I already shot two rolls of black and white on 35mm cameras this spring but after fixing the focus screen issues and
getting better lens (The one that suddenly quit ) I thought I was ready to go out and start shooting very soon
with the medium format cameras but ehhhhh .

Things just never do seem to go as planned lol.
I do hope to actually do an entire shoot on film this summer with some of the girls.
Maybe I will wait till you come for a visit and do it then and we can take Sabrina and maybe cedar can come and those two
can play around in the woods around here ...
LOTS of woods around here lol.

Also have you developed that roll of film you was shooting when you came to visit last time?
Maybe I can talk you into bringing a camera and ill toss you a roll of film and you can leave it here when you go and ill put it
with mine and at the end of the season when I do my dev session ill develop both rolls and I can share the photos on here..

[Vicvic]

Beautiful series of photos of Cedar among the daffodils, blue periwinkle, magnolia soulangeana flowers... I didn't recognize the second to last one... It's a fruit tree, maybe an apple tree...

[ShadowFun]

Yay did you help her wipe the dirt off her boobies ..

Also have you developed that roll of film you was shooting when you came to visit last time?

Uhhh… certainly you meant to ask if I’ve FINISHED shooting the roll? Which I haven’t… lol.

Sorry to hear about your lens woes! Hopefully it becomes a new and interesting puzzle and not a disaster. I’m looking forward to hanging out too!

Beautiful series of photos of Cedar among the daffodils, blue periwinkle, magnolia soulangeana flowers... I didn't recognize the second to last one... It's a fruit tree, maybe an apple tree...

Thanks Victor! I think that tree is some kind of crabapple… but I really don’t know. The Gardens have so many unusual trees that I’ve given up trying to identify them.

Bonus Giggle!

Blossom Time 7.JPG (4.91 MiB) Viewed 19 times

Cedar’s “outfit” got a little wild in this shot.

Even though I started our story off with a trip to the Persephone sculpture, it actually was our last stop. I was rushing to finish up and get to work. I shot two different angles of Cedar posed here before I noticed that her sash got all sideways.


I guess it was windy out… from too many blowing kisses!



Thanks for stopping by everyone!