This week, Tina has chosen Leading Lines as the topic for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The following images were captured at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Spring Valley Nature Center, Navy Pier in Chicago and Volo Auto Museum.
Spring Valley Nature Center
All posts tagged Spring Valley Nature Center
This week, the topic for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is Barns or any Dilapidated Buildings. I don’t know why, but we very rarely seem to visit places that are not kept in at least reasonably good condition. In future, I will make a point of looking out for the less well-cared-for places. I did manage to find a couple of images that fit the bill, however, so here they are. The first was taken on our trip to Marion last year and features the old Marion Daily Republican building.
One of the things that I used to enjoy about visiting the Farm at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg was seeing and photographing the old barn. That was many years ago and the barn was already falling apart which, I suspect, added to its mellow charm. They eventually tore it down and replaced it with a garishly-painted new one which, although showing up well in subsequent pictures, couldn’t hold a candle to the old building. Looking at some of these later images, I’m wondering if they perhaps saved one of the old doors, possibly on its historical merits, painted it and incorporated it into the new building. How else could you explain its obvious state of dilapidation.
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Barns or Any Dilapidated Buildings
Cee’s ‘alphabet with a twist’ photo challenge this week is calling for things beginning with i and I may be giving away my family’s cockney roots here when I tell you that this is a song that my grandparents and parents used to sing to me when I was a child and which I passed on to my kids and grandchildren.
“Any old iron? Any old iron?
Any, any, any old iron?
You look neat. Talk about a treat!
You look dapper from your napper to your feet.
Dressed in style, brand-new tile,
With your father’s old green tie on.
But I wouldn’t give you tuppence for your old watch chain,
Old iron, old iron.”
As I mentioned in a previous post, we have spent a lot of time at historical museums and farmhouses and these are just a few of the items that I assume would have been made of cast iron.
The first two images were captured at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago, Illinois. The next one was taken in the farmhouse kitchen at Spring Valley in Schaumburg.
And the following pictures were taken at the Historical Museum in Marion, Illinois.
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter I – Needs to start with the letter I
This week, Cee has us running hot and cold for the Fun Foto Challenge and my selections for the hot segment come from Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. The first image was taken during a controlled burn in one of the fields a few years ago and the second shows the remains of a bonfire near the farmhouse.
For the cold segment I decided on a shot of a hothouse in a cold Chicago winter at the Botanic Garden and a snow sculpture at a Winterfest at our local shopping mall.
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2017/05/30/cees-fun-foto-challenge-hot-andor-cold/
This week, Cee has us looking for faces in everyday things for her Fun Foto Challenge. Here are a few of the faces that looked out at me from the old photo files.
A unicorn magically appears in a tree trunk at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg……..
while these vintage cars seem to have taken on personalities of their own at Bluesmobile Cruise Night in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
And a giant face glares out from the rocks at Arches National Park in Utah.
For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2017/02/14/cees-fun-foto-challenge-things-that-look-like-faces/
Time for Norm’s Thursday Doors and this week I’m featuring the doors at Volkening Farm in the Spring Valley Nature Center, Schaumburg. For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/thursday-doors-november-10-2016/
“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”
“Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!”
“Okay, fair enough.”
Today’s subject for Jennifer Nichole Wells’ Halloween Challenge is gate, and I must admit that I had to dig deep into the photo files to come up with something for this one. Plenty of doors but not many gates.
A gate leading into the little flower garden at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Two gates leading into the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois.
I’m guessing these may have originally been gates although there is now a bench positioned right in front of them. Possibly decorated with Chihuly glass pieces, they were at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis.
A beautiful wrought-iron gate at the Cuneo Mansion in Vernon Hills, Illinois. For more on Jennifer’s Halloween Challenge go to https://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/10/24/jnws-halloween-challenge-gate/
Cabin fever finally got the better of me today and in a fit of winter madness I donned four layers of clothing and went out in temperatures that reached all the way to a balmy 6F to do some photography at the Volkening Heritage Farm in Spring Valley Nature Center, Schaumburg.
Scenes like this remind me why I don’t totally despise winter. I really should get out in it more often instead of whining about how miserable it is to be stuck inside day after day.
There was a time when I would have thought nothing of going off on a trek in this kind of weather but, as I get older, just the thought of going out in the cold is enough to put me off. Still I have to admit that once I’m out there and moving about, it doesn’t seem so bad.
Not much sign of wildlife but there were still some good opportunities for interesting shots along the way to the farm such as this piece of equipment that had been left out in the snow.
The farm itself is closed until March so this was as close as I could get. However, the path took me near enough to catch a glimpse of some cows and a horse standing around outside the barn. We are expecting more snow on Saturday so perhaps I’ll venture out again to Spring Valley to get some more shots next week.
Sue’s Word A Week Challenge on A Word In Your Ear at http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-shadow/ is Shadow.
Skillfully pruned pines cast distorted shadows on the snow in the Japanese Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Our little granddaughter racing to keep ahead of her shadow. I can’t take the credit for this picture. My son-in-law, her Uncle C, captured it as they were coming home from the park but it was so cute that I just had to include it.
Shadows emphasize the path across a bridge at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
A shadow is cast on The Sundial, a sculpture in the Plant Evaluation Garden of the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Shadows criss-cross the old red barn at Volkening Heritage Farm in Schaumburg.
In celebration of its one year anniversary, Sue’s Word A Week Challenge on A Word In Your Ear at http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/a-word-a-week-challenge-is-a-year-old-favourite/ is Favorite.
Autumn is my favorite time of year and here are some pictures taken at some of my favorite places to visit. Pictured above an autumnal display in The Circle Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
The Morton Arboretum really glows at this time of year.
A colorful pumpkin display at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.
Autumn grass at the Morton Arboretum.
A single leaf heralding the return of autumn at Spring Valley Nature Center.
Getting the Picture 