Mothers Day at Lake Tabaeu

Lake Tabaeu Panorama, originally uploaded by mhall209.

After a great brunch at the Pickle Patch, my wife and I went for a walk around Lake Tabaeu in Amador County. The weather was iffy; maybe it was going to rain, maybe it wouldnt. This was the view from one section of the walk. In the end, we did get a few raindrops, but just a few.

Clinton Road Barn

Clinton Road Barn, originally uploaded by mhall209.

I found another old barn that just needed its picture taken. I don't know what it is about barns lately, but I notice them alot. This one was a little odd, usually the roofs are orange with rust, but this one has rust covered wood. And I have no idea what those little cream colored rectangles all over it are. But I do not better than to cross the fence line to find out!

green duck

green duck, originally uploaded by mhall209.

Today was Cinco de Mayo. Woo Hoo. I did nothing to celebrate. Nothing. But I did come home and say hello to our ducks. This guy is actually sitting in a little drainage ditch, so he just barely rises above the grass.

Gianini barn 2

Gianini barn 2, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This is one of my favorite barns, and it seems I can't really go anywhere without passing it. I like this view, a little different than the one a few days ago. I have one more view in mind of this barn, but parking and getting to that view is a little tricky. We shall see.......

green barn

green barn, originally uploaded by mhall209.

Another barn/shack I pass almost every day. It was another rainy day, and I got a break in the clouds long enough to pull off the highway and poke around a little. While I pass by here often I had never noticed all the stuff outside the barn. I would love to come poke around a little closer, but I am not fond of climbing through barbed wire. People tend to get a little crabby about that, and I'd just rather not.

Gianini Barn

Gianini Barn, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This is an old family farm barn. It has been here for a really long time, and it is still used as a barn for a family cattle operation. I pass this almost every day, but have never stopped in part because there are very few places to safely pull over. But this morning, very early, I went out in search of barns to shoot.

This was a more difficult shot to get than I had planned. The sun had not yet come over the hills to the left, so it was a little dark. Perhaps I should have used a faster ISO, but on my LCD it all looked good. I did think to use a range of exposures; over exposing, underexposing, changing the aperature, and so on. In the end there was no really good shot straight off the camera, which was my goal. I had to bring it into Gimp and make some adjustments. Oh well. such is life.

cement plant

cement plant, originally uploaded by mhall209.

The Calaveras Cement plant was closed in 1983, after producing cement since 1925. Since closing it has sat empty, and untill recently, untouched. A yeay or two ago they demolished some of the remaining buildings. (OK they blew them up.) It looks like they begam tearing these silos down but stopped. I have no idea why, But these silos are still standing along the side of the road. Fenced off, but huge holes in the walls.

As I was processing this photo I noticied two things, on one of the rails at the top of the silo sit a couple of birds. I cant tell what kind, but they are there, clear a day. And on the bottom, right at the edge of the pavement and grass, sits a Canadian Goose. Clear as day. Can you see it?