Love the faces: more barnswallows

            Moments--in Between the  eating --               

They seem sated and look both earnest and ridiculous

Barn swallows -- Notes from the Photographer

Wednesday June 20, 1984 (Blue book page 102)

I put the blind in the barn loft about 10 am & the birds started coming in right away.

What a good idea! There are at least 3 nests. The nest I watched had 5 babes and they were huge. I had more fun watching them than any birds yet. They followed bugs and wasps and flies with their eyes – watched the horses – called their parents – stood on nest edge and whirred their wings.

Two babes fledged – flew to a beam, sat awhile, and then back to the nest.  The parents usually feed fast, on the wing.

The parents occasionally give a special chirp and all babes become statues in whatever position they are in – like the game “statues” except they usually shrink down in size. A fun experience. I was 6 feet 8 inches in the hay loft and used 60 power zoom.

Note from the editor: Barn swallows are beloved by many in blogland. If you want to read more or see more of the pictures see the previous stories -- More barn swallows.

Sharon

Cardsets and fun stuff for Winter Holiday gifts

Warmest greetings to all!

As the days grow shorter the world becomes colder join us in celebrating the flashes of cheering color and light in the natural world. These galleries feature images that convey the essence of winter and the holiday season:

The Winter Holidays - Midwinter, Christmas, Solstice
and
Birds - Winter Color

We're excited to share some of our big news:

• Mother-Daughter Press!  With the addition of new artists, including daughters and grandchildren, Gay Bumgarner Images is now consolidated into Mother-Daughter Press and brings an even wider diversity of images while still featuring Gay's creative work.
• We have gifts and new products such as card sets, mousepads, and ready-to-hang mounted images .
• A new printer, new collaborators, and a new source for paper mean that all of our products are even more affordable, including the fine art prints. See our prices.

_______________________________________

New Products

Card Sets:  In response to complaints that "there are too many great images -- I can't choose", we have put together card sets.   Below is a preview of our seasonal selections:

 

See all SEVEN card sets! 

"They are so beautiful I can't send them"
           --So, order two.

Customized Card Sets Express your style (and excellent taste!).  Choose several images or order a whole 10-card set of your favorite image. 

We can help you create a customized gift for the special people in your life --  the gardeners, birdwatchers, flower lovers, the earnest, or those with a quirky sense of humor. 

Mousepads are a great way to have everyday objects made beautiful.  Choose your favorite image.

Snowy Nest in Pine

Mounted Images Affordable and elegant, ready-to-hang. These small, card-sized images are less than $20 and make a lovely gift.

Check the website for
more information on
customized gifts.

Because the possibilities are vast and your choices will be unique, you will need to phone us (802-592-3357) or EMAIL to place your order.

---

More Note Card Sets-- Easy for you

New cards sets-- check them out

Many people that visit our website are astonished at the number of images --- truly lovely images --- that are all available but, too often they became overwhelmed and say "YOU CHOOSE". And so, we do sometimes and its great. Making a coherent set of cards is science and Gut Gestalt. We did an iterative process-- thanks to the committee friends Bill and Bene Dodge in Burlington, Suzanne Rhodes , Morgan McDonnell, Gib Parrish, and of course Gay Bumgarner herself.

Gay loved taking theme pictures and for many years she had a chair obsession thus, creating a gorgeous array of places to sit that were collectively called "Sitting Pretty". Anyone that had a really great or unusual chair would let her borrow it so she could place it in all sorts of settings. Her interests in the chairs, how she placed them, what they symbolized, and the story implied changed a lot over the years but... that is, another story.

This set is called Rural Living -- Four gorgeous country scenes. On the back of all cards we have collected stories, facts, odd ball information and lovely poems-- each relating to the image on the front-- as a way to learn and enjoy the cards a bit more.

For the Rural living set on the back of the picture with the iron wheels we explore all the different uses of the term "re-inventing the wheel". It turns out engineers have a rich set of stories and concepts about this and many related sayings such as "reinventing the square wheel". But, not to give away too much, the wheel has been reinvented at least 2-3 times depending on your definition.

These card sets are available online or by EMAIL here or in Burlington Vermont at Silver Maple Editions in Burlington, Vt.

Next onwards to winter birds -- cardinals, birds of all type, with berries, and snow.
Feel free to suggest a card set or theme for one....

Perfect Meadows

Notecards available at Joes Pond Crafts

Wonderful new images in the spring-summer collection. This year I have been focusing on botanical images and birds.  I keep finding new favorites with each batch scanned.  I've been making prints and they come out very well.  Check out the New-Birds, New-Potpourri, and New Gardens galleries.

Deb Stresing picked a fine group for her shop in West Danville Vermont- Joe's Pond Crafts on Route 2.  The entire group she picked is in a special gallery for you to see go to gallery of Notecards on sale at Joes pond.  She is happy to order more and you can also order via the website.

Joes Pond Crafts is a lovely place in a big old barn that features local artists work with a Vermont theme. Check it out.

Sharon