mmmmm mmmmmmm MOSSY!

A few months ago - one of my good friends, Malcolm - came over and stole me away from my work computer for a lovely drive out into the woods near Acme for some much needed fun and conversation. He knows me - and my love for broken down, rusty, falling apart and forgotten things - so that when he told me we were going to an old Saw Mill ... he neglected to tell me about the amazing moss covered truck that would greet me when we turned the corner. I think he just "forgot to mention it" so he could see my eyes light up and hear me squeal like a schoolgirl. I think I even bounced up and down in my seat and clapped my hands before frantically searching for the seat belt release so I could go attack one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!

These are some of my favorite shots of the outside of the ol truck. I just cant get over how much moss is on that thing! Its glorious!

Now....now that youve seen the outside - let me show you what I found when I pulled the door open (it wasnt too happy with me and creaked and groaned and got a little stubborn on me...but I won in the end) - I was shocked to see that the keys were still in the ignition and there was moss dangling down from that too! I had a bit of a hard time getting shots without sun glare but these are the best of the bunch and I think they turned out pretty well :) Enjoy!

It was a great afternoon and an amazing gift from an amazing man. :) Thank you Malcolm for spending the day with me and showing me this wonderful piece of history and for that sparkle in your eye and the giant grins you get when you are watching me run around, squealing at old junked trucks - You are a treasure of another kind. :)

Ive got the blues

Ok....now dont go falling out of your chairs...you arent imagining things...I am actually posting something besides rusty broken chains and abandoned houses!! Every once in a while I like to get out and enjoy fresh air instead broken down sheds with moldy old couches in them!

I recently purchased a lovely little filter that - as you can see - makes the sky a more vivid blue than most normal camera lenses achieve. I cant believe I waited so long to get one of these...its going to save me HOURS of editing this summer by giving me bright blue skies instead of washed out ones - that always lead to color adjusting and manipulating each photo by hand! I think this is going to turn out to be one of my best investments so far!

Anyway - the first set of photos I took on Saturday morning out at Larabee Park off of Chuckanut Drive in Bellingham and was just amazed at how blue the sky turned out in the photos - usually its a white washed out mess...and now its almost TOO blue!

I wandered around the various places that can be found down there at the park and ended my explore here - where these two were sitting and sharing probably the best spot in town for sipping morning tea! What a beautiful view.

Then Sunday evening, I wanted to see how it would do with a sunset situation and I wasnt disappointed there either. This is by far my favorite shot:

These next few I did actually use a second filter in Adobe Lightroom to pull out only the blues in the shot and they turned out looking like something out of a sci-fi movie or perhaps just a really bright moonlit night -

I was so focused on the seagulls in this shot - that I didnt notice the "Horizon Line" in the background until I got home to play around with the pictures. :)

And so there we have some nature shots for a change....dont worry - I found another house I want to sneak into soon...rust will be back to my blog in no time ;) But until then, I hope you enjoyed these. :)

Thanks for visiting!

Zeeeeeeeeees!

I went out driving around this past weekend in hopes of finding something interesting to photograph and just wasnt really feeling in the mood to battle through blackberry bushes to get into an old abandoned house or get hollered at for standing on someones yard trying to get pictures of their old broken barn...so I found myself on the edges of Zee's Recycling out on the Guide - a place I think may very well be the ultimate Heaven and where I want to go when I die.

Wandering.....for all of eternity, through the mazes of mounds of rusty goodness - yes, if I could pick where Heaven was - this would definately be it for me. ;)

I couldn't get in of course - at least not without having someone call the police to rat me out...its right on the busiest road in the county and there were old watchful eyes peering out at me from the house across the street, just waiting to see if I was going to try to climb over the boxcar barricade or squeeze my tiny self between the two that would have possibly let me in with just a few small bruises on my ribcage ;) - probably with fingers poised and ready to dial 911 upon seeing me disappear into that wonderful land of "Yummy."

There are SO many different things to photograph just on the outside...I can only imagine all the joyous things Id find on the other side....but alas, I was doomed to wander the edges of Heaven and find myself denied by barbed wire, chain link fences and giant textured boxes - which were enough to fill my entire memory card with photos of close ups of the peeling paint, rusted edges and various odd cracks and dents that they were so proudly displaying.

These are some of my favorite shots - I just love all of the different colors and shapes...

And I couldnt help but laugh at this last one - when you cant find any paper...just write it on a boxcar door..."Red Sam - Going out today!"

I kept expecting to find a grocery list on the other side ;)

Anyway - thats my walk through Zee Heaven.
Someday, I'll make it to the other side....
My luck, Im going to Hell - where everything is shiney and new ;)

The house on the hill...

So - I went out this weekend and found myself standing at the edge of a property out near the local mall that I had seen from the freeway a few weeks back and decided it was high time I got inside there to photograph it....though I probably should have taken a buddy with me - as once I got inside, I found evidence of habitation via "Will work for food" and "Hungry..anything helps" signs laying about in the bedroom upstairs, with a few other personal items next to the matress on the floor - I just didnt have the heart to photograph those things - but the rest of the place was free game and luckily no one was hiding in the basement to murder me :D Thats always a plus!

The front door was missing and the screen door was broken...it was just asking me to come in... ;)

I stepped into the house very carefully - listening for voices or sounds of people lurking (what DO people sound like when they lurk anyway?? *lurk lurk lurk...*) but all I could hear was the wind rustling the bushes up against the siding so I started taking pictures. This Im guessing was the living room at one time - now home to a soul that would apparently love to paint over the green with a lovely shade of purple paint...




There was plenty of broken glass around to step on too - and I was thankful I had worn my thicker soled boots. I think alot of people have enjoyed throwing rocks at this old house from time to time - as I dont believe I found a single window in the place without some kind of hole in it.


To the left in a smaller room that might have been a bedroom or maybe an additional sitting room, was the only piece of furniture I could find in the place, except for the matress upstairs - sitting facing the window, watching the freeway. With all the accidents that happen right about there, Im going to guess its like watching an episode of "Worlds craziest videos" or "Cops" only in real time - and close enough to hear the tires screeching and the metal bending...


Its been "loved" on alot - as you can see.

From the living room you enter the kitchen to access the bathroom and the entrance to the upstairs bedrooms (there were 2 upstairs) - as well as the back porch where the entrance to the basement lies. I think the house had the same wallpaper in the kitchen that my great grandmother had in hers once upon a time ago...roosters and teapots and things...I had a few "moments" while standing there - thinking about the numerous mason jars filled with canned beets and beans, and more Jam than I could ever imagine anyone possibly ever using in a lifetime, let alone one summer... but thats another story...

This is the view from the kitchen out to the front room.

I was about to step into the bathroom to get some pictures of the old washtub - but it smelled like something died in there - so I figured it would be my luck to turn the corner and find myself staring down some old dead guy sitting on the toilet or something so I decided Id rather go upstairs instead and leave the discovery to someone else...(yeah yeah - too many CSI's again)


I headed up the stairs and felt a little prick of fear run down my spine as I realized I was alone and there could be someone hiding up there - but I made my way up quietly and used what little ninja skills I have obtained from my 8 year old son - and luckily I didnt need to use my "Chuck Norris Round House Kick" on anyone (because let me tell you - its a mean mean round house kick...ok its not, I threw my hip out last time I tried...but THEY wouldnt know that!!)



I found all of the windows up there busted out - and evidence of someone having been hiding from the weather there recently - and felt like I would be invading their privacy (what little they have left in the world) - so I just took a few pictures of the windows, stepped around the various photos and clothing laying around, and tried to get that chunk of lead feeling in my gut to go away as I noticed the 4 different cardboard signs laying around - each with a different plea for help...So I headed back downstairs in search of the basement...



No monsters down there either (thankfully) but I did find some interesting duct work and fun painted animal things on the walls - maybe it had been a playroom at one point...

Im wondering if maybe that was their version of Eeyore...He seems quite content being green though - I think it suits him well. :)

Oddly there wasnt much rust down there - nor alot of mold growth even though it was damp and the windows were all busted out. I was happy to find a few spots of brown on the heat ducts and some old junk in the corner though the light down there was next to nill - and my camera didnt get very crisp images of them.

After my adventures in the basement were finished, I headed back up the stairs and noticed a little shed out back behind the house...

Ill be posting those next. ;)