Saturday, June 30, 2007

a year ago

This morning I was looking for a particular photo and found myself sorting through the files for last July. Suddenly I realized that these photos were from a year ago. It seemed incredible to me. Many of the shots brought memories that feel current - as if the photos were a few weeks ago not a year ago. It made me think I should look at old shots every so often. I live in a world of favorites and shots from the last few weeks.

BUT - this is why I take photos - for the emotions these evoked and the thoughts and events they recalled. I guess I should make the most of it. These were some of my favorites from last July.

I just plain like this shot.


You can't create this set-up - you just see it. And it isn't at all obvious when you are sitting in a tomato patch as when you see it framed up in a image and converted to black and white. I remember seeing it and hoping I could get what I saw. I framed it up in the camera and bracketed the shot to make sure I got the right light without blowouts or too much loss of detail...and of course there were additional shots to compensate for the wind that shifted leaves and let in light spots I didn't want.


This was on the fourth of July. We had such a relaxing holiday last year. Hubby was off on Monday and Tuesday. We went to the playground, we picnicked, and we just hung out. This was in the front yard before we went to see fireworks. I took a lot of pictures of the girls that afternoon and they are some of my favorite photos of them from last year. Perhaps it is because my Mom made the outfits and these were the first photos I took of the outfits.


:)


Is this one of your memories?


Something about light and sprinklers is gorgeous.


Do you remember drinking out of faucets when you were young? And isn't that belly adorable?


This sunflower volunteered in the front yard in the stump remains of the spruce that had come down during the autumn storms the year before. It put me in mind of the sunflowers I grew at our old house and so I dug out a plot of grass in the backyard for sunflowers. This spring I covered the stump up with dirt and put rocks around it and planted it with sunflowers too. Soon you will be up to your eyeballs in sunflower photos.


For most of the summer, the girls would play dress-up in these outfits that Grandma H had bought them when were in CA that May.



I spent my early Sunday morning before church under the cherry tree watching this spider build his web between the leaves of my tomato plants.


The light and the remembrance of childhood in this photo captured me. And for those who wonder about the light - we have a mirror on the front porch behind the flowers - in the mornings you get the sun reflecting off of it.


I made thirty beaded dragonflies and about eight beaded spiders.


I was obsessed with capturing the feeling of butterflies in flight.



I remember I left this photo dark on purpose - it felt so magical to me.


Grandpa Glen spent a morning blowing grass whistles for the girls. It brought out a playfulness in him we don't often see. Often he is depressed, or bitter, or needy - playful isn't often a skill available to him.



If life were a thing that money could buy,
The rich would live and the poor would die.
But God in His mercy made it so
That the rich and the poor together must go.

Photohunter: Sweet

C with Grandpa Glen. Glen is a 87 year old widower we adopted a few years ago. We visit him every Wednesday. The girls adore him.

Friday, June 29, 2007

a little assistance, please

For book club this month, we read Interview with the Devil by Clay Jacobsen. I posted two different sets of reactions to the book. One on my book blog and the other at Suite101.

Anyone who is willing to read them and give me their thoughts would be find themselves appreciated.

Also, I started a new feature on my blog sidebar called Current Events where I will mention my daily writing activities or other items of note for those who are interested. In this feature, you will find a link to a reading poll I set-up for Suite101. I would so appreciate every single last one of you who takes the time to do the one-question survey!


Oh, I've paddled on the ocean,
I've tramped on the plain.
But I never saw a window cry
Because it had a pain.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary

Hubby was grinning like a school boy when he gave this to me yesterday. He was adorable.







Remember me
When this you see,
And what a girl
I used to be.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

ten pounds down now

I fell in love with this teapot. It has no lid. But the crackle finish the stains, the chipped orange accents. I love it.




What is this thing? I thought at first it was a floral frog but now I am not sure - it could hold cigarettes? It is Norcrest Fine China 'Sweet Violets' 7/745. It is broken.

BTW I love floral frogs...pin, glass, and figurative!





The inside of this book is signed Emma B Greve, 552-11tb Ave. Milwaukee, WI 11/4/17

The title page reads

Containing methods of teaching all subjects commonly taught in the public schools, together with questions and answers fully covering ... for the recitation or in actual class work


I can't resist these books. These are the books I would check out of the library over and over when I was a child - probably the same editions or close too as they look and feel the same. I bought the red one titled "Hey! Horses!" yesterday.



I thought, I thought, I thought in vain,
At last I thought I'd write my name.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

the things along trails...

eating popcorn and watching the train pass by...



I know limited depth of field and weird angles don't thrill everyone like they do me and if they don't thrill you. I'm sorry.



someday a monarch


a common little roadside weed...

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Photohunter: Shiny

so let my light shine before men



this was our Christmas card two years ago.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

a thought

There is an inevitability in life if you live without God. It is a certainty that is frightening because there is no veering off course. The only way to exit the life of inevitability is to find the true Purpose, which is Christ our Lord who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.







The nice thing about black and white photography is that the viewer gets to decide what color the flowers are.


Wednesday, June 20, 2007

friend stuff, craft stuff, flower stuff, garden stuff

Yipppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I can finally show this too you. A while back I posted this photo of my girls. A few days after I posted it my friend Heather asked me if she could paint it. Right before my in-laws arrived I received a package from Heather with the painting in it. I was tickled, pleased, stunned (I don't know many people who can draw or paint, much less draw or paint this well). Heather writes about her process here.

Two weeks ago, I took it to JoAnn's to be framed. It came back today. Isn't it gorgeous. I am so lucky to have a generous friend like Heather. We've never met in person and we've only known each other for a few months. God blesses us where we least expect it sometimes. Thank you Heather.

You can see reflections in the glass. The matte is a charcoal black without stripes.


This is a collage done in a 'vintage' heirloom compact from hubby's grandma H. For details on the collage (and to see the gorgeous outside image) check out my craft blog. I posted a tutorial for it at Suite101.



Some flowers from our bike ride in Bunker today. I mentioned earlier this year that I am thinking of publishing a floral book in the fall with the working title "floral navigation." I am thinking that I might try putting together a calendar called "the flowers of Bunker" and see if the park would like to sell them.



I am ready for BLT's, taco salad, and spaghetti sauce. I actually have some fist-sized tomatoes but they haven't struck me in the right light to photograph them.




I wish you could have all been here for supper last night! We had zucchini.




If I were a head of lettuce,
I'd cut myself in two.
I'd give the leaves to all my friends
And save the heart for you.