Tracks

I have embraced my love for black and white. Yesterday I printed and framed the B&W shot from the last post and loved it so much I plan to do a whole wall in my house with B&W photos. I don't think I need the 10 step program any more.

B&W

I love black and white photos but rarely can bring myself to kill the color. This time I had too. There was so much pattern and texture that I couldn't resist. I think it looks pretty good.


But then I thought, maybe just sneak a little color in. Just a touch, a smidge really...


I don't know why this is so hard for me. But I'm back to color, and color is the version I chose for my photo of the day in my photography group. I think I need a 10 step program to B&W acceptance. Oh, who am I kidding... I need at least 15 steps, maybe more.

When The Rain Comes

Morning

Morning is peaceful, soft and quiet. It is the feeling of a deep breath held and released slowly, an awakening. Morning is fresh coffee and dew on petals, sun beams and song birds. Morning is graceful and serene, it is the tango of dark and dawn. Morning is a whisper against your ear from a lover's lips reminding you that you are perfect. It is consistent yet infinitely varied each day. Morning is beautiful.

Rain and dew on morning glories. What else does one do on rainy days but take photos of the drops?

Beauty Laughs At Destruction

Due to high winds all of my gladiolas are lying on the ground. They look pretty shabby and beat up but at the end of each one is a beautiful cluster of flowers resting gently on the rocks, and there, they are lovely.

Heritage

We are having an autumn like day today. The sky is gray and the high temperature is only 65 degrees. I love autumn. It's my favorite time of year. The crisp air, the colors, and food. I think I could live every day in fall and be happy (visiting the other seasons occasionally... ok who am I kidding I love seasons but fall is my favorite). It reminds me of comfort things, like acorn squash and pumpkins, knitting, candles, and cozy quilts.

Quilts... they have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. All the women of my family have always been quilters. It's a heritage a mile long. I think it could be said we are born with thimbles on our fingers and wrapped quilted in love.

Visits to my mamaw's always included show and tell of all the current projects. My favorite of hers was her hummingbird quilt. At every visit, she lived 3 states away so about 2 or 3 times a year, I would look forward to seeing how that quilt was coming along. I still have never seen that one finished. It's a hand pieced work of art that takes forever and a day. So, I started my own a year ago. It will be entirely done with scraps from other projects, by hand, using English paper piecing, and finished with hand quilting. As expected, mine is taking forever and a day too. That's fine by me though because with this one, it's the process not the product that's important.

Quilting and fall, knitting and fall, cooking and fall, outdoors and fall, anything in fall... it's all really good! I even like cleaning in the fall! Oh, and let's not forget digi scrapping and fall. Fall elements and papers just make my heart sing. They're so warm and beautiful. I'm working on what may be my very favorite kit right now. Have I said that before? You may hear that a lot in the fall lol! Can you guess the theme lol? It should be ready... in the fall.

Weeds

Maybe I'm crazy but I love weeds. I think they're beautiful and have a silent determination that garden variety flowers just don't have. They're willful and strong and can bloom wherever they land. How can I not admire them?

At Day's End

Robin's Gift

Perhaps you remember the Robin eggs photo, or the update on the hatchlings. If not, they're here in the blog, or I could just tell you that this spring in one of my deck boxes was a beautiful Robin's nest with 4 eggs. The eggs hatched, the baby birds were all cute, survived, and flew away. End of story right? No.

The deck box was one of 5 that surrounds my deck. Each year I plant all different varieties of morning glories, moon flowers, and cardinal climbers in them. They cover the deck and attract humming birds and butterflies, which we all love seeing. This year though, I wasn't able to plant the 5th box because I didn't want to disturb the Robins. I knew it would look ugly, especially since it was the only box on that side of the deck because of the stairs but the Robins had to come first.

After they all flew away and I was sure they wouldn't return, I moved the nest. It was too late in the year to plant any seeds so I left it empty and ugly. A few days later, in the very middle a little plant grew. It had leaves like a morning glory so I left it, figuring even if it was a weed it would kind of match lol! This little plant grew huge! It has covered the entire side of the deck, started going down the stair rails, climbed up the shepherd's hook that the humming bird feeder hangs on and is wrapping itself around to the front side of the deck. I thought weed for sure, flowers don't grow so well, but since the leaves were similar I still left it. It got buds on it this week, I thought bonus, the weed is going to bloom. Well, this morning, it did. It is the most beautiful morning glory I have ever seen! The blooms are the size of saucers, Robin's egg blue, and so unusually striped, almost feathered! In the empty deck box grew a single plant large enough to fill an area that should have taken several plants. I feel as if the Robins have left me a gift for not uprooting them.

Wait

I couldn't sleep last night. I laid in bed listening to the grandfather clock faithfully chime on the hours. I thought I was nervous for my oldest. He is taking two of his three tests today so that he can skip classes. I thought I was worried that he wouldn't do well, he will. I thought maybe I was worried because we had never been to the high school and wasn't sure where he needed to be, not really a problem though because they only leave one door unlocked.

I was awake because I realized he wasn't going to any school, he was going into the high school. My little boy is growing up. He is going to a school where other students drive cars, people date, go to parties, drink, do drugs, have (gulp) s. e. x. He is soon to enter a world I've always tried to shelter him from and now, I'm powerless.

These test are going to put him two grades ahead. Don't misunderstand, I'm very proud. I'm happy to know he's brilliant and motivated but this means he will be exposed to people outside his grade and age. I worry about how he will handle it, what influence it will have. I know in my mind that a few months from now I'll see that all is well but in my heart, right now, I worry.

So, I didn't sleep. I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30, got ready, packed him a lunch, got him up, and off we went. We got to the school on time, was directed to the right parking lot, and I went to get out of the car to help him find the office and it happened. He said. "You don't need to go." I said,"Are you sure?". He said ,"Yep, I can do it by myself." I let him go and wished him luck while my heart screamed wait.

I know it's a very good thing that a child outgrows the need for a hand to hold, so to speak. But as that hand, it's very difficult to let go.

Happy Anniversary Woodstock

Happy 40th anniversary of Woodstock! Though I wasn't even a twinkle in someone's eye at the time of Woodstock, I strive to be a good, modern day flower child. Perhaps I was there in a former life... Peace and love my friends!

Be Blushed

Just a wee bit of prettiness.

Too Beautiful

It was another beautiful day at the park. We got to spend some time with that family of Sandhill Cranes again. The babies are almost as big as the parents now and Lil' Miss has taken to calling them her "puppies" and sees nothing unusual about 3' birds following her around lol! The sky was amazing, huge clouds and brilliant blue skies, except for 1 gray storm cloud that rained a handful of drops, just enough to scare me into putting the camera away and then getting it back out 5 minutes later. Well, I have to take photos. There are some days that are just too beautiful for words.

Amazing isn't it!

A puppy

Snow White

Over the seven jeweled hills, beyond the seventh fall, in the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs, dwells Snow White, fairest of them all.

Classic Beauty