"If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees."

Khalil Gibran

"Alone with myself

The trees bend

to caress me

The shade hugs

my heart."

Candy Polgar

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

fall seems to be making it's presence (presents?!?) known more every day. a chill in the morning air and afternoons beckoning with wonderfully mellow sunshine in a sky that is somehow bluer than at any other time of the year.

the hollyhocks thrive during this time of the year. while photographing them i was intent on noticing the glorious light and the deep red color of these particular stalks. it was only after i uploaded the shots onto the computer that i also seen the hollyhocks had another visitor at the time . . . a surprise that made me smile.

you may have noticed that i haven't been posting much and have been pretty slow to answer most comments. this is due to most of my extra time going towards preparing myself and my household for my upcoming hip surgery. the date has been set and during the second week in october i will go in and have it done.  i'll be blogging quite a bit less for approximately the next six weeks. it may be a shorter amount of time but there is no way for me to really know and amazingly at the six week mark the holidays will be upon us all and so that may slow me down as well. 

in an effort to be more prepared i've been trying to get some of my holiday creating done early . . . i do hope to be able to share that here in my blog in bits and pieces as i can as well as do some blog-hopping to see what everyone else is up to. i may be a bit of a lurker, checking it all out when i can . . . hang in there with me. i'll do my best.

today's gifts included:

• time with the trees
• the autumn afternoon warmth
• freshly picked corn from the garden for dinner
• that blue BLUE sky

Morning Glory Memories

this morning i went for a visit to see what Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art was up to. i like her artistic style and today she was offering two of her beautiful textures as a freebie to play/test out. they were irresistible and this evening i've given them a little workout.

this first photo is one that was taken while i was in Honduras this past Christmas. i didn't think it was a great shot for a variety of reasons but i wasn't ready to totally give up on it either. so i tucked it away for possible future photoshop play and today while i was looking through my photos it popped out at me as a possibility for using with Bonnie's textures.

so this is what i did:

• cropped it square
• duplicated it
• added the Silent Memory texture at 40% opacity - hard light
• added the Fleeting Memory texture at 30% opacity - overlay
• flattened it

i'm very happy with the results. thank you Bonnie. i hope to play with these textures again very soon.

Morning Glory Memories

it's interesting how seeing and experimenting with this shot brought back so many different memories from this special trip. it was the first time i had seen my daughter in over a year and a half. not only was i happy to see her again (all whole and happy and oh so freckled) i was also pleased to be able to experience the country and people that she had been involved with during that time. while there with her i realized that she was a young lady with extraordinary discipline. she's tough as nails on the outside and amazingly resilient but inside she has a heart/spirit that aches to make the world a better place. what a winning combination (!!) and such a blessing in my life.

today's gifts included:

• a visit from a close friend
• trying out the newest kitchen gadget: a handy dandy cherry pitter.
• smelling the fresh lemon that i sliced for iced tea ~ lemons smell really good~!!~

Texture Tuesdays

this week on TT the challenge was to use the layer (free) "golden" by kim klassen.

this is the original image i shot. we had some blackberries in the house so i used a handful of them and some mint sprigs to create a quick still life. i used a small white shell shaped dish and the contrast was so great between the blackberries and the dish that i felt the shot was harsh . . . i shot a lot of images, using a variety of settings/adjustments within camera, but just couldn't really overcome the problem. so . . . it was textures to the rescue . . .

Blackberries A La Mint

this was the result. i think it has a much softer look now. i would be interested to know: which do you like better? what suggestions do you have regarding the original problem of contrasts and harshness? do you like blackberries?

today's gifts include:

• homemade blackberry syrup
• the discovery of rosebuds within the garden
• a recount on the goldfish: there are 15 rather than 14

Texture Tuesdays

this Texture Tuesdays challenge was to use text within our image as well as at least one of kim klassens textures. i used two textures: not to shabby and stained linen.
i was pretty light handed with them and did some erasing on the textures from the parts where i wanted the flowers to really remain light and bright. so they are subtle this week. i was also careful with the text as i wanted it to just be a "whisper".

 Beginnings

this is the original photo taken from my garden a few days ago.

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

and then being the overachiever that i sometimes can be (or maybe i'm just having a really good time) i had to do another one. this one much more dramatic. this time i used only one of kim's textures: warm sun.

 Widening Towards Enlightenment

i even was inspired to write a cinquain (a five line poem) to go with it:

moon snail

radiant symmetry

an inner mystery

widening towards enlightenment

growth glows

 the black and white snail shell is one of my own photos taken from my archives. i don't think it's a very good photo as a stand alone shot but i didn't want to dump it either . . . i think it worked well here.

this is a photo that i took of a fallen rose petal several summers ago. i loved it's color and luminosity as well as the subtle details.  i hoped i might be able to use it as a texture layer someday. it was fun to work with and i'll use it again i'm sure.

today's gifts include:

• time to work/play in photoshop
• some joyful giving
• a friend's shared happiness

i am having a beautiful weekend
and wishing you the same.

today's gifts include:

• the fragrance of blossoming fruit trees
• a walk with Suki (the granddog)
• solitude

it has to be all about flowers today, doesn't it~!?!~

 i had a little bit of time to play in my photoshop program so made a quick Happy May Day piece. the blossoms are from a jasmine plant that i have. in the summer it gets wheeled outside but during the rest of the year it holds court in a sizable corner of my dining room and blesses me with sweet smelling blossoms every spring.

i'm not sure what this tiny purple flower is. it came up just after the crocus and the stems are no longer than three inches. the flowers themselves are about the size of my thumbnail and hang like bells off of the stems. maybe someone reading can identify them for me. they are quite tricky to photograph due to the downward direction that they face and their close proximity to the ground. i'm sure that my gymnastics once again impressed anyone who happened to notice me out with my camera . . . O-:

 this is sooc and is a macro of the lily that recently bore me two huge glorious blossoms this year.

 daffodils dancing in the sun today, skirts blowing in the wind.

this last bit is something i'm currently working on.  . .
this particular photo is a section from a vintage linen towel embroidered by someones long ago busy hands. i'll try to get more shots of the rest of it soon but to tell the truth i don't know where i'm going with this piece yet. it started out with me experimenting with the stitching of paper but of course a bit of cloth has worked it's way in as well.

today's gifts included:

• sunshine warming the time spent out in the yard
• the joy i feel while behind the lens of my camera
• hands capable of doing the stitching that i so love to do

i hope every one's May Day was full of flowers and maybe even a little sunshine.

Happy St. Patrick's Day~!!~

the soft light of a dawning day

early morning pleasures

home sweet home

"Each day comes bearing its own gifts.

Untie the ribbons."

Ruth Ann Schabacker

today i found time to sit in the warm afternoon sun and discover a few more of the season's fragile gifts.

i've been away from home for a couple of days so am quite behind on just about everything. but while i was away from home i bought some extension rings for my camera and had to go out in the garden and give them a try . . . this is the first and only mantis i've seen this year.


one of the few remaining moss rose flowers.

ATC #2

"Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present."

Henry David Thoreau



i've been allowing myself to take life a little slower or perhaps i should say i've been allowing myself to ENJOY taking life a little slower. the end of summer can be a sad time for me . . . i hate to see it all end so soon and i know that a loooong winter is almost upon us . . . the whole thing kind of throws me into a temporary funk.



since moving to a tropical climate is not currently one of my choices i've been doing a lot of reading (rather than a lot of blogging). some of the books i've read are pure pleasure. just a good story to immerse myself in as i feel the sunshine on my skin and breathe the warm garden scented air as the summer season fades into fall.



some of my reading choices have been more about spiritual growth and a desperate attempt to drive back the ugliness of a recently mounting depression. in addition to this reading i've been practicing becoming more mindful of the moment through reflection and meditation.

i'm happy to say that it has been quite effective.

i am getting back into the rhythms of living in the "right here ~ right now". as has happened before, once i get back into the simplicity of that lifestyle i feel great peace and happiness. it's amazing to me that it's both so easy and so hard to keep oneself in the present moment; that i've been here before and with similar results and yet somehow the busyness of life can and will insert itself into the equation if i'm not constantly diligent about the practice . . .



so this is where i've been and what i've been up to. my internet time has been cut down drastically and i do miss it but MUST moderate it in order to find a better sense of balance within my life. so if you notice that i'm visiting a little less often this is why. hopefully you'll bear with me as i work to find this balance. there is a part of me that wants to apologize for this but in truth i am not sorry nor do i really have anything to be sorry for. i began my blog as a way to record thoughts and creativity primarily and a way to interact with others of like mind secondarily. i'm happy with that and hope you are too.



this all relates nicely to the joy i feel while i have my photographer's hat on as well. when i am behind the lens of my camera i am absorbed by what is happening in the here and now. my attention is completely within the moment and discovering what it has to reveal to me. i love being able to capture that moment and share it with the viewer. there may be future posts that have only photos and no words . . . or fewer words . . . don't be alarmed or worried if this happens; it's just me enjoying my moments and sharing them with you in hopes that you too might get some pleasure from them.

i went for a tour around the garden this a.m. and found much abundance and beauty that i want to share with you.

drama queen: given to excessive performance

the artichoke plants have become my garden's drama queens during this late summer /early fall season. they now have a cold frame/green house around them so that i can watch them carry out their powerful performances. i'm quite happy that i allowed them to go into blossom and so are the bees . . .

these flowers have a very intense fragrance and have drawn a constant stream of Bumbles into the enclosure. i noticed that they flew in on a much straighter course than they flew out . . . as if they had become completely intoxicated. some of them even bumping into the walls and needing a temporary rest on the ground.

the trumpet vine grows in a part of the garden that has it's own warmer micro climate and has not yet been damaged by the frost. i've discovered quite a few little nooks like this tucked away here and there within the garden . . . delightful surprises of summer remembered.

i have also found some time to be creative with my needle and this is a fabric postcard made using a needle worked corner of an antique handkerchief. the (HAND) stitching is uber tiny and one practically needs a magnifying glass to appreciate it fully. i don't know who did the work as i came by it via a bulk buy of vintage linens. i didn't even get the piece in it's entirety but was able to salvage what was left nicely.
the background (green) fabric is one of my own hand dyed bits.

this card is a birthday card for a special someone.

i have also experimented with a new format; the ATC (artist trading card).

these typically measure two and a half inches by three and a half inches and are made using a wide variety of mediums. they are made as original artworks and traded one for one with other artists. traditionally they were only traded in person at large "meets" but currently many are traded in other ways using the internet as a tool to reach out further than one might be able to travel physically.

i'm still learning about them but found this one fun to do and the size/format challenging in new ways. i've already traded it and my card is in the mail all the way from the Norwegian West Coast.

Ati from www.malinaplass.blogspot.com was brave enough to trade with this first timer and is sending me one of her amazing ATC's in return. it's gorgeous and i'll be sure to post all about it when it arrives.

come sit a moment and watch my summer garden grow.

this is a new combination of plants i'm putting in: liatris (the purple) and coreopsis (the yellow). i'm finding them a wonderful pairing and really like their contrasts in color and form. the tags optimistically put their cold tolerance at -40 degrees. we'll see . . .

the daisies are happiness incarnate.






the peppers are going gangbusters which isn't usually the norm . . .

so far just a few tiny green tomatoes so i won't bother showing those off just yet.



but the snow peas are yummy and plentiful . . .

i love this rose. it's a climber called jacob's coat (i think) and is new to our garden this year. i hope it does well and survives the winter (aka: hardiness test) to come back next year. i figure if a plant comes back three years running it's here to stay. only the toughest make it.

i'm getting little else done.

other than watching the garden grow . . .

photos/practice from the morning garden

this morning i spent some time learning about and experimenting with aperture. taking the camera off of the "granny green" button is challenging me but i do like the range of creative possibilities that are opening up to me when not shooting in the manual mode . . .
this first shot is straight out of camera except for the square crop.


once again i'm behind schedule with the TAST (www.pintangle.com) project/challenge. the stitch was an Up and Down Feather Stitch and not one that i was familiar with. the first attempt was while i was away from the computer and i tried to do it from memory . . . it turned out fine but i did it wrong. i used a heavy cotton thread in green. if looked at upside down i thought it could be peas growing on a vine . . .


the second attempt was done correctly (i think) and does appear slightly different when looked at closely. i worked this one in a heavy variegated green thread.
i may go back in and add some bullion "flower buds" between the two prongy bits . . . maybe in red . . .

the third attempt was worked with a red hand dyed silk ribbon and i liked the way that turned out too.

i found this stitch charming and packed FULL of possibilities.

all of these stitches were worked into fabric postcard blanks; each attempt on a different card.