Looking up

I am having a lot of fun with textures. I guess you've surmised this already. Have a good weekend, all.

Green

Ah . . . Another day, another mosaic. When will I tire of this? In the center is a textured photo that I was playing with yesterday. I think it's groovy, man.

Purple

There isn't much to say other than I love purple. I hope you do, too.

Jaunty bouquet

My sister brought me this bouquet of flowers when she came to visit this past weekend. They are so bright and cheery in the breakfast nook where I have them. We both remarked that the colors looked so vibrant and were wondering if they really were real colors. I used a muting action on this shot to tone them down some, cuz they were wild, man. Thanks again, Char!

Faces Mosaic

I'm still addicted to the Mosaic Maker at Big Huge Labs, folks. And I know this is my fourth one in as many days, but I promise to stop soon. No, I don't. I'm lying.
These are faces in my husband's family. I have a lot more faces in my own family, so let's start out with this one.
From top left: 1. My husband, Andrew; 2. Our dog, George; 3. Helen's husband, Bob; 4. My husband's brother, Rich with his wife, Elaine; 5. Rich & Elaine's son, Tim; 6. Our youngest son, Shaun; 7. Me & our eldest son, Matt; 8. My husband's sister, Helen; 9. Bob & Helen's dog, Daisy; 10. Rich & Elaine's daughter, Colleen; 11. Helen & Bob's daughter, Kim; 12. My husband's parents, Godfrey & Anna.
And that about does it for today. I'm very tired now.

Blue

I cannot seem to stop and feel the need to apologize. I started doing these mosaics at Big Huge Labs (see posts below) because
A. I was bored.
B. Baby, it's cold outside.
C. They're kinda cool.
D. I like doing mosaics.
This one was begun on the advice of Marit, who suggested I do several colors. As I was looking through my photo files, I saw the one of my husband in his blue shirt. And he looked well, a little blue.

Red

Maybe somebody should stop me from playing with this Mosiac Maker at Big Huge Labs. I should be outside in the sunshine on this beautiful day. But it's cold out there, man! And it's just so warm in here.

Pink

I was fooling around with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker again. I'm still not that great with it. It would be sooooo much better if I already had photos on Flickr. Alas, I do not. I'm going to have to remedy that sitchy-ation.
Have a great weekend, all.

Skywatch Friday: Oh, Sycamore

I love sycamore trees. Their bark adds so much visual interest when all the trees are bare.

To view skies from around the globe, visit the Skywatch Friday site. Have a good weekend, all.

Criss cross

Looking closely at the sprigs of this bush, I can see tiny little criss cross marks. It's cold here now in Maryland, but a warm front is coming this weekend. And, if I'm lucky, my sister Char is coming. I hope I'm lucky.

Just a little bit

I love snow. I don't love it when I've been stuck in it for weeks on end, but a little snow just makes me happy. I enjoy wintertime, too. I like being outside in the cold and coming in to a wonderful warm house. And yesterday we had just a touch of snow here. People I worked with had as much as four inches at their houses, just a bit north of where we are.
I'll keep hoping. Maybe we'll get a little bit more.

A dusting of snow

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.

Now, can you name that movie? I will tell you that it's a classic from 1957.

Longing

I miss the broodmares and the foals who are beginning to be born about now. I just do.

Blue

Nah, I'm not blue. I'm just going through some files from last Spring. It makes me feel as little warmer. Because we all know how cold it is out there.

Ode to an American master

Andrew Newell Wyeth passed away in his sleep today at his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He was 91 years old.

His paintings evoked a nostalgic vision of times past.

I lived nearby Chadds Ford in the 1980's when Mr. Wyeth was the subject of an intense media spotlight for his "Helga" series of 45 paintings and 200 sketches. These pictures, many of them nudes, were the product of hundreds of modeling sessions with one of his neighbors, Helga Testorf. No one else, not even his wife, had previously known about the series, and their disclosure to the public was arguably the art event of the decade.

May he rest in peace.

New growth

The light was all wrong, but I went ahead anyway and took this macro photo of a bloom that's on my one houseplant. I'm not even sure of the name of this large green leaved, bushy plant.

I used to have lots of plants. But somehow, over the years, they disappeared. Especially after that last move. That about did me in.

Wolf moon

I cannot tell a lie. My husband took this photo. He's been taking a lot of them lately and I've happily given up the camera because he looks forward to seeing how the photos turn out. No, I'm not jealous or secretly hoping that his photos aren't as good as mine. I'm glad they make him happy. Not much does, these days you know.

Yellow

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow,

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

~ Coldplay

My thought for today

People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.

~ Salma Hayek

Favorite Things: Diffuser bottle

I walked into the kitchen just now to get another drink. Of water. Ok, of vodka, damnit. And surprisingly, the sun had just broken through the clouds. It's been days since we've last seen it. And then I noticed the little decanter that sits on my windowsill.

Look how pretty it is.

It's a reed diffuser bottle that I'd received as a gift from Adrienne this holiday. Oh, and Lorraine, if you're reading this, please don't tell her that I dumped out the liquid that was in here. It just didn't smell right. I do love the bottle, however.


So I went online and got this one instead.

I think Adrienne will be happy for me.

Dontcha think?

If you're hoppy and you know it . . .

Clap your hands! My husband took this shot of a bluejay hopping from one bench to another in our yard yesterday. I think it was a pretty dern good capture, if I must say so. And he relucantly agreed to let me publish it.
Sorry I'm posting so late today. I've been cleaning and I think we all know how much I adore that. This house is huge (see post below) so I've decided to only clean half. I can live with that this week.

Skywatch Friday: Coming home

Imagine what it would be like to be coming home to a house like this? Maybe there's a fire going in the fireplace, and dinner cooking on the stove, the scents filling the entryway.

I don't know. It would just be nice.

To visit skies from all over the globe, go to Skywatch Friday. You'll be so glad you did!

Tenacious tree

I think this tree's got it. I mean, it looks like it's hanging in there pretty well.
Taken at Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge. For more pictures taken there, please visit my other site.

Breaking some bad habits

I don't usually drink much beer these days, but when I do, I drink good beer. Over the holiday break, I had my favorite in a frosty mug and it was delicious.
But now those days are gone. And it's time to get serious. You know you can be good, too.

Frozen in time

Taken a couple of weeks ago when we had the little ice storm. Other than that tiny outburst from the skies, we've had a pretty easy time of it this winter. I'm not trying to tempt the fates here; it's merely a fact.
And I am still so glad that I took that KitchenAid Pro Mixer back last Christmas and got my macro lens. I love my lens.

Missing the sunshine

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
~ David Viscott

It's been a quiet and good two weeks off from work this holiday and I loved having this time to spend with my husband and our trusty friend, George here. A new year awaits and I'm game for it. Have a great week, all!

Let me walk with you

Walking on the Boardwalk Trail to the observation platform at Tubby Cove, outside of Rock Hall, Maryland. I'm planning on starting a series of photos featuring my husband's back. Kidding. Have a beautiful Sunday, all.

A study in black & white

In case you haven't noticed, I don't post a lot of portraiture. (Say that three times real fast.)
I never really thought it was 'my thing', preferring stationary objects like mushrooms and flowers.
This is a photo that I took over the summer at a graduation party held for my niece, Kim. (The original post on the Chronicles blog is here.) For Christmas, I gave my niece a photobook I'd made on Shutterfly.com. In it were all the photos I'd taken at her party. And this turned out to be one of my favorites.

Going green at our place

Well, in this photo at least. Taken New Year's Day morning with the macro lens. This is the aloe plant that we keep on the kitchen windowsill on the eastern side of the house. I just love how green and lush it looks.

The nature of things around here

This little goldfinch was spotted outside the windows of the breakfast nook yesterday. He'd been having a drink at the birdbath in the sunshine but by the time I grabbed the camera and adjusted things, he'd already flown up into the tree.

It's difficult taking pictures throught the windows because the images are so distorted!

I've decided not to have resolutions this year and I feel better already because of it. Just throwing that out there.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.