Your weekly dose of George

I thought I'd make this a regular series, posting a weekly shot of George.
Or not. It was just a thought.
This dog makes coming home happy. There is nobody more glad to see me when I drive up the road and get out of my car at the end of the day.
Well, my husband's glad but he doesn't wag his tail the way George does.

Mosaic Monday: My house

As I sat in my living room this morning reading the paper and checking mail, I realized what a complete and utter mess the room had become. So began a 2-hour cleaning spree until the living room and entry foyer gleamed. Then I took some pictures. The K is from the top of a bottle of Kenwood chardonnay.

Celebrate Mosaic Monday with me by visiting my friend Mary, at Little Red House, where she hosts this weekly feature. To view more beautiful mosaics of every shape and style, please visit Mary's blog at the link above.

September landscape

I shot this out the car window last September. This September, I applied some textures to it because I wanted to make it look more dramatic. It was very boring before.

The Green Lantern

No, it's not a superhero. It's just a walnut. A big fat one.

It's Super Walnut.

I took this photo a couple of weekends ago, after it had rained for 4 days in a row. Then the sun came out and everyone was happy. Especially all the squirrels. The nuts had been falling like crazy.

Face forward

I picked these during a walk today. For this photo, I did the following:

Processed with Pioneer Woman's Soft & Faded @ 54%
Florabella Textures:
Platimum (warm) @ 17% hard light
Little Blue Book (cool) @100% soft
light

Gotta go. Glee is on. Have you seen this show? Just watching Jane Lynch playing the cheerleading coach is hilarious. You may remember her from Best of Show where she played a dog trainer. Bye!

Fields of gold

I took this last fall at Bombay Hook Nature Preserve. I've always liked the colors in this photo.

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold

Muted tones

I don't know what possessed me to change this photo to a sepia toned one. I think it was the garishly bright yellow against the deep green of the original photo. I wanted something more muted, I guess. I found this photo on the camera disk the other day. Looks like my husband has been taking pictures again, which is nice.

Mosaic Monday: Autumnal hues

Mosaic Monday is hosted weekly by Mary at Little Red House. I made this one using a free template found on MCP Actions site. I added the embellishments at the bottom for the heck of it.

Favorite Things: DHC Mild Soap

Part of my 'favorite things' series, this is my favorite soap and it came in the mail yesterday. I discovered DHC about 4 years ago and have been using it faithfully ever since. DHC is a an olive oil based skin care line that originated in Japan. Yes, olive oil! There's a 3-step cleansing, toning and moisturizing program that's geared towards your skin type, but I've always just stuck with the mild soap and when I remember to get it, the deep cleansing oil which I haven't used for about a year. Today I used the oil and can feel and see the difference. It's wonderful stuff. The bars of soap last for months on end, and when they come in the mail, they are just too pretty to open.
I've tried their moisturizers and get confused with the plethora of types they offer, so after cleansing, I just use my tried and true fave, Hope in a Jar.

Happy Days

Taken in Stonington, Maine. I want this to be my summer home. You're all invited, ok?

Singular

I found this ordinary photo, taken from the window of the car last year, and made it look very different. First, I ran TRA's Troy action @ 64%, then Oh, Snap @ around 50%. Two textures were then applied, one from my blogging friend, Dlyn, and the other was a free one from Michelle Black. I just liked how it came out.

Chrysanthemums after the rain

I bought a couple of chrysanthemum pots yesterday. I always love the colors of them in the fall. They're just a little drenched from all the rain we had on Friday & Saturday.

Mosaic Monday: September afternoon in the yard

A series of photos taken Sunday afternoon off the back patio. My husband (surprise!) suggested opening a bottle of wine. The only stipulation I had was no talk of doctors or anything medical to do with either ourselves or anyone we knew.

And life was good. It's always better when you're in denial most of the day, and there's a nice wine flowing, thankyouverymuch.

For more of Mosaic Monday, visit my friend Mary over at Little Red House [link].

Begonias in planter

Begonias on my back porch, in the waning light. Also in my favorite eclectic planter, the one my husband thinks is way too out there. (Which is partly why I like it).

Cool ride

I wish I could tell you this was my bike. But I'd be lying if I did. I saw this Bianchi Milano Parco in NYC this past June, and I really fell for it. I think I felt my heart skip a beat.
Oh yes, I'm quite sure I did.

Good morning

A morning glory to start your day. Hope it's a beautiful one.

Glorious

Morning glories cascade over the fence surrounding our vegetable garden. They're at their peak right now and I think they're beautiful.

Central Park Collage

I still don't know if I'm doing it right, but I'm getting the hang of it. By this, I mean that I'm getting the hang of trying out my own collages using Photoshop. Hope that those of you in the States (and Canada!) had a restful and/or fun Labor Day. For me, it was restful and I welcomed it.

Mosaic Monday: Untermyer Fountain, Central Park NYC

Sculptor Walter Schott's 'Three Dancing Maidens' was donated to Central Park in 1947 by the children of Samuel and Minnie Untermyer.
Thanks to Olivia, for sending me a tutorial in how to make my own collages using Photoshop. I'm still learning it and this is my first attempt.
Mosaic Monday is hosted by Mary at her blog, Little Red House, where you can visit many more samplings of the day.

View from a boat

Taken on Davis Creek in Mathews County, Virginia.

I thought the original boring, so I used the following actions on this photo. With the exception of the burnt edge, they're all available from TRA (Totally Rad Actions) and I'm fairly certain they're all in the same set.

Troy @ 52%; Oh, Snap! @ 75%. To lighten the shadows on the dock, I used the Yang in the Yin/Yang action @ 70% and on the roof I used the Yin to darken @ 100%. This is one of the actions that I find the most versatile of all the ones I own. It does double duty with a set of layers, one to lighten and one to darken. I use a soft brush and go over the problem areas. Finally, I used MCP Burnt Edges @ 70% in multiply blending mode. Of all the edge tools I've tried, I reach for this one more than the others. Plus, it came as a free sample.

Original below:

Fern and bokeh: perfect together

Beauty in my backyard. I love bokeh, don't you?
(Bokeh describes the rendition of out-of-focus points of light).

Afternoon on the verandah

Taken June 2008 at the Inn at Jim Thorpe, Jim Thorpe, PA. It's a cool little town to visit.

The Velvet Underground

I'm here to bring you fungi. And long-time readers will know I have a penchant for this sort of thing. So it's my gift to you, k?

What? You thought I was going to break out in a rousing rendition of 'Sweet Jane'?