Wednesday, June 16, 2010

THE RED BALL


I'm at Mama's old place again, gearing up for Round 2 of the Incredibly Large, Amazingly Varied Moving Sale. (Pictures to come, probably tomorrow.)

Bob and I drove down early this afternoon, as usual stopping at Stanley Grenfeld Park (not sure about the spelling there) to walk the dog. We strolled the perimeter of the park, and were headed back to the car, when I spotted a red and white croquet ball in the grass, partly under a small bush, out of sight from the main area of the park. Lost. Found. In my hand.

My camera was hanging from it's strap around my neck. A portrait session was born.










One of the nice things about doing the photos was that the locations for posing The Red Ball were all over the park. Bob was talking on his cell phone, but that wasn't going to last long, I was sure, and the minute he was off the phone he'd want to be back on the road. Ceili and I ran to each spot, which was much better exercise than the stroll had been. Yes!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

DECAYDENCE: CALLA LILIES

Once in a while I notice how closely related the words "decadence" and "decay" are. Yesterday, walking past the bed where the calla lilies are almost finished with their blooming was one of those times.

Sometimes decay is almost as lovely, and nearly almost more interesting, than the first blush of beauty.

I took some time to explore their forms:









The last photo looks to be a duplicate of one above, but I've applied filters to it. Click on it, and you'll see it as a painting rather than a photo.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

FREE: CIGAR BOXES GONE PASTEL


Once again, MizMollye has inspired me. The other day she put up a whole slew of beautiful vintage cigar box art, free to download. The box labels were so fabulous, I downloaded the whole bunch.

I was looking at them, mulling over possibilities for use, when it occurred to me that for some uses pastels or sepia might work better for me. Minutes later, I was opening them in my photo editor and happily playing with the colors.

If there are any here that you'd like to take, feel free to click and copy. (And be sure to visit MizMollye's post, too, to get the original, fantastical, bright art!)

















My apologies if there are duplicates in this post. The computer is fighting me, and this month has officially caught up with me. I've caught cold, and will now carry myself off to bed, and hope I did this entry right!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

IN MY ROOM, IN MY ROOM



This post is MizMollye's fault! She got me thinking about our bedroom, and how I feel about it, and the answer to that is, I love it. It's a work in process, and only in the last couple of months have I added curtains, three styles of lace in two colors and three lengths, but the light shining through masks the different patterns, and you can't see how long they are because the bed hides the bottoms of even the shortest panels. (We have high windows, so very few worries about privacy.)

Our bedroom has, technically, two owners, my dear husband, and me, but you'll notice a rug on the bed. Somehow or another, our dog, Ceili, has decided it's also her room, at least, if we're in it! She will sit, mournful-eyed, on whichever side of the bed has the occupant currently deemed "Most Likely to Respond to My Entreaties", gazing steadily at either Bob or me. If that doesn't work to get her lifted up, she'll try the other side. She has strict instructions to, "Stay on your blankie!" once we've put her up on the bed, but given the slightest perceived excuse Ceili will edge her way up the bed until she has her chin on a knee, then a thigh, and finally is snuggled right between us, at which point we give in and move the rug instead.

(By the way, Ceili is Gaelic, and is the word for a musical gathering or party. You pronounce it, "KAY-lee".)

Bob and I spend a lot of time in this room.


Every weekday at five, the political talk shows come on. Well, actually, they're on most of the day, but our favorites come on then. We plant ourselves in front of the set, and see what we can learn--which politicians are saying and doing what, who's telling lies about which bills or actions, who voted for or against what legislation, which mega corporations are ripping us off this week, and who thinks it's perfectly fine for them to do it. I almost always have my laptop open, reading blogs, editing photos, or sometimes checking what they say on TV against what I can find on the internet.

During commercials, I trot to the kitchen and get dinner ready, which we usually eat in front of the set. We're good for maybe two political hours, and then maybe an hour of something else, and then my early bird husband turns in for the night. I stay until he's asleep, and then get up and do crafts, or housework, or computer, until I turn in at 10:30 or 11.

This is the view from my side of the bed--our dressers, and all the clutter we each accumulate to put on top. It's a dusting nightmare, which is why it so rarely gets done!


My clutter runs to angels and jewelry. There are angels all over the room, but the jewelry is pretty much confined to the dresser and wall.



This is the dear husband's brand of clutter:


The green book is a collection of Dick Francis short stories. I occasionally read one aloud for the two of us. I particularly like the card he keeps prominently displayed on the red and gold box. I gave it to him years ago:


The inside of the card reads, "I am."

Friday, June 4, 2010

FRIDAY FENCE POST #48

I spent Wednesday back in kindergarten! It was my granddaughter's last day of school, and I had the sweet pleasure of attending her class for the last part of the day, eating with her and my daughter at the school barbecue, and then playing for the rest of the afternoon.

On the way home from school, we scanned the passing homes and streets for fences. We traded, "Look at that one!" and "Oooh, that IS pretty!" comments for several minutes as I drove through Newberg. It's a little town, with lots of well kept turn-of-the-century homes, and there were lots of spring flowers to draw the eye.

In the end, it wasn't really a pretty fence I elected to photograph:



Closer:


Doesn't it look great with some filters applied? I just love all the texture!


The last one is a "freebie". I looked out the kitchen window this morning, and ran for the camera. Ceili was standing on the top step of the deck, and drinking from the highest saucer of a six-saucer plant stand. I don't know. Maybe I'm just ga-ga over my little dog, but I thought it was cute.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

LACE, LACE, LACE


Mom and I worked for a couple of days last week, getting ready for Round Two of her moving sale. This time, we focused on the office and garage. Mama found more boxes of depression glass, decorative items, and the like, in the garage. The garage and office, both, were also storage spaces for her craft and sewing items.

Toward the end of our time at the old place, we started pricing the fabric and laces. I had begun with the fabrics, and Mama with the lace, but she was quickly feeling overwhelmed, and I needed to leave in time to get home for another commitment.

So I volunteered to bring the laces that were on cards home with me and price them here. She said the ones that were separate hanks she could handle.

Do you know how hard a job this is going to be? Not that pricing the lace will be terribly difficult. Not keeping yards and yards and yards of it will be! (I'll be good, Mama. I promise!)