Keeping With The Times

living, learning, and keeping with the times

Melancholy Lilacs II

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Today my still life blends lilacs present with lilacs past.

A fresh bouquet rests on a white tea towel while photos from last spring and a soft mauve scarf draw the eye through the image.

Lilac Still Life, Keeping With the Times

Melancholy-Lilac-with-Scarf1-copyAlthough the end is near, the shrubs still have blooms and even as they droop and fade their scent gets stronger and sweeter. Now there are swarms of swallowtail butterflies and hummingbird moths (hemaris thysbe) and bees and wasps all trying to gather up every single drop of nectar before it’s gone.

The parade of blooms continues in my garden. As the lilacs and anemones near their end, I watch closely as the peony buds double in size on a daily basis and the perennial poppies ready themselves to burst open. New growth and life is everywhere and some days I hardly know where to start. I do know that if I don’t move quickly the moment will pass. But some moments will pass and I’m good with that. Some moments are simply meant to be savoured, not saved.

Be Still 52 Class

Day 4: Make it Happen

kk_melancholy LR Preset

Texture: Cora/Soft Light 50%

Johnny-Jump Up Still Life

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How about this perfectly imperfect pot of johnny-jump ups?johnny-jump up, still life, keeping with the times, be still 52 class, Kim Klassen, melancholyI was out in my garden doing a bit of weeding and I spied this sweet little bunch sitting so prettily in the lawn.

Oh how I love thee.

Simple. Imperfect. Perfect. I know I planted some seeds once, but I haven’t seen you for years … welcome back.

Also, welcome to my Hoosier cabinet in its new home—our pantry! Now that’s perfectly imperfect. I had been earnestly purging and organizing and was thinking how I could really use some more shelves. Long story short, hubby helped me drag it upstairs and I spent a blissful day setting up my treasures.

Take a gander at that side lighting! Its from a north-facing window and is my preferred light. I like the whiter, bluer tones and generally steer away from the yellowish tones. It’s a matter of taste but this is how I see it. The lighting in this room is not perfect (but it’s perfectly imperfect) so I use a piece of white foam core to bounce some light back onto my subject. For the above image I used my 40mm lens on a tripod with a slow shutter speed and an ISO of 250. I also used the timer to reduce shake. I ran Kim’s “Melancholy” LR preset and upped the saturation just a bit.

Here’s a pull-back of my scene.

hoosier

I’ve had this cabinet for over 20 years and it continues to delight me. It truly is the simple things in life that are the best.

Be Still 52 Class

Day 4 “Make it Happen”

 

Marsh Marigolds

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Marsh Marigolds [caltha palustris] are one of the first (if not the first) wildflower that pops up around here. Every spring these wonderful flowers light up dark boggy areas with their bright buttercup-like flowers and are a welcome sight to us winter-weary Albertans!

I braved a swamp and an army of mosquitoes to get these photos (and a small handful of marigolds).Marsh Marigolds, Keeping With the Timesmarsh marigolds, Keeping With the Timesmarsh marigolds, Keeping With the Times

Caltha palustris is more commonly called marsh marigold or kingcup. It’s rather toxic and requires careful handling as it can cause blistering. I used rubber gloves to pick and arrange these little beauties.marsh marigolds, Keeping With the Timesmarsh marigolds, Keeping With the TimesTruly a welcome sight in these here parts! Thank you for stopping by!

Scentless Chamomile for Texture Tuesday

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Good Tuesday Morning!

I had to rummage through the archives for something yellow and came up with these lovely wildflowers which some would call weeds (some would call them even worse than weeds).Scentless Chamomile for Texture Tuesday

But really, they are such pretty “worse than weeds” wouldn’t you say? I’m looking forward to seeing them blooming by the wayside again this year.

Chamomile-Chair3-copy

I’ve been going full steam ahead on several projects as well as trying to clean the house, paint the dock, and tidy up the yard after a long winter. I’m running out of steam… so this is going to be a quick post – I just didn’t want to miss another TT …

Don’t forget “app” happy wednesday tomorrow! Please come by and link up your mini masterpieces created with apps – apps of any kind! It’s just so much fun!

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com where the theme today is “yellow”

kk_3003

Texture Tuesday: Heavenly Hydrangea

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Today I have two treasures to share with you. First up is the Ball Jar, found while browsing antique stores in Prescott, AZ with three of my blogging friends: Melinda, Terri, and Barbara.

It was Terri who alerted us to the jars. She collects them and even knows the dates they were manufactured according to the typeface used for the logo. I figure this one was made sometime between 1910 – 1923.

Hydrangea in Ball Jar, Texture Tuesday

Hydrangea in Ball Jar, Texture Tuesday

Second up is the hydrangea. It was so dreamy I couldn’t decide whether I liked it in the Ball jar, or just a plain old white vase, so I went crazy and posted both versions today.

Hydrangea White Vase, Texture Tuesday

Hydrangea, Texture Tuesday

Hydrangea White Vase, Texture Tuesday

Tomorrow I’ll be posting my Waterlogue version and what I did to get the results I wanted.

BTW, don’t forget that “app” happy wednesday is tomorrow and I really hope to see you there! It’s a fun place to share your photos edited with apps and maybe learn a few tips and tricks from fellow bloggers.

Check it out here: “app” happy wednesday.

Have a wonderful day!

 

kk_berrily (LR Preset)

kk_sybil texture on Soft Light

Friday Finds: My Long Lost Photos!

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Tulips

You know how some days you get up, you have a plan; you know exactly what you should be doing but an hour later you find yourself immersed in something totally off-track?

Well that was me yesterday. I started out fully aware that I should be writing a tutorial but I ended up organizing photos in Lightroom … then 8 hours later I realized the day was gone …

But oh my goodness, a light bulb has come on. Suddenly I am able to see photos that have been buried for years and years.

I must admit it started out quite rocky when I imported the first batch and couldn’t find them, and then when I did, I couldn’t figure out how to move them. So I went and sat on the sofa for a few minutes and thought to myself “Barb! just use your head!” So I went back to the computer and followed my instincts based on what I’ve learned over the last year or so. I had to let go of my Windows Explorer and Bridge “brain”. I had to think differently.

Anyway, loooong story short, I’ve organized over 20,000 photos so far and it all makes perfect sense! Oh and hey! there are those vacation photos from 2009! wow! and look at all my flowers and still life images! and look at the grandkids – how much they’ve grown!! Now my husband will be able to look at all the photos I’ve taken (something he’s been wanting for years). I am so stinkin’ proud of myself! Plus, everything is also backed up, neat and tidy.

So that explains my tulip image this morning … it must have aged while waiting for me to find it!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Pink Tulip Still Life

May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks.

May your heart be as light as a song.

May each day bring you bright, happy hours.

That stay with you all the year long.

It’s a beautiful Monday morning; sunny and bright, and I just returned from my walk with the “ladies”. Apparently there’s snow on the way, but so what else is new for March?

But I’m excited to start a brand new week. I signed up for “The Art of iPhoneography: Self Portraiture” with Susan Tuttle. Whoa! what a challenge this is going to be! especially when I hate to see myself in photos… I think I’m going to be heavy into the blurs and the textures and shots of my feet.

I’m also trying to catch up with Start to Finish and Beyond Beyond over at the cafe. What an inspiring lesson for Day 47 of 2B! It’s bursting with tips and inspiration!

I learned a little tip about WordPress this week. If you’ve ever written a post in Word and then copied and pasted it into your blog, you’ll know that it comes with so much strange formatting that it’s just not worth the trouble. Well, I learned that if you press Ctrl Shift V as you add it to your blog post, the text is stripped of all that annoying stuff. I think that’s pretty cool!

What are you up to this week? I’d love to hear!

 

Just Playing With Poppies

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Good Saturday morning everyone! Hope this finds you well!

I’ve been playing around with my Nikkor 40mm f2.8 and was reading that with this particular lens, the best images are taken at least 6.4 inches away from your subject, and then on to portraits and landscapes.
Poppies

But then I captured this … I think I was about 1 inch away from this poppy.

_DSC7464-copy

Perhaps it has to do with getting the best possible focus, and not taking into account artistic expression.

Lately I’ve been studying up on my camera and my lenses and its amazing how much more control I’ve gained over my photography. A quick push of a button and a turn of the command or sub-command dial and you can change ISO, exposure, metering, etc. You all probably know this, but I’m a slow learner, or at the very least, I’m slow to study up on my equipment.

Having said all this, I still end up deleting over half my images, mostly due to dreadful exposure or focus.

What’s one thing that you’ve learned, either about your camera or a lens that you’ve found helpful? What lens do you love the best? I’m dreaming about the Nikkor 18-300mm f 3.5 – 5.6 … dreaming, I said … .

Texture Tuesday

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Texture Tuesday Pansy

What do I dream about? When I thought about it, I didn’t really have an answer so when I challenged myself to come up with one, my garden came to mind.

Yes, I dream about my garden. I miss being able to walk outside to pluck even the tiniest little bloom. I miss my potting bench (which was a simple dream of mine that came true), and I miss photographing flowers. I had to dig around my files this morning and I came up with this tiny pansy bouquet. Such a simple little thing and at the time, I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I do now.

What’s one simple thing you dream about?

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

Turn an Antique Grater into a Flower Vase

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When I saw a rusty old grater at my favourite junque store, it didn’t take me but two seconds to scoop it up and tuck it under my arm. If anyone else was looking at it, they were going to have to fight me for it…

The tag suggested that it could be used as a candle holder, and yes, that would work, but I had other plans. The globe thistles (echinops) that I had harvested from my garden and were drying in our basement were crying out for a home.
antique, flower vase, echinops, barb brookbank, keeping with the times

I knew instinctively that the rustic style and greyish tones would be the perfect complement to these quirky, spiky flowers.

Antique-Grater

I was quite surprised at the top of it. What would this grid have been used for?

antique grater, flower vase, barb brookbank, keeping with the times

Well, no matter. I saw the perfect flower frog! What a treasure!!

I donned my (thickest) garden gloves, stripped away most of the very prickly leaves, trimmed the stems, and stuck them into the grid. I put the tallest stems in the middle, and the shorter ones at the edges. Piece of cake.

I love it when a project comes together so easily. I couldn’t wait to post until Friday so here it is today…

Have a wonderful Thursday! and see you tomorrow!

Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors

Direction

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Trust what you know;

have faith in where you go;

if there’s no wind, row;

or go with the flow.barb brookbank, texture, photoshop, cs6, texture tuesday, kim klassen

I really like this quote by Ed Parrish III (when I tried to find our more about him, I came up with nada… sorry). I think it’s all about following your instincts, doing what feels right, and then if it isn’t working, trying something else.

I had fun with this one, so I  thought I’d reveal the original photo. Yep, that’s my bathtub… there’s some pretty awesome light coming through the opaque window we have there. If I was building a studio, I’d have one whole wall made of this glass.

As you can see, the crop is pretty substantial (good thing my camera has 24 Megapixels to work with). However, that crack in the table kept bothering me until I lined it up from corner to corner – then it clicked! After that I made a curves adjustment and duplicated it until I was happy with the light. Then I added 2 layers of kk_0411, one on soft light, and one on color.

Daisy-Diagonal-Original

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

Thank you to Kim, for the new free texture this week.

What’s Inspiring You?

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barb brookbank, photoshop, photography, textureThat’s the question Kim is asking today at Friday Finds.

I can answer that one quite quickly; flowers.

Oh, and autumn, and spring, and summer, and winter.

My DSLR, my iPhone camera, Photoshop, and Lightroom.

Blogging, reading blogs, other people’s work, and lately, Flickr.

Books, catalogues, magazines, and manuals.

My creative “spidy senses” are always on high alert (sometimes I wish they weren’t). Good golly, can I not just watch a sunrise without rushing to grab my camera? Yesterday as I was grocery shopping, I picked up a fennel bulb. Hubby asked what I was going to do with it, and I said, well it has a wonderful licorice flavour, but… I think I want to photograph it… hmmmm… (that gave us both a good laugh).

So what about you? What is inspiring you? Head over to Kim Klassen dot com to check out some great “Friday Finds”. That’s a great place to find inspiration, I can assure you!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Friday Finds with Kim Klassen

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Friday Finds

… and a little sneak preview of my autumn tablescape.

Last Friday I went to the market garden with a friend, where we found all kinds of fabulous veggies, and pumpkins, and squash. As the owner was taking us for a ride in his little ‘gator, and we were tearing around in his fields, I spied a patch with some white “things” way off in the distance. When I asked what they were, he told me that they were some kind of weird squash, just an experiment, and he was going to plow them under.

OK,  wait a minute… take me over there…

As soon as I saw them, my heart did a little leap! How pretty, and how fun are these?! They were just what I was envisioning for my autumn decor. They sparked an idea that led to my autumn tablescape. Warm whites, pinks,  greys, and greens. Love!

friday finds, autumn, sedum, squash

I do have some amazing light in my dining room…

friday finds, kim klassen, tablescape

Later today I’m going to post my complete tablescape. I’m so thankful that I was able to finish up the photo shoot given the fact that for most of the week I could hardly move. My back has much improved and I am so, so thankful!

Have a wonderful Friday!!

Linking up to Friday Finds at Kim Klassen dot com.

 

Beautiful Autumn Tansy Wreath

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Tansy Wreath

Tansy Wreath

I’m always scouring ditches for treasures (flowers, moss, wood, you name it), and one of my favourite flowers is the wild Tansy. It’s abundant, beautiful, free, and it makes for a lovely wreath, or bouquet.

I know that in some parts, it’s considered invasive…

Early Autumn Wreath

but I say, invade… (perhaps farmers do not)…

Tansy Wreath

Tansy Wreath

To make the wreath, I simply clipped off the flower heads and pushed the stems into a willow wreath that I purchased at Michaels.

Start at the bottom and push the flower heads up the left side of the base, then up the right side of the base until they meet at the top.

At the bottom, I created a little spray by pushing the flowers in from the left, and in from the right, and then secured them with some twine. Easy Peasy!

keeping with the times

Definitely a country bouquet.

Tansy Wreath

Fading Sunflowers and Texture Tuesday

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In a few short days our summer will be over. The forecast is for cooler temperatures, and even a few thunder showers. Up until now, we’ve been enjoying one of the warmest and sunniest Septembers ever, and it certainly hasn’t felt like fall.

texture tuesda

But every season brings it’s own beauty and excitement. Cooler, crisper days make my thoughts turn to crock pot meals, candles, and pumpkins.

I’m trying to put my autumn mantel together, but it’s been a slow process. I just haven’t been inspired. I’m hoping that a trip to Crate and Barrel tomorrow will fix that! My walking friends have asked me to join them on a shopping trip to the big city, and then for lunch. How fun! This walking gig has turned into so much more than I expected… some mornings it’s hard to get myself out the door but every step has been worth it.

I’m showing up for Texture Tuesday today at Kim Klassen dot com.

Fading Sunflowers: a slow shutter speed, high iso, large aperture, a bit of Photoshop magic, and a couple layers of kk_villa

Friday Finds

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Here are just a few of the extraordinary things that I found this week…

A nasturtium and a marigold that I dug out of the garden about a month ago and put into a pot on the deck are rewarding me with a profusion of new growth.

friday finds

friday finds

Crispy and colourful leaves on the driveway leave no doubt as to what is on it’s way.

friday finds

Morning sunlight streaming through the trees and onto the dewy grass.

friday finds

Some beautiful light shining into a farmyard.

friday finds

This slippery salamander was on the road as I walked to meet my friends. It seemed to be frozen, so I had to push it along to the ditch so that it wouldn’t get run over. In the ten years that I’ve lived here I’ve never seen one until now.

friday finds

It was a beautiful week.

Friday Finds at Kim Klassen dot com

Follow Your Art

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texture tuesday, kim klassen

This morning when I went to get a second cup of coffee, I glanced out of the dining room window and looked down at my potting bench.

Have I mentioned that I love my potting bench? Maybe 50 times? Anyway, I noticed the little sign I have that says “follow your heart” but the “he” was hidden behind a plant. It struck a chord with me, so my little quote for the day was born.

I’m always working on some project, ideas tumbling around in my head, and sometimes I get tired of it (or maybe it’s the mess that results from photo shoots and props). At the same time I’m thinking that I should be doing something more productive. Do you ever feel that way? I guess I have art angst… there are worse things…

If you have a moment, check out the series of photos on my Instagram feed with the hashtag #fromthepottingbench, to see how the season is progressing. I see a bit of yellow in the trees already, and the highbush cranberries are turning red. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was working with bedding plants…

August-Potting-Bench

 

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

kk_red x2 partly desaturated

This is What I Found

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Clematis-in-Bird-Bath

I found a Clematis flower and set it in the little bird bath that I fashioned out of a big bowl that I found at Winners, and a rusty stand that I found at our town-wide garage sale this past spring.

I’ve found that my iPhone can take some kick*** photos. Here I used CP Pro, which is the $1.99 version of Camera +. It has the capabilities to set focus and exposure, as well as a burst mode, anti-shake, and you can touch the screen anywhere to snap a photo. Way cool! I don’t know how these would print though, since even though it is over 2000 pixels in width, and 3000 pixels in height, it’s still only 72ppi. Hmmmm, this is something I should find out (I’ll let you know). I should mention that this is SOOC, except for a crop. Pretty amazing stuff.

I’ve found that I’m loving my morning walks. It’s been almost 6 weeks and I’ve hardly missed a day. I walk the first part alone, in the quiet, misty mornings…

Misty-Morning

Misty-Morning1

Misty-Morning2

…then I meet up with my little group at the mailbox and we continue on from there. Takes about an hour.

When I get home, I walk around the yard, check the garden to see what’s new (see my quirky little bird bath?), then head inside to start my day.

Misty-Morning3

I tell you, I’m living the life of o’riley…

Art of Blending by Linda Sattgast

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art of blending, digital scrapper

Yikes! It’s the middle of August, people… how’d that happen? I hope all of you are having a great summer, I know I am.

July was filled with family visits, a birthday party, lake time, and the never-ending yard work.

Through it all, I’ve been trying to keep up with my classes and have been doing pretty good. I’m a little behind in a couple of them, but I’m sure I can catch up.

One of my favourites has been “The Art of Blending” taught by Linda Sattgast, at Digital Scrapper (it’s not open to registration at the moment).

This week we are on lesson 6, where Linda teaches about edges, and masks. I was completely fascinated with this lesson, and used masks in ways I never had before. I had to watch the video about 5 times to get the concept into my head… very good stuff!

I hope you like my onion bouquet… when I asked the farmer if I could have the tops off the onions, he was completely baffled… what would you want those for?

 

Textures:
cement-LSattgast-11 – Screen 30%
cement-LSattgast-11 – Soft Light 100%
instagram edges

Texture Tuesday

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texture tuesday, kim klassen

… a little note to myself today…

 

I’m working on some new word art and I have a few fresh and exciting ideas for it. I’m hoping to have some ready by September 1st, but for now, have you seen the free word art I’ve already made available?

If not, check it out here: Free Word Art & Photoshop Tips.

Happy Tuesday!!

 

 

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

kk_jamal, de-saturated, soft light

kk_chaos, soft light

 

From the Potting Bench – the Series

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I have this love affair going on with my potting bench…

Not only do I love my potting bench, I love that it’s sitting on the ground at the bottom of our deck. What a vantage point!

It’s perfect for displaying flowers such as these lilies which I planted last autumn. I took them from a pot on the deck and stuck them in the flower bed for the winter… oh my… how happy am I that I did that…

from-the-potting-bench---lilies

I play here, I relax here, I arrange bouquets here.

I picked these wildflowers from the ditches surrounding our home. There’s goldenrod, yarrow, chamomile, clover, and I’m not sure what that purple flower is, but this whole bouquet is going in the fire pit when it’s done… no errant seeds will find their way into my garden.

from-the-potting-bench-wildflower-bouquet

I’ve had this beautiful book since 1999, and I pore over it every summer… well, actually I pore over it all the time.

from-the-potting-bench-backyard-bouquets

So, this is how I play.

from-the-potting-bench-howiplay

 

I have a little series on Instagram at keepingupblog. I’m using the hashtag #fromthepottingbench, if you want to see it.

Sorry that I haven’t been around to your blogs lately… summer and grandchildren… need I say more? I hope to be back soon.

My Big Outdoor Studio

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Day-1-Peonies
After watching Kim’s process from start to finish (class), I felt inspired to set up a “shoot”.
You remember the blue table I brought home the other day? Well, the location (on the lawn) works perfectly if the sun isn’t shining brightly. Today it’s very overcast and I saw my opportunity. The white chippy enamel top is a perfect backdrop… no cloths needed, and I’ve just realized that I have the whole great big outdoors as my studio.

I’ve gone back to shooting in RAW (I missed you RAW) but only for specific shoots. I don’t think that family fun on the lake needs to be shot that way since it’s just too hard to process the photos, so they never get shared.

I did some basic edits, crops, and then used the LR Preset kk_berrily. Then on into PS where I added one layer of kk_mary on soft light and brushed a bit off the flower.

Just for interest’s sake, here’s one of the shots I took. What a difference! You would never know that the image above was shot here. Amazing stuff.

DSC_3102

Heritage Hollyhock Dinner Plates

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texture tuesday kim klassen

When my Mom passed away, I inherited these lovely “Hollyhock” dinner plates made by Sovereign Pottery. I can’t remember which side of the family they first came from, my Mom’s or my Dad’s. It’s just one of many things I wish I had asked… well, I think I did ask, but I didn’t cement it into my head… same result…

I would guess that these plates would be at least 75 years old, perhaps older, and not one of them has a chip or a crack. Of course they are completely crazed, but I think it simply adds to the charm.

I processed this image in LR and used kk_berrily by Kim Klassen. I think it added just the right amount of light and warmth.

Linking up to Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

Trying Something New

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My morning routine has really been shaken up. But just look at what happened because of it…bpc phone photography

… sunrise through the clover. This is my Phone Photography Project entry for today. It’s all about the colours of the rainbow (Roy G. Biv) and this I suppose, is violet. I do not know how that violet halo was produced, it just happened.

But, about my routine. Two weeks ago a friend asked me if I wanted to join her and her sister-in-law on their morning walks. When I accepted, I knew that it was going to bite into my most creative time of day. That’s when blog posts get written, assignments get done, and ideas flow like the Fraser River (British Columbia, Canada). But I accepted anyway and I knew it was the right thing to do. I needed to try something new.

The first week, I was hard pressed to keep the commitment. Leave the house at 7:30? before I have my 4 cups of coffee? leave the computer? nope, not working for me… plus my shins were hurting like h***.

Fast forward another week, a bottle of Ibuprofen, and the realization that I’m actually getting more work done after I get home. As well, I’m rediscovering summer mornings; the pure pale light, the sweet smell of clover, and the sparkling dew on the grass. I really don’t know if I can handle all this inspiration (I need to bookmark this post so I can look at it in March, the most uninspiring month ever).

I’m loving the social contact with two people whom I really like, and partaking in lovely conversations “how was your weekend” “how are your shins” “we need to go for lunch some day, but don’t worry if you can’t“.

Polite, caring, authentic company.

OK, the day is progressing quickly and I have to get to work! Oh, that would be after I get that photo of that flower I saw …

Summer Breeze

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Peony-Blue-Table-2

Which of these would be my find? Is it the gorgeous peonies? the white vase? the blue table?

Peony-Blue-Table

all of the above?

Peony-Blue-Table-1

makes me feel fine

sweet days of summer

the (peony’s) in bloom.

July is dressed up and playing her tune.

sorry, I just couldn’t help it… it popped into my head, and now it’s going to be there all day…

Yesterday, I dragged home a table … I didn’t go looking for it (specifically) but there it was, sitting in a corner, all chippy and blue. I just knew I needed it.

Images of tea parties on the lawn, a table laden with flowers, and books, and candles, and food, and great light, filled me with excitement. A Somerset Life. A dream of mine.

But as soon as it was tucked safely in the back of my vehicle, the doubt began. It wasn’t about the money so much as the “uh, oh… do I really need to add another piece of junque to my yard? Well, probably not … but there she is.

As soon as I set the bouquet of peonies on it, I felt reassured.

It’s a harmless pastime, this hunting for treasures, dreaming of photo shoots and trying to capture, express, and share something that’s in my mind’s eye. And honestly, I’m blessed and thankful to have “found” it at this time in my life.

I’m sharing this today over at “Friday Finds” at Kim Klassen dot com

(Vintage) Friday Finds

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My “find” for this week would be a teaspoon.

I’m always on the hunt for vintage silverware, it’s so full of character and makes me think of farmhouses and family meals.  It makes me think of summer, and bridal showers, and other special occasions.

Teaspoon

But I also found the pretty white teacup at Value Village several years ago. I just loved the green and mauve design, and the slightly worn gold edges.Lilacs-Tea2

After I took all my photos, I sat and drank the lovely green tea and admired my garden. It’s doing ultra well this year. We’ve had a lot of rain and there’s more in the forecast.

lilac, tea, garden

Have I mentioned that I love lilacs?

lilacs, tea, garden

And I love my garden.

Garden-Shed

It’s pretty maintenance free, mostly perennials, with a few annuals sprinkled here and there. Right now the anemones are blooming their hearts out.

Anemone

It’s such a rush! Every day a different plant starts to flower. I can hardly keep up. It’s heavenly.

I Think I Finally “Get” Hipstamatic

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Anemones are one of my favourite flowers and I thought that black and white just might do it justice. Was I right? And did you know that good writing dictates that you shouldn’t use the same word/phrase twice in the same paragraph, let alone sentence…
anemone, black and white, focusing on life, hipstamatic

I do so love anemones, aka windflower.

anemones

Green, I can’t get enough of it.

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The view from where I sit.

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My garden is on the deck (safe from all the bunnies that are roaming around here).

anemone, black and white, focusing on life, hipstamatic

I finally figured out how to use Hipstamatic… duh… for these photos today, I actually chose a film, and a lens!! Woot for me! I used Salvador, Dream Canvas Film, and the Salvador 84 lens (I think…) hmmm, don’t quote me on that though.

How does your garden grow? And how does your computer run?

Last night I was tearing my hair out because my internet was sooooo slooowww. And my computer has been whirring and buzzing ceaselessly. So I finally called our internet provider. Loooong story short. I was up until 11:00 talking to a couple of techies. After all was said and done, they concluded that there was nothing wrong with our connection, it was my computer. OK, fair enough.

But get this, when I called them, our speed was between 85-138 kilobits. When I got up this morning and ran a test, it was at 10697 kilobits! A veritable jet engine. Now, I didn’t do anything, so how would a person explain that? I think they must have reset something and didn’t know it. Whatever it was, I’m not complaining.

But I did get busy and I cleaned up my computer today. I removed almost 200 GB of STUFF! Seriously! I use Photoshop a lot and those .psd files are monsters. And now I’m defragging the old beast, so much fun to be had here!

Long story long, my internet is speedy, and my computer is silent.

Anyway, are you still here? You’re so polite…

Lilacs can be Overwhelming

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lilacs, photography

We have a beautiful lilac bush in front of our house. It’s not big, but every year it produces a ton of flowers.

I adore lilacs. I love the colour and the sweet smell. What I don’t like, is that they only last about one and a half days as a cut flower.

So I guess that’s where a few (hundred) photographs come in handy. I have taken a ton of shots and this one… this one here, is the very last one I took. It also happens to be the only one I truly like. How does that even happen?

I’ve come to the conclusion that I am overwhelmed by their huge blossoms which turn into huge bouquets when I try to arrange them. Too much of a good thing, perhaps?

I vow to keep trying though, and I’ll let you know when I figure it out.