Car day

I spent most of yesterday running around in the car...but the sun did me a favor and shone through the clouds in that dramatic way it sometimes does. By the time I could pull over it had lessened but that's okay. I still got to see it in all it's drama. But here is a remnant of what it was doing.

Yesterday's photo

Okay, I have to admit I didn't take this picture yesterday, but I was working on my photos in Photoshop and I found a technique I really love. I took this picture last November. I wasn't too impressed with it until I messed with postprocessing. Now, I not only love it, I am, inspired to want to take a painting class!
The reason I was fooling around with some of my old pictures is that my son needs some art work for his walls and he asked me to make a CD for him of some of my pictures. I think some of these, done this way, will look great blown up into posters. I'm having this one made today and I'm hoping that I'll be happy with the results.
Maybe it's cheating to make a photo look like a print of a painting, I don't know. All I know is that it's visually pleasing to me. Thoughts?

Snow and silly sisters

It snowed again today...definitely more than was expected. They were big, fat fluffy flakes.

Catching up...February 21-24

Art and I made a quick trip down to Charleston, leaving around noon on the 21st.

The next day we helped our son move from his apartment to a house he bought across the street. He lives in a neighbor'hood' but it's getting better.
We went downtown for supper on the 22nd and I had to take a picture of a lampost!
There is an elderly black man, living right behind Andy who is famous for his wrought iron work. Busloads of upper class white women come to see his shop, which is in a shack in his back yard. I mean this guy is famous all over Charleston. So I went over and took some pictures. You literally look from his yard into Andy's. But what is so amazing is that for all the aclaim his work has gotten, he still lives in the same house and still works in these primitive conditions.
We got home at about one in the morning. Today we had company and I went with dd, Christiana to look for prom gowns. Here is she is with a friend, both modeling the same dress. This was a theme for the day...both trying on the same dresses. We still haven't found 'the dress'...sigh. Her taste and my budget don't always match. And it didn't help that other girls were spending $400 on their gowns. Besides, I think she'll look beautiful no matter what she wears.

Line drawing

Betsy is taking a couple of art courses. So far they are just doing some basic things, but it's still good to see her at work. One of her art instructors told her she needs large canvases. He told her she is bold...like Cezanne. I think that pleased her! : )

Three today

This first one I took the other day, but didn't get it posted.

These two are from today. I love spring flowers and my guests last night brought me these.
We had a family game tonight to end Tori's season. It was fun seeing Tori and Betsy playing against each other!

In flight

I was eating lunch with some company we had over when I saw seagulls for the first time in our backyard. We've lived here over six years and they've never come up before. I know the folks visiting thought I was crazy because I jumped up from the table and ran for my camera. My husband was in the background trying to explain. "See, she has to take a picture every day..."

I'm actually behind on posting. I did take pictures on Friday and Saturday, I'll get them up eventually.

Morning Brilliance

This was one of the mornings that my photographic limitations bothered me. I couldn't catch the brilliance and the colors of the ice outside my window. It was like a crystal chandelier hanging, refracting pure light. Glints of red and gold sparkled. It was an amazing site and this photo doesn't do it justice.

Valentine's Eve and Day...warmth and ice

We had an ice storm last night.

Susan, Erik, Christie, Tori, Andy, Megan

Christie, Tori and Taylor

Not gonna lie

My day has been heavy. The kind where it feels like there is lead in your gut and something pressing on your chest, taking your breath away. But two sights were good. Some random guy with his child on the ice and the flowers I bought my girls for Valentine's Day. I played with photoshop on the flowers.

February 9 and 10...photos from a car window

Thursday was a rough day. I won't go into it here but after spending a day with "mental health" people I felt emotionally raw and abused. Friday we drove down to Virginia Beach and Saturday we drove home. I was in meetings both days, so my only photo opportunities were in a moving car. So, I just played around using no flash in low light with long shutter speeds. It was kind of fun.

I turned this one sideways because it reminded me of a flower.

We were stopped when I took this one.

Organized

At least there are little things in my life that are organized.

Snow Day

Admittedly, it was a pathetic excuse for a snow day...barely an inch of snow, but the temperatures were frigid for this part of the country. This picture of our front yard looked blue in the early morning light.


The girls (this is our dd Christie) quickly went back to bed.

The snow stuck to our shoes but was evidently not sticky for snowballs.

Any splash of color was immediately evident.

Betsy made pancakes for the first time. They aren't necessarily the prettiest in the world, but they sure did taste good.

Good conversation can ruin bacon though. I left it in the oven 'for a little bit longer' and then the girls and I got into a good conversation and I forgot about it. It was all burned to a crisp and our downstairs was full of smoke. :)

The birds were busy at the feeders though.

Light and shadows

Pile up

The picture below is beautiful...please take a look at it. But this is my picture taken today. A pile of things that represent my life...tickets to and from Africa, a half finished talk, the coaster from my coffee, a gift from a friend that I don't know what to do with, the binoculars I love to watch wildlife with, my basket of pens, the pictures I haven't finished scanning...

The face of Madagascar

On Sunday morning we went to a Catholic service and then a Protestant one. This little girl was beside me at the first one. She slowly edged around her mom so that she could stand next to me and hold my hand when it was time to sing together. She is so beautiful. And I don't think she minded me taking her picture at all. I think she knew it was a tribute. Obviously, this picture wasn't taken today. I may post again to meet the goal, but I had to post this one.

Sunday, February 4...My mother's hands

This is my first try at any sort of self-portrait. I have my mother's hands. So often when I look at them I think of her. We both have thin nails that we can't grow long, prominent veins and thin fingers. I love my hands, not because they are beautiful, but because my mom gave them to me and as long as I live I'll have that part of her.

I edited this to make it black and white after reading the other posts. Where do we find out about the challenges?

Saturday, February 3

Josh and Val and baby.

Our niece married the first midshipman that we sponsored, the son of a life long friend. So it's sort of like we're related on both sides. I stayed with them this weekend when I went down to Florida to speak. It was neat. She's pregnant and due in six weeks. It's cute. Our first female mid had her baby last night. I'm hoping to see them next weekend. If so, I'll be posting that here!

Madagascar...the transportation