Having fun with Photography

 I have always been that person who one could count on to look at vacation photos in their entirety.  Most folks give a cursory look and move onto something they find more interesting, whereas I would study them. Used to be that folks would bring prints to work and show off what they had done, but of course that has been replaced by swiping through phones in search of the goods. I miss those print days, but I still look at most folks vacation photos because I love photography so much. That said, I'm somewhat of a snob because I look for something that makes it more special. Most of my photos do not fall into that category, but it does not keep me from trying to be clever in my photography.

What happens to me is that I see photographs everywhere and no more so than in our new home where opportunities present themselves seemingly all of the time. For example, I walked into the dining room from the kitchen and how could I not take the photograph below?

Perhaps you are wondering what makes the above interesting and if that is the case, look again and hopefully you will see what I was seeing. Speaking of the room above, because of the repair to the plaster in the adjacent kitchen area I am thinking of painting that room a new color. Of course I am vacillating and really, who doesn't when they are choosing paint colors? Anyway, I'm wondering about carrying the "Hubbard Squash" into the kitchen. But, of course there are always shades of green to consider.

On Saturday I walked into the guest room and of course a photo op appeared before my eyes and brain. I had my phone nearby so I used that. Not much later I realized it was time to change the quilt that was bright and cheery for spring and summer. Folding it I discovered that I'd forgotten what the back looked like and I have to say, I was pretty pleased with myself. It's probably been like eight years since I made it and that striped fabric is from an awesome estate sale, tagged with 1972 as the date it was purchased.

Once I put the autumn quilt on I took the same photo.

To be quite honest, I had nearly forgotten that I made the pictured quilt as it was stashed in the blanket chest! Anyway, it reminds me of butterscotch or caramel. 

Sunday afternoon the photo below presented itself.

Undoubtedly our Florida friends are jealous of that open door that stays like that as it has been very comfortable.  The front door remains white for now.

Here's a friendly suggestion for you. Should you be looking for something to plant in your garden, look no further than Caladium bulbs because they are the bomb! Unlike so many of my flowers, the caladiums have required nothing from me and have remained looking fabulous for months now.

You can count on me planting more bulbs next year that's for sure.

One day last week we joined a bunch of other seniors to play mini golf as part of the Senior games group.

Mini golf Gail? It was not pretty, but I will say it was prettier than my previous attempt, in part because we had someone in our group, Linda, who was so encouraging no matter how many shots I took!

Unlike us, who do this once a year, she plays with her grandchildren as often as possible, which come to think of it, may be why she was so encouraging, having had experience with doing just that with the little ones. At any rate, she was very fun and we followed it up with an ice cream, all for $5!

Can you guess whose scorecard is whose? Duh, my name is on it but just look at how tidy that husband of mine is!

Ann, a new friend from church invited us over to her new cute home for a house blessing by our pastor. This was something new to me and made me think perhaps we should have considered the same in light of the reported rumors of ghosts in our house? The good news is they have been "ghosting" us if there is one here! I love the color of her door!!

Speaking of the church, well folks, we did it!! We finished reading the Bible, all 64 books, an accomplishment that seemed elusive when first presented to us. Whirlwind, I will grant you that, but now at least we are familiar with it from cover to cover. To celebrate, we played two games of Bible Jeopardy, led by Wil.

It should be noted that Ann put us all to shame. :)

Last Thursday Anita and Bruce did an amazing mowing job at the Harshaw chapel which is looking better every day. As a refresher it is purported to be the oldest building in Cherokee County. 

Saturday was action packed in a very good way. Several of our friends were featured in a big quilt show, held every other year, in Blairsville, GA, about twenty miles from here. 

If you could see the size of his sewing space you would wonder how he did it, but darn if there was not a first place ribbon on that quilt when we arrived on Saturday!! 

Another first place winner in the color use category by our friend Patty.

And now let's meet Ruth, the maker of this amazingly fun quilt.

She's about as big as a minute and spry as can be. And how do we know that? She told us! Twice a week she hikes on the Appalachian Trail, but says she is slowing just a bit now that she is 85!!!

The quilt show was wonderful as was the nearby Union County farmers market. Our inaugural visit did not disappoint, in fact we were blown away by how great it was.  Looking for fresh, foraged mushrooms? Look no further.

Jams, jellies, breads, preserves and yes mushrooms.

Peaches anyone?

Seriously I was going crazy taking photos! Funnel cake coming right up.

The knitted goods were gorgeous, made by artisans who use the Alpaca wool from this farm in Murphy.

At this time of year, of course there were pumpkins!

And even more pumpkins.

It is pretty satisfying buying from folks who grow the food, including these wonderful Shishito peppers that I cooked up the minute we got home!

A blazing hot cast iron skillet works like magic.

And just when you thought it could not get any better? It can. We watched this happen,

I wish I had a different camera with me but using what you have and not lamenting what you don't is the way to stay happy.

Woo hoo baby!!

Remind me to tell you about the loofa that is drying in the basement. Sarah June had more than she could use, thus we have one. I can assure you that not once in my past 71 years did I imagine I would have a loofa drying in my basement but here you go... now I do! 

The last of the hydrangeas are still hanging in there.

Christian continues to be a little jolly boy who is crawling like mad and pulling himself up as often as possible. Plus he giggles and babbles which is a joy to witness. Fallon frequently shares videos that we watch over and over again.

I was going to close with a picture of the Japanese Maple tree but I don't think the change is dramatic enough in a photo. That's the thing, photography is great and all but in person, well, there is no substitute. Instead I will share a photo taken this morning during a drive to Young Harris for a well doctor's appointment for Bruce. The corn...I love it!

The mountains, the fog, the clouds, I love it all! That said, I will be the first to admit that while it may look inviting in the photograph, it is much more so in person.  I realize that my title is somewhat ambiguous and maybe implies a little trickery on my part, but rest assured, I am still shooting photos the way I want them to look without any photoshop. There is plenty of that out there!

And oh yea, we are going to see Downton Abbey at the Henn Theater on Tennessee Street this afternoon,  a few blocks from here and did I mention the admission is $5.50? Hard to beat that.

your friend,

Gail

It's Been A While

It's been quite a while since last I saw the two eagles together. Try November 2012! I never ride into the neighborhood along the shores of Lake Conway without checking the "eagle house," and on occasion I am treated to the sight of one of our magnificent National birds. It must have been Monday morning that while riding up, I noticed one in the high pine tree and, you won't be surprised to learn that I pointed it out to a woman walking on the street. Stopping my bike I was gazing up at the tree when she, who had not stopped, called out that there were two..."come look here", she said. Well by golly....

Heading into the back yard, where the folks have given me permission to roam, I watched as they perched 75 feet above my head. Before long, the one on the right took off, followed shortly thereafter by the second one. Talk about good timing!!

It's also been awhile since Pam has sewn, however, after our visit to the quilt exhibit she left totally inspired to ferret out her long abandoned project. As in nearly twenty years of abandonment! During the time she and Glenn lived in New Zealand, she had every intention of making a quilt, going so far as to cut the pieces, however, that is as far as she got. Too, she thought her machine wasn't working properly, so I suggested she bring it over and we'd check it out together. Following a little tinkering Monday morning, she was off and running!

Because it had been so long since last she sewed, we agreed to start simple and small. Let me tell you, she took to it like a duck takes to water. Before leaving for the day she'd gotten this far.

Isn't it neat? The black adds so much drama! Wednesday she returned for session two, finishing the back and the machine quilting, leaving with not only satisfaction, but a thirst to make more. Sewing is so much fun to us, however, back when Isaac Singer patented the sewing machine it was used for more utilitarian purposes. You might be interested to know that one of his partners, according to the link I've provided, built the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan, in the 1880's, such was the wealth of the company. As well, the Singer building in NY was, in 1908, the tallest building in the world! In days gone by, every girl knew how to sew, whether she liked it or not. Today? Does any young girl know how to sew?

I remember when our pool remodel was completed in October 2010, there were tiny frogs on the beautiful new mosaic tile running along the top edge of the pool. Well, they were back in full force this October...

Actually, I can't be sure it isn't a toad, but anyway, the other day there must have been nearly twenty of them! Well, I don't know where they have gone, but we are once again frog-free. And did I tell you it has been sweltering? So much so that the pool temperature has been on the rise again. Warmer than our natural springs! Will it ever end?

Because my last post was so lengthy I called it quits before I showed you another neat place we stopped.

I'm not so sure I saw many artists, but there were lots of interesting things spread over two buildings. We visited only one on this trip as I was pretty well starving.

It may very well have been a while since last you saw only the front of a VW. Right? So, we went to Crate & Barrel last week to buy the wedding gift for this weekend's upcoming wedding. We saw a red cooler Bruce thought was pretty neat. Well, we saw the original at Trader Mae's.

Pretty much a replica at C&B, Bruce said the old guy was much better made despite the wear and tear. But you knew that, didn't you?

Perhaps I mentioned that the quilt show is spread over two venues? If not it is. We thought our friend Lisa was going to be in the area, so Pam picked me up, along with Jennifer, to start again at the show we saw last week. No need to worry--we loved it just as much the second go round. In fact, I wanted to show you a gorgeous quilt not pictured before. From what we could gather this is watercolor on silk, with quilting so wonderful it is hard to imagine.

Jennifer thinks she painted the flowers on the hand dyed silk, followed by quilting. Seriously so good.

Turns out Lisa was not able to join us, so after re-living our previous visit, we went the few miles over to the nearby Crealde School of Art, to see the remainder of the quilts in this really fine show.

Interestingly enough, or it was to me, the quilter of the above piece was formerly an x-ray tech like yours truly! Pam pointed out her use of our mediums color scheme. If you've no interest in quilts you may not be interested in the rest of this post, but perhaps you are interested, and want to go further?

Let's do it!

The thing is, it was hard to pick a favorite, and the truth of the matter is, why would we even try? Human nature I guess. The above, a Y pattern, consists of thousands of cut pieces and an amazing color palette, not to mention that it looks as if you are looking down upon loads of buildings set closely together. There's that dramatic black again. White too, adds drama...

As in the above middle quilt. Such an interesting and colorful pattern. On the right you see a huge, and 28 pound (!) quilt, made entirely of folded triangles attached to a king size sheet backing!! The quilt on the left was also made my hand...so amazing it is hard to imagine the quilter sitting for hours on end hand quilting the piece.  Whereas I am often too lazy to get up and go, I am grateful Pam finally gave up her gig at the Polasek museum so she can plan outings!!

As well, she drives us in her Chevy Volt. It's a good thing she had a good charge going because it has also been a while since last I sat in a serious traffic jam. In fact, the last one I recall was coming home from the DeLand Art Festival with Matt and Tom on Sunday with a packed vehicle from the show. First it was raining, dark too, and we were going nowhere on I-4. One of those times when you have no idea why traffic is not moving. I recall we sang some Christmas carols as it was the weekend after Thanksgiving. Last November I guess. Anyway, Tom regaled us with witty stories of the Christmas pageants of his youth in Britain, seriously making the wait somewhat tolerable.

I hope some stories I told this afternoon made the wait on SR 436 more tolerable for Pam and Jennifer. I felt it was my duty as I'd suggested the route as fast; we were planning on a visit to Wandering Stitches now that Pam has the bug. NOT TO BE. Jennifer had her iPad and checked the traffic delay, which was considerable by the time she looked. We inched our way for miles. According to the map, the traffic eased up when we got to Curry Ford Road. Well, now we know why that would be. It was CLOSED to traffic. Once we finally got to the detour to CFR, we had scrapped our plans to ogle at fabrics, instead heading home to care for pets.

Turning on our local news when I got home,  it seems as if there was a hit and run accident involving a pedestrian. Hideous.

It's also been a while since I've eaten, and so that's what is up next. Bruce is making a quick trip to Houston to pick out the granite for his Orlando job, leaving me to dinner for one.

Leftovers, here I come.

Gail

Super Saturday

In the last week or so, Pam and I have had our eye on the sky. Both of us noticed unusually bright lights visible in the early morning before dawn. Naturally we had to find out what was happening and the link I provided tells you just that. Photographing both the night sky, and the moon, is easier in the wee hours of the morning because there is a smidgen of light. I rather like this shot I took of the post full moon.

On several early mornings of last week I tried to photograph the visible planets with very little success, however, this does give you a notion of how bright they were.

Had I not been too lazy to set up the tripod I might have done better, however, I was, so this is the best I could do!

Later Friday, I called Pam to compare notes on the morning sky. During our conversation, she asked if I wanted to meet her at the Hannibal Square Heritage Center for a quilt show later in the afternoon. Sure thing!! 

Speaking of quilts to celebrate completing a quilt I'd been working on for one month, Bruce and I went for lunch at Mama B's Subs. Beats us how the place has been in business for FIFTY years because the subs were mediocre at best, and this photograph pretty much tells you how they run the place.

Unbelievable right? It was my suggestion...a little trip down memory lane. Years and years ago, while working at a place called Prime Care, a few miles down Orange Avenue, every now and again, someone would pick up subs from Mama B's for lunch. Recently, while driving by, I thought to try it again. Poor thinking on my part. So much for nostalgia.

As to the quilt show--not only amazing, but inspiring as well! The skill involved, as well as the creativity was mind boggling. These are not ordinary quilts my friends. Take a look at this one!

Wild, crazy and amazing, it is covered with tiny sparkly things too. The quilt below was quite the antithesis to the Rainbow Eucalyptus tree above.

It's a shame the light above detracts because both Pam and I agreed on how intriguing it is in person. Another two of my favorites, the quilters used digital photography transfers, beads, glue, as well as other materials.

There are fourteen displayed quilts, each a work of art in their own right. Well worth the visit!

Has anyone been watching Longmire on Netfilx? We sure have. Our Friday night date was binge watching the show. 

Because the lawn is finally not growing like a weed, Saturday we were free to play. Now, if it would only cool off--still crazy hot and humid. As in 90 degree hot! Anyway, several weeks ago Bruce pointed out a notice in the newspaper for an upcoming Fall Owl Fest at the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka. Checking their website, I discovered it is scheduled for November 14, however, I thought, why not go today instead? And so we did.

Driving down Lester Road, we drove right by it which turned into a good thing! Adjacent to the center is Errol Equestrian Center. Never having seen anything like that up close, we pulled right in, parked, and watched the lessons for a while. 

The lady in the pink shirt apparently runs the center, and I'm showing you this because in the far background you see the Avian Center as well. It was fascinating watching the girls perfect their jumps. The horse above was Bruce's favorite, and don't get me wrong, I was enthralled as well, but this gray stole my heart.

So, that was good and it only got better from there. Walking up to the Avian Center, you first see this:

The buildings in the back, we were soon to discover, are where the birds are rehabilitated. Called "mews", one of them is over 100 feet long as to allow the birds complete free flight before being released back into the wild. The majority of the folks pictured were men with long, and I mean long, lensed cameras. No surprise there. 

The owner is a skilled falconer, not anything I've ever witnessed before. Part of their mission is education, thus we were treated to a short demonstration of how they train the birds. This is Cora, a Peregrine Falcon getting ready to fly for food.

In a nod to the here and now, rather than a balloon, the man uses a drone to send food with a parachute way high in the air. After releasing Cora, she flew all around, flying ever higher with each circle. Eventually she grabbed the food mid-air.

A crowd gathered to watch her eat the rat which I'm sparing you of photographic evidence. Under the shed there were, as I recall, about fourteen birds on perches, including kites, owls, hawks, and the falcon. What birds do you suppose were my favorites? 

I was pretty darn smitten with Henry, the Great Horned Owl, who kept turning his head around every time I tried to take his photograph! Eventually I got one, or two, or three...

The little Screech Owl, sitting atop a mailbox, set up as a resting place, was unbelievably cute.

I was so captivated, in person I did not even notice the difference in her/his eyes. The European Barn Owls were fascinating. Their feathers so different than any owls I've seen before.

Isn't that unusual? I'm pretty sure the above is a female because we learned that the females are always larger in birds of prey.

So, those are the owls, and here are a few types of hawks being held by volunteers on the outside, and the owner in the middle.

Another volunteer did a demonstration with the Red Shouldered Hawk, who was the noisiest bird of the bunch. We learned that when you hear a hawk, it is probably that type.

Mostly run by volunteers, including some teens we met in the Education Center where the Kestrels are housed. Never heard of a Kestrel? Tiny little falcons is what they are. According to their website, Falcor had a wing injury when young, and is unable to survive in the wild. Cute little guy, isn't he?

Here is the female, Callie, also unable to survive in the wild, however, for a very different reason. 

Apparently, raised from birth by humans, she is unable to act like a "bird." The stripes on her face are to reduce glare, somewhat like football players using black under their eyes. Or so they told us. :)

Another thing we learned is that bird of prey always have curved beaks. So, when in doubt, steer clear of a curved beaked bird!!

We finished off our little journey with a mediocre bar-b-que lunch at Bubbalou's in Apopka, a Florida State win in football, four teenagers as trick or treaters and more college football.

My idea of a Super Saturday!

Gail