Dream...Create...Inspire

A Great Photo Op

Today was one of those days I am so grateful that I always have a camera in my purse.  Just my little point and shoot Nikon Coolpix with its 6.1 megapixels -- not too shabby at all.  This horse farm is literally five minutes from my house.  I often drive by here and see the horses grazing and have seen lots of really good photo ops.  There's only one problem.  There's NO where to pull over.  The farm is located on a busy two lane road with lots of traffic.  However, today, the horses were far enough down the pasture that it was near a turnoff lane to another road.  When I saw the horses, I immediately pulled over and took these shots.

 

This one above is my favorite ;-)

 

The horses were very friendly and came over to the fence.  I think they thought I had something to eat.  I wish I had some carrots or apples to feed them.

 

I love horses.  I have always wanted one.  Maybe I should volunteer at one of these horse farms and get a reality check on what's involved in the care of a horse.  That way, I can also be around the horses and pet them and feed them apples and carrots whenever I want.  

That sounds like a good plan.  (After this semester is over -- four weeks and counting...)

Don't Talk Yourself Into Unhappiness

I had the coolest doodling with today's title, and my scanner just isn't cooperating :-(

 

Happiness on a pillow.

One thought that I had while doodling in my art journal at Jiffy Lube yesterday waiting for the Jeep was "Don't Talk Yourself Into Being Unhappy."  I think we tend to do that a lot to ourselves (I know I do.)  We see that there are certain "markers" to be met in life, marriage, family, kids, and to do it all perfectly, and if we see that we haven't met those expectations we can really feel left out, or we compare ourselves to others and wonder why we aren't doing it as well as someone else, and really get down.  This is not to say -- throw up your hands and not care -- just be gentle with yourself, do the best that you can, seek out help when you need it, and let the rest go.

Today is a beautiful fall day, we’re in a warming trend.  Last night it got dangerously close to a hard freeze, but it didn’t, so all of the flowers are still stunning in their beauty against the falling leaves, which at this point are everywhere and in everything.  I need to do some mulching again to get the leaves off the grass, porch and driveway.

 I’ve got turkey chili in the crockpot almost ready to enjoy.

 A regular, ordinary kind of perfect day, except that the scanner on the windows computer is not responding.  I guess that's my cue to get outside and enjoy the day!

A Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup Kind of Day

 

This is what I had for lunch today after a trip to Jiffy Lube to take the Jeep in for an oil change and of course, there's always something else.  Today it was the serpentine belt and I had the radiator flushed and winterized.  The carpet on the passenger side of the Jeep is soaking wet -- rain is getting in through the window, so something else that needs to be dealt with.  I keep saying I want to sell the Jeep, but then when I drive it like I did today, it runs so good I feel like I want to keep it.  I'm nothing if not wishy washy.

It is a chilly sort of day, one that makes me want to be indoors creating things instead of out mulching/blowing leaves.  It's only 49 degrees!  But a great warming trend is on the way, and it is supposed to be 60 tomorrow, and 68 Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, with no rain!

Going to get caught up with Ali's class Yesterday & Today, and

Work on my Lauren Greenfield presentation for Monday.

Have a Great Weekend!

The BIG Fall Clean-Up

 

The beauty amongst the chaos that is my patio these days:

A beautiful fall day, and time to pay attention to some red flag items here at the house:

The patio is a MESS!  It is a wind tunnel that traps leaves and it is really difficult to keep on top of it while all of the leaves are falling.  But I need to get out there today and make an effort to get it in some semblance of order.  The house plants need to be brought inside for sure today, the patio swept, and all of the mums and purple cone flowers planted.

Next week all of the outdoor wicker furniture will go to storage.

Huge pile of mail that needs to be gone through (I shred everything with my name on it, and sometimes the mail just piles up faster than I can get it shredded).

I haven't kept up with Ali's Yesterday & Today class for the past two weeks, and want to get caught up.

There's a photo exhibit at the college in a couple of weeks and students can enter photos to sell (including digital), so there are definitely some digital prints I'd like to mount and sell.

I also need to get some photos, note cards and mixed media books together to sell on consignment in local shops and maybe even open an Etsy shop at some point.  Lots of options to consider for a girl who needs to generate some income but also wants/needs the flexibility of not having to be somewhere on certain days at certain times.

I need to prepare for a craft class I'm teaching at the college on November 17th.

I have a photo presentation to prepare on photographer Lauren Greenfield (due on Monday in Color Photography).

I need to begin working on the final portfolio project in Color Photography as well.

And I could go on and on because there's lots and lots going on.

Happy, good and busy times.

In the Grand Scheme of Things

All of the mulched leaves from yesterday.

Okay, so I got both tests back today, got a 100 on the History of Photography test, and a 78 on the Photographic Lighting test.  Bummer.  I knew the stuff on Photographic Lighting, but let my nerves get the best of me and mixed stuff up -- all the right answers were there, just in the wrong place.  So bummed.  I've never been a good test taker.  So, see what I just did?  Totally minimized the 100 I got one test.  Why do we do that to ourselves?  

Yard Work = Hard Work

Here is how the house looked all decorated for Halloween earlier today.  

and here's my Halloween Flag:

It's all been put away until next year.  

I also mulched the leaves in the front and back yard and have 11 drum size clear plastic bags full of leaves curbside to be picked up by the recycling crew on Thursday.  

I was outside working in the dark until about 6:00 p.m.

I am tired.

This is one of those times I wish I had a yard boy.

I'll have to start all over again on Thursday mulching those leaves.

I still have flowers blooming in the yard:

 

Pretty happy with those flowers on November the third.

Halloween Fun, Test Taking and Trip Planning

 
Above is a Halloween mosaic I made at Big Huge Labs.  Rain put a little damper on the evening, but overall it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed dressing up as a "vampire's victim."  Close to 200 kids descended on my door step looking for sweet treats which I provided obligingly, with the tag line "Don't forget to brush your teeth!"  There was a party next door, and I went over there for a bit, and then Halloween was over.  I definitely plan to carve pumpkins and dress up again next year.

Today, I have two tests, one in History of Photography and one in Photographic Lighting.

And, most exciting of all, I have booked the photographic trip of a lifetime and I can't wait.

Rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, September 12-21, 2010. 

Wish me luck on my tests today...

Pumpkin Carving 101

This afternoon and evening I am carving pumpkins.  I have two more large ones and then I'm going to carve three little ones if I have time.  I'm going to put on some movies and just carve away.  All of the classic scary movies are On Demand and are $2.99 each -- not doing that.

 

First get out all of your supplies:

Pumpkin, glass bowls, one for seeds (to toast later) and one for the scraps, newspaper, carving tools (I've just been using the tools that come with the pattern books), patterns, thumb tacks, a copy of your pattern (save the original to copy and use another year), vaseline, Qtips, paper towels, trash bag, something to drink and a snack ;-)

 

Cut a hole in the pumpkin.  If you are carving on the side, then cut the hole in the bottom, if carving on the top, cut a hole on the side.  Put seeds in one bowl, and pulp in another.

 

Scoop out the pumpkin really well (on the pattern side only) so that the walls will be thin enough when you carve that the light will shine through nicely.

 

Pin the copy of the pattern onto the pumpkin with thumb tacks or push pins.  

 

Then take a push pin and outline the pattern onto the pumpkin.

 

Carve out the pattern using your carving tools.  The finer blades are used for small detail work (such as the whiskers on this pumpkin).

 

Take a Q-tip and put vaseline in all of the cut portions of the pumpkin to keep it fresh until Halloween.

 

Insert a piece of wax paper inside the pumpkin over the cut design so you don't see the candle in the bottom.  Secure the wax paper with toothpicks.  (Toothpicks are a great tool for pumpkin carving as a way to secure pieces that get cut by accident or fall off inadvertently.)

 

Finally, light your pumpkin and see how it looks.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Practice Deep Breathing...

Okay, breathe in, breathe out...

My life has been so hectic lately I have neglected some very important things, which I will remedy immediately.  It sucks that it had to be brought to my attention.

Sometimes we take those closest to us for granted :-( 

I am feeling so out of sorts -- like everything is going 100 mph and it all needs my attention now.

I'm feeling pretty exhausted.

There will be no trip to the Great Smoky Mountains this year to see the fall foliage.  I just don't have the time to go this year.

There are lots of pumpkins to carve.

I need to work with Annie on leash training.

Zachary needs to go on some long walks.

The leaves on my lawn need to be mulched.

I have two tests on Monday, one in History of Photography, and one in Photographic Lighting (I will need all of my prayers to pass that one I fear).  I have a mid-term portrait due on Wednesday, a photo presentation due the following Monday (11/9), and so on, and so on.  

There are five weeks left in this semester before the final exam.  I have never been so glad to see the end of a semester before.

But I'm also so thankful -- in spite of all of the craziness these are things that I chose to do, so no whining, this was merely my to do list for tomorrow ;-)

Next semester, it's black and white photography and that's all...

Holiday Preparations

I have completed the shell pages for my 2009 Journal.  You can read the original post about the December Daily or 2009 Christmas Journal here. For complete instructions about how to construct a Christmas Journal, read this.  You can see all of my 2009 Christmas Journal shell pages here. 

This Halloween I am also going to dress up and really get into the spirit of things.  There is a party at the neighbors, and I am planning to go over and have some fun.

I am going through a bout of insufferable insomnia, and then I can't get up in the morning, especially on Mondays and Wednesdays when I need to be up by 6:30 a.m. and out the door by 7:10 a.m. for school.  I fall asleep very quickly but do not stay asleep for long and most of the time I wake up and can go right back to sleep, but not lately, I'm up for hours in the middle of the night.  Sleep used to come so easily and was something I never had to worry about.  I miss sleep.  I hope it comes back soon.