Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be. ~Duane Michals
“Little moments can have a feeling and a texture that is very real.” Ralph Fiennes
I was shooting pics of my 4 year old Great Nephew when he looked at me and said “Why don’t you take a picture of yourself?”. Ha! So I did! And this is the result . . . an upside down shot of myself. I took it in to Lightroom 4 to do a bit of processing, then in to Photoshop CS6 and Topaz Labs to further render the photo. I also added some texture from Kim Klassen Cafe .
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“If you want something, it will elude you. If you do not want something, you will get ten of it in the mail.” Anna Quindlen
I live in a rural area. About two years ago, Canada Poste installed these banks of mailboxes to replace all of the old “mailbox on a post” banks on the roadways. These new postal banks are away from the busy traffic areas, usually down a dead end cul-de-sac. As a result I usually only check the mail once or twice a week. I like it though, as our mail is much more secure, and we don’t get all the junk newspapers now. Still lots of junk mail though – which is surprising.
I would think with the advent of the Internet, junk mail would become less and less. It’s so expensive to produce for one thing – then even more to distribute. I know because we did it for awhile to advertise our business a few years ago. High cost for low return. I don’t even look at the junk mail anymore – a neighbor has placed a garbage can right by the mailboxes so we can just throw our junk mail in there and then he recycles it. (Anything with our identifying information though – I bring home and shred)
I guess we’re still going to be dependent on Canada Poste for certain mail, despite the fact that I take advantage of paperless billing as much as possible, and rarely even write a check or even a letter for that fact.
Amazing how much the internet has taken over . . . but paper mail still persists!
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Linus: “Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.” It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
My Great Nephew’s pre-school class took a visit to The Apple Barn, a local farm that has many fun and education activities for kids. I was fortunate enough to tag along and had a blast! One small part of the morning was a hay ride out to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids were told that if they could pick out one pumpkin for free, but they had to be able to carry it off the field themselves. The biggest obstacle was – so many pumpkins to choose from! He walked around picking one up by the stem and hefting it to see how heavy, then would drop it rejecting is as too heavy. He did this time after time after time . . . until he found this one . . . the PERFECT Pumpkin! The look on his face is priceless!
I love moments like this . . . watching a child discover and explore and figure things out for themselves. And I love that I get to be there to document it!
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“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” Henry David Thoreau
In addition to Zucchini, we are growing Pumpkins in the garden. We got a really nice crop of them last year (I still have some pureed pumpkin in the freezer). This is just one of them – I think we’ll end up with four or five nice ones. They are just starting to turn color . . . so pretty! That is my shadow over the left side.
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“I’m queen of my own compost heap & I’m getting used to the smell.” Ani DiFranco
The City is starting a new Waste Disposal program effective October 1st. It involves three waste bins – one for Recyclables, one for Organic waste (compost) and one for Garbage. Organic waste will be picked up every week, but Recyclables and Garbage will alternate weeks. We live in the country on acreage, so we’ll not put Organic waste at the curb, as we keep a big compost pile out back. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as diligent about walking out to the compost pile – its just been easier to dump it in the garbage. Now that garbage is only being picked up every other week, I have to get in the habit of “taking the walk”. So today I hauled all the guts from the zucchini that I’ve been processing the last few days. Interestingly enough, the city allows animal waste in the Organics bin . . . but I won’t allow that in our garden compost. Also – the coyotes would have a feast off the compost if we put chicken bones and other animal waste out there.
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“Tiggers don’t like honey.” A. A, Milne
But I do! And on freshly baked Zuchinni/Raisin/Macadamia Nut Muffins – heaven!
This is from the New Jersey Honey Bear (see my Day Two Hundred Five post) – some of the best honey I’ve ever tasted. Thanks again Andy for sending Honey Bear . . .
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Mug Shot: Noun, Slang
1. Also called head shot. an identifying photograph of a suspect or criminal, often one of a set showing a frontal view, a profile view, and a view of the back of the head.
2. Any closeup photograph of someone’s face.
One of my 365’ers posted a link to this really cool site that turns a picture of yourself in to a mug shot that looks like someone from the 1800’s. It’s called Mugshot Yourself. You can upload an existing photo of yourself, or use your computer’s camera. I used my computer’s camera and decided this profile was pretty neat. My daughter says it’s very creepy! I’ve gotten quite varying reactions from everyone . . . and all think it’s quite hilarious. It’s been a lot of fun to do this as other’s in the 365 jump on board. We’re quite the motley bunch . . . !
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“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zuchinni bread, and pumpkin pie.” Jim Davis
We planted zuchinni again this year . . . what were we thinking??
I grated up and packaged 12 freezer bags (4 cups each) out of 3 large Zuchinni’s. These guys are what’s left to deal with. I’m going to do up several batches of zuchinni bread/muffins that will be enjoyed throughout the winter. The grated Zuchinni will go in to soups, stews, spaghetti sauce etc . . . adding a yummy and healthy twist to my recipes.
So I guess that’s what we were thinking!
(oh . . . and those tomatoes are from the garden too . . . still have to figure out what to do with them!)
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“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” Mark Twain
I spent the last few days trying to get the perfect “shower shot” with the water flowing off my hair. It’s incredibly difficult to get tack sharp focus when I’m doing this with the camera’s timer and trying to guess where focus should be. In this shot, I noticed as I was editing – the reflection in the shower head. So I cropped in, and this is today’s picture. Shutter speed was quite slow, so the water is more of a steady stream.
This shower is one of my guilty pleasures . . . hubby custom built it with the big 12″ rainhead, 6 body sprays, two hand held shower heads and three addition shower heads in different locations for optimal coverage. It’s a water waster for sure . . . and so sublime! I tend to only use the big rain head and the shower sprays. It’s my own personal spa.
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“I don’t sing in the shower at all, and I don’t sing in the shower, either.” Pia Toscano
I’m working on trying to get a good shower shot. I’ve seen a few photos of water cascading over wet soapy hair and it looked really cool. Unfortunately, I’m shooting through the glass of the shower so it’s not very crisp. You can see the “rain” from the shower head though which is kind of cool. I thought it looked better in black and white.
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