blue grass / blue glass

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

I'm getting excited about the family reunion this year. Well, actually I always look forward to it. I have a great extended family of Aunts and Uncles, cousins and second cousins – and everyone gets along! There's always great stories, lots of laughter, sharing of travels and photos from the past year, good food, some games – just a lot of fun. Ages range from 85 to 8 and there is usually about 30 of the 38 to show up each year.

This year we are meeting in Kentucky at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill – America's largest restored Shaker community – is located in the bluegrass region of Kentucky. I have always admired their ideals of equality, peace and love, the purity, the quest for simplicity and perfection in the shaker lifestyle, the clean lines of their furnishings and buildings... and to experience all of this and the beautiful country-side of Kentucky makes for a wonderful relaxing vacation. After the weekend reunion, T and I will then travel to Lexington – the Horse Capital of the World. We look forward to a driving the rolling hills of central Kentucky where Seabiscuit was filmed. It may seem strange but T and I usually try to find an interesting cemetery in the cities we travel. Lexington happens to have one that is actually listed as one of the things not to miss, especially for garden enthusiasts so I am pretty excited. It has gained national reputation as one of America's most beautiful cemeteries and arboretums, including more than 200 species of trees, lovely flower gardens and 3 lakes – I'm pretty sure there will be some interesting statues that will catch T's photographic eye as well. I know we will find much to photograph throughout the trip and I'm looking forward to time away from Atlanta and catching up with family. / this is almost the most fun part of having a house in athens- getting to decorate it! i'm so excited about some of the things that i've found to furnish the kitchen. like this blue glassware bowls i found yesterday to add to the amber glasses and rose tinted plates i already had. i really like the vintage look that i'm guessing our house will have [:

he / me

solo post - T

he took pictures of me, i of him, i of myself, we of it, he of we... you get the picture?

he was unfamiliar with a camera where you have to change the f-stop and shutter speed, i was eager to teach the wonders of film photography. we had a great time at sope creek, soaking up the sun and summer fun.

fancy / treat

solo post - L
I'm a spoiled rotten mother. I have a daughter that has dinner on the table when I get home, that cleans out the dishwasher, cleans out the refrigerator and keeps her room clean. Many times I come home to fresh baked goodies – like these raspberry crumb muffins.

Several years ago we started a tradition of having my parents over one night a week for dinner. Many times Taylor would be the one to cook. When she was younger, 11 yrs. old, she decided those night would be real special – "welcome to the Pepper Cafe" she would say (Pepper was her first cat) and would give them a hand drawn menu for them to choose from (options for beverage or dressing, etc). Generally there was a theme ie. seafood, mexican, etc. The best part of it was she dressed up for these dinner nights, and I don't mean just cleaned up – she dressed according to the theme. Her seafood one was one of the best. She wore goggles and flip flops to serve dinner in. This is making me laugh out loud now as I'm writing this, thinking back on those creative years. (I would love to show you a photo but I know how embarrassed she would be if I did that – she'll probably be upset with me for mentioned this much.) She even had the waitress apron and note pad and pencil to take their orders. Anyway, it was a treat for my parents and she cooked some really nice meals - always something new and different.

These days she uses Everyday with Rachel Ray's $10 spot recipes and does the shopping but she no longer takes orders on a pad. And even though she no longer dresses up special for the occasion she does present the dish looking as if it came from a fancy restaurant. And it taste even better.

I tell you it's a treat, and I'm one lucky mom.

Last night she cooked Salmon Cobb Burgers . It was one of her simpler meals but she had cleaned the entire house and did the shopping that day as well. Can't beat coming home to a clean house AND dinner on the table.

fresh / wilted

solo post - L

The empty canvas stands here, meant to inspire me. I get ideas in my head of what I want to paint but before I pick up the brush I'm tossing the ideas out with the wilted flowers. So many ideas – I just need to put the brush to the paint and paint to the canvas. I can always paint over it if I don't like it, just as easily as I can put fresh flowers in that vase.

pretty / dirty

L - Nikon / T - taken by my dad

Taylor's style has changed over the last year. Now she likes to wear dress or skirts with boots or cute little heels – she used to wear flats and very rarely wore a dress. Now she lets her hair go natural more times than not, letting the curls fall as they may – she used to straightened her hair every single day. Tonight she wore it up with a peacock feather in her hair and I thought she looked pretty sitting there with her cat waiting for me. I wished I had taken time to get a better photo but she was in a hurry. / okay, so it's just a job working for my dad. but still! i'm really excited to have a summer job that's outside and not inside some grimy restaurant. it's nice to spend time with my dad and get in shape at the same time. it's hard work, but it's way better than sitting around all day. (i'm going to be so tan by the end of summer..)

receive / give

solo post - L (get a better look by clicking on image)
fly so high - leap and the net will appear / believe in the beauty of your dreams. - eleanor roosevelt

Yesterday I received a package in the mail. How exciting. It came all the way from California and held within it treasures from a new friend – it's as if she knew me. I mean look at the items she sent to me. I immediately fell in love with the necklace – I wore it today. In addition, there were raspberry cookies (which were eaten before the photo was taken), a pencil made from a stick and a little bubble bath cupcake.
Several weeks ago I signed up to participate in a summertime swap over at the beautiful la porte rouge's blog. Our swap was to include a music cd made by us, two or more postcards, handmade, bought or both (one of your favorite quotes written behind one*) and finally a surprise of our choice, edible, wearable, readable, it's up to us. What a fun we had putting it together. Taylor helped me. The person I was asked to send a gift to is a 20 yr old young lady so I thought T would have a better idea of the music she might enjoy. She made me a wonderful CD including Fleet Foxes, The Dear Hunter, Manchester Orchestra, Death Cab for Cutie, Bon Iver and Iron & Wine. I hope she enjoys it. And since T and I share our blog, we shared in the gift giving. We included 2 notecards with her photos (vintage subject matter because we saw that was one thing she liked) and a set of her "peace, love and happiness" pinbacks as well. My part was a set of 4 calendar bookmarks and a notebook that I created with my art and recycled paper from work. Now that I look at what we sent it feels a little lacking but it's too late now – it's in the mail.
*above is the quote she left me as well as the quote I wrote on my package.

whistling / bird

L - iphone / T - Nikon

I'll admit I had not heard of Andrew Bird's music until hearing an interview with him on NPR earlier in the year. So back in March when I heard that he was coming to Atlanta I bought 2 tickets. Taylor was thrilled that we would be going. (she probably would have preferred to go with a friend her own age, but hey I was the one with the tickets.) We had a wonderful time together. The concert was at a relatively new venue we have in town called the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. It's a magnificent facility on the north side of Atlanta – less than 10 minutes from home – so convenient. The opening act was Calexico – a Tuscon-based rock band that gave a very lively performance but nothing compared to the energy of Andrew Bird. His music combines vocals, violin, guitar, glockenspiel (like a xylophone), mandolin and whistling. A sound that's difficult to describe, especially for me. He's quite nice to look at too but unfortunately our seats didn't give us that view. One show I might have been right there with T at the front of the stage if it was possible.
It's funny to think back on the very first concert I took T to – Switchfoot at a small venue downtown called the Tabernacle. In my head I justified that it was ok because it was Christian rock. I took her, and a friend, for her 14th birthday. They wanted to be right at the stage – we ended up right by the speakers. I actually enjoyed their music on CD, but standing for 3 hours and by the speakers was a different story. I bought her a t-shirt as keepsake. For her that was the beginning of a great love for music and live concerts. I certainly don't like all of the music she listens to but she has introduced me to music that I probably never would have been exposed to otherwise – and a lot of it I like very much - Fleet Foxes being a fairly new favorite for both of us. I can't say that I enjoyed those times in loud music venues, but tonight was different and it was nice – we had seats, I couldn't feel the music beating in my chest, there were people close to my own age around me. I like that we can go to concerts together and enjoy the same music. I bought her a t-shirt. : ) / it was odd to be sitting in a seat for a show (it was only my second time doing such an outrageous thing!), i haven't done that since i saw death cab for cutie a couple of years ago at the fox theater. it was funny to see the diverse crowd, the median age being a lot higher than i'm used to, haha, but there were a lot of my age there as well. after the show i realized how much i would like to marry andrew bird. if not for his beautiful voice for his last name. taylor bird. yes please!

this post brought back all those memories of the earlier teen years and my stress about her music and the venues she enjoys. It got too long. Maybe for another day.

what remains

solo post - L , click image to see it better

I caught the magnolias on the down swing – they really only stay at their most pristine for a day. Many of the blossoms had turned their creamy tan, which is really quite nice to me, some where various stages of opening – purple-bottomed stamen collecting in the petals. But most had lost the petals all together and what remained was the seed pod – still a thing of beauty in my eyes. The pod has a soft fuzzy lime green head with black curly "stigmas" I looked that up) and a bright purple "receptacle" ( I looked that up, too), all attached to the beautifully soft brown stem. Of course these go on to form fruit and become beautiful in the winter with their red berries. I just had to pull one off now and bring it indoors to scan.

lasting beauty

solo post - L

Today was absolutely gorgeous. The temperatures were lower or at least it seemed that way because there was such a nice breeze all day long. I have to say I accomplished absolutely nothing – but I'm ok with that for today. The hydrangeas are so beautiful and abundant this year. I love how some hydrangeas change color on the bush as they mature and the fact that they dry so well - their beauty lasting for years.
My brother is in town for his 30th high school reunion. I can't wait to hear some of the stories he will come back with tonight. You know the classic, " so and so who was gorgeous back in the day is now over weight and gray haired", or more likely these days people have aged very well and possibly even look better. It will be interesting to hear how people have changed and what they are doing, how many children they have, who married their highschool sweetheart. Some might even have grandchildren I suppose. Back then my brother was labeled the handsome one, funny and a lady charmer – he still is, but he's still single. Most days I think he is ok with that, but I sure wish he could find someone just right for him.

a blissful day

photos by T

Since this has been such a hectic week and have had no time for photos or blogging I asked T to share 2 photos from her week. I didn't know what she would come up with. I was hoping for a shot of her dirty self after her hard day laying sod in the rain. She's been helping her dad with landscaping this week – doing very hard and dirty work. The kind of work that makes you feel good and tired at the end of the day. Or a photo of the pieces she hung in a gallery. She prepared and hung 3 large photo pieces in a local art gallery for a showing called "pin-up" Show and Sale. It was an interesting concept - all pieces had to be no larger than 18 x 24 and unframed and unmated and able to "pin" to the wall with no more than 4 push pins (she said she used 6 - hope she's not disqualified) and must be priced under $100.
And she's probably not counting but I can count at least 6 different friends she has made time for just this week. She's staying busy that's for sure. And that a good thing. / these photos are from last week when i spent a day in athens with my friend. the weather was perfect. the day was an unstructured day. we bought subway lunches, laid a blanket in the grass, amongst the clover, made clover necklaces, read our books, talked and listened to music.

jot it down / take note

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

Another fun-filled weekend. Friday after work and it was off to a good start. Taylor joined me at a party that one of my workmates was having (an open house). I was so pleased that she would choose to do that with me on a Friday night. Afterwards, we went out to eat and dined outdoors – actually needing our sweaters to stay warm – such a pleasant evening. Saturday we were up bright and early for boot camp. This was the first of the summer session. I was so pleased that Taylor decided to join me in the pain. Of course she out performed me by far. The rest of the day was relaxed – reading in the hammock, a little of this and that. Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. Taylor and I attended a photography workshop from 9am - 5pm and really felt like we came home with some good information. The instructor was very easy to understand and had a pleasant personality. The exciting part of the day was having a live model shoot with a choice of 4 different model "stations". We had a belly dancer, an exotic sword dancer, a prom date, a basketball player, an urban teen, a superfly, a woman in a traditional sari, an Egyptian lady, etc. I After comparing images I found that hers were far better composed and exposed than mine – no surprise really. Maybe I'll show a few on my autumnsun blog if she doesn't mind. From there we went to the Virgina Highlands Artfest were see listened to a favorite band and I view amazing art.
I haven't neglect your blogs on purpose - in fact I've missed them very much. I hope you all had wonderful weekends as well.

inspire / admire

L - scannography / T - Nikon

She wore it in her hair, then brought it home to me. T knew that I would like to scan this – a pink lace hydrangea to add to my scannography collection. I need to add some new work to my shop – this inspires me. / he picked some flowers for me, i wove them in a band of grass and wore it in my hair. we listened to fleet foxes, drank in the sun and talked. it was good to see him.

start / end

solo post - L

I start my day, most days, with a bowl of oatmeal. I remember to brush my teeth, to feed the cat, to take the dog out, to lock the door. Why can't I remember to take my one-a-day? It promises to give me more energy, keep me mentally alert and make my bones strong – to get me through to the end of the day. Maybe I chose the wrong one. Perhaps the one-a-day for 50+ with ginkgo for memory is the one I need. Do you take something for energy or memory that really seems to work? I was told recently at the fresh market that bee pollen gives you energy. Has anyone ever tried that?

flutter / flicker

L - Nikon / T - Nikon sigma 30mm

Its a wordless wednesday for me. these images where chosen by me - one of mine, one of hers.

Taylor's bird cage with the candles I bought for her. They're really cool because they are battery- operated yet flicker like real candles and to turn them off you blow on them.
For once I'm going up to bed before 11pm. blows candles. Good night all.

summer / everything's coming up daisies

solo post  but with her image, L - Nikon / T - Nikon

The other day I told you that T asked me to get her permission before posting an image from our photo shoot. Well out of all of them, she approved this one and 2 others – all in the series with the daisies. I love them. She took the photo of the daisies then she went to pick one and put it in her hair – I snapped some photos. Doesn't it say summer – a sundress and a daisies? For me the flower that epitomizes summer is a daisy – their sunny center and pure white petals dancing in the breeze speak of freshness and a free-spirit. Remember the innocent game as a young girl? summer love at camp - he loves me, he loves me not... Well she's no longer the innocent age of twelve but she does have a free spirit that can be refreshing. / these are not her words but what we remembered together.  The last time we were here was to shoot photos for our friend's music CD. The concept included an umbrella. We were getting some great photos, cool shadow images on the white wall and then I saw it – a drawing on the concrete. The drawing was of an umbrella and childlike sun. There happened to be a puddle and some leaves, too. What a fluke! T shot a photo and we used it in the CD package.