city / country

L - iphone / T - iphone

A single puffy cloud in my vision from my work-day window / the stay at the empty house wasn't all bad. i awoke to this sight from the bedroom window.

its not home/ it was home

T - iphone

In Atlanta Daisy waits... looking, hoping to see Taylor drive up. / this place was the closest to home all of my days in athens... now i have to leave it behind. onward and upward.

day 3 - neighborhood

L - iphone / T - iphone

I think she's right, some photos don't lend themselves to being cropped so narrow. But what do you think - which format is best?

Notice the Bradford Pear trees are in bloom already. Last week the highs were in the mid 70s, tomorrow we're supposed to have a freeze warning - I think it's only the second one we've had this winter.

morning rays / afternoon flare

L - iphone / T - iphone

I can't tell you how happy I was to see the sun this morning. I feel like it's been weeks since I've seen any more than just a brief "peeking out". It was even warm enough for me to enjoy lunch outdoors - a much needed dose of vitamin D. / the beautiful weather brings everybody (and their dogs) to the park. i was so thankful to see the sun.

take time /put your feet up

L - Nikon / T - iphone

I guess we both had that kind of weekend. Busy, busy, busy but took time to put our feet up, enjoy some Christmas music and the lights we'd hung. Hope you're taking time to savor some moments of Christmas joy.

rays / light

L - iphone / T - iphone

"The sky is the daily bread of the eyes." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week the sky's have been brilliantly painted and the mornings have been pleasantly cool. Seems no matter how hot it's been and what day school starts there is always a bit of fall in the air the first day of school. This week was no different. Happy back-to-school for those teaching and learning.

Taylor got an iphone and I think she's going to be more prone to sending instagram photos than anything else so I may change the format here to accommodate.

gathered / arranged

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

Just as she used to do when she was a child - she picked wildflowers for me and gave them to me for Mother's Day. The simplicity of this little arrangement brought a smile to my face better than any bought flowers could do.

new day / be happy

L - iphone / T - Canon

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." - Eleanor Roosevelt

...so start it with a smile and be happy.

kitty in Atlanta / kitty in Athens

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

August Break 7

I think Kodi is somewhat lonely without Bunny picking on her, but she's fattening back up a little. / bunny is crazed... out of boredom? i had to go buy her some toys.

slow / fast

L - iphone / T - Nikon

August Break 5

it's Sunday and i take it slow / she goes fast.

(yes, on the weekends I get in a couple of hammock naps)

sunlight / daylight

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

“Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, filling it with a steady and perpetual serenity” - Joseph Addison

imagination in Athens

solo post - L, canon

I visited Taylor in Athens today to look at an apartment for next semester. Expecting it to storm all day, I was pleasantly surprised that we had no rain - nice enough in fact to eat brunch outdoors at a colorful cafe. There were buckets of sidewalk chalk placed about for anyone who felt inspired. I have a feeling it was children that left their marks on this wall - creating a pretty nice effect of wildflowers I think... if you squint your eyes and leave your imagination open. / Taylor is wanting a bike now. I think it must be spring fever - Spring has it's way of giving people the urge to get outdoors - to be more active doesn't it? The wall on the side of the bike shop was really striking and I wanted to show you but I did a poor job of getting it all in (must be my old eyes). I cropped off her T's feet, birds beaks and wings... but you can imagine... it was pretty spectacular.

snowgirl / snowangel

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

This is what fun in the snow in the south in February looks like - from atlanta to athens.

Atlanta / Athens evening sky

L - iphone / T- phone pic collaborative

listening to: Follow the Shepherd

I was on my way home, before dark for a change, and the sky was beautiful. I took a photo and sent it to her (always only at stop lights). I asked her to do the same - she immediately sent me one (she was at home). minutes apart. around 5:22 pm. It's not snow, but it's cold.

two rooms of her own

L - Nikon, T - Nikon

solo post - L

I was getting T's room ready for her visit and I noticed the light was so soft and wonderful - of course I went and got my camera. In her bedroom at home, the morning sun shines in brightly right behind her head - maybe that's why she was always good about getting up in the mornings - I very rarely had to go to her room to wake her. She's very organized about her schedules and what has to be done. Like this morning her dad was picking her up at 7 am in order for them to catch a plane to California. At 6:15 I awoke, worried that she wasn't getting up in time and I called to her. She said, "mom, I have a system". Oh OK. Her "system" - set the alarm for 15 minutes before time needed to get up so that she has time to slowly adjust while thinking about what she will wear, etc. then she gets up and moves about quietly with no, or low, lights on and she's ready before I even know she's up.

The day I cleaned her room, or the day after, she sent me this photo. (She must have been straightening up her room - leaving it clean while she's away in California. Good girl). I'm not sure if this is morning or afternoon sunlight but I think it's morning sun. This glorious light is one of the things she loves so much about her home away from home. And bright light must help, because she has an 8am class and I don't think she's missed one yet.

acorns / picnics

L - Nikon 50mm / T - Polaroid

“Faith sees a beautiful blossom in a bulb, a lovely garden in a seed, and a giant oak in an acorn.”
- William Arthur Ward

What a wonderful week of renewal and illumination I had while in North Carolina – to be surrounded by so many creative people – dining and dorming with them for 5 days straight – was refreshing and inspirational. I plan to tell you more about it on my autumnsun blog – soon I hope.
I saw, and felt, hints of autumn there in NC – the leaves just barely starting to change but autumn temperatures were definitely in the air. As I walked the soft earthy scented cypress pathway each day to my metalsmithing class the leaves on the ground became an inspiration to me. I gathered leaves and took them to class, drawing from their different shapes I made a bracelet of silver and copper. This tiny oak leaf, not yet changed, and a bright yellow acorn caught my eye on the last day – I picked them up and brought them home with me. / enjoying afternoons of picnics and polaroids. i'm loving it. school is going well too.

vacant / unattended

L - Nikon / T - Nikon film camera

The other day I drove to Watkinsville to go to a huge pottery sale and after I drooled over the beautiful pottery that I couldn't afford to splurge on I drove around town. It's really a beautiful town and there were a lot of interesting places to explore and take photos of, but I was wishing T was with me. She much bolder than I about getting the shot she really wants. One place I have been wanting to visit is the Main Street Yarns and Fibers that I learned about through Maya at Springtree Road, but because of the holiday weekend it was closed. I should have felt completely comfortable exploring and having the place (outside) all to myself to photograph whatever I wanted to of this charming little shop, but all I got was a few photos of these old blue chairs. I should definitely go back with T - it's so close by. / just another shot from my morning class visit to downtown athens. i think my uncle will like this one.

9am / 5pm

solo post - L, Nikon D60

These photos don't really represent my day but it's all I have in the way of photos.
I started out the morning with boot camp and then headed to Athens. Before I left, I noticed that my roses were starting to bloom. I'm not really a huge rose lover but I do like roses when they are still in bud form - and of course they smell wonderful.
I went up to Athens today to pack T's belongings for coming home. Freshman year is already over. It's hard for me to believe the year went by so quickly. We loaded my car up and then walked to town for an Indie craft show - Craftstravaganza. T was asked to photograph the event. The weather was crazy - one minute a downpour, the next the sun was shining. I felt sorry for the vendors. Except that when the rain would come of course we headed for tents and of course looked around - 2 of those 'run for covers' I made purchases. So maybe it didn't hurt them too bad afterall. It was a small show but some very nice work. I wished I'd had more money. The rain made it hard for T to photograph so hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow.
On the way up to Athens I had noticed a quaint little church with a tin roof, so I made note to stop by there on the way back home. I drove up the long gravel road leading to the church but it was pouring down rain at this point so I didn't get any good photos there. The grasses you see above where in front of the church – I took this photo from the car. Aren't these plants cool looking? To me they look like gold and pink sequins (you will have to click on image to enlarge in order to see what I'm talking about). Does anyone know the name of this plant? Is it a grass?

point of view

L - Nikon / T- Nikon
not coincidental picture posting - we took these on the same day - just different view points
click to view larger - see her little white smile marking.

I drove up to Athens yesterday afternoon for a spontaneous visit with T. We met at the bookstore because T had finished another book and was looking for a new one to start, then to TJMaxx were she had picked out 2 littles dresses she wanted. After shopping we went to the local coffee shop and sat outside in the warm sun. It was a perfectly beautiful day and we had no time schedule so we sat and talked, and talked - she told me what was going on in her life and I gave her my point of view on a few things she was dealing with, she told me about her new classes for next year, etc and I told her about my late night workings and how sore I was from boot camp that morning, then we decided to go out for dinner. We wanted to try the new mexican restuarant, Taqueria Del Sol, but it was closed. So we went across the street to the famous "The Grit". As we walked back to the car we noticed that Taqueria Del Sol was open. This was the 2nd time we'd tried to eat there. Maybe next time we'll pay attention to the hours. / after dinner i took mom to my favorite thrift store, angora. i always find things there that i want. today it was a beautiful mannequin head that i coveted, she really spoke to me. but she was $80. guess i'll have to save my money. we still had daylight so we decided to drive to watkinsville just to see what we could find. she'd see lots of beautiful old homes and farm land and i'd see abandoned house possibilities. we did see some places that we'd like to explore more closely another time. we both saw lots and lots of cows. i had mom pull over ... there was the cutest little calf i'd ever seen right by the fence. he was all brown except for his face which was all white face. he was dancing around so playfully. the minute i got close he ran away. we stood there just observing the way cows interact, or rather don't. there were alot of babies running around but none of them would come up to the fence. we took some photos and by this time the sun was fading so we drove back to my dorm and mom went home. it was a nice day.

nightfall / afternoon

It was so nice outside I finally had the perfect day to give Evee a haircut. Her hair had gotten so long it took me 2 hours to cut her. She's pretty good about letting me cut it but she gets tired and so do I - so we take short little breaks. She looks pretty cute now and so much thinner. I had planned to post a photo of her but when I saw the photo T sent, I decided to post this one I took yesterday on the way home from Athens. I had to stop to get gas and I snapped this photo then. Don't you agree it's much better with T's photo than a silly picture of my dog? / no it's not the house we're looking to rent. although the boys that live in the place we want are just about as bad. (you have to look hard past their clutter to envision the great potential of the house we're looking at - it's there). this place is actually the back door at Cali n Tito's latin american restaurant where mom and i ate on saturday afternoon. the patio of the restaurant is littered with a bunch of old tvs, sewing machines, and other nostalgia - picnic tables are placed on pea gravel, authentic music plays in the background, and bright flags adorn the walls - brings you to somewhere south of the border. i pass it all the time and have always wanted to eat there - seems that i've been missing out because it was very crowded with the weather being as nice as it was. i'm sure i'll be going back. it really was a coincidence that later on that evening my roommate and i watched dirty dancing: havana nights.