Promises Promises

While the brocoli has been disappointing, and the kale is slow to get started, everything else is coming along like hotcakes.

I have wee little vegetables showing up all over the place. The promise of cucumbers and tomatoes to come.





I know, the peas and beans aren't far behind. The peppers need a little heat to get their groove on, but they'll get there.


In the mean time, I am amusing myself with the lillies.

Those Flowers Are Rosa!

On Sunday I took M out to a little garden/monument on the parkway by our house. The main purpose was to get some updated pictures for a little Mother's Day project for the Grandma and Nana. M got to stretch her imagination and legs. I got the pictures I wanted for the project, as well as a lot of blog friendly pictures as well.

Missy (I swear I'm not picking on you) blogged yesterday about her presentation to the MN Baby Expo. Specifically about blog privacy. Before she did the presentation she asked if she could use one of my photos of M and talk about my psudonym. I completely agreed to it because while I don't use my real name on my blog, I don't hide the fact that I was not blessed with such a cool name. I also use my real name when I meet people in person, though I will answer to Amelia now.

Her comments about it made me think about the photos that I take. I think that getting blog friendly photos has made me a better photographer. By the time that I had this blog, she was running around enough and it was nice to know that even if I didn't get her face, I still had a use for the pictures. It can be very freeing to not have to care about her face when you have a kid that could care less about having her picture taken. It allows me to capture some moments I wouldn't normally get.

She can be out of focus, but you still get the feeling. When I combine these pictures with the ones where I get some or all of her face, it can show a more complete story.


Like how the scraggly trees were her houses and forts. How she rode horses, and discovered that she is a tree climber.

Insert Tab A into Point B

So not so much with the blogging lately. Not that I haven't wanted to, it is just well, that whole work/blog barrier. Work seems to be calming down for now, which is nice. I've also been working feverishly on some sewing projects, including what will be a submission for the next One Yard Wonders book. The first one was such a big hit that Trish & Rebecca are doing another one. Being a published writer is on my bucket list. I figure that while I may never make it for any other writing, maybe I'll have a shot with a pattern. The reality is that I have never written a pattern in my life. I may have bit off more than I can chew. However, since I have a fully finished, and pretty damn awesome, mockup sitting on my kitchen table, I can't just give up now.

Until I finish that, I suspect that posting here will continue to be sparse. It is due April 1st, wish me luck. If it fails to make it in to the book, expect me to publish it here.

In the mean time, here are some pretty photos from a trip to the park on Sunday. I am loving the new camera now that Spring is finally here.



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Holiday Card Rejects

Not sure I have the winning shot yet, but I at least got ones that would work.

I swear, as she gets older, it gets more complicated. It was easier when she just sat there. Now I have to wrangle her, and the dog, and neither one of them listens unless you dangle a cookie in front of them.

The Difference of a Day

Last night was a hard freeze, so everything changed in the garden.


Some of the drops from yesterday were still there, but frozen.

The kale is really dark now.


I may be able to still harvest some of the tiny Brussels sprouts. They are small, but should taste amazing.

Well, it used to be lettuce. Now it is just pretty.

End of the Gardening Season

I love cold crops, and how they hang on so long. It has been mild, so the kale is still OK, as are the Brussels sprouts. It rained last night, leaving some pretty cool photos.

Head of the brussel sprouts with the flash on.


Kale with the flash on. It went from having green to being all dark purple. I tried to take some without the flash, but it was so dark, I couldn't get the shutter speed fast enough or stand still enough.

Brussels sprout head without flash. The rain drops were just amazing. It was so still and the rain was so light and steady that they were everywhere.

Ooo, look, pretty.

I'm still not feeling very much like writing, so I guess I'll just start and see where this goes.

I wish to heck that I could write about work, but I can't. I will say this, we are currently under major remodeling and I just need to make it through until the end of the month when it is done. Work leaves me feeling sick, home is a bit better, weekends are much better. One more week of this, then I think I will be able to breath again.

Preschool seems to be going well. M has backslid a bit on the potty front, but some issues are to be expected. I'm trying hard to get us out of the house faster in the morning, which is a challenge because of you know, transition issues. All because she just doesn't seem to want to let me go. I'm not one to push it, knowing that before long she'll be rushing me out the door. I'm doing my best not project any of my fears about rejection from my peers on to her. However, I know it is hard being the new one. They have their own cliques and groups, and she's still adjusting.

Traditional gender roles seem to be more defined at this age. M however is not. She likes her dresses, but she likes her legos and trucks too. Having been part of one of the first generations raised by feminists I am starting to have a deeper appreciation of what those challenges were. I, unlike some, don't think femininity has to be given up to be a strong woman, but I don't think the Disney princesses are advancing the cause much either. I suppose I should figure this out before too long. I think that is a good subject for another post.

Speaking of that, I do know there are a few people that read this, and while I'm not always the best about commenting everywhere I read (hazard of perhaps filling my life up with too much, or being lazy) I would love some comments. Not to beg or anything, but I could use some fun or silly right now. Leave me your best joke? Or a link to something pretty? I'll go first, here are a few pictures from the past month or so.


June bug husks (I think) on the tree in my brother's front yard.

Goat's Beard lichen, in Itasca. Amazing creatures, a symbiotic relationship between fungi and alga that has been around pretty much forever.


One terribly adorable puppy we saw at the apple orchard awhile back. He was not supposed to be doing that, but I only halfheartedly tried to stop him.

A Yard Full of Memories

Part of the fun of vacation for me is to take pictures. I am still chugging along with my little point and shoot, trying to justify the expenditure of a DSLR (and the macro lens I would have to have with it).

Yarrow is a natural bug repellent. When we were kids we used to rub it on our arms before a walk in the woods. Mostly, it is just beautiful with it's lacy leaves and simple flowers.


Fine, so I have no idea what these are. They are new from when I lived at home, but are surrounded by the ferns. If we still had a shade yard I would plant ferns in it.


This is part of a small rose bush that we gave my mom one year for mother's day. It has grown in to more of a rose hedge (8 feet tall and six feet wide) more than once and been trimmed back. It lines the alley just daring the kids to ride their bikes into it.



I've said I didn't want the Hollyhocks for my yard, but I know my mom loved them. I just fear their takeover of everything.

A weed to so many, I remember sucking the nectar out of cover petals when I was little. That is what you do when your parents won't let you eat sweets.

Steps to a New Header

Rebecca left a sweet comment on my photo post about liking my headers and wanting to know more about software. I responded to her comment, but I thought it would be fun to go through my process for the headers using Picnik, since I think that is just about all anyone needs. For around 25/year for Premium and regular updates to it I think it is a great deal.

Step 1: Find a photo I like. (this one is my purple flowering kale in the garden) It needs to have enough interesting detail in a narrow band for a header. Rotate it until you get the right angle.

I rotated this one left, once.

Step 2: Crop it. I know the general dimensions that look good and fit, I try to have a focal point, and I like to follow the rule of threes. Ever wonder why your camera has that nifty grid to divide the space into 9 parts, yeah, that would be it. I use it for balancing positive and negative space as well. Sometimes I just go for content, but the ones I like the best follow those rules. (left two thirds positive space, right third, negative space)

Step 3: Adjust exposure (this one was over exposed so I decreased) and contrast (I increased it a little, more drama)


Step 4: Play around with effects. Here we have Boost:

and Vibrance.


I went with Vibrance. They also have some seriously far out ones, and traditional like Sepia & B&W. For a lot of fun, go with Lomoish.

Step 5: Soften if needed. Sometimes I like doing this, especially if the colors are strong like in this one. This is the Matte effect.


Step 6: Rounded corners and add text. I love the text options, and I keep wanting to find reasons to use the really wild ones. Still, the ones I like best look like neat writing or retro typewriters. I was feeling purple, so purple text it is.

Step 7: Shrink to Fit. My Blogger header has a 890 pixel width. To make sure that it scales appropriately (instead of letting Blogger do it for me) I save the file as 890 pixels wide and let it scale the height.

Falling in love again.

My love of photography goes way back. I guess you could say it is genetic. It is the one artistic pursuit that I have had that I've kept all these years. I really have no idea why I didn't go to school for it. Perhaps it was just too close to my dad, when I didn't like him all that much.


I don't hide that I want a Canon DSLR, and I want it bad. It is what I have been saving for. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening any time soon. I just can't seem to save enough, what with the diapers, the food, the damn we're going to need a big girl bed because the snot is removing her diapers at night.

So lately I've been trying to really get to know my little Canon PowerShot A540. So far, it is working. I get the macro shots I love so much, as well as good video, and the ability to go fully manual. Nearly every day I'm out taking pictures of my beautiful garden.

Instead of a new camera, I think I'll invest in the new iPhoto, to better manage what my addiction creates. I may also finally break down and get PhotoShop Elements. Picnik is still great, but I want a real watermark and maybe a little more control.


Until that happens, if you are looking for me, I'll be out in the garden, perfecting the use of the manual macro settings.

Hitchikers

At some point during one of my gardening sprees, I got some top soil that obviously was torn from some cow pasture. Either that or it was some manure. Either way, it came with a lot of annoyances, including thistles, which I think are pretty, but are not kid friendly weeds, and columbine. I am constantly torn between removing it from where it should not be, and "ooo, the pretty". This year it sprouted up by the garage. In an area I cannot mow, and a broken weed wacker cannot cut. So this year, it stays. I am so pleased the decision to keep it has been made for me.

Maybe next year M will be old enough to show her how to suck the honey out without opening it up for her to try to eat all of the other flowers.