June 2, 2010 Giant Leaves

In addition to all the beautiful butterflies in the Butterfly House, we enjoyed a myriad of beautiful, lush plants. This one was huge!

Blessings~

May 23, 2010 Simplicity

I love the majesty and grandeur of the mountains and the tranquility of a quiet lake at sunset. I am awed by the endlessness of the ocean and the fireworks of a summer storm. I often wish I lived somewhere else than the flat farming community of the Red River Valley. I took a walk thru a wildlife "sanctuary" with my sis in law and was reminded that there is beauty in the everyday if we but take the time to look for it, to expect it. I saw no mountains or lakes or oceans, no tall tall trees or exotic wildlife. I saw ducks and geese, swamps (walked thru some of them!) and birds. I came away physically tired but spiritually and mentally refreshed. All because I took a walk in my own back yard with my eyes open expecting to find beauty. What's in your backyard?
Blessings~

Old Pants February 26, 2010

Rag Rug, originally uploaded by pictureapromise.

I had a customer who brought me three bags of old clothing. There were t shirts, jeans and some slacks. Rather than throw these old worn out things in the garbage and eventually put them in a landfill, I was able to convert them into something useful, needed and if I do say so myself, attractive. From his three bags we got 6 40 inch rugs with just a couple shirts left over. We're saving them till next time.

There is much talk about being or doing the "green" thing. Seems funny to me. My grandmothers were weavers and long before there was such a thing they were doing the "green" thing. They used items that could no longer be used for bedding or clothing and made rugs. They also made quilts. Mom still has a couple of Grandma Ida's beautiful log cabins and Grandma Mabel's patchworks. They carded sheep's wool and put inside. So very warm. Sometimes the old ways really are better! And sometimes we can take the old ways, improve on them and they can be better yet!

Blessings!

Bowl full of Sugar January 4, 2010

Bowl full of Sugar, originally uploaded by picturethepromises.

Here in ND we had another cloudy dreary day. That makes shooting outdoors hard. The snow looks gray, the sky is gray, trees, roads even houses are gray. So what to find to shoot inside without the wonderful sunlight I had yesterday. I don't like to use my flash so how do I get enough light? I wanted a little more than the ceiling lights will give me and I don't have a soft box. However, I do have an Ott-Light.. I have not tried this before but I think it worked ok. I set the bowl of leftover candy under the light and used the manual setting on my camera. I like the result. That's the point of this project. To learn, learn, learn!

It is the middle of winter, there will be plenty of dreary days, I will probably do this again!
Blessings~