52 Photos Up Close

Our challenge this week, as you may have guessed, is a macro shot.

It seems like it's taken a long time for Spring to arrive here.  But Tuesday was bright and sunny so I took the opportunity to enjoy the day, and took my camera along. Many of our trees were just now showing some tiny buds.  What better way to celebrate spring than capturing these tiny buds in a photo.

These tiny buds were found on our Japanese Lilac tree.  When it is in full bloom the scent is heavenly. 

These pinkish buds are from one of our Ornamental Pear trees, though the flowers will come out white. 

 

 From our Maple Tree, gorgeous colored buds.

We have about 16 trees in our yard.  In addition to the trees above we have a ginkgo tree, an apple tree, Chinese Elms, Pin Oaks, a Japanese Bloodgood,  and several Austrian Pines.

I think that I shall never see

A poem  lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain

Who intimately lives with rain

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

~Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have an chance to enjoy nature this weekend!

Please stop by Sally's Blog to check out the other photos for this week's challenge.

Catching Up

In looking back it seems if I've blogged at all it has been about jewelry challenges, and even those have been very few as of late. So let me fill you in on what's going on in my world.

This is a photo of our oldest daughter. She will be 24 on April 21st.  We moved her all the way from Kansas to North Carolina a couple weekends ago.  It was a long, sad ride back to Kansas without her.  She has a wonderful outlook on life, always smiling, never too proud to do silly things, kind, giving and helpful. I will miss her laugh and that wonderful smile. Celebrating Easter without her was a bit difficult, and she will be celebrating her birthday alone this year. I'm so proud of her for wanting to be out on her own, starting a new life in a new place where she knows no one. And I can't wait to hug her the next time we are together.

My dad continues with getting rid of things after my mom passed away.  This was my lunch pail when I was in grade school.  The thermos is missing, and it has several scratches, but I'm so glad my parents kept this for so long.  My twin sister had one similar but it's no where to be found.

I've been eating leftover Easter Candy--a lot!! I love jelly beans but recently found that their shiny coating comes from Shellac, a chemical derived from the excretions of the Kerria Lacca insect.  This coating is also on candy corn and other candy.  I hope I didn't spoil things for you jelly bean lovers.

I bought a Swanstrom Disc Cutter from Rio Grande with my Christmas money.  It came as a kit with a brass mallet, bur life, centering plugs and urethane pad.  Have I used it yet? No.  But one of these days.......

Outside my window the sun is shining and the tender green shoots of wheat in the field across the street is a beautiful sight to see. It reminds me of this Easter hymn:

 Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

52 Weeks Have Faith

What an appropriate assignment for this week since we are in the midst of Holy Week.

I love the season of Lent and had several ideas in mind for this week's photo. 

Unfortunately I've been so busy this week and today snuck up on me so quickly that I didn't get a photo.  And of course today is another gloomy day, making it difficult to take photos. So I'm sharing one that I took several months ago.

But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
My God shall raise me up, I trust.  ~Walter Raleigh

My husband and I were driving home one evening and I thought the sunset was so beautiful that I snapped a few photos as we drove along.  When we got home my husband noticed this telephone pole that looked a lot like a cross.   I didn't even notice this  while I was taking the photo because the sun was so bright. 

Thank you for stopping by.  Blessings to you this Easter.

Please check Sally's blog to see the other participants photos.

52 Photos Observe The Curve

“In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.” ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

This week our assignment is to focus on the curves that surround us in our daily life.

Searching around the house I found many beautiful curves.  I love antiques and it seems there is an abundance of curves in the antiques we have acquired.

An antique claw foot tub in our spare bathroom. We found it at a salvage place in Kansas City.  It's small, maybe just over four feet.  Our girls liked to take their baths here occasionally when they were little.

A footed pedestal on our antique oak kitchen table.

A sweet antique iron stone pitcher.

A lovely curvy sofa passed down from my husband's grandmother.

As always, thank you for stopping by. 

Please check Sally's blog to see the other participants.

 

 

AJE Earring Challenge Weeks 9 and 10

If You're looking for the 52 photos please click here.     At the beginning of the year I signed up for the Art Jewelry Elements Earring Challenge. I missed more than a few of the reveal dates but now I'm back in the game.   The first pair is made with sweet little bronze daisy flowers from Cathy Daily, patinated 'seagrass' copper bars from Miss Ficklemedia, tiny dark coral swarvoski crystals and Vintaj components.  

'Bloom Where You're Planted'

The second pair is made with ivory gold lampwork beads from Something New 4 You, enameled beads I got from the Art Bead Love Tour Chain, Czech beads from Arte Bella Surplus and Vintaj.

'Sage Meadow'

Check out the AJE Blog to see what others made.

52 Photos The Possibilities are Endless

“In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility."  ~Victoria Moran

Sally's assignment for this week:  There are many things around us that hold so many possibilities, a child's face, a seed of a flower, the tools pictured above.  This week pay attention to your surroundings and your daily activities and show us what holds endless possibilities for you.

This assignment was particularly difficult for me.  I needed something I could see or touch.  And here it is Saturday morning, gray skies, and even if I did think of something there would be no light  with which to get a good photo.

So I decided to show a photo that I took on one of our favorite family vacations to Northern California.

Here we are in the Beautiful Redwoods of Northern California in front of a behemoth of a tree.  I'm pretty sure my mouth was open in awe the entire time we were there.  I remember each time we got out of the car and slipped just three feet into the trees, it was like we were in another world. It was a hushed quietness that surrounded us, and it was like we were the only ones there. 

We have lots of nephews and nieces, and when my husband and I were married we decided we would take each of them on vacation with us when they turned five. The kid on the left is our nephew, and the other three are ours.

So what does this have to do with the assignment?  I can think of nothing better than seeing this beautiful U.S.A and all her amazing sights. The Possibilities are endless!

As always, I appreciate your visit here. Please check out Sally's Blog to see the other participants.

52 photos week 10 All Wrapped Up

I'm happy to be back doing the 52 photos.  I missed several weeks because of illness. 

This week our challenge is to take a photo using the word 'wrap' as a verb or a noun.

Though my photo is of wrapping paper, this is certainly no ordinary wrapping paper.  It comes with a story, and fond memories.

This wrapping paper is all vintage.  I just turned 50 the end of February and I don't remember a time when we didn't have this paper around.  The paper came on huge rolls which my dad hung on metal racks in the basement.  Every holiday, birthday, wedding, or shower my sisters and I saw this wrapping paper.  There were times we got tired of seeing it, and other times when we just had to smile as we were ripping open the package with maybe a bit of eye-rolling.  The paper came from my maternal grandfather who never threw anything away.  He worked as a janitor at our local Sears store which used this wrapping paper in the store.  One day he was told to get rid of it--which he did--right to our house.

Now that my mom has passed, dad has been getting rid of stuff and passing it along to us kids.  He still had huge rolls of this and carefully cut off some for us girls and all the grandchildren, and there's lots left!  I never  thought I would feel so nostalgic about this paper after seeing it so many years, but it holds so many memories of gatherings with family...especially with mom, who loved any reason to celebrate.

Blessings to you, and I hope you are wrapped with love and joy today.

Thank you for stopping by. Please visit Sally's blog to see the other participating blogs.