Snow Pictures

Here are some of the pictures of the snow in my neighborhood.

On the right of this photo, behind the building, between the second light pole and the tree is the road to my house. It looks like the snow covered hill. Very little traffic went up the hill. Again, love my 4wd SUV.

Project 365

I stink! I totally forget to take photos!



Me today - what my life looks like! Day 2



View - he liked this view. Day 5



Still life - he was really enjoying hanging out until I took his picture. Day 6




Front door - mine still has a wreath. Day 8





In a Drawer - contents of one drawer in my little secretary. Day 9

The actual empty drawer. :)


Now I'm caught up in posting. But I've obviously missed several days. I'm not going to stress missing a few.

Project 365

I'm intrigued by the photography 365 day project. So I subscribed and you already see yesterday's photo in my last post. I'm not sure if I will post daily or do a weekly summary.

I will take photos with both my dslr and my iphone. I am looking to improve my photography skills and I'm also hoping for pure inspiration that pushes me artistically. 

Hot Days

After failing the photo challenge, I decided not to worry about restarting it. :) I'm ok with that lack of commitment. I am still finding things to photograph and I'm still keeping up with my summer commitment to go somewhere every other week to take photos.

Thankfully this week, my great friend Joan invited me to Chattanooga. She was there on business and it has been a very long time since we last hung out together. I went down for the evening and we caught up on all the good stuff of life.

When she headed out off to work, I headed out to Chickamauga National Military Park. I'm teaching US History again this year and I decided some photos might help capture my students attention. Here is a sampling of the monuments at the park. (103 degrees when I left at 12:00 pm)

Day Three and Four

I did shoot on the appropriate days, I was so mad at myself I didn't post last night. More about that later.

Day Three - favorite shoes



Yes, I love Crocs and I had these on yesterday when I worked on the porch.

Day Four - Mother Nature Father Creator



I rarely have two lilies blooming at once. They don't last long and a third is poking its bud out of the water.

Back to being mad, I took a quick knitting lesson a couple of weeks ago. I finished the two face/spa/dish cloths and got very ambitious and started a scarf. I told my sister it was a shame I had expensive tastes no matter what my hobby. She said buy cheap.

I went to a local yarn shop, LYS, and was looking for a heavy yarn to start a scarf. Every skein I picked up was $20+. Because this is my first scarf, I know better than to spend $25 on a skein that will only be worn because its a gift and not because it is a pretty handmade scarf.

But I found a gorgeous silk in a my favorite colorway and decided the first scarf, with all it's flaws should be for me. I bought needles and proceeded to have almost 3.5 feet of scarf knitted when I realized I had some how turned the scarf and was now knitting the wrong side.

I unraveled six to eight inches of scarf last night. Luckily I figured out where to stop and put my needles in correctly. (that part wasn't taught in my class) Today I'm reknitting those unraveled inches, I'm on the phone with sis and Puff decides the shiny needles need to be played with. She's still giving me the innocent look. It took forever to get the needles and stitches in the right spot. I'm still not sure I have the stitches lined up correctly.

I'm just happy I picked a very forgiving open weave pattern. The next scarf is for sis, I hope she remembers she said go cheap. ;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day Two

Today was favorite food picture. I played with PS Express on my iPad. Softened the focus and deepened the saturation.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day One Photo Challenge

I've decided to do a 30 day photo challenge. I Googled challenges and then surfed through Pinterest and finally decided to combine several lists.

Today's photo - green.



This is SOOC - straight out of camera.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Summer Begins

My first official week off from school and I have rested. Wednesday, I met my sister and bil for dinner. We went to a new to me hibachi restaurant.  Dinner was great and I love spending time with my family. We really need to do it more!

I took the day Thursday and went to two local nature areas. I didn't know they were nearby, both were glades and had a rare species of Tennessee coneflowers. These flowers had been on the endangered species list until last fall. They are making a come back in these two glades. Only a few were in bloom but next weekend is supposed to be the peak. I may go back and take more pictures.

I have decided I am going to try knitting. I hope to go Thursday to sit and stitch at the Stitchin' Post and get a beginner crash course! We'll see how I do. I really need another hobby like a need a hole in the head!

I also have a few quilting and stitching projects planned. Several babies are coming and I been surfing the net and going through my patterns. I will post progress soon.

Hobby

When I was young, I hated my mom taking pictures. She took forever to focus or whatever she was doing. LOL Both sister and I have a love of photography today.

I am constantly reading photography blogs. My vacations are to places where I can take great pictures. Even if my photo style is bad, the scenery compensates. :)

I'm very thankful mom gave me a love for photography. Even if I didn't want to be her subject. Tonight, I combined my gifts and made my own camera bag. I found tutorials online and think it was a success!

Timely Posts

I realize the reason I haven't started a blog before this summer is that I don't have much to say. Some friends would disagree with that statement. :) I read a lot of blogs and follow them daily. But I'm just not as wordy or eloquent. Thus, only weekly posts here so far.

Saturday, I had the privilege of attending a Living Proof Simulcast. It was an awesome day of worship and study. We delved into a character study of Luke; who he was and how he came to be one of Christ's followers and a major contributor to the New Testament. I really enjoyed the study and it reminded me of vintage Beth Moore studies. Really felt drenched in the Holy Spirit.

Last night, I was noticing a light out of my blinds and realized it was the moon. So I drug my tripod outside and set it up. I didn't take any outstanding pictures, but I do have one to share.

 

I love the fact that I'm still learning to take my camera off program mode and use it in manual. This has been a major accomplishment for me. But I'm still learning the ins and outs of settings. I couldn't get the white balance right on the roses. The color is really blown out. I was really just playing with learning the depth of field on the lens I was using (50 mm prime 1:1.8) and didn't stress the color balance.

I am a horrible yard owner. I've let the weeds grow around my knock out roses. I really need to get outside and clip them away.

You can ALSO tell I'm a horrible yard owner by the fact that the second picture is of poke berries.  I've had many poke plants come up in the fence row flowers. I got tired of pulling them up and now I'm kind of glad I didn't pull up the last batch, the pink stems are gorgeous.

I also have had a rogue tomato plant grow right outside the porch. I pulled one up in the mulch by the front door and really thought to myself that I was nuts and there was no way I had a tomato plant growing in the mulch. But my yard laziness proved me sane. There are lots of little tomatoes on the plant I didn't pull up. I doubt they will develop enough to be eaten before the first frost. But I have gotten a good laugh at myself and God's humor. I had wanted to plant containers of tomatoes on the porch this spring and never got around to it. So He's making sure I get some tomatoes despite myself.

Be Blessed

Tracy

Saturday Stitching

I've finally had a stitching finish! I think this may be my first and only finish of the year!  How sad am I?

The design is by 4 My Boys and it was a freebie. I radically changed all the colors and I'm going to make a pillow out of  it. I wish I knew how to do cute flat folds. But finishing is my downfall.

I plan on framing this little piece, it is by Lizzie Kate and I stitched it one over one. I've had it finished and waiting for the framing fairy to come and put it together. I think she lost my address, so I've dug and found the frame, glass and pins and I'm ready to put it together.

I must say that the white balance on my camera and I had loud arguments today. The camera won and I did a little photo editing and the colors are still not vibrant. But I can live with them.

Happy Saturday!

Tracy

Quick check in

Just doing a quick post. I hope to post some pictures of a new finish tomorrow. Light isn't right to take photos tonight.

I am very thankful for a three day weekend. This school year is going really well. But because of changes in our teacher evaluation system it seems as though a lot of my coworkers are really stressed. I've been to several TEA regional meetings and the feeling seems to stretch across Tennesse.

On a happy note, Carmen and I spent some time at a couple of Nashville art exhibits and I took a few pictures. But I can't seem o get them uploaded. :(. Why do I keep having blogging issues?

Summer's Over

Or so it seems. Teachers in my county have had two complete days of inservice. Tomorrow, we have an administrative day which means we get some time to spend in our rooms prepping for the new year.

We will get schedules and student rosters tomorrow. This will give us some specific prep time. I received my textbooks today for one class. I have already started pulling materials. I know that sounds a little slow, but I've never taught this class and had no idea how the text fit into the curriculum standards.

I have a new photography class assignment and I hope to be able to take some pictures at school depicting the first day of school. It will be a "day in the life of" study. I'm looking forward to the photo shoot.

I will be teaching 8th grade US History and several more classes. I'm looking forward to next week when students start.

Tracy

The End - Bye Harry

I went to see the last Harry Potter movie today. Sis and I splurged for 3D IMAX and it did not disappoint. Of course it was a different take than the book, but I expected it to be different. In preparation I've been retracing the series. I'm on book six. My trip to Alaska came mid-read.

I am sorry to see Harry all grown up.

On the photo front, the assignment this week was to do a diptych. I naturally drew a blank and had to call sister for artistic pump priming. She helped a lot. I took one set today that I liked and hope to do another tomorrow. As I look at the pics up close I realize the focus could have been a little sharper. Also, no matter how much delinting I did, lovely cat fibers still show up on the black velvet.

Blogger still doesn't like to upload my pics. Will try from different computer tomorrow.

Welcome

I am about to start on a new journey. I am headed on a mission trip and I will be using the blog as part of my journal. When I return it will also be a place to share my love of the Lord, stitching, quilting, and photography. Thanks Tammie for pushing me to start the blog.