Hawaii Circa 1970

This turned out to be quite a project.  I merged three images taken in Hawaii over 30 years ago.  The color was so distorted in the originals that I had to decide on an artistic direction. 

Try, Try Again

My great-grandmother always used to say, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  Regarding the topic of successfully utilizing on-camera flash, I've tried and tried, but up till last weekend......it just hadn't worked for me.

However, in the spirit on Maudie's advice to continue to try, I am currently on a quest to, once and for all, learn to use flash creatively. 

Trash to Treasure

It was $15. The perfect size and shape.  You know you either have a great vision or that you've lost your mind when the woman at the check out counter looks at your newly found treasure, then at you, then back at the treasure.... and finally while shaking her head "no" just says, "Um....um....um".

I told her I had a vision.  With raised eyebrows, she replied, "That's a good thing."   I promised to bring her before and after pictures.

Welcome Guests

Finally.  Done.  Seems that there was always something that claimed priority over this project, but finally it is complete.  We made the headboard using scrap lumber, batting and foam from Johnson's Fabrics in Bartlett, and this lovely fabric from Premier Fabrics in Germantown, TN.

The picture over the bed was the "inspiration piece" for this room.  The colors are perfect and the price even better...it was scavenged from a pile of trash.  Yes. Seriously. From a pile of trash.  

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

This year there were about 3,000 children and 800 workers. 

Whatever happened to the lazy part of the Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer? So far, this summer has plenty of hazy and crazy, but the "lazy"?  Not so much. 

Vacation Bible School: a week of high energy, fun, games, and the love of Jesus shared with children and their families.

Happy Retirement

This is just one of the faces in town last weekend to celebrate her granddaddy's retirement.  I hadn't met the family until just a few minutes before the banquet began.  But what an incredibly sweet family they are.  The love, honor, and respect they demonstrate toward one another was inspiring. 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Lots of rain then.  Lots of rain now.  Lots. 

The year was 1979. I had  purchased my first SLR (Pentax K1000) and was in a photography class at Bellarmine College in Louisville.  Eager to practice what I was learning, I headed out with friends to The Great Balloon Race which kicks off the Kentucky Derby {cue  My Old Kentucky Home}.

But morning came early, and it was cold.  And it rained.  And rained.  And rained.

When I Grow Up

Somewhere I read that when we are toddlers, we interact in our world in a more genuine manner than we do as we get older.  As a toddler, we don't hesitate to laugh, to cry, even to have a tantrum - emotions perfectly appropriate for our current situation.

I also read that at about the age of three, we begin to understand that the important people in our lives expect us to behave in a certain way. We want to please them, so we try to conduct ourselves in a manner that we believe will make them happy.

Freshness

I've been painting.  First was a guest room.  Was in the mood for a blue ceiling.  So I did it.   It's a Benjamin Moore paint:  Spring Mint.  The walls are a soft yellow:  Concord Ivory.  And somehow this was the beginning of wanting everything I see daily to look fresher, cleaner, brighter. 

What's the Point?

 When you look at this image, it's hard to imagine it began as....