Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween Photo Contest - Parts 2 & 3

I realized that tomorrow is the beginning of my annual Month of Gratitude, and I want my blog to reflect that. So I'll show the other two photos from the Halloween Photo Contest here today. The entries needed to be in today, but the winner won't be picked for a week or two.

With this photo, I did a little manipulation in my paint program to give it this artistic effect using the "charcoal" brush.

Climb Every Pumpkin



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This was the photo that took me so long to put together. I tried it with special lighting. I tried with with dry leaves and pumpkins. I tried making it look like a scientific laboratory with animals in jars. When I rummaged around for other props, I came across the doctor's bag. I went with it.

The Doctor is In



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My entries don't look anything like the photos I'm up against. There are lots of graveyards scenes and haunted houses and people in costumes. So we'll see if the voters like my take on All Hallow's Eve.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Halloween Photo Contest - Part 1

I wanted to enter a Halloween photo contest on Facebook sponsored by the local photo group I joined last month. I took hours to create my photo. When I went to submit, I re-read the rules and learned that it takes three photos for one submission. I was about to throw in the towel and just not enter the contest.

For the first photo I tried lots of ideas and lighting and was really frustrated by the time I'd finished editing. So to realize I needed two more photos for this contest about did me in. Instead, I pulled on my big girl panties and tried a couple more ideas. Thankfully one of the failed ideas from the first photo came out well for the third.

So in reverse order, here's the third photo I took and edited. Works well for #macromonday as well!

Two Heads Hiss Louder Than One

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Gobble Some More

I spent most of my creative hours in October crocheting the baby afghan for a client. It's done now and will soon be on its way to the precious little boy. (I hope to show photos once it's been received).

Now I'm back to my Gobble Gobble cross-stitch design from the 2006 Cross-Stitch Calendar. The turkey is nearly finished and I've begun the border.


I'm not crazy about the words "gobble gobble" as shown on the pattern, so I'm thinking about leaving them out. In the blank spaces, maybe I'll add in some pumpkins or some Thanksgiving-related charms.

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Scooty Booty

Melody is getting happier with tummy time. She's not quite coordinated enough to push up and crawl, but she is starting to get the scooty booty.


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Hats!

This little cutie is 5 months old today. She's begun to eat solid food. She can stand all by herself if she balances beside the coffee table.


Plus, she hats are beginning to be her fashion statement.


Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Each Leaf

Click for larger image

Perfection


They're endlessly fascinating to me.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Saturday, October 21, 2017

First Dip

Julie wanted to come to Post Falls for a visit to take a walk in the woods with me at our favorite park. We went through the woods and down to the shore where Melody got to have her first dip in the Spokane River.


She came up with sand between her toes. Well done, little Idahoan.


Friday, October 20, 2017

And I'd Gladly Stand Up

At four and a half months old, Melody would much rather stand than sit - with very little help from her mom. She can hold herself up in a sitting position if she really wants to. But, no thank you. I'll stand.


Look at that face! Is she mimicking Eeyrore on her dress? Or simply wondering why Grandma keeps disappearing behind a black box with a shiny circle?

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Fall in Love

Do you see what I see? There. In the branches.


Love follows me around and leads me to more love.


Tuesday, October 17, 2017

My Julie

It was so nice to have a visit from Julie and her little Melody yesterday. Julie's becoming quite a lovely mommy. Just look at her glow.


She looks good in black & white, too!


Monday, October 16, 2017

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Signs of Autumn




Our mantle is decorated with pumpkins.


In the yard, automatic sprinklers were turned off and the water lines blown out today. No water will be trapped inside the pipes, threatening to freeze and burst.


Three wreaths of leaves and berries adorn the house and porch.

Fair weather tires were switched out for studded snow tires.


The first huge bag of pine needles has been raked from the front yard. Ten more will surely follow in the next six weeks.


Plastic pink flamingos give me the side eye every time I step down from the porch, asking when I’m going to get them out of the rain to escape the upcoming cold and wet months.


A hat and gloves are propped in the front closet near my purse now. It’s nearly always too cold to be outside without them.


The heat has been turned on in the rooms we occupy most often.


Extra blankets adorn each bed in the house.


Cozy soups and casseroles are on the dinner menu.


The leaves. Yes, the leaves are turning red, yellow, orange, brown, and gold. The ground will be carpeted with them with the coming freezing nights and windy days.


Currently, north Idaho has more cloud-covered and rainy days than clear crisp blue skies.


Thick sweaters and warm pajamas have switched places with their lighter counterparts.


Dale heads off to work before sunrise. Sundown comes far too early. My internal clock keeps skipping beats.


Lower barometric pressure gives me the blues.


An old friend was uncharacteristically cruel to me today. 
That’s given me the blues, too.


Friday, October 13, 2017

Hells Canyon Overlook

The September weekend Dale and I met up with Jodie in Pendleton, Oregon, we took a long side trip to the Hells Canyon Overlook. This is the northwest's version of the Grand Canyon. It's the deepest river gorge in North America.

We got to the overlook just before sundown. At that time, over the Labor Day weekend, the wildfires in British Columbia had been burning for quite some time, and the wildfires in Oregon were just getting started. There was a lot of smoke, so the canyon was somewhat difficult to see. But wow! What a sight!

Click for larger image


 
The smoke shows up a bit more in this photo of the three of us. Jodie did all the driving that day. She made it back down the mountain before dark. She definitely earned her Mountaineering Badge that day. She did really well driving on those winding roads. 

We learned that two days after our visit, the road to this overlook was closed due to the Oregon forest fires. Timing is everything.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Carousel Horse

When Dale and Jodie and I met up in Pendleton, Oregon last month, we saw this old carousel horse in the window of an antique shop. I liked the sweet way it was painted, even though it was obviously not original to the horse.


It's the kind of item I would have loved as a young girl. I remember riding my brother's cowboy horse in our playroom (something like the photo below), but it was such a 'boy toy.' This carousel horse is a girl's pony.


Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Nevertheless, Viola Persisted

Last May I planted an entire tray of purple viola plants in my Garden of Hope, around the rose bush, and along the path to the front porch. The flowers flourished until our air was filled with smoke from the fires in British Columbia, Oregon, and Montana. The smoke blocked the sun and held in the 95+ degree heat for too many weeks. My beautiful flowers were struggling.

I finally took mercy on the poor plants and cut them back to the nubs and stopped watering them. I thought I'd leave them alone because sometimes violas will reseed themselves (some from 2016 made a reappearance last summer).


But check out this little survivor! You can smoke her out. You can chop her back. You can let only the rain water her. Yet she persisted. This one little flower made an appearance this week amid all the downed pine needles, its sister flowers, and the rose that is putting out its last bloom of the season.

Way to go, Viola! And thank you for the spot of beauty you gave me on this cloudy day.

Monday, October 9, 2017

Water!

At four months old, Melody got her first taste of water. Look how she trusts her mommy that this will be a good thing.


Sunday, October 8, 2017

Floral Covered Pumpkin

Here's an idea I found on Pinterest from the Lowe's hardware store. In the Lowe's version, fresh chrysanthemums were used with real pumpkins. In my version, I covered a craft pumpkin with five different craft florals.


I bought this carvable foam pumpkin at Dollar Tree, along with 5 different floral stems in autumn colors. To decorate the pumpkin, I pulled the flowers off the top of the stems and poked them directly into the foam. Most of the flowers stayed attached that way. A few needed a drop of hot glue to help them remain in place.


To top it off, I attached a few of the vines and leaves near the pumpkin stem.


This year, I've expanded my pumpkin patch on the living room mantle. I added a few new shiny pumpkins, including the painted jar pumpkin I made in September. I also displayed two of my pumpkin stitcheries, including the Pumpkin Patch which I finished in August.


I was too lazy to dig out my "big girl camera" on this lazy holiday weekend, so these photos aren't the best quality. I'll make an effort to get photos with better lighting before the season is over. I'm enjoying this little #cornerofmyhome .



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Inspired by Lowe's Pumpkins Decorated with Chrysanthemums





Saturday, October 7, 2017

Tongue Time

Check out Melody's singular talent at only 4 month old! Astounding! Phenomenal! Unprecedented!


Ah ... she inherited it from her mommy.


Friday, October 6, 2017

Sunflower Setting

Completing this little #cornerofmyhome is notable mostly because it's rare that I print and hang any of my photographs. I took these photos of the sunflowers in my backyard in August 2014. Since I'm decorating for Autumn right now, I thought I'd change up this spot in the entryway to our house.


It's a small space with lighting that's not ideal for taking photographs, so these two are a bit askew and not quite sharp. That doesn't matter. Mostly I'm proud of myself for making the prints, and combining them with my Harvest Basket stitchery that I finished last August. The sunflowers are standing tall over Grace the giraffe.


Thursday, October 5, 2017

Progress

I'm making some nice progress on a baby afghan for a client. The pattern is a criss-cross shell stitch, which I'd never tried before. It's awfully pretty. I'm using a nice soft Bernat Softee Baby yarn and my favorite medium crochet hook (that doesn't have a size printed on it).


My goal is to have the afghan complete by the end of the month. It will be superb if I can get it done sooner.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

It's Getting Chilly

Last night I added a blanket to my bed.

This morning it was 36 degree when I woke up. I doubled up my socks when I got dressed and layered my sweatshirt and sweatpants.

In the kitchen, my favorite plant that lives near the glass slider is showing signs of stress. Time to give it some artificial light for daytime warmth.

October third. I turned up the heat in the living room and kitchen. That seems fairly early for needing to heat the house. Wasn't it nearly 100 degrees three weeks ago?

I spent most of the day crocheting an afghan. That yarn feels cozy as the blanket grows in my lap.

At 3:30, the sun had finally warmed the air outside. I changed out of my sweats and into a T-shirt. Then I donned my sunglasses and went out for a walk.

I'm not sure the temperature hit freezing last night, but it got close enough that the trees and bushes got the cue. Time to shed their green and show their vibrant naked selves. This fancy number reached high into the autumn sky, arms entwined with its brother.


I'm not quite ready for the cold, but I sure do love the other aspects of Autumn.