Tulips

Dale and I don't have any tulips in our yard -- yet. Thankfully, many of our neighbors do.

I spotted these lovelies at the base of a tree between the sidewalk and the curb.

What a beautiful pop of color!

We'll be sure to add some tulip bulbs to the plan as we redesign our landscaping.

Daffodils

The bulbs Jeanne and I planted at the end of November are now in full bloom.

All up and down our block and pockets of these yellow beauties.

My favorites at the ones with the orange centers.

Maybe we'll plant some bulbs next fall that produce the nearly white flowers.

Crossing the Stream

Another day, another puzzle. I put this jigsaw puzzle together a week ago. 

It's another 500 piece official Disney puzzle that I bought at Dollar Tree. As with all of these unusual Disney puzzles, the muted colors and limited color pallet made it a nice challenge. This one took a couple days for me to finish. 

I never could find the official title of the illustration on the box, so Crossing the Stream is the name I use to refer to it. As with all of these little Disney puzzles, only a portion of the image is on the front of the box. The entire picture is on the back of the box, but is quite small. Once again, I took a photo of the image on my phone so I could easily enlarge it to see details as I worked on putting the puzzle together.

Mickey, here, was having some difficulty with the crossing. He's almost lost his footing!

Minnie, on the other hand, is practically skipping across the rocks in her fancy high heels.

Good fun.

Try It Too-sday: Smmmokin'!

Jeanne stopped by to spend time with me today. We had a gorgeous Spring day, so took full advangae of it. First we "played in the dirt." Our yard is now weed-free. Then she helped me set up, photograph, and edit the photo for this week's #tryittoosday. 

May I present ... The Smoking Toilet. Isn't he a dandy? These are likely the largest googly eyes I've used yet! This top photo is our image, using the items we had on hand:

This bottom image is the original. I don't know who the original photographer is, and I don't recall where I found the image in the Fall of 2020. But I sure do like the photographer's sense of humor!

Oh, Elsa!

I put this puzzle together a couple weeks ago when I was on my jigsaw-making spree. Beautiful design.

Due to the monochromatic nature of the beast, it was hard, too! It's a 500 piece (Dollar Tree) puzzle, but it took me the better part of two days to complete.

It's such a beautiful image, and unusual for a puzzle, so was worth the effort.

'Tis the Bunbun

Who goes there in the dawn, on soft padded feet?

Ho! Did I startle you as you hid the glittery eggs?

You're welcome to visit every year!

Happy Easter, indeed.

March 21/2021 Update

The nature of this year has me feeling fairly stuck. I've been unmotivated and my creative energy is quashed. I have to force myself to do things I normally can't wait to start. Because of these Covid Blues, I'm not making progress on my goals ... because all 21 are creative in nature!

As a recap, the 2021 goals I set at the end of last December were:

1. To attempt 21 new-to-me artforms
2. To flesh out my word-of-the-year: Explore
3. To recreate images that other photographers have made using the hashtag #tryittoosday
4. To pair a daily walk with listening to an audiobook that I only listen to while walking. This way I can ingest more books each year while at the same time be motivated to walk.

Number One just isn't going to happen, so I'm re-adjusting my goals to make them more doable. I'm taking the 21 artforms off the table. I hope to still do some this year, but I'm not going to make them my goals. I just don't see how I can reach that goal in the next nine months. 

Here are my revised and simplified goals:

1. Recreate 21 images that other photographers have made using the hashtag #tryittoosday
2. Flesh out my word-of-the-year: Explore
3. Pair a walk with listening to an audiobook. 

21 Goals: Try It Too-sday

I've already completed eight #tryittoosday photographs in the first three months of the year. That helps me believe that I can manage to create 21 of them by December. The photos are proving to be really good challenges. They require both creativity and technical skill. They're giving me a reason to work with my "big girl camera" again and sharpen my skills. Figuring out how to compose the photographs forces both hemispheres of my brain to work together.

I feel particularly proud of the photograph I produced last week, the rubber bands on black.

Word of the Year: Explore

As for exploring, I only did a little in March. Jodie and I went to Ruff Park to photograph the magnolias. After that, we took a long ride out into the countryside northeast of Eugene/Springfield. We went as far as Sweet Home on Route 228. It was a very pretty ride.

We also did some geocaching out towards Alvadore, northwest of town where we ran into some wild turkeys. That day, we also visited this old schoolhouse.

I've got my first dose of the Covid vaccine under by belt, so in four more weeks I'll feel more free to get out and about. I hope to initiate more explorations with my husband and daughters then. 

Audiobooks

As for the walks and listening to audiobooks, that's going quite well! I've already listened to ten books this year -- eight of them were in March! I love how many books I'm consuming this year. I finished my nineteenth book this afternoon! 

My favorite audiobook of March was Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back by Jackie Speier. I adore biography and memoire. Over the last year or so, I've become aware of Jackie Speier through interviews on TV regarding all that goes on in the US Congress. Her story is eye-opening. I gained so much respect for her.

Making the decision to revise my goals has freed up some mental bandwidth. That, in turn, gives me motivation to "keep my feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."

At least, 21 of them.

Under the Sea

During today's Grandbaby Chat (online video chat), Melody and Annie told me about the octopus they made from a paper plate and streamers that I spotted hanging under the window within camera range. Papa and I told them we don't have an octopus ...

But we have a pentapus! They laughed each time I added more details to my spur-of-the-moment hand puppet ... first googly eyes ... then eyelashes. The tentacles wiggle and she can swim!

After our chat, I made Pentapus' Garden.

This is for YOU, Melody and Annie!

Pretty Day, Budding Tree

 Behind our house ...

In the breeze ...

Coming into bloom ...

Friends, Friends, Friends

I put this puzzle together four days ago while I was on my puzzle-solving spree. It's a 500-piece puzzle I bought at Dollar Tree. 

The quality of the cardboard isn't the best, but the quality of the image as a puzzle is wonderful. The colors are bright and there's enough variation to be interesting without being too difficult. In other words, the fun factor is high with this jigsaw.

The name? Three Amigos! Very clever.

I have some puzzles that I return to again and again. I'll wager this puzzle fits that category.

Try It Too-sday: Rubberband Land

This week on Try It Toosday, I'm recreating a photograph by Nick Albertson that I squirreled away on September 11, 2013. The simple shape of the rubber band is repeated over and over on a stark black background.

Inspiration by Nick Albertson

At first glance, you might think that a box of rubber bands had been overturned on a desk and a picture snapped with a smartphone camera. But as I studied the photo, I saw it would take much more effort than that.

First, I had to find the rubber bands. I didn't have enough of the tan bands on hand, and my local store didn't have them, either. So instead, I used the tiny 1/2 inch hair bands I had. I separated out the black, blue, and purple rubber bands for this project.

With my light pad as the backdrop, I put down a single layer of black rubber bands. I used some tweezers to urge them into place. Then I turned off all lights in the room, turned on the light pad, and took the photo with only that backlight.

Next I added the second layer of rubber bands, starting in the center with blue. 

Since the blue bands I had weren't quite enough, I added purple on the edges to complete the second layer of rubber bands.

The magic happened in photo editing. After cropping and resizing the image, I needed to figure out how to make the colors mimic my inspiration photo. First, I learned to invert the colors. 

The white background became black

The black rubber bands turned white

The blue rubber bands became a light orange  

The purple rubber bands turned a light green.

Almost there!

The last step was to change the color of the rubber bands. I used the "Vintage Photo" tool in my photo editing program to colorize the photo. By using a sepia tone, the three colors of rubber bands look nearly identical.

Here's my final image!

My Re-creation of the Rubber Band Photo

Now compare it to the original.

Inspiration by Nick Albertson

These #tryittoosday challenges are quite the brain teasers. It's satisfying when I get it close.

Easter Bouquet

Look who's hopped out again this spring? Time for more Easter fun.

Start with a falf-dozen peachy-pink roses

Toss in two purple hydrangea stems

Pull out the sparkliest Easter basket

Fill the bottom with foam, and poke all the flower in place.

Gather the crocheted chicks and bunny heads and bunny butts

Then turn them into an Easter bouquet

to decorate the coffee table in the living room -- along with the amusing bunny pillows that remind me of Watership Down.

This is about as ready as we'll get for Easter this year.

Ruff Enough?

Alongside sticking my nose deep into the flowers, I thoroughly enjoy the vibe at Ruff Park, the magnolia arboretum. There are evergreens and deciduous trees mixed in among the magnolias. A nice concrete walking path runs the circumference of the park. Scattered about the park beneath the branches are picnic tables where guests share an afternoon lunch.

Magnolias come in many sizes. The bud on this tall, tall tree is larger than an adult's hand!

Much of the park has a wood rail fence, separating the park from the nearby neighborhood.

There are views of mountains and pastures just beyond the magnolia blooms.

This tree has a particularly wide reach, completely in bloom.

Yet still, it all comes back to the blossoms

and all the hidden details.