Thankful

With Thanksgiving just a few days away I have much to be thankful for.  First off I had yummy food to eat all week including the juicy grapefruit pictured above...sometimes the simple things in life are the best!

On Thursday, I finally found out that someone did in fact choose my artwork at the fundraiser last month.  I was thrilled to hear that someone liked the picture enough to want to hang it in their home or office!

I am thankful that the weather was warm enough last week for me to sit outside with the dogs a bit and capture some bird images...I just never tire of seeing them flit from tree to tree.  The weather has taken a dramatic turn and is now very windy and cold, so I'm grateful for those sun filled warm days we had.

And I was happy that I felt like doing some post processing and playing around with one of the images of a bluebird.  I'm always grateful for the bluebirds, they were one of my mother's favorite birds and always remind me of her.

But more than anything, I am grateful that my husband returned from a trip to Russia safe and sound.  His job is very demanding and he often goes to far flung places with just a few hours notice, so it makes life interesting and sometimes a little stressful.  When he left last weekend we weren't sure he would be home in time for Thanksgiving, but as luck would have it he was able to come home last night, which was earlier than expected, and for that I am so very thankful!

I'm pretty sure that in the photo above taken early last week, Quinn was wishing that Mr. Tide would come home soon...he is thankful to have him home too!

I hope you each have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank You and Goodnight

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful comments and emails about my last several posts.  It's good to know that I'm in fine company when it comes to things breaking down but also learning to not sweat the small stuff...because trust me, it really is the small stuff in life!

We've had the very good fortune of glorious weather the past few days, so you can't be upset about losing your AC when you can throw the windows wide open and literally smell the roses...most of which have been flowerless for weeks, until today! 

But it's late, and I'm tired.  Tomorrow is another day filled with a long list of "must be done" items, so I will bid you all goodnight!  Enjoy your weekend...I know I plan to! :)

Losing My Mind

Thanks so much for your encouraging words about my new paint color and our tiling project from our last post, I truly appreciate you all thinking we know what we are doing...because trust me, most of the time I haven't a clue!

So last night, while perusing the internet as I often do when I should be vacuuming or dusting, I found something that has kind of turned us on our heads.  I did a Google search for antique French oak...because I have in my head that when we add on our sunroom, that's what I want to use on the ceilings.  I know, I know, we aren't even planning a sunroom addition anytime soon, but a girl can dream can't she?!

Well, I found a great site that carries beautiful oak, but while I was on their homepage I noticed that they also carry tiles.  Do I need tiles...nope, remember my last post about how we were going to try and tackle the really hard tile job in our kitchen...but oh, the tiles on this site, well they called my name.  They practically sang to me and said, "You need me, you don't love those old tiles, they have forsaken you and been a pain in your hind parts for far too long, you love ME now!"

And the more I looked at them, the more the siren sounds called to me, and before I knew it I was sending the company that makes them an email and crossing my fingers that I wouldn't be broke or have to tell our son he couldn't finish college in order for me to use them!  And the truth of the matter is that Mr. Tide and I took a really hard look at the tiles we own (which we will use later in our bathroom remodel), and they are going to be REALLY hard to install in our kitchen, which is pretty much what every tile installer has said for 4 years.

So it's kismet I tell ya!  And because I can use them in another place, so they won't go to waste, and we can install the new tiles ourselves, because they are a much easier install...well I think we've made our decision.  So, barring the samples looking completely different than what they look like online, we have decided to go for it!

The other thing is that the original tiles, though gorgeous and hugely expensive, aren't singing to me anymore, they almost feel a little blah, at least for my kitchen anyway.  So I'm doing a total 180 and throwing caution to the wind and I have decided to embrace a little color where I once thought I just wanted mostly white.  

At first the new idea kind of made my stomach hurt a little, like, "what are you thinking, have you lost your mind?!"  But after visiting, writing, and photographing so many beautiful homes over the years, it's the homes where the owners go for it that have left the greatest lasting impression on me.

So sorry realtors if you're reading this, and chanting "resale, resale, resale," in your heads, I apologize but sometimes you just have to go out on that limb and take a chance, claim that space and make it your very own!  After all, isn't it the beautiful and unusual things in life that grab our attention and make us remember them?!

So today, while hanging out in the hammock, I spotted this Blue Grosbeak up in a tree.  We had always assumed it was an Indigo Bunting, but after finally getting some shots of it we realized that it's actually the Blue Grosbeak, which is said to be "uncommon" in our area and it truly is beautiful and memorable.  

I'm hoping my kitchen backsplash will be as beautiful and memorable once we get it installed, and I will share details of the tile just as soon as I get the samples and decide if they really are the ones!  Everything happens for a reason, so maybe that's why I never did get the other tile installed, but you can still call me crazy...just don't call me late for supper! ;-)

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Patience

Patience has never been my strong suit, but photography has taught me to slow down...well a little anyway.  Sometimes you can't rush a photo, you just have to wait and let it present itself.  And then if you want to turn it into something special, that requires even more patience.

I can spend hours waiting for a bird to come into position (and I have the bug bites to prove it!), and hours more fiddling with that image in post processing.  In the end I have to answer to myself, translating the finished piece I see in my head into something I like on my computer screen, and ultimately onto paper or canvas.  I am often my own worst critic, but that's ok, because it pushes me to try harder, reach farther, and most decidedly, be patient.

And if photography isn't the catalyst for my new found virtue...well my computer would be the other thing which often tests my patience.  The last few days it has been having hiccups, locking up, and just generally being a pill about things.  I've had a stern talking with it though, so I'm hoping it will sit up and fly right, much like the beautiful hummingbird above! ;-)

I hope you all are having a wonderful week and that no one is trying your patience.