Joyeuses Pâques

Joyeuses Pâques!

What Would They Say?

If you were run over by a truck tomorrow what would you want people to remember about you?



 

I know that's a crazy #$$ question, but I think it's one we should all really ponder from time to time.

Would you want them to say that you were an awesome blogger, or that you were an awesome mother, father, wife, husband, sister, brother, daughter, or son?  Or would you want them to say both?

Would you want people to say that you were kind, considerate, giving, helpful, loving or that you were cut throat, ruthless, and #1 at whatever it is you do?  Are all of these things incongruent with one another or do we each have a little bit of all of those things rolled into us as human beings?

Yesterday and this morning I pondered all of these questions...and more.  And as I looked in the mirror and wondered if my skinny jeans would ever fit again I had to wonder who I wanted to be and what I would be willing to give up to get there.  And I had to remember that every day can't be perfect and neither can we, but it can be pretty darned close if we focus on the positives and not the negatives.  Nurture ourselves and others, not try to build ourselves up by tearing others down...what a waste of precious energy that must be.

These are tough questions my friends, hard ones to answer and some that just can't be answered.  But I think that as we push and pull ourselves to succeed, be it on a blog or anywhere in life we have to also remind ourselves to not lose a bit of ourselves in the process...unless of course you are losing the bad things, then I think that would be a good thing. 

Loving Thoughts

I'm busy as a bee creating new artwork, and I think that watching all those episodes of Downton Abbey has had a positive effect on both me and my artwork.  You see, I'm not a huge lover of the Victorian period, it's often a little too formal and fussy for my taste, but there are a few aspects that I do love about that era.  One of those things is the Victorian's love of flowers.  Wealthy Victorians spent a considerable amount of time dedicated to the pursuit of gardening, flower arranging, and propagation of new flowers.

The glorious greenhouses and solariums built on some Victorian estates are a testament to their love for everything floral.  And if you've been lucky enough to visit a Victorian mansion, you know how lovely the gardens were during that time period.

When we visited Biltmore a few years ago, I was immediately smitten with the beautiful gardens even more-so than the house, and informed Mr. Tide that I could indeed of lived happily during that time in history.  He quickly added that I could have lived then "if" I had been a wealthy Victorian...so true!


 

I also love how the Victorians gave nearly every flower a meaning, mostly relating to love or beauty, the world of flowers became a secret language during the gilded age.  Some flowers had meanings long before the Victorians came along of course, but they took it to a whole new level with their many sentimental attributes assigned to each variety. 

Pansies for instance were said to represent loving thoughts or remembrance.  If you received a bouquet of flowers from someone in the know during that time period you could expect to find out much more about what they were thinking than just the simple gesture of being given flowers.  I like to think that during that part of our history that many a shy man was able to convey his undying love, not through words, but through his careful selection of flowers. 

Wouldn't it be lovely if today people, instead of just grabbing whatever is on sale at the grocery store, (me included), took the time to really use flowers as a form of communication?  Ahh, those crazy Victorians, at least the rich ones, clearly had a lot of time on their hands, something I'm a wee bit jealous of these days.  At least these pansies can send loving thoughts to all of you though! :-)

Inspiration and Desperation

Thank you everyone for your lovely Valentine's Day wishes yesterday.  I hope each of you had a wonderful day!

My day (and Mr. Tide's) consisted of straightening up for a home appraiser to pay us a visit yesterday afternoon, followed by what I can only term as an "interesting" evening.

We sent Bugs, our son, off with the dogs for a few hours while the appraiser was here, and after he had been gone for a little bit the phone rang.  He informed Mr. Tide and me that he had gotten a little bored while hanging out with the pups at our farm property and had gone for a bit of a joy ride around the fields.

Sounds like a good idea right?  He was in a 4 wheel drive vehicle after all...but what he failed to take into account was how soft parts of the field were, and how where a big tree had been uprooted last fall there was now a small pond that had formed where the roots had once been. 

He made it by said pond on the way in, but on the way out he wasn't quite so lucky and ended up with the front end of the truck deep in muck and mire.  This meant that I would need to hang out to meet with the appraiser while Mr. Tide ventured over to try and get the truck unstuck! 

Needless to say, this wasn't exactly how I had envisioned our Valentine's Day evening would turn out, but hey, no one was hurt, well except maybe our son's pride, so it was all good.

Several hours, and a bit of desperation caused by a few failed attempts, plus a tractor pull or two later, the truck was free but nicely covered in mud.  The dogs were perfect, and behaved beautifully for having been through a 5 hour ordeal which they thought was going to be a simple outing.

The best part was as I was driving home I had to go through a retail parking lot and I got some rather confused looks from teenage boys who initially thought..."ahh cool, they went muddin"...followed by a really confused look that I can only imagine went something like..."what the heck, that old lady went muddin?!"

I'm happy to report that today was much calmer.  I was able to get lots of work done, and I was even able to tap in to a little inspiration provided by some pansies I bought last weekend.  They are so pretty, and so was the weather today, so I went outside and gathered a few to bring inside and put into my tiny glass vase which is perfect for things like pansy blossoms.

Oh, and the truck, well Bugs took it to the car wash, so it's feeling much better now too!

What has inspired you lately?

Feeling Lucky?

So we are zooming around the house trying to tie up loose ends before leaving tomorrow.  My email has been acting up...again!  And I finished up my last story just in time to hit the friendly skies, so I think we are on track, well as much as we ever are before a trip.  I would like to think that every nook and cranny of my house is sparkling clean and that the dogs won't shed while I'm gone...*cue dream sequence music*, but I'm way too realistic for that, so it is what it is.

But before I left, I promised that I would announce the winners of my latest Giveaway...so here goes.  Now, because I'm stressed, behind, etc. etc. ...I just had Mr. Tide rattle off 2 numbers between 0 and 28 instead of doing the whole Random.org thing.  Don't worry, I didn't let him look at the comments so there's no bias, and he is one of the most honest people I know, plus he picked #4 to begin with...which was my comment, so you see what I mean?!

So here are his picks (be sure to read to the end of the post though)

#7 Kim @ Savvy Southern Style

and

#26 Kate @ Chronicles of a Country Girl

I'm thrilled that both of these ladies won, they are both longtime readers and wonderful cheerleaders of my photography!  Congrats Kim and Kate, please send me your addresses, and which photo you would prefer and if you want an 8 x 12 or something smaller. 

So, as I was packing up my camera gear I had a moment of clarity, I thought...why not thank everyone who commented by sending them a photo?! So...to those of you who weren't picked randomly by Mr. Tide, you are all still winners.  That means you too Marcia...even though you said you wouldn't enter since you won a picture awhile back.  I will be sending each of you a 5 x 7 of your choice.  All I need from each of you is:

1.  Which photo you would like, if you already left it in the comments section, that's fine.

2.  A mailing address for me to ship it to.

Thank you all for your continued support of my blog, my photography, and my crazy life!  Even when I don't reply back, please know that I do appreciate each and every one of you, and this is my little way of saying Thank You!

French Flowers

Is there anything more wonderful than stumbling out of your hotel room to wander the Saturday markets on the streets of Strasbourg?!

Well I suppose it would be better if you could do it every Saturday, instead of once every 5 years or so.

These pictures are pretty much straight out of the camera except for lightening a few of them, but none of them have had their hue and saturation levels altered.

The closest I normally get to something like this is when I visit Whole Foods every few weeks and wander around their beautiful flower department.

Which isn't really quite the same as having vendors meticulously displaying their wares on a sunny Saturday morning in northern France.

Creating beautiful vignettes that make you want to buy one of everything, or if you don't have a place to put one of everything, snapping a bunch of photos so that you can drink it all in even after you return home.

There are fresh cut stems you can arrange yourself, or dainty little bouquets to take home and enjoy...or maybe give to a friend.

I would like to be the friend who receives a gift of french flowers.

Perhaps a fall bouquet with russet leaves and some flower I don't know the name of.

Or a little zinc container filled with a single rose, hydrangea, and berries.

It doesn't really matter which ones you select since they are all so lovely and elegantly displayed.

Even pansies look a little more special at the flower market.  

Do you have a flower market like this in your town?  If so, please make up the guest bed for me and leave a light on...I might never leave!