OOH AHHH

I hope you each had a wonderful holiday weekend, or regular 'ole weekend if it wasn't a holiday in your part of the world.

In my neck of the woods it was Independence Day, so from the 4th through yesterday we were celebrating.  In my world, I don't think we really need a reason to cook hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill, hang out with family and friends, or watch fireworks, but apparently there are rules about such things, so these activities are mostly confined to one, or maybe two times a year...such a pity!

On the actual 4th it was a beautiful and hot day, which was a nice contrast to all of the rain we have been having.  And even though it was hot, there was a great breeze coming off of the river, enough to create white caps and make me cradle my camera like a newborn to prevent it from being attacked by salt spray.  In the photo above, the opposite shoreline is 5 miles away...thank you Canon for my big honkin lens!

I had taken my big lens out with me in hopes of catching the fireworks down river from us.  We can also see them over on the other shoreline in Virginia, but they are far away and rather small.  Not to worry though because some folks down at the mouth of our creek must mortgage their house each year to pay for their fireworks.  

Not that I'm complaining, as the beneficiary of their careless spending, I'm all for their reckless abandon each year on the 4th of July.

The trick to taking pics of fireworks is to use a tripod, and to use a remote shutter release.  I had the tripod, but my shutter release has gone to that great photo field in the sky...ie. it died just in time for my first attempt at shooting fireworks!

Instead of admitting defeat, I decided to use the "bulb" setting on my camera and told myself that whatever I got would be better than my pics last year...mostly because I didn't take pics last year, get it?!

The cool thing about the bulb setting is that it allows you to control the shutter by holding it open for as long as you care to press the button.  It's a pretty nifty setting, and this was the first time I had tried it. 

I had also read that if you held the button during multiple explosions you could capture more than one firework at a time, which I also thought was cool.  The pic above looks like a palm tree doesn't it?!

When we got home I realized that my technique needed a little work, and acknowledged that remotes were really necessary equipment for getting clean crisp shots of fireworks in high winds and low light.  But I have to admit that I am kind of psyched with the results I got, to me, they are almost cooler than regular shots of fireworks.

Sometimes it's the so called mistakes that make me love photography so much.  Even your screw ups can become things of beauty...and let's face it, a positive spin is so much better than banging my head against a wall and lamenting that fact that I will have to wait a whole year to try again!

I'm calling the image above the Big Bang Theory, because if you give your accidents cool names, well that makes them even more legit.  Runners up for the name are Studio 54, To Infinity and Beyond, and It's Electric (made you say boogie woogie woogie didn't I?).  

Ok, my work here is done!  I hope each of you had a wonderful weekend and that this week will be even more exciting!

Wanderings

It's raining...again...and there's no end in sight, but some things are quite happy with all of this liquid gold.  Above are two volunteer mushrooms which are growing alongside our tomato plant in a giant container.

And my laissez-faire attitude towards the tomatoes seems to be paying off, see that blush of color on the tomato with the drip hanging off of it?!  Yup, they are finally "breaking" and hopefully turning red, just in time for a big 4th of July picnic, yay!

Even with the rain, I'm beginning to settle in to a summer groove of sorts.  I love summer's simplicity.  Fewer layers of clothing, lighter fare, and longer days...even overcast ones, make me happy.  And I find that the quiet, uncluttered nature of summertime is also reflected in my decor this time of year.

Unlike during the winter holiday season, I have a bare minimum of accessories out.  And with the purchase of a few new rugs, including the one pictured above which is a combo of sisal and cream canvas, I am trying to incorporate a more casual beach vibe throughout the house year round.

  

Of course, I still put out some things here and there for the summer holidays, but a less is more mentality has taken root in me over the past few years, and I'm content with just a few items.

I doubt I will ever be able to not accessorize for the various holidays.  My mother loved changing her accessories out each season, and this apple did not fall far from the tree it seems, as I do it too, just to a lesser extent.

So, though things like mason jars and other antique glassware can be found year round in my home, they are often my vessel of choice when it comes to getting gussided up for the various holidays.

And other antiques, like beautiful mangle cloth, feel right at home with seaside finds, while providing a little red, for a red, white, and blue color scheme.

I'll be doing some wandering over the next few days as I prepare for 4th of July events which trickle into the weekend, so my little blog and email will be taking a back seat as I gear up for Stars, Stripes, Sousa, and if we're lucky, even a little Sunscreen!

And as always, thank you for your comments and emails, they are truly appreciated!

To Jo, HERE is the link to the flooring and tile company, but I plan to keep our tile choice a secret until the backsplash is all said and done.  After waiting so long to do it, I don't want to jinx anything!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Little Drop of Rain

It's been raining cats and dogs here, and I blame myself for this.  You see, the past few years we have been so dry each summer, so I really worked hard this spring to try and visualize a wet summer, one that didn't require us watering everything in 100+ degree heat.

Yup, I'm that powerful people, I wished for it to rain, and now it won't stop!  It's ok though, so long as my roses don't rot and my tomatoes still ripen, I'm ok knowing my powers are being used for good and not evil. ;-)

Besides, a little drop of rain never hurt anyone...well except that girl from Les Mis, but other than that it's all good.  And I have to say that rain droplets and plants are a match made in heaven from a photography standpoint.

These shots were actually taken about a week or more ago, and I love how each droplet delicately covers the feathery stalks of the plant.  Like tiny jewels reflecting the light, they shimmer and shine.

In other news, I was bitten by something unknown over the weekend and was laid up in bed with pain shooting through my foot and up my leg.  It has subsided, but I can tell you that it wasn't fun...not even a little.  I still have no clue what it was, and I had no swelling or even redness, just a tiny stinger looking thing, that I was able to get out by soaking my foot in warm water.  But for a long time afterwards the pain was pretty intense.  

As I was walking to our bathroom to soak my foot I noticed that Quinn was also limping, and wouldn't bear weight on his front left paw.  It was my left foot that was hurt too, so I don't know what we each stepped on or what bit us, or even if Quinn was being ever faithful and limping as a sign of solidarity, but we are both back and mobile once again.

And before I leave you this evening, I want to say that my heart breaks for the young firefighters we lost in Arizona today.  As the mother of a volunteer firefighter, I can tell you that I worry each time I know my son is going to help save those in need.  As the saying goes, firefighters run into a situation, when others are running out.  May their families find strength and peace during this devastating time.

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!

Bye Bye Blue

Six years ago, when we moved into this house, long before we even started our renovation, we had all of the walls painted.  For our bedroom I chose a bold blue, something beachy, with hints of green in it.

Originally I had picked a paint that was a much more mellow color, it was almost white with just a hint of blue/grey in it, but after seeing how well the bold color in our son's room turned out I changed my mind and went with this blue instead.  I had had a bold color in our bedroom in our last house which I loved, so I thought what the heck, it's only paint, and went for it.

After a few years I began to see this color all over the place and that's when my fond feelings for it faded.  I'm weird like that, and as soon as something becomes popular, well I tend to hate it and want to move on.  You know, kind of like when they play a really great song over, and over, and over on the radio...and that song you once loved just becomes annoying?

So, about 4 months ago I began the hunt for a new wall color...yeah, I have lived with a paint color I didn't like anymore for about 4 years and 4 months!  Just because I don't like it any longer doesn't mean I feel like changing it.  I used to not bat an eye at painting a whole room, but I did it for so many years, that now I just cringe at the thought of re-arranging furniture and clearing a room out to paint the walls.  I think a whole house renovation will do that to you, it sucks the remodeling/changing things up life right out of you!

But as much as I detest the idea of painting, I'm even more tired of staring at 3 different color paint swatches on my walls.  But I have finally settled on a color, and we even have the new paint, so there really are no more excuses I can use.

I thought I wanted a soft grey that had a lavender undertone, but once I put it on my walls, and even though this room gets a TON of light, it just looked muddy.  Instead, I ended up with a soft pale grey that looks almost white.  This from a girl who swore she would never want an all white room...well besides my kitchen.  Oh, and white walls are all the rage right now...so forget what I said earlier about things being popular...blah, blah, blah.

But I think I'm going to like it.  It has enough grey to make it interesting, and it still looks nice against the bright white trim in there, so fingers crossed it will work.  But the blue won't all be gone from the room when it's finished because my ticking stripe duvet and new bolsters will make sure that the blue isn't really gone.

And in a separate act of craziness, Mr. Tide and I have decided to try and tackle our kitchen backsplash tile installation ourselves.  After having numerous installers come out and say it seemed too complicated, or wanting a fortune to do it, we've decided to just do it ourselves.  We've done tile work before, and after being so frustrated with not finding someone to do it I was actually looking at buying different, more simplistic tiles we could do ourselves.  But after pricing out new tiles that I would actually like, we thought what the heck...the worst that can happen is that we have to get all new tiles if we screw up, and we are thinking about doing that anyway...so why not at least try!

I think this might actually drive me a little buggy before all is said and done!

To my Canadian readers, I wish you all a very lovely long weekend in celebration of Canada Day! :)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Unlike the poignantly moving and, at the time, controversial film by the same name as my post title which came out when I was a toddler (1967), our dinner guest, or should I say breakfast guest, is of a feathered nature.

When I stepped out onto our patio today to take the dogs out, I heard the familiar cries of one of our resident eagles.  Each morning and night they fly back and forth from their perches on the river, to their nest somewhere way up the creek from us.  I'm used to hearing them call to one another and yell at the osprey who constantly badger them, but this time the calls seemed much closer than usual.

With my camera never far away, I went back inside and put my long lens on in hopes that I might catch a glimpse of him or her in a nearby tree.  As I was scanning the trees, looking among the leaves, I happened to glance to my left towards the field and this is what I saw.

There were also two vultures, and along with the eagle, they appeared to be having a dinner party of sorts on something that must have been killed by the tractor that mowed the fields next to us yesterday.

I snapped a few shots of the eagle in the field, and then quietly tried to get a little closer, to no avail.  Before I could even get down the steps of the patio, the eagle was off and running.  I was still hundreds of feet away, but the eagle was having no part of it all, so I backed off and went back on the patio still snapping as he flew off.

In the photo above you can see him or her with a tiny bit of field grass still hanging from his mouth.  This may have actually been a female since they are the larger of the two sexes in the eagle world.

As much as I love capturing their sheer power and beauty, I don't like disrupting their daily routines.  So I kept my distance, which meant most of the rest of my photos were of eagle butts.  I have to say though, that even from a rear view, they are pretty amazing creatures!

You Learn Something New Every Day

I've seen these little guys when I have been out and about in the flower gardens, but I kind of always assumed they were in the bee, wasp, hornet family.

It turns out they are actually a form of moth known as Hummingbird Moths...who knew?!  Well some of you probably knew, but I sure didn't.

They are quite large, and are often mistaken for hummingbirds because they feed and behave much like their avian counterparts.

They use their nifty little proboscis, the long needle like thing that comes out of their mouth, to collect nectar.  It curls up, like a coiled rope or hose, when it's not drinking nectar.

I remember the word proboscis from biology and botany/zoology classes way back in college, but had shoved it from my memory until I looked up these cool creatures today.

Apparently Hummingbird Moths love clear sunny days, which it certainly is today, albeit a hot and humid one.  The image above is my favorite, because I love the whirling of his or her wings, it creates a cool effect.

So today I learned something new...that moths come in all shapes and sizes...including one that acts and looks like a hummingbird!  Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Hurry Up and Wait

Let me start off by saying, that I was so happy to see so many other blue hydrangea lovers from my last post!  The ones pictured in that post are not at my house sadly, but at the house our children are renting together.  They truly are beautiful and practically surround the house and little white shed, so I get to enjoy them even if they aren't in my own backyard!

But speaking of my backyard, there are some things I do get to enjoy right outside on my small patio.  Because we decided not to do a big garden, we have pots of veggies, herbs, and flowers out there for easy access to our kitchen.

One of the things we have growing in big containers are tomatoes.  We have two varieties, Arkansas Traveler, an heirloom variety, and Big Beef, pictured above.  The big beef set fruit awhile ago, but they still haven't started to turn red yet.

The Arkansas Travelers are also coming along nicely, and may actually ripen first since they are a smaller variety than the Big Beef.  Anyone who has ever grown tomatoes can vouch for the fact that once you see tomatoes on the vine you have to just resign yourself to waiting.   It's very much a hurry up and wait kind of thing, where you nearly have to threaten each tomato before it will begin to change color and fully ripen.  Many a gardener/farmer has needed to have cross words with tomatoes in order for them to reach maturity and be ready to eat.  Right now I'm doing a sort of casual ignoring of them in hopes they will turn red and be ready for a BLT sandwich, but if I have to, I will bring out the big guns and threaten them.  ;-)

Two things that require no coaxing are mint pictured above...

And lemon balm...these two are prolific producers who often become pests in the garden.  I don't mind if they spill over the patio and decide to establish themselves in our yard, but some people hate that they will take over a space given the chance.

Here is the mint making a break for it over the side of the patio.

We also planted some "spicy" oregano this year.  It seems like ordinary oregano to me, but if they want to give it a fancy name, that's fine by me.  It is yummy, and I love taking snippets of it and adding it to some of my dishes.

The oregano will pair nicely with my tomatoes to make a yummy gluten free lasagna when the time comes.

And here is a little color to mix with the green herb and tomato plants.  I have a large planter filled with pink verbena and hot pink geraniums.  Both are really striking in color and give the patio a pop of color, while giving the bees a little treat too.

You can't tell from these photos, but these planters are all pretty large, and take up one whole corner of the patio.  With the steady rain we've had all spring and summer, everything is lush and beautiful at the moment.

I made a little deal with mother nature this year to think only good thoughts about frequent rain, and she seems to have accepted the deal and has been very generous with her watering...including a big storm this evening that gave everything a thorough soaking.

I hope mother nature has been kind to you wherever you live, and let's all think really hard about my tomatoes ripening so that I won't have to hurry up and wait much longer!