Friday Finds

Finding things of beauty in the ordinary. That's been my challenge this week. You see, I found another photography class this week; Slice Of Life, given by Darrah Parker. First, we threw all the rules out the window! This class is not about composition, the perfect light, correct exposure, or razor sharp focus. This class is about looking at what we have, what we've collected, and what has special meaning to us. It's about photographing the ordinary little things or moments in our daily life. Lately I've found myself being rather tired of perfect images. Yes, they have their place. Yes they are beautiful, but it has taken some of the joy out of my photography. It seems photography has become more work than fun. It's so refreshing to walk away from that and just have fun with my camera!

This week I've walked through my home several times each day just looking and I've taken pictures of what I've found; things that matter to me.

Day 1

In the bathroom I have a collection of sea shells. They matter to me because they remind me of happy times at the beach with family. I've only been to the beach four times; most recently this summer with our two children, their spouses, and our five grandsons. It was the most wonderful week! My shells also remind me of the quiet morning walks I took along the beach; just me and a bright blue bucket.

Day 2

This is what you see when you walk in my front door. A folding table with everything I need to finish a Project Life album I'm working on. I've put it front and center because I'm determined to finish this album. Each day for a year after my 60th birthday I took a picture of my feet wherever I was and I also took a picture capturing light. Now, I'm working on the album and have so far completed six months. 

Day 3

When I sit down it's either on the couch or in the chair next to it. I consider this "my corner." Between the couch and chair is "my basket." A rather large one 8"w X 28"l. Big enough to hold all the good stuff I need near me. It may not the prettiest way to store anything, but I want these things within easy reach. The basket contains magazines (Artful Blogging and Bella Grace, my favorites), clipboards with bits and pieces I don't want to lose, notebooks filled with thoughts I've scribbled down, brain game books to keep the old brain active, small legal pads where I jot down quotes, password notebook, and a pouch with my pencils, pens, bookmarks, clips, and other small items. Beside the basket are two three-ring binders; one that has photography class work and the other has writing class work. You can look in this basket and know what I enjoy; photography, blogging, and writing.

Day 4

This clock matters to me because when I look at the time, wind the clock, or hear it's chimes I feel loved! Several years ago my husband brought home this Howard Miller clock from a pawn shop auction. Jerry told me that when he saw the clock up for auction, he thought of me. How sweet is that! He's not a spontaneous gift giver, so that makes the clock all the more special and so does the fact that he had never bid at an auction before.

Day 5

I really think nostalgic should be part of my name since it's definitely part of who I am. I don't pine away for the old days, but I do enjoy keeping old things around me and remembering. This corner of my sewing/scrapbooking/craft room makes me feel nostalgic. The quilt I made has fabric scraps from four generations; my grandmother, my mother, my daughter, and me. Some of the fabrics are over 70 years old. We made most of our dresses and our girl's dresses. The four outside blocks on the quilt show the four generations. I love to look at this quilt and remember the dresses, aprons, and blouses that we made and wore. I also keep a lot of memories hanging on my bulletin board that I made using an old dresser mirror. It holds special cards, photos, vintage sewing supplies, and other small keepsakes. The dresses hanging from the lamp and on the board were made by my mother for my Barbie doll.

This week has had me thinking deeply about my home. Here's what I've discovered:

• There's a lot of things lying around that I have no connection with anymore and just need to get rid of.
• I enjoy my home. It's comfortable, sometimes messy, but it's my refuge from the business of the world.
• I need to slow down, open my eyes, and find the beauty in the ordinary things of home.

You'll probably be seeing some more of my class pictures next week.

Friday Finds

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I guess the image above makes it pretty obvious what I found!!  Jacks...metal jacks...not exactly what I had as a child, they were a little thinner than these, but these will do. I can now play jacks again. Thanks to Wanda for suggesting that I look on Amazon for them. I should have known, you can just about buy anything from Amazon. Just so you know, in case you're dying to buy a set, the pouch in the background didn't come with the jacks, it was my grandfather's and has some fool's gold from Colorado in it.

Jacks is an ancient game, but kids all over the world still play it in one form or the other. I've read that you can play a different version of jacks with rocks. I think I'd better stick to throwing up a ball, not tossing up rocks! We played jacks every day, either at school or home. We played...

• Black Widow (ones to tens without missing)
• Cherries in a Basket (place jacks in cupped hand)
• Pigs in a Pen (slide jacks into other hand that is slightly cupped on the ground)
• Over the Fence (place jacks on the other side of straight hand)
• Around the World (make a circle in the air around the ball before it bounces)

Do you remember Kissies?  I'd almost forgotten about Kissies, when the jacks are thrown out and two (or more) jacks are touching or stacked. You can choose to either pick them up as part of a play or drop them again to spread them out. We always kissed the two that were touching before dropping them again.

Now I have something else to waste my time on, but I tell myself I'm keeping my hands and fingers limber!  I don't think I'm too bad either. I made it all the way to the sevens the first game and my hands don't move near as fast as they used too. I also don't sit on the floor very well any more.

Soft

My baby dress from the 1950's.

day 30

soft

The Spray Rig

No photo excursions again this week. Mr. H's surgery went well and he's recuperating nicely. Actually, he's doing much better than we thought, but I'm still not venturing far from home. We get out and walk each day, but I'm more concerned with him falling than shooting pictures. So, here I go again, looking for something close to home, but something that interests me. Something different than fall leaves or mushrooms. As I walked across my parents back yard, I saw my dad's old spray rig sitting neglected along the property line.

 

My dad was a painter. He painted many a house inside and out. He was also know to balance on scaffolding and paint water towers, long before safety ropes were mandatory. When he spray painted structures he would hook up his rig and head out.

 

 

There wasn't a lot of towing regulations back then, but at least he had a safety chain. Which leads to a story. In the late 50's and early 60's we moved several times.  We lived in a mobile home or trailer as we called it, so it was easy to pick up and move. Just unhook the electrical, water, and sewer, pack a few breakables, tape the drawers and doors shut, and we were ready to go. Dad lead our little procession driving a sawed-off fire engine that pulled the trailer. Mom drove the station wagon and pulled the spray rig. On this particular day as we were traveling down the highway, the spray rig came loose (maybe that was before the safety chain!). It went off the road and into a deep ditch.  Knowing that we couldn't get it out mom began chasing down dad. Evidently dad had the petal to the metal, because we went miles before we caught up with him and had him pull over. Of course, then we had to backtrack to get the rig. It could have been very serious, but we laugh about it now. How mom had to speed to catch dad pulling a house trailer.

 

 

 

Back to the spray rig and all it's rusty parts. There are pulleys and belts that sent the motor spinning...

 

 

building up pressure to spray the paint. I know it looks like I took this pressure gauge sideways, but I didn't that's the way it is on the tank.

I wonder if my mom knew dad's spray rig had a devil on it. She probably thought it was possessed when it came undone and went flying off the road!

 

 

My dad has always believed a little bit of electrical tape could fix anything. Note the splatters of paint on the tape. 

 

Paint is splattered over everything including the brake lights.

 

 

Dad wasn't one to spend useless money. I guess you could say he recycled before recycling was cool. When he build the spray rig he used what he had on hand or found in junk yards. Notice the brake lights...one square...one round. But, hey, they did the job and were probably free! 

 

 

I found lots of grunge, rust and textures.

 

 

 

Dad retired many years ago, and the spray rig has mostly just sat in this spot. Only brought out a few times to paint something around the house. It's deteriorating and will probably be taken apart soon, so I wanted to capture a few photos of it.

 

Linked with Helen's Weekend Walk at A Flash Of Inspiration

The Joy Of Reading

I love this beautiful statue that is in front of the Bob Hertzfeld Memorial Library in Saline County, Arkansas. It was donated by Joyce and Jim Faulkner who wanted to instill a love of reading in young people.

It makes me smile that  the little boy has fallen asleep, as  the girl continues to read. That's pretty typical, I think most girls love to read more than boys!  I love how they kicked off their shoes to get comfortable and are barefoot.

When I saw this statue outside the library I was flooded with wonderful childhood memories of books and libraries. Reading has always been such a large part of my life. I've loved to read from a very young age when Dick and Jane were the characters in my first reader!!  I remember getting books as birthday and Christmas presents. I still have a few of my first Little Golden Books and my Nancy Drew books. We couldn't afford a lot of books in our home so we depended on the bookmobile to bring new and exciting library books for us to read.  In the late 50's we lived just across the street from the bookmobile stop, a small grocery store called "The Food Basket." I can still remember the excitement as we watched for it to arrive...as we held Mom's hand and crossed the street to climb aboard.

color postcard

I still remember what it looked like inside. The smell of many books in one small place was wonderful. I remember the joy of finding books to check-out for a month. Books I would read over and over again.

Now I go to the library near my home, I still love the smell of books, and I still love to read. But, I miss the excitement of the bookmobile arriving!

 

"The more you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

Write Now!

A really good thing about my journaling course Write Now! with Big Picture Classes, is that you can continue at your own pace. Once you take a class, it is open to you forever!!  Thank goodness!!  There's no pressure to keep up and get these assignments done.  Which for me is a very good thing, I really feel I'm learning more when I can travel at my own pace. All that, to say this, I've finished another writing assignment.  I love the unique ideas that Amy Sorensen has for our assignments. We were to open a dictionary, pick a word on the page, read the literal definition and then look for a personal connection with the word.  The only word on the page I picked that seemed possible for a story was "placid."  Definition:  quiet, calm, complacent, free of interruption or disturbance.

After much thought, these words reminded me of a childhood story my Mom has told about me.

Journaling

A little girl sat playing quietly.

She talked to herself.

Small things entertained her

paper dolls…baby dolls…books.

She did not need company.

She did not need attention.

She just played.

She stayed with her grandmother, Nannie.

Mommy and Daddy were away.

Nannie watched her and wondered

if she was all right.

Nannie wondered if she missed her parents.

When Mommy returns, Nannie tells her

“Cathy played in the corner alone.

She talked to herself.

Do you think she is all right?”

“Yes, she is all right”

her Mommy says.

“Nothing is wrong.

She just enjoys her quietness.

She likes to be by herself.”

After all these years

I am still the same.

I enjoy the quietness.

I talk to myself.

I love being alone.

I am that little girl.

I am all right.

I find it interesting that I have been journaling about  myself in this class. I think the writing prompts we get each day has started me remembering stories about my childhood. I've begun to realize that I have stories to tell, that need to be recorded before they are forgotten. 

A Cutie Of A Camera

It's a little girl's dream to be a princess or a queen!!

In the first grade in Ola Elementary, that dream came true for me!  I was chosen by my fellow classmates as the First Grade Halloween Queen.

I remember

how we voted, we each went up and whispered in the teacher's ear who we thought should be the queen.

I remember

the dress I wore. My Mom made it, a lovely pink satin, floor length, tied at the waist with a white ribbon.

I remember

the most embarrassing thing for a little girl of six. The boy that was chosen for the King thought we had gotten married. We did walk down a along carpet to the stage!  Then, horror of horrors, he kissed my cheek in the classroom in front of all the other kids!!  YUCKY!! I ran away and hit my side on the corner of a school desk. Funny how you remember even the small things!

There was a senior high King and Queen, also. We were given gifts, this cute little camera. My first camera!! I don't remember using it. I guess I may have, but I'm not sure my parents could have afforded the film, much less the developing!

I found it when I was cleaning out a box in the closet!! This little cutie is a plastic box camera, a Sabre 620 made by Shaw-Harrison. They began making these in 1956 and it came in a variety of colors. It took 620 roll film and "featured fabulously classic styling."  That line made me laugh!!  It is a "classic" now!!  Listen carefully, the original price was $3.75.

I wish I could say this is where I began my photo journey, but it's not!  That journey only really began in the last eight months. Before that, I took pictures at all the family gatherings and on vacation. Not until I started blogging and visiting other blogs did I discover that photography could be art. I began to see the beautiful photos and decided I wanted to try that!  My journey has only begun and I have a long way to go, but it has been the most enjoyable experience!

Self Portrait

Second post today, but I've had a nerve wracking day!!

The first prompt for my new class Picture Inspiration is to take a self portrait. This is tough!! How do you take a photo of yourself that looks natural??

Here's my final choice. It's a mirror shot. I tried a tripod, but couldn't get any good shots. At least in the mirror you can see what you look like!

I had to eat a handful of M&M's to just push the button to upload the photo in my gallery. I am too shy for this!!  But, since I took about 50 pictures and you are all my friends, I'll share a few with you. But only if you don't laugh.

 First, I have to tell you this story and you can laugh about this. I don't have a mirror that doesn't have a lot of clutter in the background. I had to crop in close to get rid of the shelves and the shower stall in the picture above. I also had to edit out a little part of a shelf. I'm saying that to say this. I have gotten into the habit of carrying my camera in my purse. Today, at the library, I went into the rest room and guess what...no clutter on their walls that will show in the picture. So I grab my camera and there I was taking self portraits in the mirror at the library. I wonder if anyone noticed how long I was in there? I took several when I heard the door open, stashed the camera in my purse and left. When I got home and looked at the photos, sadly none of them were any good. I guess I was a little tense about someone catching me!!

Back to the portraits, this one might have been OK, but the shower stall is right beside my face. and when you cropped in, you get a lot of wrinkles!!

Oooh, do you see me?

 Look at the camera!!

What's the deal with the raised eyebrows?

 Surprise! You're on candid camera!

Don't talk to yourself and my what a wrinkled hand!!

Look at that grey side burn!!

I'm calm now, chocolate worked!!
Picture is posted.
I'm done for this week!

I sure hope next week's prompt is easier!!

Ornaments - Day 11

In 1972 my husband and I celebrated our first Christmas together. The dream began of the perfect Christmas tree and the perfect ornaments.  There wasn't extra money to buy fancy ornaments, just balls, garland, and tinsel. I went shopping and found these ornaments at Sears. I remember thinking they were the prettiest balls with the gold glitter designs. They came in six different colors. I still have all the ornaments but one, which broke a few years ago. The glitter has aged and turned brown, but I still put one of each style on the tree each year.

The rest of our ornaments were handmade, some I made that year and some from my childhood. This little soldier and the stockings were ones I made for our first tree.

Now that I've showed you ornaments from 1972, let me show you our tree and well, us!

Wow, we look young! I guess we were! I was 19 and he was 20!

I remember going to a tree lot for our first Christmas tree. My family had never had a live Christmas tree and that was what I wanted. To spend money on a real tree was extravagant for our budget. But, I wanted it to be special and traditional! I found the perfect tree, came home and we put it in the living room. Well, I didn't buy one too tall for the room. The one I picked turned out to be short...barely over 5'. It was also very full around. I called it squattie. (I don't think that's a word!) It was really kind of funny looking. But, it was our first tree in our first home and I loved it!! I covered the tree with icicles. I do love icicles!! Each year after Christmas I would individually take them off and lay them in white tissue paper to be reused next year. I still have them, but haven't used them in the last several year, due to small grandchildren in our home. I'm afraid they might eat them or have an icicle fight with them. LOL!

My Christmas tree has certainly changed, first ornaments are still on the tree, but new ones are added yearly. I love my tree and decorations, but that short, squattie tree is still my favorite!