Monday, February 8, 2010

Update

I would like to apologize for not posting recently, photos are being taken (or located) that match the prompts that have been posted each day but I am finding little time to take to post them and create blogs that are worthy of the photos. Please bear with me as I hope to get the blog updated throughout this week with the photos and prompts!!

Thanks!!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Day 31 - Lines of Color

I knew immediately what I wanted to show off with this prompt. When we moved into our house we repainted all the walls, and shortly after our daughter was born. When she was little the two of us sat outside and created artwork for our family room walls. This photo is of one of my paintings.

The colors used are the same paint we painted on our house walls so they fit our decor exactly. I just used my fingers and had fun spreading the paint around on the canvas. When I was done I stepped back and realized I had created an abstract flower with a hummingbird flying above it.

I smile when I look at this picture every time I sit in my chair. Everybody is an artist and an artists work is never wrong when the artist says it is complete.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Day 30 - Story Time

Again, a book is the answer. Maybe I read to much?!

This particular book was actually a gift to my sisters and me when we were young children back in 1978. I have held on to it, because well I consider the book mine although the inscription clearly says it is for all three of us. I love fairy tales - another reason I love romances - grown up fairy tales.

I enjoy researching some of them sometimes and seeing the different versions out there like the common ones we know. I have held on to an old English text book because it has a section comparing different Cinderella stories. I love watching the Sci-Fi channel when they show stories that are similar to fairy tales, horror movies made based on the fairy tales (I can recall one about Snow White).

I have started to pass this love on to my daughter as she likes me to read the stories from this book to her. I often have to alter the story as some of them are just a bit to graphic for her right now at the age of four; or I try to read a different story to her because several of the stories are very long. I am glad that I am passing on a joy of reading and writing to my daughter though.

This book has been so well loved that a group of pages at the beginning of the book are loose and you have to handle the book with care so that the pages are not lost, something my daughter learned quickly when she handled the book roughly and almost lost the pages.



Day 29 - Silliness

So, I was sitting here reading and thinking about the prompt for this day and it occurred to me that other then my husband and daughter one of the things I find humor in is my books. I have started to sense a theme recurring throughout this challenge so far and am starting to think I have to get out more often. My daughter and books have been my response for many of these prompts.

I wandered over to my library and took a picture of the author's name of some of the books I have purchased because I know they are hilarious and sometimes you just need to lighten your mood. I find the Janet Evanovich books just hilarious. I have started her Plum stories - but prefer listening to them on audio tape so haven't gotten past the first couple even though she is up to what.. 13?? Since she has gained in popularity they started publishing her older hilarious romances - and sometimes I am laughing so hard I am crying.

Nothing better then a light-hearted read after a stressful day!

Day 28 - Memory Lane

There was no way I was going to scan in my senior high school picture - no offense - it was BAD BAD BAD BAD, what I did do was take a photo of one of my favorite senior year pictures. I leave this picture, and one other in with my diploma so that I always know where it is.

Graduation day and my two closest friends, Blanche and Rose. For a long time Blanche and I lost touch with Rose but thanks for Facebook we were able to reconnect with her and within moments it was as if we had never been apart - although it had been several years since we had last spoken. Now, we speak almost daily and the only bad part of our new relationship is that all three of us live in different states and are unable to pop over for quick visits just to relax and hang out.

I pretty much look the same nowadays - I am blessed with good genetics that means we age really well and never look as old as we are. I am also very overweight but thanks to those genetics I carry my extra weight so it is hard to tell that I am 100 pounds heavier then I should be - in high school I was even heavier.

Thanks for reminding me that it is ok to look back at the past and recall some of the best memories a person can have and how close my friends and I were and thankfully still are today.

Day 27 - Sentimental

I find most photos sentimental even though I have several scrapbooks full of items. I've been evaluating my life over the past couple of years anyway, and have slowly been giving things away, throwing them away, or realizing that I just don't need them.

What I find I am never able to get rid of are the two pieces of jewelry that I cannot wear currently because the rings are broken. The heart shaped one was given to me by my mother and had once belonged to her mother, a grandmother I never knew. I have never worn it because it was broken when it was given to me when I was eighteen and I have always intended to get it fixed but have never done so.

The other braided ring was a gift from my parents for my sixteenth birthday, I wore this ring on my wedding finger from the day I got it until it broke - several years later. My Dad made the comment when we were leaving the store that it even cost more then my Mom's original wedding ring - I think that increased it's value to me only more because my parents were willing to still spend that amount on me.

Whenever I look at these rings I just feel the love my parents had for me and I never feel alone when I have them in my possession.

Day 26 - Silly Memory

It took me awhile to figure out what would represent silliness in my life without including my daughter and I happened to recall a memory of our bird. I quickly snapped a shot of him and thought that represented best the memory.

Our bird was semi-rescued from my husband's family when his original owner passed away. He was left a lone in a cage in a trailer and had been fed the wrong food and not had the interaction he needed, it is also believed that the family member was so sick at the end that she had neglected him. We believe this because he has plucking issues and is not used to being handled. His cage was so dirty that my mother-in-law bought us a small cage to help transport him home in.

After having for a while we got our cat, she still gives him a wide berth as she was just a kitten when we got her and Sammy would open his wings wide and squawk at her when she came near his cage. The memory I recalled is actually about what happened when we bought our second bird, Cookie. She is a lot more curious than Sammy - having not had the rough life and being exposed to plenty of toys at the pet store we purchased her. She would climb upside down in the cage and Sammy would watch and watch her - giving her a wide berth.

After watching her for a day or two, Sammy himself attempted to climb upside down in his cage. He ended up hanging by the top of the cage by his beak for a second or two before falling to the bottom. He was uninjured and from that point on would just watch Cookie climbing all over the place and as far as I am aware he never again tried to climb upside down on the top of the cage. I'm just glad that I got to see Sammy starting to learn to try new things.