Charlotte's (disposable) web

This is one interesting spider: 

we walked through discovered her web across our back door early one morning 

so we removed the web and put her in the bushes. 

Normal garden spider encounter.

Except she continued to rebuild her big old web across our door every night for a week and every morning the kids would come to the door and look for the big spider in the window. 

And then she would be evicted. Again.

You can see from this picture that our friend is starting to grow tired of this routine- she hasn't even bothered to weave her typically perfect zigzag pattern on the web- which makes sense, I suppose, since she knows this web will only last one night!

Home

Home from vacation...

 back to reality.

We had such a lovely time,
I miss it already.

I may have mentioned this before but every single time I visit the ocean I think of the hymn by Trevor Francis

"O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!

Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love

Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!

How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!

How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;

How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!

’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;

And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!"

The End.

Why is spring in the air?

My plants seem to be all confused! I'm not sure what's going on but I'm certainly enjoying it... My azaleas (which didn't bloom very well in the spring when they were supposed to) are giving me pretty pink blooms, my morning glories are in full glory along with my rose, my mums and my crepe myrtle! 

I guess everybody in the yard is having their last hurrah before the fall leaves steal the show :)

Outside My Comfort Zone

Hey, happy Monday to ya!

Is your day starting out well?

Right now I'm finishing up my homework for the first week of photography class.

Week two, here I come!

I can't wait to tell you about this particular assignment because it stretched me as a photographer (in a good way) and I think you might like to try this too!

So, this exercise is about finding an image that is dramatically outside of your normal photography style... and recreating it.

My inspiration for this challenge comes from Ashley Sisk- I'm sure you've heard of her! I have always admired her bright, crisp, clean style of photography.
I decided to take a stab at architecture because I believe it's one of my weakest subjects.
My specific goals are:
a. sharp details
b. vibrant colors
c. clean lines.... here goes:

 I know it's not the most artistic thing ever- but hey, I can only stretch so far outside my comfort zone! 

What do you think, is that something you would like to try? 

You don't even need to copy someone else's image

 just examine your own strengths, your weaknesses and give yourself a challenge! 

Spider Lilies (Part 2)

This month, I'm taking an online photography class from SweetViolet and I'm prepared to share a lot of class homework with you! One of the assignments this week was about finding inspiration from other photographers, picking a favorite and trying to capture the same tone and quality of light. I've never done this before and I admit the project seemed a little daunting but it didn't take long to find the photographer I want to imitate- I am totally enamored with this photographer and I would love to borrow a horse so I could do an equestrian session like this!
I couldn't get my hands on a horse this week, so I decided to stick with the obliging spider lily:

Overall, I'm not satisfied with this- I don't think my composition, tones or lighting are as pure and calm as Ditte Isager but it's a start and I won't give up! 

Spider Lily

I love these graceful flowers.

They pop up in September and remind me that autumn will soon be here... 

...and cool breezes will soon beckon us to open the windows, play outside, bake all sorts of good things, clean the house from top to bottom and snuggle up in the evening with a pile of good books. 

And it always starts with the Spider Lily :)