Feb #5 Arrangement..
Which I should subtitle ORDEAL.
“At what price beauty? ”
I think you have to be a woman to appreciate this one.
I pull a brush or two out of a drawer, and if I’m lucky they make it back into the drawer. Maybe that same day even!
Not this gal.. She’s got quite the ” ARRANGEMENT”.
And don’t mess with it.
This was one of the new Vintage lenses. But now I forget which one. I should’ve written it down. Sorry Marc.
My poor little neglected blog. How I’ve missed you!
My apologies… I started a corresponding facebook page! ~ https://www.facebook.com/Allsortsofhopecom?ref=hl
My new FB page!~ Go ahead, check it out.
Then I went to about five trillion basketball games, a few gymnastic competitions and tried to recover from all that stuff. Having some trouble with my hands, too. Trying to keep the keyboarding/ processing to a minimum.
SAVED (UP).
In this photo, I am wearing pants that I , Hope the clothing hoarder, had SAVED from, no kidding, the early 90’s. I had also taken this photo using a Minolta lens with a Nikon adapter that a friend had recently given me that he had SAVED from years gone by. In addition, the lovely silver necklace that I wear proudly around my neck has a silver ribbon with the word HOPE engraved on it. It was a gift from a woman who had SAVED it for a while til she remembered to give it to me. I waited quite a few hours to get my knuckles un-swollen enough to be able to type even just this pathetic little paragraph. So in essence you could say that all these things had been SAVED UP for- just to make this photo. (kinda? sort of?) .
It’s a stretch at best. But right now, I’m saving up for so many things the best thing I could think of for “Saved up ” was my actually my new ( old) car that I finally went out and purchased after months and months of not having. However, when it came time for my car to make it’s photographic debut, it wasn’t home because my son is now driving it as his was just hit while being parked outside of our home. You see, that’s how we seem to be doing things in this house lately. One step forward, two steps back. It’s a good thing that I saved up for it, though, or we wouldn’t have anything to drive.
I’m also trying to save up every last bit of energy and strength I have. My vision is starting to play tricks on me too. I’m getting anxious. I’ve got a treatment in just 21 days! And that’s the big winner for SAVED UP, I suppose…. the strength and energy it took me just to do this whole thing. I pray no one ever truly understands what I mean by that. Sadly, I know that there are far too many of you who do.
Day #6 of Feb- Saved Up
Never thought I’d be the sort of photographer with a photo in a contest… yet here I am!
This photo has been entered into Rodposse’s Photo Contest …
5th RPC- 22nd Challenger- Theme : LINES.
Would love your votes! Click the link and click LIKE for Natalia and I please!
RODPOSSE PHOTO CONTEST : LINES
What’s one more click in your day of endless clicking? and hey, maybe someday, you’ll need me to click something for you… 😉 { a you click my link, I’ll click yours sort of thing!}
We thank you muchly, friends. ❤
http://rodposse.com/2013/01/30/22nd-challenger-confusing/
(if you’re more of a copy/paster ^)
“So, if I dream I have you, I have you,
For all our joys are but fantastical…”
Elegy X: The Dream, John Donne
“I must go seek some dew-drops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear”
~ William Shakespeare
{Cowslip= primrose. Primrose = pretty little flowers <-for some of you guys. Thank you google 😉 }
Couldn’t decide if 2 was better than 1.
My pictures~
For numbers of dew drops~
Or just in general ?
(Some photographers can make drops of water sparkle like diamonds… I’m not one of those photographers…… yet. )
Mother Nature laid out her red carpet for me today! I felt so very lucky. So very fancy, so royal as I climbed the stairs into my own home.
I couldn’t really find a photo of me looking “red carpet ready”. It’s not really a common look for this “stay at home” mom. Red Carpet Ready doesn’t really work at baseball games or gymnastic competitions. It also gets you looked at sort of oddly in the grocery store. Though I feel like a shot like that would’ve totally made this post complete. Had I had more energy, I would’ve thrown on a gown and whipped one up. (Because I totally have red carpet ready gowns laying around waiting to be worn.)
However, a few months ago, I did my very first test like “photo session” on the other side of the lens, (after a 20 plus year hiatus from that side) with a man I met through a photography group. These pics were from that session-closest thing I could find to me being ‘red carpet ready’ under such short notice~ without actually staging such a look. I certainly felt close to Red Carpet Ready that day. Wonder if Mother Nature will still give me an Oscar?
Sadly, I fear all too soon her Royal Red Carpet will be replaced by a giant fluffy blanket of fresh white snow. And Red Carpet Ready or not, I know I’m not ready for * that* just yet.
Distasios’ don’t sit still well.
I’m not sure what most other families do while they wait out “states of emergencies” called for the impending arrival of a hurricane, but in this family, we ‘play’ photographer/ model. Between Natalia and I, we can make pretty much anything into a “photo shoot”. We’ve done glitter, water colors, hats(that was a long time ago) heck, we even grabbed a few friends and made a “circus” once!
I suppose it’s a good thing that I don’t have a truly functioning portrait lens or my kids would be perpetually annoyed with me instead of being only occasionally annoyed with my requests. In addition to occupying each other, doing things like this sometimes help to keep my mind off of how yucky weather like this makes me feel. Storm systems can wreak havoc on someone with a condition like mine. Hurricane Sandy has certainly been no exception.
This is the result of what we got finished so far tonight.
School is closed for the next 2 days.
God only knows what that will find us doing.
Stay tuned
“We’ll be Friends Forever, won’t we, Pooh?’ asked Piglet.
Even longer,’ Pooh answered.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
My daughter Natalia is quite an amazing young lady. Having been put on bed rest at 28 weeks into my pregnancy with her, she is not only one of my greatest challenges in this life, she has also been one of my greatest rewards. I like to tell people though, that even after being put on bed-rest at 28 weeks for premature labor, I ended up going past my due date with Natalia and had to be induced. That’s the thing about my daughter Natalia, she does everything her way. On her on time and at her own pace. And that became apparent at a very early age. She is strong -willed, stubborn and determined.
She could walk early, talk early and ‘give direction’ ( read was quite bossy) at a very early age. One of our favorite memories of Natalia was when she lifted her beautiful little red head and blurted out in a crowded store for all to hear (at the toddling age of 3 ) ” Mommy, Nicky is antagonizing me!”
We simply had to find a way to channel all of her energy. I was injured when Natalia was only 2. Dealing with 2 toddlers while on crutches full time is difficult. So we needed to find something to do with them to help get their energy out. By the time Natalia turned 3 we had enrolled her into dance classes. By the time Natalia turned 4 her instructor had informed me that a ballerina she would never be. Fortunately for me, their was a mom in our class of a very talented gymnast in the area who recognized what Natalia just *may* be.
By the age of 5 we had enrolled her in tumbling classes. It didn’t take her long to get her first solo. She immediately began to excel.
By the age of 6 her Pop-Pop offered to enroll her in a local gym to try out some of the equipment “just for the summer”, as a birthday present. That was June. When August rolled around, she was offered a chance to begin training on their “team training program” that they called “The Sparklers” at that time. It was then that she met her best friend Brianna.
Fast forward 8 years. Brianna and Natalia have grown up together. Theirs is a friendship of mutual respect. I have watched them evolve as gymnasts and as people. I am incredibly proud of them both. Brianna’s family has been beyond generous to my daughter over the years. They treat her like she is theirs. She has traveled with them, stayed with them and vacationed with them. I joke that in the summertime Brianna’s parents and I share custody of them. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I am delighted that their friendship has remained steadfast. I have seen very few serious arguments. Very few typical girl squabbles. Maybe because they go to different schools, or maybe because they are just that close. For whatever reason it is, I am grateful.
Bri and Natalia are my 2 favorite subjects to photograph. Brianna will humor me almost as much as Natalia does.
Brianna’s Pop has moved in with them recently. It hasn’t been an easy adjustment for her. But it makes me giggle when he calls them “the 2 Pixies” . I have named my collection of photos of them over the years ” Pop Calls Them Pixies” in his honor.
I love to see their joy when they are together. Love to hear their laughter. Even love to hear them argue a bit over who gets to stand where or wear what. Because that just means they care. And caring is a good thing.
I lost my best friend when I was just 16 years old and I would give the world to hear her crazy laugh again. Or even just to argue with her.
These are a few of my favorite ( older) photos of them. My daughter’s schedule has been so crazy we haven’t seen much of Brianna lately. I’ve been waiting to get them both out in front of my lens again. It’s been too long. I’m sure my daughter will let me know when the time is right.
“Life may not be the party we hoped for , but we should all dance” ~ somebody at some time said it.
Welcome to their party.
Homecoming 2012.
I am the last person to post my homecoming pics so I decided I’d post a few of the outtakes instead of just all of the happy ‘smile for the camera’ shots. Aren’t I lucky that they allow me into their world?
While we were in the backyard of one of Natalia’s friends, a neighbor of hers came out and asked if we would like to come inside and use his unique home for some photographic opportunities. His ‘home’ was what I can only describe as one of the most beautiful, cleverly decorated old factories in our quaint little town. Hardwood floors, mile high ceilings, incredible stained glass detail throughout. It resonated character and charm. I am only sad that I didn’t take the opportunity to photograph more of the home as well as the girls with some of his favorite toys. It definitely was a different way to shoot homecoming photos.
It is Tues as I post this and it’s taken me this long to recover from our weekend. I trust the teens have recouped quicker.
My favorite “getting dressed up for something with someone else ” song…
~ “you wear those shoes and I will wear those dress” ~
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
― George Eliot
Me too, Mr Eliot, me too! This is my 2nd blog entry about autumn. I simply can’t get enough of it. I want to surround myself with it’s colors, it’s smells, it’s light. Today was no exception. I wanted to capture the beauty of today forever.
Thankfully, I have someone who indulges me when I get a thought like that stuck in my head.
I hope you enjoy the beauty of today as much as I did. Thank you for allowing me to share it with you.
~and to quote Anne of Green Gables ” I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!”
allsortsofhope 