Charming

Just a quick post today to wish you all a Happy Easter...I have posted these beautiful flowers for all of you to enjoy this season...I find you all quite charming..especially those who visit.   You all bring joy to me life,  each in different ways...I wonder what I would do without any one of you..

Ranunculus is a new flower for me this year...I am surprised that I did not know of this beautiful blossom before...It has the charm of a Victorian day...both in color and design..I will look for it every spring now that I have found it..Radiant with Charm is the meaning of this pale pink beauty...and it is that to me..from the book of The Language of Flowers...meanings I'm glad to find of all my favorite blooms.

Enjoy your day with all the charms it will bring your way...hopefully in love and chocolate...well, they sort of are the same thing right?

I'm Not Perfect.....

I know that's hard to believe isn't it...Not only is it hard to admit but even more shocking is that I'm writing it here for the World Wide Web to see.   There have been times over the years when I thought I might not be perfect but I just shoved those thoughts aside...naw...can't be true..but the fact is I had to face the music today after trying to get my beautiful flowers to be in focus and me just a blur in the background...I see so many lovely photo's like this on line but I proved to myself today that it is just not my specialty...that does not mean though,  that with more practice and a bit of help from my friends that I to, might  master this creative side of shooting.   

So the truth is in the photo...I'm a complete failure at self-portraits.  I know, hard to believe right?  Photo's don't lie though and as you can see from these wonderful shots from earlier today,  I didn't make the grade..Oh I tried, I spent several hours trying so hard to focus on those damn flowers and none of them with me in the shot came out in sharp focus..I changed my lens several times,  going from my 50mm to my 100 macro, from my Canon 7D to my 5D Mark 111, which I thought could perform miracles..but not today. I even changed the color of my sweater because I could see that it didn't really enhance my photo with the pink flowers.  So the ones you see are the very best out of my shots.  Just a note here,  all the photo's of the flowers without me came out perfect.

 

Your probably wondering why on earth would I share these terribly inadequate photo's with the big wide web. Well I'm sharing them for two reason...one,  I think I did a great job on the processing..and two,  I'm hoping one of you lovely souls will take pity on me and send me some great advice on how to do selfie's in a way that is not shameful to me or harmful to all of you...

Really,  the reason I share these  is to say, none of us are perfect in everything...and it's o.k.  It takes a long time to get to the realization that we don't even have to be perfect,  we just have to keep learning and growing and have a bit of fun along the way...so in essence,  I'm not really unhappy with my post because it proves that at least I took the time to try and guess what?....I'll try again because I really want to get it.  

Deep inside we all want to be perfect...but some days its o.k. just to be "good enough"..and pat yourself on the back for the effort.

"Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music, or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself."   Samuel Butler

You will regret the cell-phone self-portrait in the bathroom mirror one day...

Mud Time at The Sweet Sugar Shack

The Mighty Maple...

For me this has seemed like a very long winter...so long that I hardly have been paying any attention to what is really going on right around me.  A few days ago though as I was driving down the road I noticed that the maple sugar buckets were already nailed to the tree's...What a beautiful sight that was...last year I had completely missed Maple Sugaring in our town..not this year though...Spring was coming whether I was aware of it or not. That is what I love about nature, it doesn't keep track of time like we do,  it just appears when it is suppose to.

Today when the boys were here..I loaded them up in the car and off we all went to the Maple Sugar Shack and enjoyed some time mucking it up in the spring mud and getting our first taste of that sweet maple syrup. This is a really special treat for Liam because he is the world's best pancake eater and he likes lots of "dipping sauce"...aka,  maple syrup..and of course he just loves being outside.   Along with the maple syrup, mud is magic goo to a three year old.  Jaxson, well he just loves being where everyone else is.   His only goal right now is to "watch" the happenings and giggle..We like that this is his way of telling us that he is having a good time also.  After our romp in the mud and a bit of a taste tease with the fresh maple syrup of course we had to go to lunch...and yes,  we had chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup and whipped cream..

So I go into the day tomorrow and all the days ahead knowing that no matter what the weather, spring is really on it's way...how do I know this for sure..."the maple tree's told me"..and never take a conversation with a tree for granted..Here's to spring, maple syrup, trees and muddy little boys...another reason to love New England..

 The Wood Pile...

 The Sugar Shack...where the syrup is made.

Ah...taste so sweet Nana..doesn't get any fresher than this..

Old Chairs...

The challenge this week with Beyond Beyond was to take the photo that Kim Klassen provided for us and to process it in our own way..and then compare..This was quite a challenge but I loved the old chairs..we had them when we were kids so I was up for the task.  The above photo is the one from Kim...

Sometimes when I start out on editing I think I know where I'm going,  then when it is finished I wonder how I ever even went in that direction..it's like my writing...the story takes on a life of it's own and that is exactly what happened here...but I do love the end result.  I hope you enjoy viewing the difference and perhaps be inspired to process some of your own work...

Thanks Kim for the textures...I used Dusty Rose...vivid light at 13 % opacity and Magic Film from the new paper collection at soft light 70%..

The above chairs were my Mom's and they are really old..when she died my brother took them for his yard and he takes very good care of them...I remember burning my butt on these many times as a kid...they were not my favorite back then...but now...hmm,  I might steal one from my brother one day...

The Calm After the Storm

Sometimes the ocean the sand and the rocks are so beautiful...calming and peaceful...a good place to go when you feel the need for a bit of uplifting energy...a place to sit and meditate, just by staring out at the simple beauty of it all...the sound of the waves sooth your soul and quiet the mind and you feel at peace.   Other times that ocean is your worst nightmare and plays havoc with the land...It's times like that when it's best to just stay away.  We have had several weeks of the magical mystery of the seas. My prayers are with the three families at Plum Island who lost their houses to the sea this past weekend.

As the sea goes, so does life...up and downs,  beautiful moments, joy beyond what we expect and then along comes pain and anxiety to send us into a tail spin...my life feels just like the sea lately...as I continue to work out the process of my health issues...so many more good days now than bad...for which I am thankful.   Every once in awhile though the angry sea roars it's ugly face again...as a reminder that life is not always fun and games but hard work and perseverance...

So yesterday I went to the sea in the town where I grew up...Winter Island is a place many people go to just to sit in their cars in the winter and watch the tide go in and out and look beyond the light house for a bigger view, in the summer there are lovely benches to sit on. I love to go there and photograph that light house...I have been their so many times..it reminds me of my past, it was the old Coast Guard Station and since my Dad was in the Military we would shop at the PX there, and looking out, it also reminds me of my future.   I see the waves crashing and the light of the house still shinning and so I know...life will always have difficulties but we should concentrate on the "light"...because the light is what will lead us into a brighter day..

It's Monday...I wish you great light and joy this week...