Sunday Photos: Texture

If you really stop, take a deep breath and look around – you will see texture everywhere.

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I love taking photos and I love the different textures that I can capture. I particularly love texture in nature. The bark on trees, moss, leaves, old fences. I really like all the textures found outside in the gardens too.

What do you think this is?

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Under the snow, the beauty of sunlight on the path is waiting! -Xan

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Do you notice the texture of things around you?

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Sunday photos: underfoot

Gardeners and farmers spend a lot of time looking up, for the weather, and down, for the growing things.

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I (Xan) had to go back a few years to find photos with snow, as we’ve had less than 5 inches in Chicago this year!

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Sunday Photos: Grateful

Everyday there is something to be thankful for. Take a deep breath and just look around you.

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American Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I (Sincerely, Emily) do not think that is the only time that we need to pause and reflect on what we are thankful for. Everyday I look around me and can list many things I am thankful for. This is especially helpful when I am just plain having a bad day. I have been wishing for rain for many days, many weeks, many months. I know the saying, “be careful what you wish for” and I have to be really careful about wishing for rain in Texas because usually when it rains, it pours Texas-Style to the tune of 8″ + at a time. When it does rain “Texas-style” it comes down hard and fast giving the ground no opportunity to soak it up. What does that all mean? It means, that I live in Texas and we live in drought, with occasional flooding.

A few weeks ago my wish came true. We were blessed with rain. Three inches according to my rain gauge over a period of 24+ hours. For the most part it came down nice and slow, allowing the ground to accept it and start soaking it up. What a dream come true. The rain barrels are overflowing and the plants and trees are smiling. I am grateful.

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Two weeks ago my former junior coaching student and friend Dee had her second child, and is potting training the first. She’s not getting much sleep. My virtual friend Jo is in the throes of early tweendom. I just spent the afternoon with my grown children (24 and 27). As I told Jo and Dee,  new parenting and toddlerhood and the dread tweens is like childbirth– there’s an amazing person at the end of all the pain.

What are you thankful for today?

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Photos full of memories

In October I went up to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit my mom and family. The plan was to help my parents put their gardens to bed for the winter, but instead I managed to overdo it before I even left home, rendering my back useless to the garden work plan.

Emily (the young monkey!) – Hollywood, FL

My mom and I always seem to have enough to do whether it is at their home in Minnesota or over at the lake in Wisconsin. I was able to help do a few garden projects and we did manage to transplant a few rhubarb plants over at the cabin. I had a chance to spent a fun night with my second cousin and I also spent some time with my brother and my two nieces. Go Go Go. Never a moment of rest! But that is why I go; to help out and have some fun along the way (if time permits.)

My brother at the lake

Over the past 7 years, my mom and I have been going through boxes and shelves, sorting and deciding what to do with all the “stuff.” Every time we came up any sort of photo or slide, we labelled the box and put it with the rest of the photos on one shelf. We knew that would be a big project, but wanted to stay focused on other “things” first.

Because I was unable to do much of anything, we spent time going through photos and slides. The first box I grabbed was a lot of fun. It was a mix of many years and full of photos I haven’t looked at in a long long time. As I went through the box I took some quick photos of a few to put them on the computer. It has been so much fun to email them to my brother or friends that are in those photos. We are all getting some good mileage out of them.

My Gramps had a Trading Post and gas station in Wisconsin. It was fun to come across some photos from that time. He also sold alumicraft boats and motors, LP gas, concrete statues and birdbaths. I can still remember the bog cow trough filled with water where he would set up the boat motors so he could run them, work on them and also show customers. He also traded a lot when people wanted a bit of gas for their car. His trading post of packed full of treasures. He hung a lot of them from the ceiling because the floors and every nook and cranny already had something in it. The front window was filled with fishing lures – again hung. I vividly remember a ventriloquist doll that hung from the ceiling.

Out front, sitting between the gas pumps was a totem pole. When we sold the station and house we took the totem pole down and moved it to our cabin where it still stands. My mom and I restored it twice since then and it is time to work on it again… next summer.

Mom and I had a chance to set up the old slide viewing rack and go through several boxes of slides. What fun that was. Sailing slides, travel, lake slides, slides from when my brother and I were babies and growing up. Slides of trips my grandparents took to Cuba and Puerto Rico and Mexico too. Lots and lots of slides. I brought many of them back to Texas with me in hopes of getting them converted to a digital image on a little converter that I have. It just takes time, but I hope to work on them little by little so we can all enjoy them for years to come.

Do you look through old photos every now and then?

Sincerely, Emily

P.S. As we gear up for the holiday season, the contributors at NDIN are hosting a series of giveaways. Be sure to check out Miranda’s post yesterday to see what she is offering and be sure read all the posts over the next few weeks to see what else we have in store for our faithful readers.

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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Sunday photos: Family

Family comes in all shapes and sizes, as do the activities we do with our family members. Whether it be a day of shopping or months of baby shower planning, time spent with family is priceless.

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“My daughter.” Was there ever a more beautiful phrase? I spent the day with mine yesterday: Giant junk store, $3 BLT, driving down country roads in the blinding rain. What’s not to like. –Xan

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“My Sisters.” What an unusual and glorious phrase for an only child. I am an only child, but have 2 half sisters, 2 nephew, 2 neices, 4 step-sisters and 2 sisters in law. It’s a chorus line, and there’s a new little nephew on the way. I’m having such fun helping my “little sister” with the baby, from shower invitations to baby hats and a felted mobile. I’m also lucky to have one of my half sisters and (favorite) niece in town for a few days this Summer. - Miranda

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My family lives far, far away… but, I did spend some time with them a few weeks ago up in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Even though there is never enough time to do everything I want, we did have a good time. I posted some addition photos over at Sincerely, Emily a few days ago.

How do you like to spend your family time?

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Sunday Photos: Who We Are

The faces behind Not Dabbling in Normal. A few months ago, Emily from Tanglewood Farm thought it would be great to do a self portrait post. Each portrait was supposed to try to capture who we are, what we are about, or some important part of our personalities.

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I never let anyone take my picture. This limerick sums up my attitude perfectly:

As a beauty I am not a star
There are others more handsome by far
But my face I don’t mind it
For I am behind it
It’s the people out front that I jar

–Xan

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I’m not a huge fan of looking at myself lately. Recently turned 30. Recently gained 30 pounds. But also: recently moved back to Oregon. This photo encapsulates some of my favorite things: gorgeous weather, the Oregon coast, my amazing dog Pocket and the photographer: my husband.

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Summer is here, everything is getting crispy

Officially, summer is here. I sort of laughed out loud with “summer” arrived. Really? I am ready for fall. No rain in sight and things are getting super crispy around these parts. Harvesting anything has been sort of a joke. It gets frustration to water and water and watch and wait and then watch many thing never produce. I have pulled out most of the garden and I shake my head because many of you are just starting to harvest things. I am trying not to get to frustrated, but at this point, with two dry springs/summers and terrible springs gardens I am seriously thinking about only gardening in the fall and winter.

I know spring will roll around and I will get inspired, but it’s also hard when your winter garden is still growing great and you are still eating from it. Now I wish I would have just left the winter garden go as long as it could.

To keep my spirits up, I am going to share some nice photos. Photos that make me smile.

I hope they make you smile too.

How is your garden growing this year?

Sincerely, Emily

P.S.  I will be “unplugged” from technology for a few weeks, so you will not see you comment appear until I plug back in and get back in the swing of things. I look forward to reading your comments and will respond to each and every one of them.

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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Sunday Photos: Pink

Pink is the symbol of universal love. Pink can bring calmness and relaxation to you life.  You can use pink in your life when you want to neutralize disorder or when you are looking for acceptance and contentment.

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I enjoy all the different shade of pink in different flowers and plants growing around my parts. The wild flowers were particularly beautiful this spring and I saw a lot of wild phlox growing right along the roadside south of town. One of my water gardens has beautiful pink water lilies (when the deer aren’t eating them!) I have posted a few more pinks over at Sincerely, Emily.

Wild Phlox

first waterlily of the season (March 2012)

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You really can’t be too creative with pink if you’re a gardener. It’s all about the flowers. Somewhere along the line, most of my (Xan) ornamental border turned pink (although you can see the tiger lily buds about to throw some orange into the mix.)

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My pink was found in a fresh salad: strawberries, french breakfast radishes, and canadian bacon all on top of mixed greens, all from local farmers. I’m loving the bounty of Summer. Finally!   – Miranda/ Pocket Pause

Tell us about the pinks in your life!

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Sunday Photos: Blue

We are surrounded by blue. Blue is the color of the ocean. Blue is the color of the sky. It can make you feel calm and cool, or dramatic and dynamic.

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There are so many shades of blue, all of them beautiful. You can see more blues posted over at Sincerely, Emily.

Lapis Necklace

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At Xan’s house, looking up, blue sky.

Looking down, blue ceramic drum in a patch of blue fescue.

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Sunday Photos: White

White is the color of purity. White means kindness.  White is Monday’s color (ok, so we are 1 day off there.) White daisies are a symbol of loyal love. While white isn’t a true color, it is the manifestation of the presence of all color and is the complete energy of light.  It can stand for wholeness and completion and in some cultures it represents openness and truth.

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There is a lot of white when I look around. Piles of paper. Many jars in my cupboards with flour, sugar, etc. Looking outside it is more of a challenge to find white right now. Stop by Sincerely, Emily  where I have posted a few more white photos over there.

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I too have a ton of white paperwork flying about my apartment. If you’ve been following Pocket Pause, you might have noticed that my husband and i have been house shopping! We put an offer on what could be our dream home this past week, and there is plenty of paperwork ahead of us if it goes through, as we’re bidding on a short sale home. I have also started a new job at a boutique winery here in the Willamette valley. I just love the white chateau on Cardwell Hill where the winemaker and his wife share their “active retirement” together. Known for their Pinot Noir, they also make a delicious “white” pinot gris.

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Lots of white paper here as well (Xan). But I like my white flowers. Here’s a couple! See the whole set on Flickr.

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Do you have many white things blooming right now?

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