A Mystery

Since I didn't have to work much today, I was able to do a little bit of house-cleaning (in addition to killing time). Tucked away in the back of a cabinet was the accessory box that came with a vintage sewing machine. The machine itself is housed in a great old wooden cabinet and belonged to my Jim's grandmother, Roxie. She passed away 22 years ago and since I was the only one in the family who sewed, her husband, Claude gave me the cabinet and machine. The cabinet serves as my bedside table, and since I've never even used the machine, I stored the accessory box away and forgot about it a few years back.Before taking a load of things to Goodwill this afternoon, I decided to take a quick look inside the case to see if there were any great vintage sewing supplies. Not much there, except a few small sewing samples. It seems that the Slant-o-matic 500 was from the year 1961., which was of course, "the greatest sewing machine ever built."

As I was putting items back in the box, I noticed a piece of paper stuck to the bottom and upon turning it over, found this picture. Unfortunately, there is no information on the back so the identity of this beautiful lady is a mystery at this point. Could it be Roxie when she was young? I'm not sure, but intend to do some investigating to try to find out. Isn't she beautiful?!?!

Times A Wasting!

I love time-wasters. Not that I need much help from anyone else (I generally have NO trouble at all figuring out ways to waste my time), but Jessica, over at How About Orange regularly lists a few fun online versions. This morning, she posted this. After clicking the link to Veer and reading the instructions, I then spent a good 10 minutes trying it out. The only problem is, I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. I THINK that I'm supposed to be landing the letters in their respective little spaces, but truthfully, I'm not even sure about that. I've used the arrow keys and shot the "rocket" with the space bar, but I still blow up each time. Good thing I don't make my living playing these games, because I really stink. Okay, time to quit that and get on to my real job. But, if I try one more time . . . .

Rule of Thirds

Maybe the reason it's called Rule of Thirds is because it takes me 3 times to get it right. I've been practicing my Shutter School lesson whenever I get a chance. Sometimes the pictures turn out right to begin with, but other times it takes several shots to get the balance right ---often three times!! Here are a few I took this evening:

Shot #1--Not bad, but kind of boring.Shot #2--a bit better. I can see the thirds, but it is just a little blurry.Shot #3---Much clearer and more interesting, I think! (I love that tiny bud at the bottom!)Then here's the next one:
Shot #1--I didn't get the "thirds" at all in this oneShot #2---This one (obviously from another angle) is interesting and I can kind of see the "thirds"Shot #3---I kind of like this one----I cropped it a little bit on the bottom, so now it clearly uses the Rule Of Thirds and I like the way the sun glows through on the right.
And my last one----this time, I got it right the first time. This is unedited and my favorite from this batch.

Puppy Fun

This evening I went to eat at my step-mother's house. She invited me and Emmi to come over for dinner and a walk around the block. Emmi isn't around other dogs much at all, so she got really excited when she saw Bonnie. Of course, after she realized that Bonnie is about the same size as her, but a lot stronger, she wasn't too sure she wanted to play after all. Here's Bonnie playing her favorite role---Queen of the Leather Chair.and Emmi in her usual role---the lowly dog who hasn't yet learned to jump up on a chair. Emmi and Bonnie are just about the same height now -- in fact, Emmi may be slightly taller. But Bonnie is much stockier, weighs more and has strong legs. Emmi is kind of a wimp---she barks a lot, but is too scared to jump up or down from things. So they spent much of the evening like this--- Of course, with eyes like those, I would stay as far away as possible. But, being all bark and no bite, Emmi quickly ran away as fast as she could when Bonnie actually jumped down and tried to play!

Shadow Sunday--Under the Berry Bush

There were plenty of shadows out at the blueberry patch yesterday. The sun was high overhead and the day was hot, but there were lots of shadows under the branches. Be sure to check out the other Shadow Shots captured over at Harriett's blog (click here). And if you're interested in learning more about your camera and improving your photography, pop on over to visit our free online course (click here).

Blueberries For Cal

Remember the children's book "Blueberries For Sal"? In the story, a mom and daughter go out blueberry picking only to be followed by a mama bear and her baby. Well, there aren't any bears in my post, but Callie and I made a spur of the moment decision to go blueberry picking today. After seeing an ad in a local magazine we decided to drive out to Shuqualak Farm. It was a very hot day, but otherwise the weather was beautiful--and the farm itself was even prettier. I think I could get used to living someplace like this!They gave us a "handy dandy" pail and strap and we set out to pick some berries. The bushes were full and the berries seemed to just fall into our hands.An hour or so later and our buckets were full. As the berries were sorted and bagged, we enjoyed a homemade blueberry Popsicle on the front porch. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon. Since Callie and her husband will be moving across the country in a couple of weeks, I cherish every bit of time that we get to be together!

Round Robin: Looking Up

What do you see when you look up? If I look up right now, I see a flickering flourescent light--one that surely needs the bulb changed. The Round Robin challenge this time was to point our cameras up and capture what's above. Here are a few shots I captured around my house. The magnolia trees are in full bloom right now. I love the way the white blossoms stand out against the rich, green leaves.There's a huge oak tree next to my driveway. Lately, birds have been busily carrying grass and twigs into its branches, but I can't yet find the nests.And under that oak tree is this basketball goal. It looks pretty lonely now. My daughter used to spend time out there every afternoon after school shooting baskets, but she's now grown and has moved away. The ironwork on my carport definitely needs a little paint---I guess I need to add that to my growing summer "to do" list.Be sure to click here check out all the shots taken by other Round Robins.

And remember, my daughter and I would love to have you play along with us as we get to know our cameras better and hopefully improve our photography skills as well. Just click on the Shutter School badge to the right to take you to our blog.