'Watch The Birdie'

K IS FOR?

KOOKY! ~ as was this garden ornament which kept its beady eye on us as we crept past it one day last week.

There are many more keynotes on the letter K over at ABC Wednesday.

Bowl of Rice

And below the set-up shot for "Bowl of Rice".

Normally I would try to get rid of the light spill from the flash shooting into the umbrella, but in this case it actually helped with the light I was trying to achieve by reflecting some light from slightly behind the subject.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D, f4.5, 1/200s, Nikon sb700 flash shot through a white umbrella with the wide angle flash diffuser out, hand held.

Habitat, the Day After the Build - It Hurts So Good!

Is that possible?   The past few weeks have been insanely busy full of some great activities and events.  One of the fun things I've been working on is a Habitat house.  Have you ever worked on one?   

I believe this is the seventh house I've worked on and I would be telling a tall tale if I said I loved it.  I love the outcome but some weeks it's really hard to get motivated, depending on the tasks that need to be done.  Have you ever installed insulation?  

This week was week number 5 and we worked on trimming and caulking.  This is one of the weeks I would call a fun week.  On Habitat days we work from 7:30 - 4:00 (I have to get there a bit early to make sure we have coffee).   Yesterday was a great day but this morning I was so sore!   I really need to exercise more.  Thinking about exercising more made me think of my high school PE teacher Mrs. Lunsford and the crazy record we used to have to exercise to each day in preparation for the President's Physical Fitness exam.  Do you remember it?  

Brushing Away The Cobwebs

Back home after a fortnight's holiday to find a cobweb festooned greenhouse, cuttings that have got on with their business silently sending out roots, the first piles of discarded leaves and gleaming red berries which have appeared out of nowhere. The allotment remains undiscovered terrain until tomorrow and goodness knows what has been going on there whilst my back has been turned. New seed catalogues have landed on the doormat along with some gardening magazines. There seems to be a myriad of jobs to catch up on but for once the weather looks as if it is going to oblige with predictions of the warmest spell of early autumn weather for some twenty five years! What an unexpected surprise.  So this week feeling reinvigorated after breathing in both sea and country air I am going to :

• sort out the cold frame and make sure that all pots are labeled before the onset of winter. No more guessing games next spring. 
• make sure that I sort out and send off my spring bulb orders. This year I am going to be restrained and not bite off more than I can chew.
• get my order off for some garlic cloves.
• start making some inroad into eating some of the potatoes which I harvested from the allotment before we went away. 
• make a list of what will need sheltering in the greenhouse 'ere the winter storms begin.'
• start making inroads into clearing one of the raised beds at the allotment which has had permanent planting in up to now.
• check to see whether there are any seeds that can be saved.
• gently brush away those cobwebs as they can prevent overwintering butterfly chrysalis from emerging in the spring.

Think that's enough for one week. What are your plans for early autumn?

Another call for help…good folks…

‘Cause you guys are the bestest! Ok…I have a funky kitchen…ok I admit to having even a weird kitchen. It is scattered with the color red.

Toaster…clock…Hood vent. SCREEEEECH. Yep hood vent.

Tired of red... time for a change. To what though?

It is a metal (think industrial aluminum) hood over an island. It was white (ish) when we bought the house...omg.

Then I painted it fire engine red. Why? I dunno. maybe to go with my red toaster.

so today…I tried to bring it back to it’s industrial roots tried is the operative word…with a silver/aluminum/zinc...ish...kinda look

and It doesn’t quite hit the mark. she humbly admits.

What do you think??? Maybe darker….But will it look hokey with the little cross hatches?

Back to white…Or even try and add a wood veneer over and paint white…kinda like Joan’s stunning kitchen recently featured in Renovation Magazine…homina homina…

What is a girl to do who doesn't want to spend any clams

HELP….PLEASE…..I’ll give you a dollar if you help.

I will.

Assortment of E6 slide film for sale

PLEASE NOTE - ALL SOLD OUT!
I recently sold off my beloved film cameras (except for the Olympus Trip 35) and so I am letting my film stock go as well. If you are in South Africa and interested in 35 rolls of expired but frozen for years film then drop me a note at thephotophile@gmail.com and we can make arrangements for delivery. There is Provia, Velvia 50, Kodak EPR 64, etc. The works for only R300!

The usual set-up shot follows:

'The Garden Of England'

'9kr

I have been spending a few days in the fair county of Kent (often known as
'The Garden of England' because of its abundance of orchards and hops), hence my recent silence both here and commenting on other blogs. Just happened to stray over the border into East Sussex to visit Great Dixter, which after many years of wanting to visit more than lived up to all expectations! A sneak preview above and more to follow when normal service is resumed shortly.

Kids bath in Kitchen and Bath Magazine…

In the newstands I found mine waiting in line in Publix grocery store Is the newest edition

of Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath magazine

One of the features is our kids bathroom.

However…now it is decidedly a HIS bathroom…as the lone girl (willing to no longer share with three brothers) claimed a powder room as hers

Call me crazy, but I always wanted to put a urinal in a kids bath…3 boys…c’mon. Keeping it real.

Huge thank you to Becky the stylist and writer extraordinaire …and to Meredith Magazines for giving two of our bathrooms a little place in print!

Out to look for urinals…seriously.

An Anti-Shower Baby Shower

Tonight I went to an anti-shower though I think it really was a baby shower.    

 Nicole, pictured above, is the mom-to-be.  She's having a girl....

A small group went out for dinner which was followed by presents 

and cupcakes with booties on top.

Yes, this is a cupcake with mile-high icing!

A lot of things have changed since I had kids but I think it was really a shower.   At any rate it was fun!

All in a day’s work…

Do Y'all (you all)

have that area of your garden you tend to ignore?

We do

we most certainly do

But not anymore.

This area used to be no man’s land…

the end of the highway…

where the backyard ended.

…and other not such niceties

gifts from the sea...gotta love em.

But with a little screw it a lot of sweat equity

some planting, some moving…

It now has a purpose.

sit with a cold corona with a lime kinda purpose…but a purpose just the same.

{maybe you pretend those plastic chairs are a cool retro bamboo version…that’s what I do. pretend.}

We extended the gravel path added some pathway rocks, and looped it around the

Big and Happy Travelers Palm

Did you know they are called travelers palm’s because if one was travelling and perhaps lost, you could cut off a limb and it would contain a canteen full of water. Who knew?

I knew…now YOU do to. We’ll call it Trivia Sunday.

Then we moved some plants around cheap….rolled a big giant pot over and stuck a bamboo drip fountain in it...

A handful of water plants…and maybe a big fake water lily. just being honest.

Not bad for a day or two’s work….

...and some dirt under the nails, eh?

and may I remind you it was over 100 with the humidity...Bow...applause...bow

Thanks to some kidlets and a Grandma B that were pretty good rock and pebble haulers.

Grandma’s got some biceps.

Remember...and Volunteer

This weekend marked a day of volunteering in our community so that those of us in Atlanta could mark the ten year 9/11 anniversary with service.

To kick off the weekend a forum led by leaders from Red Cross, GEMA, the Salvation Army, CARE International, GE, Home Depot Foundation and UPS Foundation was held on Friday. 

 9/11 reminded us of the need to be prepared. 

 Here are some of the highlights from the program:

1. Make sure your family/work colleagues have a designated meeting place.  During 9/11, communication was interrupted.  Being able to account for lives in crisis situations becomes critical. It was even suggested that families consider joining local ham radio clubs.  Ham radios work when cell phones don't.
2. Let first responders do their work first.  Trying to volunteer immediately after a major incident can get in the way of critical life-saving efforts.
3. Prepare through volunteering.  Most faith-based organizations have highly organized crisis response programs.  Local governments also have preparedness programs and count on volunteer assistance from the local community.  Get involved in these programs so that when disaster strikes, you, your family and your community will be prepared.  Communities working together can accomplish amazing things. 
4. GIVE BLOOD.  I give because I lost my sister-in-law at the age of 35 and while slowly dying, I know the blood transfusions gave her "good" days with us.  At this point I've given more than 3 gallons.   When emergencies strike having blood supplies on hand saves lives.
5. Learn CPR.  You never know when you will be called on to use life-saving measures to help a friend or family member.

My prayers and thoughts join with people all over the world in remembering the innocent who lost their lives ten years ago.  

Read My Pins or "Brooching a Subject"

 This week my husband and I had the please of being able to hear a presentation by former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.  

Her pin collection is now on display at the Carter Center in Atlanta and she came to talk about her book, Read My Pins: Stories From a Diplomat's Jewel Box.  

 We arrived about an hour and a half before the presentation and it's a good thing we did because there was standing room only in the auditorium.  There were 50 or so people who didn't get in.  

 It was interesting hearing how the former Secretary of State used her pins as symbolic expressions that conveyed thoughts and reactions in diplomatic circumstances.  She explained that President Bush often said "Read my lips," so she began telling the the press, "Read my pins."   

I haven't actually seen pin collection which is currently on display at the Carter Center and includes 200 or so pins information about when they were worn and why.  I find it fascinating that these pieces of jewelry are so tied to American history.

My husband and I were eager to see Madeleine Albright for reasons other than hearing about the pin collection.  You see, my mother-in-law looks like Madeleine Albright.  

  We made sure to buy a book for my mother-in-law and I know she's going to enjoy it.  

The pins will be on display in Atlanta until November 27.

Today I'm linking up with The Tablescaper and others to enjoy Seasonal Sundays.

I am remembering…

Ten years ago… My four kids and I were visiting friends

A sister friend...that everso important person who has been with you through college, and kids and life...one who is a *sister*...when you never had a true sister.

in New York…

The morning of the 11th…we packed up the car us two mothers with seven kids…and went apple picking.

And then we tried to donate blood.

because we didn’t know what to do.

We were in Albany. 2 hours from NYC.

I remember sleeping in a top bunk that night with my arms around my 9 year old. who would shake and cry every time a plane flew over. Jets circled and protected the area all night long.

I slept holding him for 4 nights.

We were scheduled to see my brother that week…and should have been In the city/NJ on the 11th. But I stole more time with my friend in Albany.

As we drove down toward the City two days later…The intensity of emotion was palpable the closer we got. Flags adorned cars, makeshift flags made of bed sheets were being held from the overpasses. Held by NY youth chanting USA.

It was eerie. It was beautiful. It was surreal.

My brother was on Wall Street that morning, ten years ago.

He was able to walk out of the smoking city…but he lost many friends and colleagues.

I remember his steeled jaw, as we stood on a grassy bank in his town, looking across the Hudson River, at the smoldering embers of where he once worked…where so many were lost. He was numb.

I remember the flyers strewn across his small town asking for donations of many things ...including dog food and dog boots for the rescue dogs.

I remember the silence of a whole town who lost so many.

It was a long and quiet drive back to Florida the next week.

The world had changed while we were gone.

I humbly bow my head in remembrance.

From ashes to hope…

9/11/2011

Has Anybody Seen My Secateurs?

H IS FOR?

HEDGES!
Last September himself and I holidayed in North Wales. I hurt my knee not long before we went and was in horrible pain. As the week went on I had to use a stick to hurtle myself about. However we still managed to visit the highest garden open to the public in North Wales, which I wrote about here and homeward bound we made haste for Powis Castle and its gardens. Here I hopped about and imagined the work involved in maintaining these hedges to the highest standard!

Hurry over to ABC Wednesday now for more on the letter H!