Baby pineapple….

Gorgeous little tropical growers…

they really do want to please.

Plunk ‘em in a silver trophy pot…that is celebrating someone else's 25th anniversary…

that you maybe found at a thrift store

add water.

And lookie cookie…

If you buy a whole pineapple at the grocery store…

enjoy the fruit…then lop the green top off. Leave about 1 inch of fruit

Plant it in your yard….or in a pot

and let it grow.

Friendly pineapple advice.

You’re welcome.

Didn't know you even needed pieapple advice...did'ja?

CIA, Collections and Stamps

Many times over the years I’ve bought a vintage item and wondered about the original owner of the item.  Like the embroidered pillowcases I bought not too long ago.  They were perfectly starched and were wrapped up as if they had been a part of a young bride’s hope chest.   I can assure you that I tried not to think about the previous owner of the chamber pot I purchased many years ago.  The pot is beautiful …but some things I don’t want to know! 

Back to thinking about owners.  Recently I attended a silent auction and while looking at all the items being sold, one item caught my eye.   After looking more closely and reading the description I discovered a stamp collection was being auctioned off but no one had bid.  So I did, and I won.

Forty years of French stamps.

After taking the book home I just couldn’t stop wondering about the collector.  So I did some investigating and here is what I found out.

The collector began collecting at the age of 6.  Her father was an importer/exporter in New York so international mail was always arriving in his office.  She took advantage of it and amassed a large collection of stamps.

At one point the collector decided to give away her lifetime collection of stamps and stopped collecting. 

But then forty years ago she started again but this time she focused on collecting stamps from specific countries for the purpose of using them in art projects and history studies. She has an extensive collection of African stamps focused on French West Africa.

My auction purchase represents one third of the collector’s holdings of French stamps from the past few decades. 

 If this weren’t interesting enough, I went on to discover that the collector is a former U.S. Government intelligence officer (CIA).

She was so kind to offer to send me beautiful papers for mounting but for now I love being able to look through the book to see the beautiful items individually.

Kronetorps Mölla - Funked

There is an obsession amongst some modern photographers to capture a scene as "naturally" as possible, so as to portray it exactly as it was on the day/hour/minute, and any variation from the original is heresy deserving of a burning at the stake for the heretic infidel who dared to step outside of the accepted norm. Absolutely no digital manipulation allowed, because real photographers, at least the good ones "get it right in camera" and don't need to "cheat" with Photoshop!!

Well, some of you may have noticed the quote I have at the top right of my blog by Henry Moore: "Art is the expression of imagination, not the duplication of reality."  and I have to confess that I sometimes like to mess with pics to get a more pleasing (at least to me) look! The above photo being a good example.

Is it an accurate rendition of the scene? No. Is it a colour perfect balance of the real colours on the day? No. Is it pin sharp from corner to corner (as if that matters in real life)? No. Do I like it? Oh yes! I think I'll make a large print of this one for my wall.


I would love to hear your own thoughts on digital manipulation, and whether you agree or disagree, do it yourself or would never dream of doing it. Either way, be nice and remember, these things are highly subjective anyway. 

B^)

_____________________________

Det finns en besatthet hos vissa moderna fotografer att fånga en scen som "naturligt" som möjligt, så att beskriva det exakt som det var på dagen / timme / minut och varje avvikelse från den ursprungliga är kätteri förtjänar ett brinnande vid spel för kättaren otrogna som vågade gå utanför den accepterade normen. Absolut ingen digital manipulation tillåtet, eftersom riktiga fotografer, åtminstone de som är bra "få det rätt i kameran" och behöver inte att "fuska" med Photoshop!

Tja, kanske några av er har märkt citatet har jag längst upp till höger på min blogg genom Henry Moore: ". Konsten är ett uttryck för fantasi, inte dubblering av verkligheten" och jag måste erkänna att jag ibland gillar att bråka med bilder för att få en mer tilltalande (åtminstone för mig) look! Ovanstående foto är ett bra exempel.

Är det en precis återgivning av scenen? Nej Är det en färg perfekt balans av de verkliga färgerna på dagen? Nej Är det knivskarpa från hörn till hörn (som om det frågor i verkliga livet)? Nej Tycker jag det? Oh ja! Jag tror jag ska göra en stor utskrift av denna en för min vägg.

Jag skulle älska att höra dina egna tankar på digital manipulation, och om du instämmer eller inte instämmer, gör det själv eller skulle aldrig drömma om att göra det. Hur som helst, trevlig och kom ihåg, dessa saker är mycket subjektiva ändå.

B ^)

A Rust Coloured Sun Rises in a Blue Sky!

...or a bit of rust on blue paint... either way it is one of those little details I always look for!
... eller lite rost på blå färg ... hursomhelst är det en av de små detaljer jag alltid leta efter!

More little details HERE and HERE.

Spår 1a vid klockan tre (Track 1a at 3 o'clock)

At Helsingborg Station, waiting for departure to Malmö on the Öresundståg. Taken through the train window.
Vid Helsingborgs station och väntar på avfärd till Malmö på Öresundståg. Fattas genom tågfönstret.


...and yes, the blog is slowly going to become bilingual, with apologies in advance for my less than perfect Swedish!
... och ja, bloggen kommer att långsamt bli tvåspråkiga, med ursäkter i förväg för min mindre än perfekt svenska!

(Google Translate is my friend!)
;-)

Bad hair day…

So it would seem that rainy days

been raining 4 days straight

are not so lucky for old piano stools.

boredom…a piano stool with a broken wood top…scissors nearby… and a sheepskin rug

equals =

Yeah…It’s a bad hair kinda day.

Think I’ll name her Phyllis…..as in Diller.

Sometimes….

It just DOES

seem better on

the other side of the world…

 

Sometimes.

Centara Grande Island Resort

The Maldives.

Soak in it.

Westview Cemetery

 Generally I'm not one of those people who reads the obituaries but back in the '90s when we used to subscribe to the newspaper, occasionally an obituary photo or caption would catch my eye.  One of those captions read that the Chief Justice of the Gypsies of the World had died.   The article about the gypsy leader went on to describe several things about arrangements, particularly sharing that a cortege was planned following the mass with family stating,

"When the priest gets through, we'll put him on the horse and carriage and take him directly to the cemetery. We'll have a feast at the cemetery, too."

White horses drawing a black carriage would be bearing the coffin to Westview Cemetery.  Believe it or not, visiting this cementery has been on my list of to-dos since 1997.   So this morning I stopped Westview by to pay my respects.

The cemetery was established in 1884 and in the past 100+ years more than 93,000 Atlanta's have been interred on what is believed to be the largest cemetery in the southeast. 

 On the grounds of Westview there's an abbey as well as one of the largest community mausoleums of its kind ever built.  It contains space for 11,444 entombments.   

 An interesting stop was seeing the receiving vault which has been sealed up now but when the cemetery first opened it was a place to store the dead who died in the cold of winter. 

 One of the things I appreciated today was seeing names from the past and some of the name combinations.  I've always loved my mother's name which is Sadie and I've been fascinated with by my parents siblings names.  For example names like Frenchie, Wynelle, Wilna, Irwin, Elphia, Carson or Olivia.

Perhaps a picture of Ralph & Bridget O'Hara Williams

Today a few markers I enjoyed reading had names like Ollie, Alice, Bridget O'Hara (the O'Hara's really existed in Atlanta!) Williams, Lizzie, Ledla, Clementine, Isidore, Myrtice, Josiah, Mattie Gee, Eulous, Rossie, Ruby Mae and one that you will have to read for yourself....Seriously!!

Hopefully Seymour didn't use his middle name with his first too often!

Atlanta most historical and well-known cemetery is called Oakland but Westview is also one of Atlanta's landmarks but frequently overlooked.  Many well-known Atlantan have been laid to rest here including Asa Candler (founder of Coca-Cola), Joel Chandler Harris, governors, mayors, civic leaders including the gypsy chief justice. 

Of course the headstones and markers are often amazing and the thoughtful verses are noteworthy, memorable and sometimes haunting.   I found this pillow to be an interesting marker.

If you live in the Atlanta area this place is worth a visit and I've been told it is most beautiful in the fall when one of the world's oldest gingko tree puts on a show. 

Today I'm joining up with The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday and I hope you will stop by to see what other bloggers have been up to.

Night Walk in Malmö 6

I'm not sure if this building has a name, but it is on the Stortorget in Malmö, southern Sweden.

Nikon D90, under-rated plastic Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens, f3.5, ISO 800, 1/50s, hand held, processed in Lightroom 4.

Summmmertime………

Happy first day of summer

although….summer here seems to be endless

I am NOT complaining.

Looking for a slower rhythm…

Molasses off the spoon kinda season…

slooooow and steady.

You?

Gorgeous photo: Here

Night Walk in Malmö 5

The TGIF Restaurant in the corner of Lilla Torg (Little Square) in Malmö, Sweden.

A "Normal" focal length Prime Lens as a Landscape Lens

Somehow someone has convinced an aweful lot of us that we need a really wide angle lens to take landscape photographs. Who was that, and why? I find, increasingly, that I am using my AF-S Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX as my go to lens for landscapes and architecture. Remember this shot of the Turning Torso Building in Malmö? Taken with the same lens! And this detail shot of the same building was taken with the same lens.

The photo above of the Krönetorps Mölla in Arlöv Sweden was taken with this little gem of a lens, and the one below as well.

Instead of taking my bigger, heavier zoom lens and standing in one spot zooming around to get the pics I want, I pop my teeny 35mm on the camera and take a nice leisurely walk in the fresh air and sunshine. Leaving the zoom at home is good for my health! The Surgeon General should give his/her stamp of approval to prime lenses on the basis that they will ultimately produce slimmer, healthier, fitter photographers! Haha!

The other benefit is that the primes often have a lot less distortion problems than zooms and are sharper as well! To match the quality of a good prime with a zoom you will have to start spending the value of a small car to get one! I would rather have a small car.. oh, I already have one. Great! Now I can afford another prime! WooHoo!

The AF-S Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX is the second cheapest lens that Nikon makes and I think it represents fantastic value for money. The only cheaper lens is the "nifty fifty" 50mm f1.8D which sells for less than a meal in a restaurant for a family of five. Seriously! I took this portrait with the fifty.

All the major camera makers have these cheap primes in their line-up and they are all great, so please don't email me that your particular favourite is better than mine because I don't want to hear it. ;-)

Have a great day!

Night Walk in Malmö 4

Looking down the canal towards the harbour, enduring a light sprinkling of rain at this point! ;-)

Night Walk in Malmö 3

Another in the series. Stay tuned for more!

A pool story…To be continued

So…a few days after we got out of the hospital

a bus pulled up to our casa

and out poured several Hispanic men…clad in white.

to work on our pool.

Which DESPERATELY needed their help…

eeeegads. cannot believe I am showing you this.

we let it get green because we knew we were going to empty it

and refinish it….

But SCARY it was!

It is a vintage rectangular simple pool…and although I had LOTs of plans and ideas

we decided to do it as simply (read:cheap)

as possible.

As much as I wanted to do some cobalt and white chevron tile…

it would have been a few thousand clams more…sooo we kept the vintage baby blue

::plus my brain was still fuzzy::

It fits just fine in our funky/ unstyled/ a little bit tropical jungle/

abode

No…I actually am not sure WHAT that is climbing the pool wall…

But these are bananas…happily fruiting.

AND most importantly….

Felipe loves it.

Don’t ask.