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Catching up…

Okay, as I said on facebook, I’ve been pathetic.  I want to fill you all in and let you know what’s going on…and though I wonder if anyone still pops by, at least it’s here if they do.

At this point there is about a 90% chance that we’re moving.  Florida or Texas are the main goal right now, but it’s looking more like Florida because the housing market is so reasonable.  And, moreso, the job market is much better.

Things here in the Midwest aren’t doing so well.  Unemployment is some of the highest in the country, stores sit empty, people are standing on streetcorners with signs willing to work for food, or, more likely, willing to take what you’ll give them because they look pathetic.  (Don’t get me started, I don’t have much good to say about that kind of thing.)

Anyway, point being, I have been spending every spare moment getting this house ready to put on the market.  I’ve always been a bit of an HGTV addict…and the people at Lowes know us by our names (which cracks me up!) so this is both exhausting and a whole lot of fun for me.  It’s like I’m re-doing a whole other house for a client, and I get to live there!

The yard posed the biggest obstacle.  Here in the “badlands” of Fort Wayne, they scraped every bit of top soil off to make our lovely little community.  And they left us with nothing but clay.  This, being the dryest part of the summer, has left everything embedded in a soil resembling concrete.  Most of my beds have been reworked with topsoil and mulch, but out back, behind the fence, it’s just clay…dry clay.  Pottery holding the plants.  woohoo.

I shot this last week out my studio window.  Its days like that that make me sad Im leaving.  Indiana has been home to me on and off many times over the years.  Its beautiful in so many ways.  Harvest time is coming, and the country side will be at its most beautiful.  It will make it even harder to leave, Im sure.

I shot this last week out my studio window. It's days like that that make me sad I'm leaving. Indiana has been home to me on and off many times over the years. It's beautiful in so many ways. Harvest time is coming, and the country side will be at it's most beautiful. It will make it even harder to leave, I'm sure.

Inside we’ve repainted most everything…if it hasn’t been done it will be.  And I’m purging my world of clutter.  That’s good right?  Well most of the clutter comes from pieces of my life over the past 30 or so years.  I still have drawings and photos that I did in college.  I have books I bought for college…and every year since.  My library is either going to love me or hate me when I show up with 10 or so boxes to donate.

That’s only my studio…I also have a 13 year old…and 13 years of saved memories…not to mention things I saved from my Grandmothers homes.  It’s kind of funny really, when you do this, what you realize about yourself and what you find important.  (I own about 6 pieces of jewelry but drawers and drawers full of antique bed and table linens…)  Barry’s giving some kind of workshop this summer making art with this kind of stuff…I can’t even imagine how cool that must be!

But anyway, I’m rambling.  It’s been so long since I’ve written that it feels pretty good.  (All this alone time has been wonderful meditation really, I’ve come up with a couple of ideas for short stories…how funny is that!)

Okay, I’m done for now.  You can always reach me through flickr or facebook if you need anything at all.  I’ve been very absent, but now you know why.  I hope you all are having an amazing summer, and that all those daydreams are coming true!!

smooches all around!!!

xoxoxo

voodoo…

So I have no pictures today.

I thought the hard drive was back up and running, when I updated some drivers and it killed all my usb ports.

I want to know who has the pincushion doll…I really do!

Anyway, a new hard drive is on the way.  I’ll be back by the weekend.

I will be…

really!

(insert shaking head and wandering away flashy thingy)

xoxo

(dahlia...)

(dahlia...)

So life has a way of throwing snowballs in the summer, doesn’t it?

So poison ivy aside, things have been a bit crazy, but nothing, not even the poison ivy has compared to the loss of my latest hard drive.

I’ve been ooc for at least 4 days…and it may be a bit longer.  I’m using my son’s laptop at this point to get online (because for some reason fios isn’t recognizing the network adapter it’s been using for 2 years in the new hard drive)

So I’m tinkering away wondering how I’m going to survive without my photoshop filters and my fonts (which were my biggest losses in the crash, everything else has been found..woohoo!) and figuring out how to add every stinkin’ driver that I ever posessed once again…

Life is insane.  That’s all, just insane.

I’m giving you a pic that I worked with just before the crash…it’s a dahlia…

Even I have to admit that I’m kind of tired of flower pictures…but this one is nice, and it gives you something new to look at.  Thanks so much for stopping by and for your nice comments!!  I’m teetering on the edge of  ’I really don’t want to deal with anymore’…so coming here, and over on flickr and seeing your comments has made my day!!

I hope you’re all having an amazing day, and I hope to be back and bothering you again in the next day or so.

xoxox

 

(peonies four...)

(peonies four...)

I guess I fooled you guys didn’t I!?

Memorial weekend I did a bunch of yard work in the woods with my family.  Little did I know that not long after I would contract the worst case of poison ivy I’ve ever had.  (Seeing as I don’t think I’ve ever had it, I guess that’s not saying much!)  

Anyway, point being, it’s been kind of an excruciating week…and really, not the most fun I’ve had in the scheme of things.

I did rework the website again before this hit at it’s worst.  It’s much simpler now, but it may change again, I’m learning more each time… 

I did want to come and say hello though, and at least post a picture.  I’ve taken tons and tons of shots in the past week or so, and I can’t wait to go through them and share them with you…

I hope you all are having more fun than should be legally possible this Spring, and I’ll talk to you soon!

xoxo

newness…

 

(adventure bound...)

(adventure bound...)

I’m back from a long weekend mini-holiday.   I’ve worked hard, gotten poison ivy, gotten a few huge bruises while dragging trees around and taken a few hundred pictures.  Time to get busy!

I’ve just opened my 4th Etsy store.  I did it because I like the stores to look uniform.  I don’t want drawings with photos, I don’t want clashing styles, and now I don’t want color with black and white.  So I’ve opened Tonal , a store dedicated to my black and white (and monochromatic) photographs.  I see one more in the future…but we’ll talk about that when the time comes.  And when the economy is bustling again, I’m moving it all to my website, which will have a store and a blog..

And yes, I have big dreams!  lol…

Anyway, it’s Wednesday.  I’m a day behind, so you’ll get posts all week this week.  I hope you’ll come by and say hello!

something new…

 

(typewriter detail...)

(typewriter detail...)

 

 

(sorry for the big nasty watermark, I didnt make a separate blog image.  Ill do better next time!)

(sorry for the big nasty watermark, I didn't make a separate blog image. I'll do better next time!)

 

 

 

I’m working on some new ideas for the summer.  One of them is downloadable art and paper goods.  This is a the first notepad offering.  (I was going to include the photos here, but since I don’t have any examples of my drawings on the blog right now, that’s what you get.)

This is a notepad page that I created from some original drawings.  You can get this one here.  I’m also offering some photos for download in this section of my shop.

It’s something new…just for fun.  Well see how it works.  Until then, have a fantastic and safe weekend!!

 

xoxox

comfort zones…

 

(tulip...)

(tulip...)

So I was wondering today, how far would I actually go if I didn’t have that little voice in my head telling me that I can’t?

I think I’m trying to find out!  

(that said, who knows where things are going…but life is good either way!)

xo…

Happy Thursday!

 

(summer at the lake #4...)

(summer at the lake #4...)

 I’ve been creating quite a lot lately.  

I’m working on a whole new series for the Strange Fascination store, as well as creating a series of PDF downloads that you can print right from home.  The first is up here, but I have about 4 more in the making.  I’d love to hear what you all think of this idea!

I’ve also been working on some pdf’s for my Fragments store.  They will be cards, note pads, recipe cards…things like that.  You’ll be able to download them, print them and use them anytime you want!  I may be doing giveaways here on the blog very soon, so I hope you’ll check back!

Other than that, today is our first 80 degree day, and I’m in heaven.  I thought it would be a perfect time to debut my new series ‘Summer at the Lake, postcards from Everywhere’.  I’m using images I’ve shot over the last 10 or so years while we’ve travelled all over the country, and offering them in a postcard format.  You can hang them or send them.  

I hope you’re all having a wonderful week.  I went a bit long between posts, but I began the design process last week and with that comes extreme focus.  Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes it’s bad…everything else can suffer, but it’s usually worth it.

Take care and I’ll talk to you soon….

xoxo

 

(tiny miracles...)

(tiny miracles...)

This is from one of the two dogwood bushes I have that are ready to burst into bloom.  There were two times that I thought they were gone.  They died back to nothing…I moved them, they struggled and looked horrible.  Then last year they came back with avengence.

I’m kind of using them for a metaphore for life these days.  I mean if they can come back from death I can come back from anything..

 

right?

Happy Friday!!

moments…

 

(lilacs and clouds...)

(lilacs and clouds...)

I guess I really do become a nature photographer in the Spring.  How can anyone help it, there are tiny visions everywhere you look…

Another post and run day.  Did I mention that it’s Spring?

Oh, I did?

sorry…

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