Category : Outdoors

117 posts

A second look: summer photography wrap up

I haven’t been using my “big camera” (my DSLR) all that much lately.

Its a shame really since I love photography. Over the past couple weeks when the weather has cooperated, I’ve tried to get in the habit of using it again. I really need to keep up on my skills…I’ll be taking Senior pictures for Mini-me NEXT summer. Geesh…the time certainly flies.

Take a look…

 

9/23/2016

2016 Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt wrap-up

The summer has ended and so has the hunt for photos. I like to wrap things up with a recap of the old and any newly snapped photos. This year I only missed one on the list but got an alternative to takes it’s place. In the past I’ve gotten every single one including the alternates.

1. A “wild heart” – a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn’t have to be a rock)summer photo huntHostas in my backyard

2. A footprint or pawprint

paw-print

Husky paw print

3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray

bones-collageAt the orthopedist

4. A book or magazine read during 2016

books

Lots of books…can’t stop reading…

5. A porch or deck

deck collage

Trex Deck at the MN landscape Arboretum

6. A camper (caravan)

summer photo hunt

Camper trailer

7. A family gatheringsummer photo hunt

Independence day gathering

8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.summer photo huntObviously this isn’t my only creation of the summer…if you’d like to see more just browse around the blog. :)

9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.summer photo hunt4th of July waterfight….a tradition

10. A bicyclebikeAt a parking lot next to a state bike trail.

11. Fresh producesummer photo huntBeans from my garden and CSA box

12. A windowwindowThe broken remains of my drivers side window…you can read about it here.

13. The moonsummer photo huntLucky low light shot of the moon over the house.

14. A buffet of foodsummer photo hunt4th of July gather again…

15. A team logoteamsSome of our beloved local teams…current and former.

16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period

map

Mini-me and I traveled to Alexandria over the summer for a girls weekend.

map-2This close-up map has both lakes that we stayed on…if you look closely you can see my reflection.

17. Twinssummer photo huntI took a bit of liberty with this one just because it made me laugh.

18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries cart

Back to school stock up at Target

19. A seasonal cocktail or beveragesummer drinkMoscow Mule…favorite summer drink!!

20. Someone laughing

This is the one I didn’t get mostly because I don’t show faces on my blog if at all possible.

21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

timely-photoI believe this one is self explanatory

Alternatives – if you’re having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
alternative 1: a lighthouse

No lighthouse either

alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)

alt-baby

Can you see the baby? Cute little “O”.

That about wraps it up. I’m not sure what happened to Rinda’s blog as it hasn’t been updated since June but I do know that the Facebook group has been active so I’ll be posting there. I do hope to continue with photo scavenger hunts…they are really fun and a real challenge at times to get creative and think outside the box.

 

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Thanks for stopping by for Second on the 2nd.

Second on the 2nd

 

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T Tuesday: great outdoors edition

This weeks T stands for Tuesday is dedicated to the great outdoors. I wish I could take you on a current up to the moment tour but…its raining…again. You’ll have to settle for some photos that have been taken over the past week or so.

Shall we start with the pest that is digging up my garden?

Cute isn’t she…pain in my @$$ is what she is. Her and her now babies are digging up plants everywhere!!!! Did you notice she seems to be red and grey…I looked it up and there seems to be some crossing of the species. These squirrels are closer to grey squirrel size but with a red squirrel temperament. “Fantastic” she says dripping with sarcasm.

We’ve also had a bunch of deer around eating my tiger lilies…I can’t blame this little fawn…mama left him rest in the tall grass by the fence.

She’s looking at me like I’m the paparazzi….

Here’s some adorable and equally destructive critters in the patch of clover my neighbor has in their yard.

This robin and the cedar wax wings are busy eating the service berries from our tree like they do every year…the only problem is the berries seem to go right through them if you catch my drift.

Do you notice the netting over my patio tomato plant? Squirrel deterrent. My in-laws used to have a huge strawberry patch…this was the leftover netting. Thank goodness!!

I also have it on my deck boxes and the raised bed. Marvin is out on a supervised visit of the great outdoors on one of our non-raining moments.

He’s such a handsome guy. I love how he poses for me.

He enjoys sniffing the air, watching bugs and birds and generally lounging around.

How do you like my new signs….

My MIL bought them for me. There are a few more but I need to repaint to reflect what I actually have planted.

My garden is finally looking pretty good. I’m excited to see how the yellow pear tomatoes do in this garden vs the raised bed by the deck.

Yesterday I put up a few flags…immediately after placing this one atop the fence post on the garden this dragonfly landed. Must have been an excellent hunting position since he would not move even when I adjusted the flag.

Marvin doesn’t love the heat…even though we’ve brushed and brushed him…he still has quite the coat. We know he’s warm when he does this… His other position is belly up on the floor. Poor baby…he’s a winter cat.

Are you still with me…I know its a long post…

For my art/beverage tie in we have this journal page. I kept meaning to post it but it never happened…as you can see by the date it’s a couple weeks old.

I love how the book page shows through the napkin so much!!! The page really didn’t need a whole lot more in my opinion. A little recycled sari fabric and found text…done.

Tuesday has lots of errands in store getting ready for the Independence Day holiday.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: the last day and then some edition

At my school the last day is grade level field trips. I went with 7th grade to Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America. Nothing like setting 6 bus loads of kids free at the mall (and that was just from our school).

We walked in under this beautiful and interactive art installation.

There was a rope attached with a sign that read “Pull rope to help her fly“.  The kids had fun helping her flap her wings. Here’s a little news clip about it if you’d like to see more including a video of it in motion.

I went on 3 rides during our time at the mall. The first was the worst…hard on the body…very jerky, spinny and not for the feint of heart. The second was also pretty scary but not so hard on the body.

All those teal twists and turns made me scream a few times much the the glee of the students.

This was the view from the Ferris wheel…nice and slow with a great view of the park.

Over the weekend I did some outdoor sprucing up. I stitched up some new buntings for my gardens…

FYI…My glass of water is just out of frame on the step in adherence with T stands for Tuesday.

And refreshed some metal garden art…

I used several cans of spray paint to brighten up the flower. I’m not sure I love it but it’s so much better than before!

This little sign really needed help and a 3D element. I had two of these metal flowers. They have a metal pin out from the back. I used a tie tack back and a washer to hold it on the sign. IT hangs from a shepherds hook along the front walk.

Today I took Mini-me to take her drivers test…and she passed!! Then I sent her to Target on an errand.

Woot! She did great. She is so happy…so am I! Now she can drive herself to work and school and volleyball and well you get the picture…

Tuesday morning we are getting a new roof put on the house. I know…super exciting. I’ve got all kinds of busy work to do in the house while the nail guns are hammering.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: missed a week edition

Hello and welcome back! I haven’t posted anything in two weeks! Yikes! My creativity is in a slump. I think there are just too many other things on my to-do list that the creative side of me doesn’t get a chance.

That isn’t to say I haven’t done anything creative…just not post worthy at least singularly. Since we had yet another big storm roll through last week we had a snow day on Wednesday. Before beginning the snow removal process I got out my Silhouette and added a vinyl name plate to my school Chromebook. My old one bit the dust after it was knocked off a table. I was issued a replacement…the only trouble is that it looks identical to all the kids.

Not anymore….now I want to add a little more bling just for fun.

Meanwhile the winter storm raged on outside. We got 9.5 inches at our house. There was so much snow that we were running out places to put it. Plus Mr. G had pulled a giant drift off the roof onto the deck. He shocked the heck out of me when he dragged the snowblower up the deck stairs and carefully used it to get rid of the majority of the snow.

After all that it was definitely time for a warm beverage.

Mini-me had another archery tournament and scored her personal best on Saturday.

This weekend our school is hosting a tournament. That means there is lots of work to do for all the kids…and us parents as well.

Yesterday afternoon was spent baking and bagging cookies to sell.  I knew our week was going to be too hectic to do any baking after work. Now to resist the temptation all week….exactly the reason I bagged them all up right away. I know me….my weakness is strong, to quote Patton Oswalt.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: Christmas is coming edition

It’s almost here! Winter break. Christmas. Mini-me’s sweet sixteen. New Years. It’s all just around the corner. I’m so ready and not ready all at the same time! So much excitement…so much to do.

Saturday Mini-me and I got up early, grabbed coffee and breakfast( sorry not photographic proof) then drove to Duluth to pick up J for his winter break. Finals are over. He’s off for almost a month. 

The weather was beautiful…42°F and sunny! Mini-me and I took a brief walk around canal park before heading to the university to get J and his gear.

The weather is continuing to be very unseasonably warm as we sneak up on Christmas. In fact, Mr. G and I removed the screens and washed windows on Sunday afternoon. Now I know you are all super jealous of our momentous afternoon date. :)

Last week we had a team party at work. We were all asked to bring a $5 giftcard in disguise. As soon as I read the email the cartoon bubble in my head went to work.

Behold…my giftcard in disguise. I had really wanted to make the eyebrows and mustache more “furry” but since I was so sick I wasn’t able to find anything more than some black ribbon.

Since the grass is showing green outside with very little snow anywhere to be found I am looking to our tree to bring up the festive spirit. Maybe some of these words will inspire me more.

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: washi confession edition

Last week I learned that having a washi obsession isn’t exactly front page news…and that it might be fun to share our collections.  Ok Eileen…you ready to share too?! 

Mini-me organized the tapes for me. I love how they look but have no patience to make it happen. Lucky for me she loves to both craft and organize. My paint drawer often gets a makeover as well. :)

This set of blue tapes I love!! A couple of them look like sun prints and one like shibori.

My black tapes get used a lot. They give that pop on a page or card that just helps me say “DONE”.

I love this bin as well. Bright yellows, orange. pink and red.

The polka dots in this bin have gotten a lot of use. I love polka dots! Did you notice the tape with the coffee cup and beans? I’m sure you’ll see that one again in a salute to T stands for Tuesday.

This last bin is random. Ones that didn’t physically fit or were just too colorful to categorize.

I guess it wasn’t quite as shameful as I thought. Mini-me likes to use washi in her smash book and also in her notes for school. I use it pretty much anywhere. If fact I’m putting together a new journal. More of a junk journal/smash book type idea. I plan to do more writing on a personal level. I’m not sure how much of it I will share here after I start using it to journal. 

I’m using random papers from my stash but keeping them in a Fall color scheme. I’m all about Fall right now. It is my favorite season.

I survived my first week of school. I had very tired feet a couple of days but have since toughened up. As expected I was able to accomplish way more while working than I ever thought I could.  Like starting the above journal. Learning at least 60 kids names and faces in 4 days. Paint and reupholster a vanity bench for Mini-me. Paint 2 shelves and candelabra….also Mini-me(I’ll have to share those projects later). Work 2.5 hours of concessions at a volleyball game after working all day.

Oh yeah and pull up my gardens.

after collecting my last harvest of the season.

Welp…now I’m tired…after recalling all those things.

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: eco dye edition

Last week on T stands for Tuesday I had mentioned that I had attempted some eco dyed papers. Today I thought I’d share my results with you.

Last we left off I had bundled my papers and my cooking pot was way too small….

One trip to Goodwill later, I found the perfect size pot in which to cook my paper bundle. 

The bundle wanted to float since it was pine boards that acted as the presser boards. A couple rocks worked well to hold the bundle down in the vinegar and alum spiked water. I boiled on the side burner of our grill for about and hour. Thank goodness I did this outside because it was not pleasant smelling. Also I learned that the pine boards had a lot of sap left in them…what a mess.

After boiling I drained off the cooking water then added cool water which I salted quite heavily. Once everything was cool enough to handle I started the unbundling process.

Then set the pages to dry on the hot concrete. I was surprised at what did and didn’t leave an impression. The marigolds and lemon grass had the greatest color from the experiment.  But that wasn’t my favorite.

It was these….the baby maple trees I pulled from my lawn were lovely ghosted images.

A few freshly turned leaves from our service berry tree gave a slightly rusty, vein like appearance as it’s only impression. Pretty as well but still not holding my interest like those baby maples.

I think I’ll try this again…but perhaps with other sources for dyes. Purple cabbage and onion skins are the first to jump to my mind. I think perhaps I’d get some nice color out of those.

Speaking of color….

I enjoyed a colorful sort of beer this summer. Grain Belt came out with a limited edition Blueberry infused beer. I had to buy some…its local and we like to support our local business. That’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ to it. It was pretty in color and pretty tasty too. Not that you’d really want to drink more than one…too sweet for that.

Anyway…this Tuesday I will be late in visiting…

Next week I may miss all together unless I prepost. We are taking J to college!! Move in day is the 21st. Crazy!!

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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