Moans & Groans

So after 'Kisses & Keys' comes 'Moans & Groans', or even 'Aches and Pains'... I couldn't decide which.  Bryan and Shawna rolled up their sleeves and didn't waste any time getting right to work.  

I think the previous owners threw a pot of coffee in each room before they moved out!

ALL the kitchen cabinets needed LOTS of elbow grease to get them clean... but we did it!!

Kisses & Keys

"Houston... we have a house!"

Chairs

Almost everywhere I go, I find myself photographing chairs.  I don't know why I am so drawn to them.  I have two like the ones in this picture.  I got them a few years ago when Tante Rose was moving from her ranch house into a mobile home.  I got a few other treasurers that day too. 

Winter Blahs

I've got the winter blahs.  I desperately need some inspiration.  Dave is still working/staying out of town (since December 6), and I hate it.  I'm trying to come up with a weekend plan... any suggestions?

Stress Release

Yesterday I had a choice... scream or go for a drive.  I picked the drive.  There is no worse frustration than to see a parent ruin their child's life.  If you work at a school, you see it every day.

Holy Chihuahua!

Nurse Laurie came through again with birthday cookies for Jane in a theme that suited her perfectly... Chihuahuas!  (Her dog, Fiona, is a chihuahua and Jane ADORES her!)

Moo

Muppets

Again, I'm glad I had my camera with me at work yesterday when this group of boys came to show me their masks.  As a group they decided to decorate them as the Sesame Street characters.  Very clever! 

Masked Men

I love it when kids come to the office and ask me to take their picture.  I don't always have my camera, but yesterday I did when these 'masked men' came up.  Making masks is a 6th grade art project.

Knock Knock

My Santa Fe friend is in town this week so we met yesterday for a drink.  She reminded me of the summer I went to Santa Fe to visit her.  I would wake up early in the mornings (of course!), and take a walk into town with my camera.  My first stop was Starbucks, then I'd just wander the streets.  I loved the doorways of the houses in that beautiful city. 

Since I'm directionally handicapped, I'd then pray that I could find my way back to Lori's house!

This is Lori walking in to her house.

Pick a Color

Someone gave me a photo inspiration book.  One of the projects was to pick a color and just photograph everything with that color for the day.  Well, being as I didn't go anywhere yesterday, I made the project easy and picked 'rust' because there is an abundance of it around my house.  Next time I'll make the project harder and pick purple!

Morning Coffee

It's fun to play with pictures with my morning coffee.  That's what I did today.  I got up at 4:30... and seven cups of coffee later I'm done playing with one picture.  I didn't take the photograph of this beautiful bride, I just enhanced it.

Original

Horses

If God made anything more beautiful, 

He kept it for himself.  

~Author Unknown

Major Procrastinator!

Today is the last day of my three week winter break.  How did I spend it?  Getting picture orders together that I should have done at least a week ago.  Oh well... it did feel good to do nothing for a change!

Missing Teeth

Kevin had all four wisdom teeth cut out Tuesday.  He's in pain, but he's always had a high pain tolerance.  (Plus he has pills for that.)  What he is having the hardest time with is not being able to eat everything he wants.  Tuesday after his surgery he had two large orders of mashed potatoes and gravy, a Jambajuice, a milkshake, and two protein shakes with added carbs.   Yesterday we added homemade French fries and pancakes to that list. 

Tea Time

When I went out to get the mail yesterday, this perfect camellia was on the ground.  I couldn't just let it rot there, so I brought it inside.  It would have to float in water since there was no stem.   I had just finished a cup of tea, and this teacup made the perfect vase for it.

Do you ever have tea in a beautiful little teacup?  You should try it.  

Still Life

We bought some pears Saturday at the S.F. Farmer's Market, and before eating them, I was playing around with some still life photos.  (It's not as easy as it looks!)  Kevin went to our fruit bowl and composed his own 'still life' photo for me to take.  (Joyce... all this needed was one of your 'special' peppers!!) 

Kevin thought he was pretty clever.  I don't think he'll be as perky today after he gets all four of his wisdom teeth cut out!  :-(

Dishes For Sale

Today I decided to part with this set of dishes.  I have no place to store them and really nothing to use them for.  I just like vintage things!  So I took some pictures and Kevin is going to figure out how to sell them on Craig s List.  Of course he told me I have to pay him commission.  Geeze... is he forgetting who is feeding him this month?? 

Here We Go Again!!

I'm not committing to a 365 day blog this year... I'll just post when I get the urge!

I made clam chowder today.  I hate making this recipe, but I love Kevin, and this is his favorite.

A few years ago he and Dave went skiing and I promised I would make him this clam chowder.  Well, I had so much fun home alone and time just slipped away.  So right before they got home, I hurried to Red Lobster and bought enough clam chowder for dinner.  I dumped it into my stockpot and hid the Red Lobster containers.  Kevin took one taste and said... "You bought this at Red Lobster, didn't you?"