I know I’ve blogged it before, and I’m sure I’ll blog it again, but I love the image mosaic generator. You upload one of your own photos and it gathers images from flickr and turns it into a mosaic. How cool is that? If you click on my butterfly you can see the tiny photos that form the image. I used it to make the background for my twitter account too, click here if you want to check it out. Okay, enough said, go and make one yourself!
I’ve been playing with my new Wacom pen and tablet. I took a photo of my daughter Lizzi and “painted” over it in Corel Painter. Fastest portrait I ever painted! There’s no substitute for the real thing, the smell of the paint and the way it feels in the brush, but I have to admit, this was pretty fun and there’s no clean up! If you click on the image you can view a close-up of the piece and see the brush strokes. There’s so much to learn that it’s a little overwhemling, maybe I should take a class?
One of the things I like best about summer is the smell of the honeysuckle vines I have growing next to the backyard gate. In the evening, when the air outside begins to cool, the night breeze gathers the sweetness of the little yellow flowers and carries it into the house through an open window, laying it before me…the perfect summer gift.
I’ve been attempting to make a dent in this huge mulch pile. To show you how big it is (so you can feel really sorry for me) I put my gigantic Irish Wolfhound, Nikki, on the pile for perspective. As you can see I will probably be shoveling mulch for the next month, poor bookbabie, her little hands are already calloused and raw. Okay, back to work, blog break is over…
I haven’t been reading much lately, between my mom’s health issues and my garden chores, I’ve been busy (and a little tired and stressed out too). Last night I grabbed my camera and ventured out into my backyard. It felt good to do something creative, to slow down, breathe, and appreciate nature’s gifts.
My gardener friends say I’m supposed to cut the chives back now, but how can I, they’re so pretty when they bloom!
One of my Clematis blooms, I’ve planted them everywhere, some are happy, others would like more attention than I’ve been willing and able to provide (kinda like kids).
Our uptown ducks, we usually try to run them off, but this year we gave up. They eat the bugs off the surface of the water so we figure they are doing their part to clean the pool (if only they didn’t quickly digest those bugs and poop them right back out we’d be golden).
Cpl. William A. Long, an Army honor guard member who helped bury about 600 soldiers before deciding that he wanted to aid the military effort in Iraq, died in a grenade attack while there and was buried at Arlington National Cemetary on June 27, 2005. Brig. Gen. John MacDonald presents the American flag that was on Cpl. Long’s coffin to his mother, Susan Cordner. (Photograph by Jay Talbott/Scripps Howard News Service)
“Our heroes are those who act above and beyond the call of duty and in so doing give definition to patriotism and elevate all of us…. America is the land of the free because we are the home of the brave.” David Mahoney
My mom is home from the hospital and doing better so I’ve been busy buying flowers and catching up on my gardening this week. My favorite all around gardening guide is published by Reader’s Digest. It covers everything and anything you might need to know from planting to pruning to pests. It’s been a tough ten days, I think I’ll go get some dirt under my fingernails…there’s no doubt about it, flowers are food for the soul. Thanks for all your kind words and prayers, what would we do without the support of our friends and our family:)
Well, Larry and Curly are gone, poor little Moe is still in the nest as I write this but seems to be thinking about leaving. Mom and dad fluttered around and hollared at them all morning to get the kids to go. I’ll miss them, but now I can toss out the wreath and hang my summer wreaths. How fun it was to be able to watch them up close and personal this spring. Look back at my May 8th post and compare it to today’s final pics to see how quickly they went from fragile, bald little guys to fine feathered teens….just checked, we now have an empty nest!
bookbabie 