I Appreciate Pinterest

She's my traveler and simple is easiest. 

Always add some bows to this little miss from Alabama!


She has the tousled heavy eye look down pat when she wants to be a brat! Just kidding! Good lower lip pout, thou.

She can pull a hat off like no other cowboy and these camouflage flats would be cute on her! 

Within my Pinterest boards I have created personal collections of files that remind me of that special person. This file happens to be my little daughter-in-law.

Isn't it funny how you see people differently than they see themselves? If truth be told all of these style pics would suit me just fine! Maybe I see myself at her age with all the opportunities stretched out in her path.

Watch out kids, I have boards for all of you! Including husband honey, your board is a list of "honey dos"!  

When It's This Darn Chilly

Let me give you a layering lesson from Hoot's Holler. First, hand knit, Irish wool, socks. "Longies" next. 

Slide on your snow pants, put on a vintage L.L. Bean, wool sweater (that I purchased last time I was in Saginaw) and zip her up to your chin. 

I own three sizes of Sorels. "Dress", "around the house" and "serious". Serious is what I wore to Saginaw.  

Topped it off with jacket, hat and scarf. 

Checked the thermometer, in the window, to make sure I wasn't over dressed! It was negative two on the east side of the state. 

Also, windchill considered! 

Loaded the truck for a six hour trip, around mid-Michigan and, back home. 

Benny brought his wool bed and down pillow for warmth and comfort. He looks nice and cozy!

Stopped for gas in Traverse City. 

Filled the truck up and put her into 4x4 mode. 

Snow squalls over the bay. 

One of my favorite scarves I made with scrap yarn. 

Brought my knitting along, to work on, in the truck. Keeps my head down and unaware of treacherous conditions out on the roads. Gasp!! 

The short story of the long version of this photo is that when I was ten years old I had an Argus, box camera. And on the way up north I talked my mom into stopping so I could take a picture of the big old pine tree. Fifty three years later with all of his family at his roots, I took another shot. 

These are what we drove to Saginaw for! Nine foot transom windows to use over the door and windows on the show room addition! Will help bring natural light into the space. 

Oh yea, I had to take the photo of the windows this morning because it was too dark and cold when we got home. So this is me with my "around the house" Sorels and ski jacket over my bathrobe. Girl from the north country!

Two Weeks In To It!

Here she is a, size 12 AA, shoe box of a space!! Five feet wide and nineteen feet long with ten foot ceilings!

The push and pull of making space. 

The furthest back corner needed some light. 

The ceiling needed some scale of depth. 

A place to sit and think. 

I still have bedding swatches to hang and vintage textiles to fold over the ladder. Wall paper books to (hang, that's a novel idea!) I was going to stack them but now I will pile my "lines" books on shelves instead. I have the hooks packed up somewhere!! Where??? That's been the question all week, where did I put the stapler...measuring tape and printer paper when I moved? 

And then, Hallelujah! The bright side appeared, the Fed Ex driver showed up at my door with packages for Anchor Cottage Freshwater Decor! 

Dash and Albert, new for 2019, rug swatches are here! This pile is especially fresh! They will be trickling in, as they become available, all of February and March.

 I have been culling all of my fabric swatches, before I hang them up, to make sure they are currant. Same with the rug swatches and bedding swatches.

So here I am! "Snug as a bug in a rug!" 

Using The Camera

To learn the new camera I need to practice taking photos. There are so many aspects to shooting a still life, for instance. That it stands still is a plus! 

Getting up close and using the Macro lens while being aware of the light source and being on eye level to capture the object as you want it to be seen. 

Sometimes the photo is more interesting if there are disparities within the frame of the composition. 

Filtering the light to bring out the bright and dark areas that are in sharp contrast to each other. 

To practice shooting the horizon line, the point is practicing, so when you swing your camera up to your eye that you automatically line up the horizontal line.   

These photos were culled from a larger selection of practice photos. It is always rewarding to get one right! 

This photo is shot from an angle, with a Macro lens, ambient lighting from behind my right shoulder. Careful not to cast shadows. 

Focus, hold your breath, press plunger and don't move! See the clarity of the different shades of green!  

Sweet. 

Now I am showing off! My windowsill Amaryllis are blossoming beautifully. Like girls dancing with head pieces of sheer petals, letting the light filter through.   

Contrast is an issue to be worked out. It could be a matter of taste in how you want your composition lighted. 

The true color against a bright background. Notice the difference?

Lighting is the largest thought process a photographer can make. The film speed, natural light vs flash for fill, shadows and dark corners are tricky components to have to think about when taking a picture.

The only way to learn your camera is using it consistently. Even if it means standing in the middle of your home, making digital tweaks, compensating for the lighting variances over and over again with the same still life shots! That is called practice.

I think back when I used a light meter and set the shutter speed manually. Bracketed the shots for under and over exposures. Learning all the nuances of a "digital" camera is time consuming for me. I'm not sure I have the digital brain for this! Only time will tell and with a lot of practice.   

January Procrastination

suziworld.tumblr

Three chores hang heavy on my mind. Taxes, cleaning and rearranging my main floor living area and setting up the decorating studio.

Lalah Delia

Instead, here I sit, in front of my computer, perusing my pinterest files. "Whiling away the hours". 

Libby Cameron

Trying to be inspired in one direction or the other. It may be easier to go back to bed!

Barbara Garfield

This little house has been a favorite of mine since Traditional Home magazine featured it in 1999.

Cameron Kimber

I especially like the plants, corralled, in the woven basket on the table. Something about the greenery in the natural wicker calls to me. Maybe that is where I will start the day, driving to the nursery and buying fresh foliage! 

Think I will have another cup of coffee instead!

Glazed Over First Week Of January

I am officially retired from retail. So I make sketchy lists of what I plan to do day by day. In January you need to have plan B and even plan C depending on the winter weather.  

This morning I had plans to meet a friend at Strong Heart for our two mile walk. But all the schools are closed and the driveway is a sheet of ice. 

What is plan B? 

Plan B is take some photos and post a blog.

The Amaryllis are jamming. 

Planted the bulbs in mid November. Four of the bulbs are new and two of the bulbs are on their third season! 

Benny won't go outside to do his duty. The wind is blowing and it is very slick outside the front door. He ate some breakfast and turned around and went right back to bed. 

Perfect temperature for freezing rain, between the wind and the ice everything has a coating.

Looking to the east, at the little shed in the back, the window is caked over with a frozen mixture of rain and ice. 

The figure in this leaded glass window looks like an icon for the Ice Queen. 

All the whirligigs are frozen in mid-flight. 

Husband is working on his plan B as well. His truck is completely iced over and so is the driveway. Fortunately he has work to do in the garage painting shutters. "Winter work" when you are stuck in the Holler. 

I have plan C all lined up. 

Sewing new pillows and cushion covers for the decorating studio. I am using the large, navy and white checks, trimmed in Kelly green linen to freshen up the curtains that I already have.

There you have it! What some of us northerners do on an icy day!