Tired

This morning before we began our errands, P told me she was really tired.

She fell asleep in the car between stops 4 and 5.

She remained asleep when I got her out of the car and woke up to tell me she wanted to ride in a cart. She promptly put her head down on the cart handle and continued to snooze.

P stayed asleep until I put her back in the car. I told her we were going home and she could go back to sleep. She looked awake when she insisted she was not going to sleep, but she was out before I finished loading the groceries.

When I laid her on the couch she opened her eyes long enough to request Max and Ruby, but not long enough to see that I complied.

Now more than 2 hours after she first fell asleep in the car, she is still out cold.

P is REALLY tired.

What Is It?

No, really. What is it?

I picked this flower from a friends yard and the image is my new most favorite.

But what kind of flower is it? I know I could Google it and I do have an idea what it is, but asking the Internet is so much more fun.

And if you are the first to tell me, I'll send you a free 5x7 print of this image (or one of the others in my etsy shop if you prefer).

You have your assignment. Now go.

That Can't Be Real

Earlier this week while taking 4 to the doctor, we saw some giant pink flowers. I was sure they must be a sculpture or similar, because I'd never seen anything that big before. Being in a bit of a hurry for the appointment, we decided to investigate on our way home.

On our way home we stopped in the parking lot where we had seen the flowers and indeed, they were real. 4's immediate announcement was that we should take one home. But I wanted to know what the flower was (and maybe get permission) before I hijacked a bloom. We ventured into the two nearest stores and found our answer -- a Giant Hibiscus. We were also given permission to pick a pink bloom and found two to our liking.

The Giant Hibiscus bloom was bigger than my head. Bigger than a dinner plate. They were also extremely fragile and bruised easily. But they were a joy to photograph and enjoy for the few hours they lasted.

These images really don't do justice the SIZE of this flower, but I think I did capture the beauty and intense color.

Blue

So what do you think?

I love to photograph flowers. I love to examine the shapes and forms and textures. I enjoy caputuring the colors.

I do minimal fixing - mostly cropping for better composition and color correcting.

But this is not a natural blue. The lily was lemon yellow, but a quirk of the software turned it blue when I tried using "auto levels" - not my usual procedure.

But somehow - I love it.

If you love it too, look for it soon in my Etsy shop.

Sharing the Passion

A few months ago I rearranged my house a bit to allow me to take over some of the basement so that I could set up my studio permanently. I hoped that having my equipment out would encourage and allow me to photograph whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, without being deterred by the set-up process.

So far it's worked.

The permanent studio has had the added advantage of getting a couple of my kids bitten by the photography bug. Today has I was working on an idea I've had for a few weeks, Two (age 8)asked if she could help and then asked if she could take a few pics too. Before long Five (age 3.5) was in on the act too.

I love seeing my kids explore new things and it's even more fun when they take an interest in something I enjoy.

Seperation Anxiety

Wendesday evening we had a huge storm that took out the power and had P wandering the house saying "What is happening, what is happening?"

 

The storm took out our less than a week old DSL modem, which the service provider assured us they would replace and would even send it overnight and we would have it Friday latest.

 

Turns out "Friday latest" really meant "Monday earliest." 

 

When I thought I would only have to live without my connection for two days max, I was a bit jittery, but perfectly capable of surviving.

 

When I learned that I would have to make it through an additional THREE days without my connection I went over the edge.  Must check blogs right now!  Who cares if I don't have a connection.  I am wireless.  The neighbors are wireless, but have not secured their wireless.  I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow it for just a minute.

 

Ahhhh.  Much better now.

The Downside of Swimming Lessons

I now have a 3 year old who believes she can swim like her older brother and 2 older sisters and better than her 1 older but not bigger brother, but can't touch the bottom of the pool or really tread water for very long, loves to jump in or swim to me without informing me of her plans and has no fear.