A Little B&W

My plans went awash today.....planned on working in the garden, but rains came instead. There is always another day.  Did something I should have done a week ago, but the days were too pretty to stay inside. I was asked to be the "official" photographer for Naper Settlement's Civil War Days, so for 2 days I was a lucky girl to snap any and all pictures to my heart's content. Two of their "regular" photographers came (unexpected I think, thus the invite to me), so now the Settlement will have an over-abundance of images to choose from. I think I took well over a 1,000 pictures in those two days, and no they will not get 1,000 edited pictures from me. I have a mix of glorious technicolor along with some b&w's. Sometimes the image urges me to try b&w.  I don't know about you, but I have a really difficult time changing anything to b&w. I don't think in b&w, I even dream in color. I have to change my perspective, slow down and think about the image. If it doesn't work, it is easily re-set. So without further discussion on the if's, and's, and maybe's of changing photos to b&w here are a few of mine.....

I love that I captured most of these without a pose, kinda like "street photography" but not quite.

A couple of pics of the children, now these I did not change to b&w, they are so sweet in color.

Time for dinner. Have a good weekend!!

"Life is made up of moments, small pieces of 

glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement. 

It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, 

but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most 

of us lead now, that won't happen. We have to teach 

ourselves how to make room for them, 

to love them, and to live, really live."  

~  Anna Quindlen

Until next time....

Bullets, Birds, and Buds

The hummingbirds are loving the feeder this year....I know I have at least two that come regularly, but as I said those "faster than a speeding bullet" birds are tricky to catch on camera.  But.....this morning as I walked out to the back porch for my usual coffee and newspaper, there she? was.  I slowly, slowy walked into the kitchen to grab my camera with the BIG lens and then again slowly, slowly walked out to the yard and ta da.  I can do wonders in bathrobe and slippers.

That little piece of fluff on her? beak is from some trees around here.  That fluff is flying everywhere, sticking to everything, creating a mess. I thought maybe it was cottonwood trees, looked it up on google and sure enough that's where the fluff is coming from. Did you know that there are male and female cottonwood trees, the females are the messy ones. Surprise, you would have thought it would be the males since most males I am acquainted with are definitely the messier of the species. (except for me)

And the peonies are blooming.....

Petals are bountiful, scent is delicious, colors are superb, they are a most beautiful flower.  It is just too bad they are here for such a short time.  This year my two bushes were kinda sparse on blooms. I know it is because they get less and less sun each year as bushes and trees grow taller.  I have a spot in my garden that could probably use a new peony bush. Mine are the old fashioned kind (about 40 years old) that droop. The new ones have stronger stems so they stand tall.  Yup, probably drop a few more coins.

"It always seemed to me that the herbaceous peony

is the very epitome of June. Larger than any rose,

it has something of the cabbage rose's voluminous

quality; and when it finally drops from the vase, it 

sheds it petticoats with a bump on the table, all in

an intack heap, much as a rose will suddenly fall,

making us look up from our book or conversation, 

to notice for one moment the death of what had

still appeared to be a living beauty."

Vita Sackville-West

Until next time.....

Dropped A Few More Coins

My poor Bailey (granddaughter who has been living with me since August) is still waiting to hear if she has been accepted into a new job she interviewed for over a month ago.  The job, if she gets it, would mean a move to Omaha, NB, which means ofcourse, I will lose my roommate of nearly a year. I know she really wants to move on with her life, and I want that for her too, but damn I'm gonna miss her.  After living alone for 4 years, new life was brought into my tiny little domain, new life with Bailey and with Boone (her kitten, I relented and let her buy). I will miss our TV watching together, our shopping trips, our runs to our favorite frozen yogurt place, but time and life moves on.

Right now she is headed to Champagne, IL to assist a store in need, so I really think this is the end of her life with Nana. Sob! On the positive side, I get a closet back. Deanna, it sounds like you need a good clean-out of your walk-in closet (translated means large) if you need an overflow closet.  It's on my list of "to do's".  Enough about cleaning, it's summer. So, after dropping her off at the car rental place I headed over to a favorite garden center. Uh oh, I did it again, dropped a few more coins and brought home more bloomin' beauties. And caught a glimpse of an early season butterfly.

Must get outdoors to plant those beauties I brought home. Hope your day is glorious!!

"Life is full of miracles, but they're not always the ones we pray for."  ~  Eve Arden

Linking to Kim at Little Things Thursday and TexWiseGirl for her Good Fences

Until next time,