Day 180

Some day my prince will come
Some day I'll find my love
And how thrilling that moment will be
When the prince of my dreams comes to me 

Doesn't this look like Snow White's house? I was walking with my friend last night around her neighborhood, helping her work out some settings on her camera, when she took me by "The Snow White House" she calls it. Isn't that cute? I wanted to just capture the roof line. There were beautiful roses and other flowers enveloping the brick and cast iron fencing, but the focus is on the roof. Love the layers of shingles, the lines go on forever. Fun!

Day 179

(cue music) It's a pillow - it's a pet - it's a pillow pet! (lalalala)

Little one and her collection. She pays for them herself, because I will not pay $20.00 plus tax and/or shipping on another one! She is just as happy as a little pig in mud when they're all around her. She sleeps with them, passes them out while watching movies, and names them things like, Mr. Fireburper. Gotta love originality. I'm actually scared for my grandchildren.. what might their names be?

Day 179

ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/640, 50 mm

Day 178

I love daisies!! These are little mini ones. They spread like wildfire! I brought them back as little shoots from my dad's place in WA several years ago. I've transplanted, weeded, picked.. everything you can think of. I don't think I will ever be barren of these little guys. But, I love 'em! They sit in between my hostas and sedum.

They greet me walking to the garbage, and make me smile!

Day 178

ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/1250, 50 mm

Day 177

I am SO thankful for underground sprinkler systems! I have never had good luck with the cool ones. You know, the high ones that go back and forth that the kids get to run through. They'd just stick in one place and not go anywhere no matter how expensive sprinklers I would buy. I'm sure they make for prettier pictures, too. But, all in all, I will just sit here and be thankful. This is my sprinkler shot. I put my camera on the ground, and shot. Pretty decent.. 

Day 177

ISO 200, f/2.5, 1/2000, 50 mm

Day 176

My green peppers are growing! I've always wanted a garden. I remember my mom working long hours on our huge garden while I was little. I know, a lot of work, but rewarding, right? Living in the city, I am not really going to trust the soil already present, so I am working in some containers. I'm starting off slowly, til I get the hang of it, then see how I can progress from year to year.

Day 176

ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/40, 50 mm

Day 175

Look who was outside my window! He was fast, though. Every time my camera clicked, I'd look and he was in a different spot and turned around all together. This is our state bird, the Northern Cardinal. They are a lot of fun to see, and seem to like our backyard. I wish I could find their nests. They are a lot better at hiding them than the little guys on our satellite dish and motion lights! 

Day 175

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/320, 230 mm

Day 174

Zucchini flower! Oh yeah.. blowing you away with this one today, right? LOL Anyway, I like them. I saw them outside my window this morning excited to be alive. I think they're beautiful! Look at the little "whiskers" it has. Cool! :)

(hey, when you've been sick for 3-4 days, everything looks new and beautiful again!)

Day 174

ISO 200, f/3.5, 1/640, 50 mm

Day 173

Basketball camp! Today I picked up the youngest from her last day. She had a BLAST. The coaches were amazing, and she even took on her dad with a little one-on-one when he got home tonight. He said she'd learned a lot, and she's a great little defender!

Here is one last team huddle.. what a great group of people that led this. Thank you, Moody Church!  Imagine, the Chicago Bulls practice here some.. same courts. So fun!

Day 173

ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/80, 50 mm

Day 172

I've been down for the count for pretty much 4 days now. Today I caught up a bit, had a fun family photo shoot to do, then picked up my youngest from her basketball camp. The "boys" (hubby and 13 yr old) came home from our son's Omaha baseball tournament, and it's starting to feel a bit like normal again.

I LOVE gerbera daisies! LOVE them I say! But it's also fun to see them from a different angle, and I liked how the backyard seemed to melt into the distance. So, this is the one for the day.

Day 172

ISO 200, f/2, 1/80, 50 mm

Day 171

Switching it up a bit here. Trying out a little bit more plain logo stamp, more masculine for baseball photos, or for business..etc. 

But, I'm still infatuated with the "weed" of yesterday! :) The seeds are huge, and I'm throwing them all in the back by the garbage. Maybe they'll take? haha I know.. some of you are horrified.

Day 171

ISO 200, f/2, 1/60, 50 mm

(b/w)

Day 170

I found one!! SO hard to find these in Chicago unless they are by the expressways in areas that haven't been manicured in a while. I love them! I even dug it up when I was done taking photos and brought it home to my daughter and friends. 

Day 170

ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/400, 50 mm

Day 169

I love these orange roses on the other street. I have stopped a couple times to take photos, but the sun has always been too bright. I added a texture and just had fun with it. I kinda like how it turned out!

 Day 169

 ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/4000, 50 mm

(added texture)

Day 168

New roses in front! I do not have the greatest collection of flowers, but every once in a while the several times over transplanted bushes throw out some beautiful roses!

Day 168

ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/1250, 50 mm

Day 167

I will have fresh tomatoes, I will have fresh tomatoes.....

Last year we went on a huge ride across America. From Chicago to WA State where I'm from, I took so many photos! I only wish I had been blogging and doing a 365!! What a missed opportunity, and I'm still kicking myself about it.

When we got home, I was sad to see my tomato plants had died. There were some tomatoes hanging in there, and some were rather good! Our yard had also hosted a tomato plant smack in the middle of the grass. It's amazing what your yard is actually hosting when you leave it for 2 months to seed!

This year I am determined to keep up my little potted gardens. Here's to some fresh tomatoes!

Day 167

Settings:

ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/1600, 50 mm

Day 166

I've been a little bit behind lately...in a good way! I've booked several shoots, so I've been editing, running around with everyday life..etc. I have been taking pictures every day, however! 

As I'm cleaning house, I can't help but wonder, who needs this many silly bands? I will look back at my photos one day, and see what was popular at the time my kids were growing up. These are definitely the rage. I have them in my shower (which also leads me to the drain problem we had), the kitchen, inside my vacuum, and possibly every corner of my house I have not yet attended to. 

Day 166

Settings:

ISO 200, f/2.5, 1/30, 50 mm

Day 165

Pooh Bear has to be my all time favorite. I love the stories, the characters, the idiosyncrasies and all. With that said, I cannot look at a thistle and not think, Eeyore. Remember him? He was always down in the dumps, losing his tail, and loving his thistles. Here is my tribute to Eeyore today.

Day 165

Settings:

ISO 200, f/2.2, 1/3200, 50 mm

Day 164

We have a million ways of saying, "A family that _____ together, stays together!" We yell this out while doing all sorts of things all year. But on this day, "A family that puts a trampoline together, stays together!" is our motto for today. I also got the expected "Hey, it might be more efficient to help put this together than take pictures." Ya ya ya.....

We finally got it! We waited almost a week and a half. The playset is long gone, but we are thrilled to have something else the kids can't wait to get out to do. Any way they can get rid of excess energy, the better!

Day 164

Settings:

ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1250, 35 mm

Day 163

Oh yes, this is what I attempted to do today! Late night last night, early morning baseball game, so it was nice! The smell of fresh cut grass, the wind in my hair.. the airplanes over head.. 

*screeches to a halt* 

Yes, the airplanes. Some people hear birds, we hear the big ones! I'm beginning to get a little more used to it. They're fun to watch. Such is the city life. A lot different from country life!

Day 163

Settings:

ISO 800, f/2, 1/640, 50 mm

(evening)

Day 162

All in a day's play. The kids were out with the neighbors today. The chalk came out, and the end result.. the sidewalk looks beautiful. Gotta have this one in my collection, too! This was our neighbor's work. Cute, huh? 

Day 162

Settings:

ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/500, 50 mm

(evening)

Day 161

Summer is here for us!! This picture means the pool is open, kids are having their friends over, and it time to unwind! (or wind up in some cases) I just needed this in my collection because this is how I spend a lot of my time. Replenishing the basket of towels outside... it's okay. It means we're all enjoying the outdoors again!

 Day 161 

Settings:

ISO 800, f/2.5, 1/100, 50 mm

(evening)

Day 160

After the thunderstorm last night, I trekked out to see the damage. Not much, but seriously, a lot of water! My radio station even chimed in with the alerts for flash flooding. 

The only thing of interest I could find were the settling raindrops. I think our plants were happy after 90+ degrees all week! 

Day 160

Settings:

ISO 200, f/2, 1/1250, 50 mm

Day 159

Another day at the pond. I loved the reeds poking up along the sides, so I hunched behind them and focused on the ones actually in the pond. That's it, I just liked the colors and composition.

Day 159

Settings:

ISO 200, f/2.8, ss 1/2000, 50 mm

Day 158

I LOVE Alium! I wish this were my backyard, but sadly, it's not. This was taken on a little walk at the park after some classes downtown.

Day 158

Settings:

ISO 200, f/2.8, ss 1/2000, 50 mm

Day 157

More baseball! I would not be "being true" to myself if I didn't have half of my 365 stalked with baseball photos. I am trying to be more selective, but also challenging myself to get some better plays. This also means paying more attention to what's going on, and yes.. I actually knew what inning we were in the other night! 

My son is pitching, and this particular game picked off a kid at second. Sweet move! Guess I was talking, because I kinda missed it. Great play, but then I worked on trying to recreate the scene a little bit with this one. 

Day 157

Settings:
ISO 200, f/5.6, ss 1/640, 160 mm

Day 156

Going to church on Sundays, we walk out of the parking garage and always comment on this cool tree. Every Sunday, I think, "I don't need to bring my camera to church this morning," and then I see this tree again. Then I say, "I really need to take a picture of this tree!" :) So today... I remembered! It's that crazy vine that runs up and down the tree, but no leaves ever grow on it. 

I changed the photo to black and white to look timeless, right MeRa? haha I like to think that she's on my blog every night infatuated with every word and photo of my blog... HAH I'm just kidding.

I liked the black and white because it was less distracting as I was taught. It sort of looks stamped with the way the leaves don't seem to touch the branches in any way.

Day 156

Settings:

ISO 200, f/5.6, ss 1/50, 50 mm

Day 155

There's crickets and tadpoles
Turtles and frogs

Down by the creek bank
By the old holler log

There's spiders and fireflies
Earthworms that crawl

Down by the creek bank
By the old holler log 

 

- excerpt from "Down by the Creek Bank" 

by Dottie Rambo

 

I just can't keep singing this little song when I see this little pond. It's a fun little song I learned when I was little. We were at the baseball tournament today by that old pond with so much life! Got some awesome photos. I wish I lived there!

Day 155

Settings:

ISO 200, f/5.6, ss 1/1000, 250 mm

 

 

Day 154

I didn't get out much today by way of pictures, but I was thrilled to be headed back to the baseball fields where we found the bullfrogs nearby. Bottom line? We were late, the sun had gone down, and I was scrambling for my photo. So, what did I do? I remembered back to my weekend workshop where we pushed that ISO and got great photos! So I pushed it, and got that slivery moon. Yay for understanding so much more! 

Day 154

Settings:
ISO 800, f/7.1, ss 1/15, 85 mm

Day 153

My peonies have opened! They are so beautiful and the smell is amazing! The colors are gorgeous, yet I feel like I've still not given them justice. Beauty is all around us, isn't it?

Day 153

Settings:

ISO 400, f/1.8, ss 1/2500, 50 mm

Day 152

The youngest is totally into Nancy Drew! She's reading The Secret of the Old Clock. I loved that series! With the weather turning so much better, the perfect place to read is the pool, on a float, pushing herself from side to side with her feet.

Day 152

Settings:
ISO 400, f/2.8, ss 1/3200, 50 mm