• Gardens,  Life In General,  Miscellaneous

    Sunflowers ~ CoffeeShop Orton Style

    I was trying out some different CoffeeShop Actions today during my lunch hour and came up with this…….. I took this photo this morning as the sun was cresting over the rooftops.  The sunflowers were heavy with the rain from last night, and there were a few more new blooms.  I created this effect using the CoffeeShop Orton action for PhotoShop Elements.   I like the way it softens the image.  The actions are very easy to use, and I like how Rita has designed it so you have the ability to adjust levels if you so desire.   I’m having too much fun with these…. and so much more to explore.

  • Gardens,  Life In General,  Miscellaneous

    One Wedding and Sunflowers

    Happy Saturday to you all!  If you want to see the best wedding march I have seen, check out this link….sorry, I haven’t quite figured out the embedding so you will have to click and leave me for a few minutes….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0 So you’re back now…..wasn’t that a hoot!  😀 I also have some more sunflowers to show you……..yes, yes, I know you have seen them before ~ but not these!  😉           If you click on the image, you can see a larger size of it….or you can check out all my sunflowers at The Great Sunflower Project set I have set up on Flickr.  Click on the smaller…

  • Outside My Window

    Outside My Window ~ 7.19.09

    Outside My Window…is me.  I’m sitting outside again this morning.  At 8:30, it is 74 degrees, but it is humid.  There is a slight breeze so that makes it better.  Mostly sunny, with some random clouds floating overhead and blocking the sun momentarily.   I have had my run…I can do 2.25 miles in about a half an hour now so I have decided I can run 3 miles on the weekends ~ after today.  The weekly morning runs, well their length depends on what time I roll out of bed. 🙂 I am thinking…about entering my first bee data on The Great Sunflower Project web site later today.  Yup, I…

  • Gardens,  Life In General,  Miscellaneous

    Sunshine and Sunflowers

    When I came home Tuesday afternoon, I discovered my neighbor had removed a tree that had blocked the sun from my garden area for a decent portion of the day.  She had talked about taking it down but said she wasn’t going to do so until next year.  Now my sunflowers are getting pretty much all day sun, and they are loving it……. As with all my photos now, if you click on the photo, it will take you to another page to see a much larger image.  In this particular photo, if you look real close over the middle bloom, you can see the moon…..teeny tiny, but still there. …

  • Gardens,  Life In General

    First Bloom

    I couldn’t help but take this photo this morning before leaving for work….my first bloom has totally opened up, glistening with drops of last nights rains. Isn’t it beautiful?  Remember I said how much the plants have grown…..in order to take this photo, I had to stand on my tiptoes with my arms extended over my head hoping I had it centered.  I’m seriously going to need a ladder to get photos of some of the other ones when they bloom!!  🙂 Thanks to the Great Sunflower Project for the seeds so that I may grow these beauties….I will soon be bee watching in my yard.

  • Outside My Window

    Outside My Window ~ 7.12.09

    Outside My Window…actually, I am sitting on my back patio ‘outside my window’……errr, sliding glass doors.  I have finished my 2.25 run on this beautiful, 78 degree, fairly muggy morning.  And oh yes, it was hot when I was running.  As I said, I am now in my tiny backyard enjoying a cup of blackberry sage iced tea (in my cool Catalina Island cup ~ ahhhh, Avalon ~ thanks Doo!) as I cool down.  I thought “why not” sit out here and do my thing because after the run this morning, it actually feels nice and cool sitting here.   🙂 I am thinking…why a couple of my tomato leaves on…

  • Life In General,  Miscellaneous

    A Run Through The Neighborhood….

    One of the nice things about running through your neighborhood is the sites you see……the different flowers, different wildlife, different ways people landscape their yards, and of course the people.  There is a couple (he is a massage therapist and personal trainer, she is a teacher) that gets up early and run….some mornings they are sitting on their porch enjoying a beverage afterwards and are always quick to shout  “hello, how are you” and “you’re looking good, keep up the great work” as I run past.  A little encouragement never hurt anyone! During my run this morning, I was thinking about what kind of post I could do today….and I thought why not…

  • Outside My Window

    Outside My Window ~ 6.7.2009

    Outside My Window…sun is finally coming out……currently 68 degrees with a forecasted high of 80 with a mix of clouds and sun.  It is fairly humid outside, probably as a result of all the rain we got Friday evening.  And did it rain!  I just noticed on the weather channel our rain total for the month of June is 2 ¼ inches……..I wouldn’t be at all surprised if most of that came Friday night.  It would pour rain, slack off a little bit for a couple of minutes and then pour rain again.  This went on from late afternoon into the night.  But everything is so green and clean looking…

  • Gardens

    Saturday Snapshots

    I worked outside most of the day today…….pulling up lots of grass that suddenly appeared in the corner garden and tackling the front garden.  I thought I would share some photos with you……. This is the corner garden I triumphantly removed the stump from several weeks back.  The jasmine plant I put here is doing well…..loving the new home.  And the violets too.  Bottom right corner you can see the sunflowers.  Here is another shot…… These are the sunflowers I planted from the seeds I received from The Great Sunflower Project I had posted earlier.  I hope some of you sent off for them and yours are growing too.  And check…