Total George overload

I have been having a rough time of it lately and the only reason I’m telling you this right now is because our dog is so often my saving grace lately. Troubles come and go, as we all know ~ and no matter who we are, none of us are exempt, are we?

So in my melancholy mood on this beautiful Saturday afternoon in September, I set up my chair and table under the dogwood tree out back and took my knitting basket with me. I’d just been to the yarn shop and bought some beautiful skeins and a beginner’s pattern for a lacy scarf that’s knit on circular needles which I happened to have in the right size. But I couldn’t understand the easy pattern instructions and found myself becoming really frustrated (which was ridiculous), and before I knew it, I was in tears.

Over a knitting pattern? Seriously?

 

I haven’t cried in a long time and I loathe self-pity, but I must have needed it and I’m glad to have it out of my system for now. But the fact of the matter remained that I still couldn’t understand the simple pattern. So I went in the house, found an old project I’d set aside last year, and began the calming, repetitive motions which soon began to help.

I’ll figure it out later, or google it or something.

I detest feeling sorry for myself, especially when I have so much to be thankful for.

 

And this dog is one of my biggest reasons.

The mailman came up the drive earlier that day with a box for my husband from REI. Inside was new pair of boots for him and a warm shirt, plus a little something for his best friend.

I took note that there was nothing for me in the box, but that’s really ok. Because the last time something came for me, I might have been a little offended. I remember writing about it here.

Night comes early

 

But this ball on a string is hands-down George’s favorite toy ever.

I had to run in for the camera and get some shots of his happy face.

 

We played fetch for nearly two hours (with plenty of breaks in-between) while I sat there knitting and throwing.

Throwing and knitting.

 

And he fetched.

 

 

And rested.

 

 

And posed for portraits.

 

 

And had a grand ‘ole time.

* sigh *

If you have a dog who loves to play fetch, I highly recommend this tug ball. And it’s currently 60% off at REI. Here’s the link ~

Life Is Good Dog Toy

ps – george says hello.

Little things

Gifts for you from my husband who was sitting outside on the patio this morning snapping some photos. He used the old Nikon D80 and the Quantaray zoom lens he seems to prefer. He shoots in sport mode for the hummingbirds. I actually prefer shooting them in manual or shutter priority so that I can get the wings frozen in time but his sport mode did an ok job of it, I think.

Overlays (the edges) are from Shadowhouse Creations.

Black Box Overlay, Set 2

 

 

I like the wispiness ~

 

 

And I love this hummingbird feeder.

 

 

It’s true, you know.

 

You just don’t know it yet.

 

Does this tree limb make me look fat?

 

: : :

 

Maybe you can settle an argument I had with my son at the dinner table. Ok, it was more a hotly contested discussion than an argument, but it provided some lively dinner conversation. And it involves something so silly – tipping for take-out meals.

Lately, I’ve been frequenting the nearby Chili’s at dinnertime much more than I care to admit and every time I go, I leave a dollar tip in the jar at the take-out window. I think my dollar tip is quite adequate, but my son, on the other hand, says it should be a percentage of the meal total and basically accused me of being a cheapskate.

My husband said nothing. I do think he was enjoying the entertainment, though.

I do not think it’s generally required to tip for take-out from a restaurant when you are going inside to pick up the meal. Yes for curbside service, and yes for delivery, but really not necessary when you go inside. My son argued the point, saying that those people are bagging it up for you, making sure everything is included and the order is perfect so they deserve a tip – maybe not what you would tip for a sit-down meal, but still more than what his skinflint mother leaves.

I disagreed, then after the meal was finished, looked it up online, and found that it was a hotly-debated subject on a couple of websites. But I didn’t feel really justified until I read Emily Post’s take on it.

And so I e-mailed it to him. And from now on, I’ll be sending HIM to Chili’s and he can leave whatever he wants.

And that’s what I have to say about that.

Sunday morning

I know, I know. I’m sorry - I haven’t written in nearly a week. It’s either feast or famine with me, you see. I although I certainly have my excuses, too many of them are things I don’t want to go into here. But one of my excuses is being absorbed in reading books.

You really can escape into a good book, can’t you?

 

Sunday morning, before I began my leftover Saturday chores, I sat outside with my coffee and my camera.

The air was crisp and lovely with not a hint of humidity. For most of last week, we’d been in a steam bath here which was really getting me down.

 

But Sunday, and then today were absolutely lovely.

 

 

Sometimes I like to shoot right into the sun.

 

Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun, but mama
that's where the fun is. ~Bruce Springsteen, Blinded by the Light

 

"If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before."
-Mitchell Burgess

 

I can feel Mother Earth beginning to close those drapes, and I want this season to last a good long time because I just love Autumn.

And I missed most of it last year.

 

I heard them before I saw them, and this was my fleeting glimpse of the geese flying as I lifted my camera to take their picture.

 

 

A pair of hummingbirds were keeping close watch on the feeders, trying to stay out of the way of the European hornets that have been annoying all of us for the past month. It’s chilly tonight and part of me wants to go outside and kill them with my spray, but the other part of me has just read The Hunger Games where the worst part, as far as I’m concerned, was the lethal yellow jackets.

And so I keep my distance.

And they’re so big, I wonder if the spray will really kill the suckers.

 

 

But the hummers sure are pretty.

And I like ‘em in black & white.

 

 

I could go on and talk about the pretty flowers, but I just don’t have it in me today. I’m sure I’ll snap out of this funk soon.

I think I’ll head back into my book. Sorry I’m not better company ~ but tomorrow’s another day. And it will be a better one.

 

 

And I'm driving a stolen car
On a pitch black night
And I'm telling myself I'm gonna be alright
But I ride by night and I travel in fear
That in this darkness I will disappear

~Bruce Springsteen, Stolen Car

Photoshop tutorial: Dream-like

Since a few of you expressed interest in how I did the dream-like photos in one of my recent posts, I have an easy step-by-step method to share with you. I figured this out on my own one day, so please note that there are many different ways to accomplish something in Photoshop, and this is just my way. I can navigate around in PS, but am self-taught and still have much to learn.

I can’t emphasize that enough.

Here’s the finished version of the image I will be working on for you:

 

I took it this morning while having my coffee outside on the patio. I love the dreamy quality.

I use a PC and the CS5 version of Photoshop.  The first thing I do is to open the image I want to work on, then make a copy of it. Never work on an original image. After I make a copy, I fool around with it to get the color and the contrast the way I want it. For this image, I started with Red Leaf Studio’s Velvet Sage action, lowering the opacity until I liked what I saw.

Now it’s time to get the blur. Have your photo open in PS.

 

STEP 1: Copy the background image.

To do this: In the layers palette (bottom right), click on the thumbnail of your Background layer and drag it on top of the ‘Create a new layer’ icon. It’s the second over from the right at the very bottom right and looks like two rectangles – one on top of the other.

 

STEP 2: Set the Background copy to Gaussian Blur.

To do this: With your Background copy thumbnail highlighted, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

 

STEP 3: Set the amount of blur desired.

To do this: Use the slider to get the desired effect, then hit OK.

 

STEP 4: Add a layer mask to remove blur.

To do this: In the layers palette, with your Background copy thumbnail highlighted, click onto the ‘Add layer mask’ icon. It’s the third from left and looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle. Then, using a large soft black brush, with your opacity and flow set low (mine was at 17%), gently brush off the Gaussian blur from your desired focal point.

You will find your brush in the toolbox palette (far left of the screen). I used ‘soft round pressure opacity’. Then I changed the flow and the opacity in the bar above.

 

Look at the layers palette (bottom right corner). As you brush off the layer mask in the Background copy, you can see how you’re progressing as the area being removed turns gray on the thumbnail. If you make a mistake, just change your brush color to white and paint over the area you want to correct. Don’t forget to change back to black to finish.

At this point, I make my brush smaller and really go over the area that I want to disappear so that the object is more clear (in this case, the bird). If you like, you can raise the opacity and flow a little, or you can just keep going over the same spot. The longer you work your brush over it, the darker the spot will appear in the thumbnail.

 

STEP 5: Flatten the image.

To do this: At bar across the top, Layer > Flatten Image.

 

At this point, I ran Florabella’s Sweet Color action, and lowered the opacity considerably. Then, because I was publishing this photo on my blog, I duplicated the image. I never use the original image on my blog page, always resizing to a smaller width, and often using a watermark.

To get the watermark this time, I simply typed it. To do this: On the duplicated copy , I created a new layer (in layers palette bottom right) and using the Horizontal type tool in the tool palette (far left), I typed my name in Freebooter Script, lowered the opacity, then moved it where I wanted it.

 

Then I set the image size to 800 pixels width. I hit control / alt / I – but it can also be done by going to the top bar and selecting Image > Image size.

 

Hope this helps. Seasoned pro’s will know of a better way to do this, I’m sure. But this works for me and I hope it does for you, as well.

Enjoy ~

I love movies

This past weekend, I went to the local movie theater with my friend from school, Margie. Because of the rain, it was a perfect weekend to watch a flick. We went to see Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as an older married couple whose marital spark had bit the dust. They attend a weekend in Maine at an intensive counseling session with Steve Carell who plays their psychologist. I thought it was a sweet, quiet, and touching movie.

Quite unlike The Hunger Games, which I watched Friday night. Loved it, but it was super intense.

When I came home after watching Hope Springs, and throughout the weekend, I actually felt as though I appreciated my husband all the more. I still feel that way.

Here’s the trailer.

 

.

 

I love watching the previews of new movies while I’m at the theater, and am including two that I’d really like to see.

 

.

Looks interesting.

And then this one with Clint Eastwood.

 

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I don’t go to the theater very often, so it’s kind of special when I do. Just wanted to share with you and hope your week is off to a good start ~

Rainy day, dream away

I slept late on this rainy Labor Day morning. And by late, I mean after 8 am. It’s been pretty dreary the past couple of days but I have no complaints about the weather.

I’m not big on complaining.

 

Looking out the living room window.

 

Rain collecting on the old screens. I like these screens, actually. They’re quite sturdy.

 

I made a cup of coffee and George and I went to sit outside on the front porch. As we watched the gentle rain coming down, I could hear the steady chirp of crickets, traffic in the distance, and that beautiful sound of the rain.

Found a spider web to photograph.

 

Raindrops like tiny diamonds.

 

Rainy day, dream away
Ah let the sun take a holiday
Flowers bathe an' ah see the children play
Lay back and groove on a rainy day.

~ Jimi Hendrix

 

George does not seem thrilled with this weather.

 

 

But I am thrilled with my coffee.

 

Doesn’t take much to make me happy.

 

Usually.

 

ha ~

 

 

It’s a good morning to curl up with a book.

Happy Labor Day, everyone ~

 

ps – my friend, Hilary, is home and doing well after brain surgery.

life is good.

A Saturday Drive (& some link love)

It’s been an insufferably muggy day around here and the temperature outside was too high for comfort. It’s sad to say that most of the day was spent in air conditioned comfort but I kept busy with a few housekeeping chores and then playing around with some images I snapped this morning during George’s first outing in the new car.

To those of you who are new here, George is our 5-year-old border collie. The only car he’s ever really known is our Honda Element and exactly one week ago, we bought a new Subaru Outback and he had yet to go for a ride in it.

So today was the day.

He looks a little disconcerted to me.

But he soon perks up as we head down the driveway for a “ride in the car.”

Say that in our house and watch what happens.

(Pure doggie bliss).

We drove south for awhile, then headed over the Chesapeake City Bridge after buying some fish at a market along the way.

This is a high bridge that traverses the C&D (Chesapeake & Delaware) Canal.

My view west.

When I looked at all these images on my computer, I felt they were too glaring. I wanted softness, something much more calming, and so I edited them in Photoshop using a Gaussian blur technique I learned. Let me know if you'd like to learn it and I'll do a post about it.

Now the images were what I was looking for.

Hey!

It’s hay.

:  :  :

We drove around for a little while, looking things up in the car manual, my husband getting a good feel for this vehicle (which is awesome, btw) and then we headed north towards home, coming through the back side of Chesapeake City.

The town park by the water.

My favorite restaurant is the last building by the water there.

We have been going there for (OMG) nearly 30 years, since back when we lived in Pennsylvania. It was so good, and so worth travelling the extra miles for this place.

The Bayard House Restaurant

And then some more driving, and finally home and we were heading up the driveway towards the old manor house on the hill. We opened the windows so George could stick his head out (one of his favorite things).

Exciting, yes?

You don't have to answer that.

Almost home.

:  :  :

And now for some Link Love:

Please don’t be hurt if I read you regularly and you don’t see your name here. These are simply a few blog posts that I read early this morning that either touched my heart, made me swoon from the photography, or just plain had me smiling. And so, in no particular order, I give you:

not necessarily in that order by Kelly Letky at that’s mrs. mediocrity to you

Once in a Blue Moon by Hilary at The Smitten Image

Hello September by Caroline Manrique at Constantly Evolving

To a Beautiful Weekend, Dahlings! by Georgianna Lane at her Photography & Other Magic

DC Drama by Kat Warren at Low Tide High Style (there’s a Giveaway there, as well)

waiting by Daryl Edelstein at Out & About in New York City

:  :  :

And, with that, I bid you adieu for now, my friends . . .

thank you for stopping by to visit.