Sweeping Change

Isn't it funny how things work?  Do you remember my post a while back about McDonalds and the change being discarded on the floor?  Here you go -  Topic: Arbitrary
Here is a photo from that blog, in which I happened to glance down to find some change on the tarmac of the drive through lane . . . .

 

Well, I am here to say that there has been a development.  I did happen to call their customer care line and ask that my suggestion be recorded somewhere: this change should be collected for a good cause.  And I emailed too and attached my photo.  Of course, I did not hear anything back, and did not expect anything to . . . well . . . . change. 

 
On my way through the drivethrough for an emergency cup of coffee one very wet, rainy delivery day I stopped to pay at Window 2 and hesitated - then smiled, and proceeded to hold up the entire line for this very special photo:

 

What is that?  The chance for you to donate your change to change a child's life - to make a sweeping change with what used to be change for sweeping outside McDonalds!  Now, I am not suggesting that my email to them with my photo attached motivated this, but regardless it did more to lift my spirits than the cup of coffee.

Pa di pa pa paaaa - I'm loving it!!

The Boundaryless Limitations of Being Human

Part of being human means having a colorful history of philosophers, poets and deep thinkers from which to draw inspiration (and names for blogs).  These inspirations are available to commoners like you and I in the form of quick 'quotes' that wax lyrical on all sorts of things from the meaning of life and our role in it, to politics, relationships and the predictability or unpredictability of it all.  Isn't it quite fantastic that you don't need to be a literary scholar in this day and age to access these greats?  You only need to have an internet connection.  One of the reasons I think quotes from these greats have become popular (apart from the fact that they make us look smarter than we are when we recite them) is because over 2'000 years later they are still relevant. 

How amazing is that?  We have evolved, become civilized, built cities, travelled through space and conquered all land mass and Plato can still make sense of our crazy world, or at least give us another perspective.  And why is that do you think?  Human nature.  Whether your home is Rome B.C. or modern-day America we all have the same needs, desires, strengths or failings.  So in fact, how evolved are we really if we haven't mastered our own human nature a few thousand years down the line?  Do you think Plato would be disappointed?  Or do you think he would nod his head knowingly while stroking his curly Roman beard? 

One of the reasons I like Plato is his scorn for science and for the 'rules'.  It was his philosophy that it was more important to think about the stars and imagine than it was to study them in terms of distance and light.  Ideas are more real than the natural world.  I love that.  Ideas are more real than the natural world - be frivolous, treat the world as a stage, act out the life you want, don't sit in the audience.  Your idea is more real than reality.  Ha!  Those who have achieved great things first had to imagine they could, so the limitations of the natural world are a matter of perspective, isn't that so?

I guess perspective is why I have had such a tough couple of weeks.  I have a wonderful imagination, I can envision great and wonderful things and then I think secretly I think I am 'the one' - and no, not in the egotistical sense of being 'chosen' and somehow superior, but as in the Matrix reference where 'the one' Neo, in a world of 1's and 0's could flex his muscles and change the rules of time and space.  I want to change the rules of time and space.  I want to move like lightening, and be able to do it all - be a stay at home mom who never drops a ball and can give her children everything they need right at the moment they need it for all their lives, a successful and inspiring business woman who positively impacts her community, and still have time to wax lyrical about my own world and my role in it and find time to, well, play.  Unfortunately, one of the hardest lessons I am having to learn is that I can't do it all, there are limitations which cannot be overcome because time and space laws are not as flexible as I imagine them to be.  It is not so easy when time and our movement through it work by a set of rules our 'vision' is not bound by.  Was Plato only partly right?  Sorry to question you old man.  Perhaps we don't have to obsess upon laws but they do demand our respect and understanding.  

And just when I am at my most frustrated and my to-do list is two pages long and time is escaping me the penny drops.  Ah Plato, my valued and trusted companion, happiness truly is characteristic of a good life in which we accomplish our virtuous purpose and to accomplish anything you have to be an optimist with an idea.   The ideas of the optimistic are not affected by the boundaries of the natural world.  Rules limit you if you get too familiar with them, and whilst you can't change them, there is always an exception.  Other Greats and Heros overcame obstacles and against all odds and limiting rules to succeed - that's how they became exceptional!  So rules are fluid concepts subject to perspective.  It is how we observe them and what we do with them that determines how we are affected by them.  Therein lies my new idea (and Plato's very old one):  life is not about science, but possibilities.  Not the forrest, not the trees, but the space and light in between.

TUTT + 1, Topic: Daily

This was my theme, I thought it would be fun to have something very open ended that everybody could take in any direction and share something about their every day lives.  I chose this picture:

We bake bread every day - we have this amazing little bread machine and you throw in the wet ingredients, dump in the flour, make a little nest on top for the yeast, set the timer and voila!  At 5:30 the next morning you wake up to the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread.  It is heaven, especially in the winter when it is cold outside, and as I said to the girls, it is a comforting smell, it wraps its arms around you and helps you to gently embrace the day.  Aaaaahhh.  It is delicious too!  Americans are wonderful at many things, they are kind and giving people, they throw a mean party, and they are action driven - people don't sit about whining, they get off their tails and DO something and make a difference - it is very inspiring.  But they can't bake bread.  Sorry, but it is true.  And I love bread.  It ranks right up there with potatoes. 

I think it is because they add so much sugar to it to sweeten the taste, but it means that the only thing that works is peanut butter and jelly (every line you can think of from every advert and movie is true on this one).  Cold sliced deli ham with cheese and tomato and fresh pepper on sweet tasting bread is, well, gross.  And let's not even go to the rare roast beef and mustard!  But it doesn't even have to be gourmet sandwiches, our beloved Marmite sandwiches even taste horrible.  Plus, they add in all kinds of other junk!  The average loaf of bread from the store has around 12 ingredients so don't ask me what happened to the only five it is necessary to make bread. 

I love my bread machine, I do.  I would say that bread is my daily temptation too!  Linda took a photo of hers:

Linda says she made the mistake of giving the machine her number and now it calls her ALL the time, not as in 'oooohhhhhh Lindaaaa . . . ' but as in literally, on the phone!  Linda, I know he is tall, dark and handsome but really, you are a married woman!  The photo of the nougat is what did it for me, now I have a yearning for Woolies honey and walnut (or was it pecan?) nougat.  That stuff was AMAZING!  And always baked fresh.  Other nougats from less worthy stores were always chewy, but not the Woolies nougat.  If they put that in a vending machine near me I too would have a scandalously flirtatious relationship with it and they could just transfer my salary to it each month! 

Mariette didn't focus on food (that is why she has such a divinely skinny figure I am sure!)  She took a photo of a scene she passes every day on her way to work:

So often she says, we pass things without even seeing them, let alone taking a minute to appreciate them.  She is right, how often I have been driving around with my mind on other things only to stop at a light, look around and think 'where am I?  I don't recognize that big gorgeous old tree' meanwhile I have driven past it a hundred times. 

Lovely theme this week, I am looking forward to next week . . . although 'heritage' is a little confusing when you live in a foreign country!

TUTT + 1 (sort of), Topic: Berries

Mariette's theme this week came a little early for New England, our beautiful berries only start to really brighten up in another few weeks - the temperatures haven't dipped low enough to really light their fires!  Her picture is berrylicious, and if you want to see more you should check out her blog:

The dish-dash lines of the leaves off-set the round berries nicely Mariette.  Claire is the reason we are TUTT + 1 (sort of).  She has stuff going on and has opted to take a break for a few weeks.  We all understand when sometimes life throws so much at you that you just want to strip your 'to do' list down to its skeleton - we are with you in spirit +1, and we look forward to filling your days up with meaningless musings soon.   Claire's photo:

It is autumnal in its beauty.  Makes me want to make a wreath.  Linda of course went in a completely different direction, kudo's to you for being creative and I believe there is a story to this photo - with Linda there usually is and it seldom comes from the place you expect it so she keeps us waiting on the edge of her seat for her blog post:

I do love that there is a map in the background, because technology has made this world of ours shrink.  Looking forward to reading your post Linda.  I don't know why I am so adverse to taking photo's of the obvious when I am given the theme, but I am. 

Here is our little bird, his name started out as Wimpy (our get-in-eat-get-out breakfast haunt from when the kids were little and we lived in SA) - we called him this because the cats salivated over him and I always thought if a door was left open they too would get-in-eat-get-out.  Unfortunately, we had to change his name because Wimpy also implies lack of courage and this little bird has courage in spades, or rather he has buckets of bravado.  He thinks he is a Rottweiler in feathers, his nick-name was Robbie Williams for a while because he too thinks he is an indestructible babe magnet.  April chose Blueberry and that is the name that stuck, but this little bird does not hop to the other side of the cage when the cats approach, oh no.  He approaches them!  He pulls the hair out of whatever is pressed up against the little bars that keep his life safe, usually a tail or a paw, and will even 'shout' at the cats if he thinks they are ignoring him.  They spend hours chasing each other around the cage, Dudley batting, Blueberry pecking.  If I had any inkling that Dudley wouldn't turn him in to breakfast I would let him out just to see what happens. 

Of course, I could not resist the urge to snap away at real berries too - last week we spoke of white flowers and I said I would share them this week, well, here the are - and the white flowers on the pale stem turn into green berries on a pink stem . . .

Which then ripen into dark red berries on a bright pink stem . . .

This is Pokeweed, which is poisonous to us, especially the berries I think - you can expect a very upset tummy if you wish to sample them but the Indians put them to good use in dies, and early colonists used the juice as ink for their pens.  Later in the season, when the berries have been eaten by birds (to whom they are not poisonous), they are all stems and look like this:

Finally some other berries . . .

I thought these were really pretty - they are McDonald's berries!  And what makes a grape not a berry?  Anybody have any idea?  I don't, but we do have some growing in our yard, they cry out each year for a trellis and each year I swear will be the year that I build one but each year time hurtles by and I don't get to it, so they grow on the floor:

Oh well, the wild bunnies in our garden love them.  My last photo I am very proud of, I happened to be in my garden looking for berries and saw a bunch of yellow flowers being visited by bees.  I love bees, they are responsible for about 60% of our food through pollination and so are to be cherished.  This pretty little lady was hard at work and do you know what was amazing standing watching her and her sisters at work?  If they happened to land on the same flower, they didn't waste time arguing about who found it first or who deserved it more, one of them just left to find another flower.  They are so cooperative and practical, we could learn a thing or two . . .

I thought it fitting to end this post with this photo, because without these little little ladies, there would be far fewer berries! 

TUTT + 1, Topic: White

Caution: Complaining and Whining About To Begin, Sensitive Readers Should Proceed With Caution or Block Their Ears and Squeeze Their Eyes Shut!

Our car is making a whining noise from the back.  Wheel bearing!  I thought.  So off to Toyota I go.  No, not the wheel bearing.  The viscous coupling in our rear diff is going and needs to be replaced - $2,100 in cash please.  F@&%K!!!  At this point I feel like throwing my hands up in the air, it has been one thing after another and we just don't seem to catch a break.  Thousands of dollars in the last few months in unexpected expenses and now this . . . anyone got some lighter fluid and a match???

So, sorry my blog is late but it is a little hard to find my happy place this week and do some writing - however, life goes on and so must the play!  Here is Claire's photo since she is the chooser of the topic this week:

Nice Claire - great texture and depth of field.  If this is a laundry hamper I am even more impressed because lately, you can't even see mine for the piles it is emersed in.  I have forgotten what it looks like, I wonder if it is white - I'll have to check!

Mariette:

 Graceful and beautiful, lovely texture in the water offset by soft white - and I love the drips.  Nice job.  I had much the same idea this week . . . more about that later.

Linda:

I have no idea what flowers these are - very pretty, do they come in purple?  If they do I think I have some in my garden.  Nice photo Linda.  I also was thinking of flowers for this theme, and we have some really special white ones out in the garden with bright pink stems, but the idea is not lost . . .

My photo:

I took this on the pond accross the road from us.  To be honest, I did not take it this week - there is no way I had the inner peace for a photo like this, my emotional state would have me photographing a great big junk yard where cars are smashed into tiny cubes and then sent to the incinerator  . . . back to the swan.  I took a few of these photos, here are some more . . .

I thought these might be nice printed on canvas for my daughters room one day . . . one day.

Well that is it for me this week.  I am sorry I didn't get to embrace the theme this week, I wanted to, even had a great idea: shoes!  This topic fell over Labor Day long weekend here in the U.S. which is the official marker on our calendar for when it becomes inappropriate to wear white shoes!  Yes, you read right, from now until Memorial Day in the spring, it is taboo to wear white shoes, especially in business (I don't think sneakers count).  If I had white shoes, I would have photographed them.  I have a cream pair and thought of doing an overexposed black and white number to make them look white but then my car broke and I did not feel like photographing shoes anymore.  Just junkyards with big cranes and smashy things . . .

Through The Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Close Up

This was a wonderful theme, I SO enjoyed it because my sister is right, it does kind of make you stop to look at things a little more closely.  Heids, who you will all know by now is a city girl found a fuzzy thingy in her garden and attacked it with a spade (don't you think that's kinda like shooting a goldfish with an oozy Heids?).  Turns out, that the fuzzy 'thing' morphed into something quite beautiful:

Heids, I love these flowers, we get them here too and in fact, I did a painting of them which I will have to take a photo of to share with you.  They smell beautiful too, don't they?  I want one in my garden!!!

I had fun with this theme, here is my photo:

These are of some fungi growing at the base of a birch tree in our garden.  They transported me back in time to when Heidi and I were little girls, we used to go into our garden and find a magical spot where fairies might live, and then make special fairy gardens for them with flowers and treasures and pebbles.  We had such fun doing it, and of course, grownups could never know!  So these look like little fairy steps up a tree, or balconies if you were to watch a fairy play, or maybe they are awnings, a place to hide from the rain!  From the top down . . .

Since I was crawling on the grass for different angles, here is one of a mushroom:

Isn't that sweet, I took another . . .

I am pretty sure you can't eat these mushrooms.  When you touch them or break them they bruise, as in they turn blue where ever it is you offended them, and then the blue turns to a reddy brown and then a dark yellow.  They are fascinating, good fairy magic in them I am sure!

These were taken while I was clearing up outside to prepare for Hurricane Irene, who blew through at a heck of a speed, never get in the way of a lady in a hurry that's for sure.  So while I was dismantling the trampoline, I took this:

That is my take on close up this week.  We survived the hurricane, only a broken window and some damaged trees (poor trees).  The weather is beautiful, it is a magical day here today - which reminds me, I need to go check on the fairies . . .

TUTT + 1 - Topic: Faces

Faces.  What an interesting choice Mariette made this week, and you could go so, so many places with it.  Mariette snapped a pic of her daughter playing video games:

Mariette, I think this is an exquisite photograph.  The light on her face is so soft, her eyes twinkle and draw you in and she looks so engrossed.  I think you nailed it my dear, it's lovely.  About that photography class . . .

Claire remembered a photo shoot she did a year ago when Christine visited from South Africa, bringing these four girls together for the first time in ages.  Claire said she drove them nuts photographing them, can you tell?

What a fun photo - I know how it is when you know the moment is special and you want to catch it in your hands (or camera) and hold onto it forever.  I have driven a few people crazy myself, but there is nothing nicer when you are feeling glum to look back at these otherwise forgotten moments and re-live the joy!

My dear sister in-law went to eggstra special lengths to capture faces.  I love that it wasn't enough to just draw the faces on with a marker (that would be 'koki' in South African language, a far more expressive word), she colored them in too.  I think they are super sweet and a little eggcentric, eggcellent effort Linda!

As for me, I don't know, sometimes I think all I ever do is complain but really!  I think a broken transmission, hurricane, and back to school all in one week entitles me, don't you?  I made all the TUTT + 1 chickadees late this week because we had no power and I know we are uber dependant on energy and fossil fuels but after losing it for a few days, I now KNOW, you know?  Thanks ladies for your patience, here is my photo:

This is from the pizza box of our favorite pizza place (as I said girls and boys, not all pizza places are created equal - I'm just saying . . .) - Capone's.  Named for Al Capone, notorious Italian gangster from Chicago in the early 1900's during the years of prohibition when the sale of alcohol was illegal, so was the manufacture, transport, import export . . . well, you get the picture.  I told the girls that this theme, my photo, and current events all tie up together very nicely on our side of the world and here's why.  The state of New Jersey is currently reviewing legislature around the identification of baddies from police line-ups.  They are saying that it is an unreliable source of information. 

Try this, while stopped at a robot aka traffic light take a glance at a person walking by on the sidewalk and look away while you try to describe what they were wearing, how tall they were, their gait or any unusual features.  Then look back and see how accurate you were.  In high stress situations our recall is even worse, but it goes deeper than that.  They have done some psychological studies (of course they have) over a number of years and all based on previous cases where wrongful convictions were overturned once DNA testing proved murderers were in fact, not murderers at all but actually innocent citizens - in almost all of the cases identification through a police line-up is what sealed the case.  So in these studies, they had a look at how we humans recognize and recall the faces of people we meet.  Interestingly enough, we have an easier time recalling people who look like us, are the same age, have the same color hair or ethnicity and are similar in height and weight.  You can show us ten people that look like us and we can easily tell them apart.  If there is a huge age difference or if they are of another ethnic origin, we don't do so good.  Show us ten people who look very different to us and they all look the same, in those instances we need to see their faces a few times to make recall accurate.  So, to summarize, everybody that looks the same is totally different, and the people that look different are all the same - capiche?

Of course, other considerations in line-ups are the environment in which the line-up is conducted, who is with you at the time, their body language etc. etc. etc. but I thought the above was very interesting, especially when we were photographing faces this week.  And Al Capone was a criminal.  And his picture is faceless.  Told you it all weaves a good story, but since faces are also full of expression and tell their own story, here is another photo from our pizza place and this one makes Al Capone come alive, a real person, with a good-time enigmatic personality and a flagrant disregard for the rules - his face says all that don't you think?

That's my take on this theme, next week will be pure and clean!

TUTT + 1, Topic: Cycle

I picked this theme, and Claire is right I picked it with something in mind only it wasn't what she thought.  The fair is in town, and with it about 20 South African kids who work it for the summer - imports from places like Krugersdorp, Brakpan and something or other 'fontein'.  I was very excited to go this year and snap 'cycle' photos to my hearts content, the Ferris wheel, the shells, the spin-so-fast-you-stick-to-the-wall thingy.  My week was such that this is how close I got:

And that was at max. zoom driving by.  Oh well.  Last night I was so tired I sat down on my bed, picked up the remote to find something to watch and woke up this morning.  The fair is open for a few more days but that brings me to another kind of cycle, hurricane Irene:

We have been on a hurricane watch for the last five days, watching to see if Mother Nature is going to calm down or throw a doozy tantrum with this 200 mile wide storm.  Of course, I am convinced this is all because I chose 'cycle' as a theme, thankfully it turns out that her walls are weakening and although we are expected to get strong winds and a lot of rain tomorrow, it is not going to be anywhere near as bad as it could have been - phew.  I would not have liked to please explain to America that this was my fault.  We still had to make sure all potential flying objects (patio chairs, bicycles, trampolines) were brought inside or tied down so that is how I spent my morning so all things being equal, I am not getting closer to the fair than that photo!  Love it!

Okay, so on with TUTT + 1!  Claire took this photo of her step-daughter and posted it with a lovely blog on what it means to be a step-mom which I loved.  The photo is beautiful and whimsical and I love the pram - which you own Claire!

Mariette's photo is also very clever, I agree with Claire, you should SO check out a photography course, I too think you would be very good at it:

I like it I do!  I could totally picture this printed on a canvas and hanging in some hip urban chic apartment somewhere!  Linda made me homesick, only in South Africa would you see this:

I loved this photo, it made me smile!  I agree with the ladies on how vibrant everything seems to be from back home and although the consensus was that it could be attributed to how 'uncolorful' the background is I think it is more than that.  It is a country full of contrasts.  Wealth and poverty, rugby and soccer, young and old . . .  there is no 'mediocrity' and extremes coexist everywhere: love with hate, joy with violence, pride with shame.  It makes living in a first world country very . . . m.o.n.o.t.o.n.e. . . which if you ARE a South African, is both a good thing, and a bad thing ;-)  Ja well no fine! 

My ACTUAL photo for cycle this week since the fair did not work out was of our newest babies:

Ahh cute!  No, not really.  Let's be honest, as far as chicks go we picked the ugly ones.  But we didn't pick them for looks, we picked them because they are a heritage breed on the endangered list and so we get to have fresh eggs and help save a species - how cool is THAT?!?  Here is what they will look like when they are all grown up:

There is hope for them don't you think?  We got one cockerel and three hens - their feathers are coming in so they are nearly ready to come out from under the lamps and within another few weeks they will be able to go outside.

So that's it from me this week - the transmission on our van gave in, we picked up a nail in the back tyre of our other car, Mark did double shifts at work because he was actually working at work, and manning the company booth at the fair in the evenings, and we had a bumper SSO week - and all this with juggling transport.  It seems fitting that the week should end with a hurricane somehow!

Best of Year: TUTT + 1

The TUTT team have been together for a whole year!  Shew, time flies.  I can't believe I have been following these two ladies for 12 months.  Even though I haven't been with them on the whole journey, Linda, Mariette, Claire and I were together accross the finish line so to commemorate this most auspicious occasion we decided to choose our favorite picture from one other person's blog and as Linda put it, we ching-chong-cha'd via email to find out who that would be and I had the privilege of choosing my favorite photo from Claire's blog.  So last Monday, I set some time aside and disappeared down the 'Inspiration for the Soul' rabbit hole.  What a journey.

How the heck anybody is supposed to choose a favorite from Claire's photos I just don't know.  She is so talented and has such an interesting perspective that each photo is unique and special for a different reason.  In the end, I chose this one:

If I remember correctly these lights are in her home, and that is a wall in the background.  It looks more like warm lights on a misty night creating a swirl of shadows as the fine droplets roll in and are displaced from the heat of the lights.  Romantic enough for you Claire?

I think it is just beautiful, I can hear music when I look at it.  Of course, this also just goes to show that you never really have to go very far to find inspiration if you choose not to see what in plain sight - lights against a wall!  Which brings me back to Claire's interesting perspective . . . you have a curious way of seeing Claire, and I think it applies to the people you meet, perhaps that's why you love portraiture photography, and perhaps that's what makes you so good at it.

Through The Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Cullinary

Well, we're BACK!  Sort of.  We have agreed that we will work to a strict time frame, ignoring it completely when necessary i.e. roughly one blog every two weeks.  Give or take.  More give than take I am guessing.  I am going to do TUTT as well since I have been enjoying it (as long as they will have me of course, they may give me another week or two and decide they miss the intimacy of their old duo which I would completely understand).  Until then, we will just go where the wind blows.

Heidi waxed all sorts of lyrical about how demanding we have all been, she can only be talking about her fans.  I know she wasn't talking about me, her very own sister.  Shame Stinks, it's hard to be popular like Charlize Theron, they never leave her alone either.  Besides, I know you well enough that when you run and hide, it really is time to panic and it is very hard to panic from the other hemisphere, on the other side of the world!

I chose the theme, no rhyme or reason really.  Heids made me home sick with this photo: 

Heids made my mom's recipe for butternut soup.  I promise you, nothing can instantaneously bring my mother right into the very room than this soup.  I wanted to cry.  Big tears.  Miss you mom.  Good job Heids!  And by the way, this is April's MOST favoritest thing to eat in the whole world and I am the coolest, most awesomest mom on the planet, no wait, in the whole universe when I make this soup for her.  Maybe one day she will be sitting with an i-pad device writing of her memories of butternut soup.

And speaking of April . . . my photo:

We don't get much time these days, but one thing we try to do every Sunday is make waffles or pancakes for breakfast - from scratch, not from a box.  I like to think of it as the time-strapped modern day version of Sunday lunch.  Remember those?  The family, all together for a roast with all the trimmings?  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I think mealtimes are important for families, they create memories and then seal them forever in the smell of fresh gravy or the sound of sizzling roast potatoes (or the sight of a steaming waffle I hope).  I love our breakfast tradition, especially in the winter when it is all dark and snowy outside and we can stay in our pajamas forever.

Heids has chosen the theme for our next blog, we gonna get up close and all personal!  Two down, one to go . . .

TUTT + 1, Topic: Horses

Gracious, one day I was on top of everything - the very next I was THREE blogs behind.  Okay, going to do my best but they are going to be short and sweet this week, on this, my favorite topic!

Mariette chose the theme, which is kinda funny since she only likes to admire horses from the ground and from what I understand, preferably from the other side of a fence! 

Claire's, taken with huge time constraints in between driving rain and wind:

You'd never have known, it is just beautiful and smooth and woolly it and makes me want to sink my hands into those locks!  Beautiful as always Claire. 

Linda, funnily enough probably had the best opportunity of all of us this week and she put it to good use:

This is her take on 'less is more', and it does tell a story.  How soft natured does this pony look?  Nice job Linda.

Me?  Well, I found this rusty tractor on my travels this week with it's hood popped and thought - wow, that would be amazing!  A different kind of 'horsepower'.  Except I left my camera at home - I am such a duns!  I still managed to catch this one though . . .

I liked it, that belly is so gorgeous and so is the tail.  His tail, it is a he.  For me, horses are like karma sorbet - it doesn't matter what color the flavor of the moment is, when you walk away from a horse your palette is neutral.  It's a beautiful thing.  Claire, you should spend more time hanging out with that little pony.

I also took this photo . . .

I loved it also.  One blog down, two to go.  The frogs chirping outside my window are my own personal cheering team, I can do this!

Tutt + 1, Topic: Self Portrait

Oh my hat - where do I go with this?  When we first got the topic I thought, well, okay.  I can do a self portrait without taking a photo of myself  - for sure!  And then I read the fine print.  Bugger!

Claire, who picked this theme and is both loved and cursed for it, took this photo: 

Great photo Claire, it is interesting, creative and shows good wit and so, a good self portrait!   PS - I do remember the tree, but as I recall it had been drinking and so there should have been dire consequences for what it did to my car!  Mariette next . . .

You haven't changed a bit my dear!  You look the same as I remember you from how many years ago now . . . is it ten?  More!  Gracious, let's rather not count - you are still just as pretty as I remember!  And Linda:

Linda may not like photo's of herself, but to me of all of us she has 'come into her own' the most.  More than ever before she knows herself, knows what she likes, and even comfortably defines her style.  She has generous lips and kind eyes and a self assuredness that I think is very attractive.  Or maybe attractive is an inadequate word, but I think it draws you in to her - is there a word for that? 

My photo last:

This photo is of me with my big black boy, Johnny Walker Black.  We had a rocky start he and I, but our relationship grew into something very beautiful, and something I will always treasure and it also brought a very dear friend into my world who is also a part of me.  Johnny taught me so much, like to know what you want when you are asking for something, and to ask with conviction.  To never take things at face value, and to always look into someone's eyes because they truly are windows.  And because no self portrait would be complete without a symbol of the other parts of me that I love being, I included my wedding band and my children's initials.  A wife and mother.  Roles that allow you to wear your heart outside of your body, regardless of the potential for damage.  

Something Claire experienced a little of this week - sorry my friend.  It is hard for us mama birds to watch our babies flap their not yet fully formed wings, and throw themselves from the nest in their desire to fly.  Just remember, it is us mama birds they have been watching against the sun in the sky, all the while feeding their own dreams to feel the wind over their wings.  She isn't gone, she still needs you.

So.  Four women, four corners, four time zones, four photos - isn't technology amazing?

Also, as a quick update, our chickens will only arrive this coming week.  Seems we may think we are in charge here on the planet since we are top of the food chain, are civilized and capable of logic (blah de blah blah blah) but every now and then a chicken can remind you that even though the postman comes at the same time everyday, delivery of chicks will still only happen when they are good and ready - to hell with your plans.

The country music show was fun, better than I expected and yes, I wore rhinestones!  Well, sequins at least.  And the place was sold out, I never would have guessed that there were so many closet country music lovers living in New England.  Go figure.  Martina McBride was very enganging and funny - and again, this is for us moms and this week, it is especially for Claire!  See ya'll next week, I get to keep my cowgirl on for the next challenge!