Through the Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Black and White

Oh my word!  Where do I begin?  What a week!  I won't even go into it because I am so bored with myself, but the photo was a challenge - not taking it of course, just getting it off the camera and on to the computer to email my sister required massive effort and eventually I got fed up and just did it to do it.  Heid's did not take her photo this week, but she edited it this week so it does count, sort of:

It is so beautiful and ethereal.  It is The-Red-War-Goddess's Volcano.  Why?  Well, our maiden name is Le Roux you see, or 'The Red' and Heid's name means 'War Goddess'.  Powerful name for a powerful woman who now lives near an active volcano which I think is a little bit scary.  Do the people of her new home town know that she has moved there I wonder?  Then again, look at that volcano, it is the picture of a sleeping beauty not a fiery goddess so maybe the energies balance each other out, who knows. 

My name stands for 'Honey'.  Honey The Red.  Sweet but temperamental.  Or maybe vibrant honey from red flowers.  Or what about 'no Honey, pass me the red chainsaw!  The RED ONE!'  That is kinda how this week has been all in all, nothing has cooperated with me and dissection by mutilation has been considered more than once for a variety of things from computers to family members.  Luckily honey flows through my red hot veins so the fire coagulates into syrup before a crime is committed ;-). 

For my photo this week I took some time out to visit a friend who has two black and white horses - I thought they would make lovely subjects, here is photo number 1:

Good triumphs over evil.  They are such sweetie pies, the handsome flirt and shy boy.  I so enjoyed my afternoon with them, turns out my friend had quite the week herself so I felt in good company.  The afternoon turned out to be quite a relaxing one, walking in the new sunflower beds, standing in wonder of a new green paddock that was just seeds a few days earlier and picking some fresh baby bok choy, kale and radishes for a salad when I got home.   Here are some of the other photos - Mr. Handsome in the flesh:

And Shy Boy . . . .

And the mom who loves them both:

It never ceases to amaze me how, no matter what your mood, when you visit with horses you come away completely . . .  normal, sane.  They are like karma sorbet.   They take all the craziness away and restore balance and I think they make us better people.  So that is my post for the week, I have to come up with a theme for next week and best I make it an easy one since I have short-changed us a few days to work on it!  Here's my parting shot, see you soon . . .

Through the Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Letters

What a fun topic this promised to be this week - unfortunately, fate played her hand and worked against me.  I have been sick with flu, and just unable to shake it for about a week now.  So I have been cold all the time, full of aches, stuffy nose, headache - ugh.  Just horrible.  Despite my groans, I took the kids for a nature walk in one of our forests on Saturday with a local professor who showed us all the plants that we live with, what we can eat, and what is good for remedies.  It was so interesting, and I took my trusty point and shoot camera along (you know the one, I was bragging about it just last week) so that I could capture for eternity what my mind would forget in the car ride home - and April dropped it!  Gasp!  Lens first on the tar road as we were getting ready to start out.  It's dead.  We killed it.  I was devastated, we have had such good times together me and my trusty little camera, I wanted to cry but April was already in tears and so I had to be the grownup.  But I am sure it contributed to my overall poor feeling this week - I am in mourning.

So!  That being said, I no longer had a trusty to drag around with me, I had to haul out the big guns and, to be honest, my hopes for this theme died with my camera.  No matter how hard I tried, I just could NOT get into it.  My sister sent me her photo early because she was super busy:

Isn't it fun?  Didn't she do a great job?  Don't you feel the love of mother nature emanating in rays from the picture?  I loved it, and so even though she was uber-busy she did a wonderful job.  So I copied her:

I figured I would use man-made stuff only though.  We have such different pictures each week and now even on the same theme our pictures are so different.  What is ironic, is that my sis, who hates camping, is not a fan of bugs or pets, or hair or animals or dirt but instead favors room service and, well, electricity, took the nature LOVE.  And me, who is happiest smelling of horses and hay, or hiking, or doing ANYTHING outside, especially if there is dirt involved, took the man-made LOVE.  How funny is that?

I am glad the week is done, I am glad I don't have to look at letters anymore, I love Heid's photo - I may print it and frame it for my bedroom or something, I am looking forward to moving on.  No other photos this week since I don't have a trusty to take them with - my mother-in-law took pity on me and ordered a replacement, although nothing could fill the hole my last camera left, I am open to a new relationship and hopefully it will be here in time for next week's challenge and I think I will have to name this one - I never expected to get so attached to the last one.  Any ideas?  I am thinking of 'Henry' . . . 

Through the Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Light

I LOVED the topic this week, as a hobbyist photographer I have learned that if you can work with the light you have, you can make 'amazing' out of 'ordinary'.  It's kinda magical - so when Heids suggested it as her theme this week my mind started to race.  Of course, we also had a RECORD week at South Shore Organics - most sign ups in one week, most deliveries in one week, most going on in one week which all translates to MOST STRESS IN ONE WEEK!  We survived, we did a good job, all my customers have their healthy food and are (and I quote) 'happy', 'delighted' and 'excited' and even 'in love'.  I do wish I could have taken a whole day to play with the theme this week though because the possibilities are endless - Heidi decided to hit the town at night and she took these two photos which she joined:

She loved how the changing traffic light changed the statue, and how it even appears to change direction with the changing light.  It is awesome, very creative.  I of course, pushed my point and shoot Canon PowerShot to the limit again.  I haven't actually taken out my beautiful talented Nikon in weeks . . . oops!  Months!  Time flies.  But it served me well, here is my pic:

This is our cat Dudley - he has issues.  I wrote to my sister that he lights up my life and she wrote that he is the light of my life - not quite sis, he is damn hard work and he can be an idiot and just when you want to squeeze the breath out of him he goes all adorable on you and you decide to let him live another week.  He often makes me smile though - he is a funny cat.  Our bird is funny too, he is a Rottweiler in feathers I swear and not because he is aggressive, no no, he is a mooch, but he definitely has a warped sense of self and is not afraid of the cats at all even when they sit salivating millimeters from him with just a few strands of cage wire between them.  He pulls out their hairs for attention, yup, plucks them with his beak, taunts them with his scent and then watches in glee, GLEE I tell you, while they drool.  I say God makes him and then they come live by us, my sister says birds of a feather  . . .

I also took this photo, we were at a sheep shearing event at one of our local farms on Saturday and I think it qualifies - I didn't take a before but please believe me, after the winter we just had these sheep can only have been happy, delighted, excited and maybe just a little in love when the shearer walked into the barn door - they are much lighter post shave!

See - don't they look happy?

They also had a demonstration of the working sheep dog, it was AMAZING to watch.  These dogs are SO well trained and who knew so much went in to it?  The sheep have to like the dog, and respect him, they dog has to tap into its predatory instinct, so the sheep are dinner, but not dinner, and the handler all the while is communicating through whistles or brief hand gestures and from across the field the dog knows exactly what to do.  It really is incredible, the handler who has been doing this for 20 plus years - his name is Rick Seaman and I couldn't resist but snap a pic while he was talking - the way the his hair, blowing in the wind was back lit, I nearly chose this pic this week instead of Dudles:

It's a Pantene advert - don't you think?  Well, that's it from me for now.  I had to choose the topic this week, my sister always says I choose great topics, actually, I don't think so - I like hers better (except that 'work' one).  I guess it is always nice to receive a topic than to think one up - there must be a website somewhere with a random Team Up Thursday's Topic Selector where you click a button and poof, there you go!  I'm off to Google that!



Through The Eyes of Sisters, Topic: Pink

This was my theme, I had no idea's this week - just wanted to try and pick something easy because our business is growing and time, time, time, it's an age-old word with an infinite future and yet holding on to it and making use of each tick of the clock is like trying to catch a sly eel in an oil slick: elusive, slippery and . . . there it goes.  Gone.

My sister, who is a wonderful source of inspiration MADE time, good girl, and got her photo in ON time - unlike me.  Her post will be late and it is my fault, and the fault of a 16 hour time DIFFERENCE.  Sorry Heid's - here is her pic:

This is of her neighbor's daughter - beautiful neighbor don't you think?  And exquisite photo, I think my sis did an awesome job and I love watching her grow as a photographer, each week she is better than the last, has a better eye, and does a better job, it is like watching a butterfly emerge.  I love it - well done!  I think you found your thing!  The stuff that feeds your mojo and emanates from you.  It is very important to do something that feeds you instead of you feeding it.  How many of us have jobs that are a drain?  That take, take, take?  How much happier would we all be if we could find something that feeds our tummies AND our souls!!

I did not make time, I did not go in search of something specific, instead, I had to be resourceful and find something in my environment (at my desk or on deliveries) and so here is my pic:

Pink means friendship, at least in the flower world, and my sister is my friend and sometimes the 16 time zones feel like a massive gulf that can never be crossed and I will never reach her again.  It makes my heart sad.  Thank goodness for skype, for email, and for Team Up Thursdays is all I can say.  I also managed to take this on our delivery run yesterday since we ARE in the throws of spring:

Aren't they lovely.  I think I want a tree like this in my yard.  My son is still in an origami phase and he folded this for me, how cute is he?  He better find a nice woman to marry one day who will look after his heart otherwise I will be one of those nasty mother-in-laws!

That's my post this week.  Love to you all, I have the topic for next week (thanks Heid's), hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel and I can make an effort to actually grab a few clock ticks and tocks and dedicate a photo shoot to the topic!