Photo Challenge: Repeating Patterns

It’s time for another Brenda Photo Challenge! The current challenge theme is Repeating Patterns. As one who spent a career as an engineer, you can quite imagine how much I adore repeating patterns! Yes, yes, I admit to a wee bit of Melvin Udall obsessive-compulsive tendencies (“As Good As It Gets”). But at least I try very hard not to count out loud, LOL! I see repeating patterns everywhere I look, and my camera doesn’t miss them either. Our recent New Mexico jaunt was no exception!

This first photo is of the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in the historic district of Ranchos de Taos Plaza. If the mission looks a little bit familiar to you, it’s because it has been a favorite subject by such greats as Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keefe, and other image artists. The crosses, steeples, arches, and the support pillars all show how repeating patterns can enhance a scene. The camera settings were f/8.0, 1/400 second, and ISO 320.

The next example is the old church steeple of the Quarai ruins at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. This structure was built after Spanish explorers arrived in 1598 and later abandoned in the 1670s. Wild grasses grow helter-skelter on the top of the structure. The four windows, the irregular stones, and the feathery sky all evoke repeating patterns. This image was taken in broad daylight, but I gave it an eerie feel by performing digital trickery with my Topaz Adjust filter plug-in for Photoshop. The camera settings were f/7.1, 1/80 second, and ISO 200.

This last photo was captured at the famous Bandelier National Monument. The primitive ladder goes up to one of the cave dwelling rooms of the Ancestral Puebloans. I would have liked to have included the cave entrance in the frame, but we were surrounded by a large swarm of very young and bouncy schoolchildren. As it was, I had about 3 seconds to take this shot! The image was taken at f/8.0, 1/40 second, and ISO 320.

Now that you have seen my contributions to the challenge, please click on the link at the beginning of this post and find some other great images of Repeating Patterns!

Rocking On

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock,
Perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.
Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two,
And I know it was not the last blow that did it,
But all that had gone before.
~Jacob August Riis ~

We have been rocking on this week. We have been very busy with activities around the house. The landscaping project wrapped up, thank goodness. It looks quite lovely with the sod extended into the backyard. We’ve also seen a lot of Builder Mike and his subcontractors this week, taking care of the final punch-out list for our home. Can you believe that we have lived here 11 months already? We also successfully weathered through the historic storm system that went through the southern states on Wednesday. It was worse than anything I ever saw during my college days in Kansas! Our thoughts and prayers are with our southern neighbors who are hurting right now.

Tonight, I am getting some pictures pulled together for tomorrow’s photo challenge post. I got all of my New Mexico journey images safely downloaded to my computer, organized them (notice that I didn’t say “processed”, LOL), and have them backed up. For tomorrow’s post, I am going to highlight a few from that bundle, just to give you a little taste. Come back tomorrow, OK?

You are probably wondering by now about the meaning of the images with this post! Well, here’s the story. We happened to go into a lovely shop in Old Town section of Albuquerque called Onyx Expressions. It is located just a short block off of the church square. We had a fun time visiting which the shop’s charming owner, Al, and admiring his artistic light fixtures made from onyx. I am a texture lover and my camera was handy, so I thoroughly amused myself by taking pictures of light filtering through the magnificent stones. Aren’t these textures incredibly stunning?

We talked with Al about photography at great length, and he graciously let me let me snap a lot of pictures. For his hospitality, I’m going to send him a DVD next week that has some of the photos I took in his shop. If you ever visit that area, please make a point of stopping in there! You won’t be sorry!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my 500th post celebration giveaway!

500th Post Celebration and Giveaway!

It’s my 500th blog post celebration! So Marty and I are having a grand giveaway! All the things you see below will be raffled off to a lucky blogging friend: a birdhouse carving, an antique doily with a pen-ink illustration, four picture note cards, and a National Monument patch. Can you tell that the theme is “birds”? I like critters of all kinds (almost), and I have a particular fondness for our winged friends. And it’s finally the spring season, that time of year when the birds are starting to build their nest and raise their young. Three cheers for spring! So I have collected this special assortment of prizes to commemorate my latest blogging milestone.

One of the treasures is a wooden birdhouse and little bluebird made by Appalachian whittler, Bill Henry. Bill is a long-time member of the Foothills Craft Guild and the Southern Highland Craft Guild. He is a dear friend of ours and was a handcrafting colleague of hubby’s mom (who was a famed hand weaver). Bill holds the distinction of being one of the nicest people I have ever known in my life. Sad to say, I don’t have a personal picture of him, but you can see Bill whittling away right HERE. The carving is about 7 inches tall and couldn’t be a more charming piece of folk art.

Another special treasure is an antique embroidered doily. An adorable sketch of birds has been applied to the linen by talented artist Michelle Palmer. The ink drawing is entitled “Brothers and Sisters – Perched!” Measuring a dainty 10” by 5½”, you should be able to find a place in your home to display this endearing art piece.

Carrying on with the feathered theme, I am including a set of four of my handmade note cards. I captured the image of a momma wren a couple of years ago while it was tending its brood in our Williamsburg bird bottle. A gentle watercolor application was applied to the image for additional charm. Also, I picked up an extra Petroglyph National Monument patch in New Mexico to include in the giveaway box. This patch features a petroglyph image of a bird that we saw along the park’s trail.

Here’s how to get your name in the proverbial hat to win this bevy of prizes:

1. Leave a comment on this post to get one entry.
2. If you follow my blog, please leave second comment to get two additional entries.
3. Entries outside the U.S. will be accepted. However, only those from bloggers with active web sites will be eligible.

The last day to enter is Sunday, May 1. Good luck and thank you for helping me have so much fun through 500 posts!

Easter Blessings to You!

San Miguel Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Recognized as the oldest church structure in the U.S.
Circa 1610

Hanging in There

Isn’t this goldfinch adorable? I captured its picture several weeks ago while it was hanging on the thistle seed sock outside our kitchen windows. This tweeter was still in the process of molting and acquiring its bright yellow color for the summer season. The scruffy appearance is part of its charm!

Since our return from vacation, we’ve been hanging in there as well. Hubby has been busy taking care of the household chores, and I jumped right back into the consulting workload waiting for me. We got all the herb plants potted up before we left town. Today we got some beautiful geraniums (with velvety rose-burgundy blooms!) tucked into clay pots for our outdoor metal plant stands. The flowerbeds in front of the house are looking pretty good right now. Hubby has taken care of the weeds and given everything a dose of Miracle Grow fertilizer. We still don’t know when the yard service will deliver and spread mulch because the management company is not answering our e-mails.

The landscaping project is still a work in progress. We had to do some serious talking with the owner this week. We signed the contract almost 3 months ago, and this little job has been dragging on with little communication from the company. Except for applying some Roundup to enlarge the mailbox’s flowerbed, nothing got done while we were gone or the week before that. So we were happy to finally see the little stone walkway/pad installed this past Thursday. It looks lovely - yeah! And we are now scheduled to have sod delivery and placement  in the backyard early next week. The expanded flowerbed should also be done at the same time. We are anxious to get it all behind us and be done with the frustration!

I plan to make one of the items for my grand 500th post giveaway. That task is on my to-do list for tomorrow. So there is a bit of a delay in getting the celebration post and picture prepared. Your continued patience will be rewarded! I promise!

I finally got all of my New Mexico photos transferred this afternoon from the digital cards to my computer, including the external hard drive backup. You would think that it would be an easy thing to do. Right? Wrong! The installation of the new Lightroom program slowed me down to a crawl. I don’t know how to use it and I’ve had no spare time to learn! The process has been trial and error so far. Mostly error, ha-ha! I’ve been itching to get a HDR photo editing program too, but now I’m wondering if one more thing will add to my current frustrations. I’m already at the tipping point! Ah, maybe things will settle down enough for me to begin to carve out some time to learn some new photo programs and tricks.

After going through the files, I can tell you that my New Mexico images look very promising, with great architecture and dramatic scenery! How’s that for a teaser?

We’re Back from New Mexico!

We’re back home now, safe and sound! We returned yesterday. What a fabulous journey and exploration of New Mexico. We met some really great folks along the way, saw some beautiful countryside, and stayed at relaxing places in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We successfully wore ourselves out too! I can’t say that my bionic knee behaved very well. It has been protesting loudly about all the walking we did. Fiddlesticks!

So hello, Thursday, and we’re back to reality and our normal routines! I jumped right into my consulting work today. Hubby cheerfully did laundry chores and grocery shopping. We are both excited to be reacquainted with many things that we missed, such as the Tennessee landscape filled with a multitude of green colors, cozy recliners, and comfort-height toilets! That’s one of the neat things about traveling. When you return home, you are gently reminded of cherished items in your own world!

I see that Marty behaved reasonably well minding the blog and keeping you entertained with posts during my absence. There will be a few more posts to share pictures of Zion National Park, where we vacationed three years ago. Of course, there will also be plenty of opportunities for me to bore you to tears with New Mexico photos in the weeks and months ahead! Photoshop and my computer are going to get a workout.

Last, but not least, my blog passed the 500th post milestone while we were gone. Hooray!!! Who knew that I could be so chatty? Stay tuned for a giveaway celebration very soon! It will be my best giveaway ever!

Springtime in Zion Series – #3

Your neck gets a workout at Zion because you are constantly looking UP! Vibrant scenes like this are right by the roadway. Radiant sunlight and feathery clouds like this at the Riverside Walk area capture your heart. This particular locale is on the northern end of the park shuttle.

The Grotto area has a magical canopy of huge trees, just north of the Zion Lodge. Several trails lead off from here, including to this arch carved into the mountain’s base and the one to the famous Angels Landing. You have to be sure-footed, young, and very brave to try that tortuous trail!

Photo Challenge: Spring Easy

It’s time for another Brenda Photo Challenge! The current challenge theme is Spring Easy. Much to our delight, spring has been sprouting in east Tennessee for several weeks now. I took a few pictures in the area to share with you, and I did NOT skimp on the saturated colors in the processing!

Would you believe that the image below is right alongside a 4-lane parkway?! This road is only about three miles from us, and it is glorious sight for sore eyes in the spring season. A local garden club has planted countless daffodil bulbs in the right-of-way over the years. As soon as those blooms start to fade, then the mustard grass starts to bloom, the redbuds and dogwoods don their colorful coats, and other trees begin to bud out with their leaves. The camera settings for this image were f/7.1, 1/250 second, and ISO 400.

And this stand of blooming redbuds can’t help but make you smile when you take an exit off of the parkway. The photo was taken at f/5.0, 1/800 second, and ISO 400.

So where is an example of famous dogwood blooms in east Tennessee? Why, right here! It looks like the feathery clouds in the background are helping the branches reach for the sky! The camera settings were f/9.0, 1/250 second, and ISO 400.

Now that you have seen my contributions to the challenge, please click on the link at the beginning of this post and find some other great Spring Easy images!

Springtime in Zion Series – #2

These are a couple of views right outside the visitor’s center at the south entrance of the park. They give you a taste of the soaring and jagged peaks that abound in this majestic area! The visitors center is large and welcoming, with a tasteful gift shop.

Jim fondly remembers that this is where he got his America the Beautiful Senior Pass! It is a lifetime pass for U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over. The pass provides access to and use of Federal recreation sites that change an entrance fee. It also allows up to 3 guests to get in free with him too. At only $10, it’s one of the best deals going!

Springtime in Zion Series – #1

Hello, this is Marty and I’m in charge while the humans are away. Actually, I’m in charge most of the time, but we’ll not share that little secret with Donna, okay? Welcome to a new series: Springtime in Zion. That stands for Zion National Park, located in southwest Utah!

When April’s bright green foliage contrasts with southwest desert rocks, it creates an explosion of color. Add a stand of cacti, as found in the north side of the park, and you have a symphony of textures too!

And there is nothing like these massive rock peaks to make you feel small and insignificant!

New Mexico Bound

We’ve packed up the provisions and camera gear for a photo expedition! We’re heading out to the southwest again. This time the destination is New Mexico! We’ll be staying in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, using those cities as our temporary quarters while we go on the hunt for good food, beautiful scenery, and the laid-back country pace.

To entertain you a bit while I’m gone, Marty is in charge of posting some of my photographic images from Zion National Park, taken back in April 2008. I previously featured some pictures from this glorious spot of heaven on earth, but I have done some whole new processing on them. And with a wider column on my blog now, I can now show images that are a bigger format. I hope you enjoy them! This park is definitely on our “must see again” list!

The image of the horses shown above was taken at Zion. I entered this, along with some others, in the latest Pioneer Woman photo challenge assignment. There are thousands of photos entered in her contests, so I have nary a chance. My composition style and processing also don’t coincide very well with her tastes either. Oh well! At least I’ve had some new folks stop by and give me lovely comments on my Flickr images!

And let’s hope that Marty behaves while he’s in charge!

Dogwood Days

Nothing is more beautiful
than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.

~ George Washington Carver ~

A Little Dirt Moving and a Lot of Foot Tapping

One of these John Deere babies visited us last week! More of the long-awaited yard spruce-up project is underway again. If you will recall, they did some tree removal and trimming back in early February. The landscape company sure isn’t breaking any speed records. It was supposed to be done by April 1 – promises, promises! And we have our doubts that it will get done before we head out of town, especially since more rain is predicted for this week. We were also not too happy when they ran over a lovely 20+ tall dogwood tree.

Right now we have a lot of bare dirt in the backyard. Except for one trench dug out around the HVAC unit, no hardscape work has been done and the flowerbed around the mailbox hasn’t been touched. Wish us luck that it will all get finished before summer time is over – ha!

April–A Look Ahead

Do you realize that one-fourth of the year is now ka-put? I can’t believe how fast time is flying by me right now. And I know that this month will be gone in a blink of an eye as well. But hubby and I are going to have another adventure trip soon, so at least I’ll have a bevy of photographs to record what I see and experience this month!

We’ll be flying out to New Mexico later on to explore the natural country, parks, and architecture! The camera gear will be in tow, and I am going to try to stretch a bit on my creative eye. This trip will be on our own rather than a tour, so we’ll have lots of unhurried time. We’ll be out there for a week and a half, with our stay divided between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We’ll explore some of the picturesque parts of those cities and also use them as our home bases for jaunts to historical and natural features. We are crossing our fingers that the national parks will not be closed because of the politicians in Washington. (They should have passed this year’s budget no later than six months ago, the idiots!) If the national parks aren’t open, we may have to console ourselves with extra pitchers of margaritas!

I have gotten into the groove okay with the consulting job. The work is challenging at times, but I’ve been able to tackle it. It consumes a great deal of my time, needless to say. Unfortunately, I have not yet found my groove with what little free time remains. After experiencing the freedom of retirement, it is very confining (and confusing) to have that freedom now gone! I have to confess that keeping up with the blog has been a bit daunting. Less frequent and shorter posts may have to be the answer. There just aren’t enough hours in the day! Hubby has been quite a sweetie, taking care of shopping errands, doing chores around the house, and making sure that I am regularly fed. I would be really frazzled without all of his much appreciated work!

Since we have Photoshop CS5, we were recently offered a good deal from Adobe on Lightroom 3, a companion digital image program. So we ordered it! I am anxious to try it out this month and see if it will help me speed up my current snail-pace of photo image processing. We just got it in the mail yesterday and it’s already on my computer, ready for my initial learning frustrations, LOL. I plan to immerse myself in study this weekend with some online videos.

The back and side yard projects finally started earlier this week. We were getting concerned over the continued delays and were ready to find another company to get the job done. The brush clearing in the woods has been accomplished, much to the chagrin of our resident squirrel population. They only got one day of work accomplished before a rainy weather front appeared. So now we are faced with more delays. Drats!

Thanks to hubby, the grass in our yard is looking quite respectable after he applied fertilizer and weed killer. We’re declaring war on weeds this year, and it will be a continuing battle since there are still dozens of empty home lots in our villa section. New daffodils are blooming every day, it seems. I am so happy with the varieties that we planted, and I squeal every time I see them! Yeah, I’m funny like that. My lavender plants are doing splendidly and I’ll plant a few more when we return from our travels. We’re also going to pot up some herb plants soon. April is always a busy time for gardening!

Last, but not least, I anticipate hitting my 500th blog post toward the end of the month! It’s incredible to think that milestone is now almost here. Of course, I will have a special bloggy giveaway and celebration for my dear blog friends. You won’t want to miss signing up for it!