Day Thirty Eight ~ Blossom from White Icicle Radish

November 3rd 2012

Day Thirty Seven ~ Lavender Honey

November 2nd 2012

I know I already took one of a bee on some lavender, but there is something so lovely with the golden color of the bee against the contrast of the lavender.

Day Thirty Six ~ Olive Leaves

November 1st 2012

Day Thirty Five ~ EXTERMINATE! DELETE!

October 31st 2012

To be absolutely fair I didn't take this picture, but it sums up the day perfectly, so I am using it! I like I said in my previous post Doctor Who has been a recent hit in our house. So for our family costume this year I dressed up at the 4th Doctor Who and the kids were a Cyberman and a Darlek.

Day Thirty Four ~ Pumpkin, Can't wait for Halloween

October 30th 2012

Day Thirty Three ~ Lovely Little Flowers

October 29th 2012

Day Thirty Two ~ Before They Fade

October 28th 2012

Day Thirty One ~ Succulents

October 27th 2012

Day Thirty ~ Bird Watching

October 26th 2012

Day Twenty Nine ~ Overcast Breaking at Sunset

October 25th 2012

Day Twenty Eigth ~ Twig at Dusk

October 24th 2012

Day Twenty Seven ~ Sunrise

October 23rd 2012

It has been a rough couple of weeks, one of my munchkins was very ill. On the 23rd (along with a couple of other night) I got zero sleep taking care of the kiddo. On this particular morning I decided to jump outside and take a quick picture of the sun rising. It is out of focus, but to be honest I am pretty sure my eyesight was out of focus because of the lack of sleep.

Day Twenty Six - Statue

October 22nd 2012

Recently I have gotten back into a television show I watch as a child called Doctor Who. I have started to watch the more recent episodes. One episode in particular inspired this picture, the title of the episode is  "Blink".  Season Three, Ep,11. I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone, but I don't think I will ever look a statue in the same ever again!

Day Twenty Five - Lantana

October 21st 2012

Day Twenty Four - Soup for the Soul

October 20th 2012

With cooler weather and a sick child soup was on the menu for today!

Day Twenty Three - Bark

October 19th 2012

Bark from the trunk of my Australian Willow Tree, the light hit the bark in such a way to uncover a rainbow of colors!

Day Twenty Two - Corn

October 18th 2012

Day Twenty One - Monarch

October 17th 2012

This beautiful butterfly kept teasing me all this morning. Each time I went outside I would see it flying around. Then when I went for my camera and came back it was gone. Finally it settled down on to the willow tree and I got my picture :)

Day Twenty - Black and White

October 16th 2012

Day Nineteen - Another Warm Day

October 15th 2012

Day Eighteen - Tangle of Aloe

October 14th 2012

Day Seventeen - Fall Colors

October 13th 2012

Day Sixteen - The Last of the Season

October 12th 2012

Today the last of the grapes ripen and were harvested. Simple lovely!

Day Fifteen - Gooses, Geeses!

 October 11th 2012

Yesterday we had a fun filled day out and about. For lunch we enjoyed a lovely picnic outside. The geese that lived near the pond we ate by became very excited to see us and hoovered as we ate our lunch. They were beautiful and knew to keep enough distance from the children. I think they new this Mama Goose wouldn't be to pleased if they upset the kiddos.

Day Fourteen - Dew Drops and Lollipops!

October 10th 2012

One of the many perks of having children, never knowing what you will come upon. Last night my daughter was playing outside and set her Lollipop down to dig in the dirt. I thought she had picked it back up and thrown it away, but this morning I went out to see it melted on a piece of paper. Glistening in the sun with it's ruby red hue, looked like the perfect pic for the day.

Day Thirteen - Hello There Little Fella

October 9th 2012

Gnomes are a favorite of mine. I have always loved the idea of magical little creatures doing good out in the world.

Day Twelve - Working Hard

October 8th 2012

One of my favorite things about having Lavender in the yard is watching the Honey Bees gather nectar. The never bother us and it is wonderful to watch them working hard and making the world a beautiful place in the process!

Day Eleven - Shadow

October 7th 2008

Day Ten - The Colors of Fall

October 6th 2012

Day Nine - Moon

October 5th 2012

Day Eight- Pumpkin Madeleine Cookies

Day Seven- Pumpkins

 

When I think of fall, pumpkins are one of the first things that comes to mind. This year we decided to grow our own. Unfortunately we planted a bit on the late side, but hopefully with the small blossoms starting to appear we will get to see a few pumpkins before the month is out.

Day Six - Hibiscus Bloom

Day 5- Country Life

Day four- Sunset

Day Three- The Chase

Picture taken with smartphone

September 29th 2012

This morning I was out in the backyard, watering the various plants in the garden and I hear my spunky little girl turn on her "troll" tone of voice. I turned around to her running in the yard from the grapevine to the radishes demanding "You get back here butterfly, now!"

The sight of her and the butterfly playing a game of cat and mouse made me laugh out loud. It always amazes me how laughing can create such energy and a overwhelming sense of jubilation. Before she chased the butterfly out of the yard because she was trying to lurer it to come closer, I was able to get a quick pic of it as it landed on a grape leaf.

After the butterfly flew over the fence she began to cry because all she had wanted to do was make a new friend. The only way to consule her was to show her the photo and tell her the type of  butterfly it was. As it turns out it was a Dogfaced female butterfly. She thought it was funny that a butterfly was called a dog, woof woof ;)

Day Two- Soaring

Photo taken using my smartphone camera

After picking up my kids from school, they asked to play in the school yard for a bit before going. I of course said yes, one factor being that it was a lovely fall afternoon, complete with a crisp cool breeze. While watching my children play with one another I noticed a lonely Monarch Butterfly flying around the school yard aimlessly. 

At first sight it made me feel a bit sad, the solitude of one butterfly, alone on a empty blacktop. But the longer I watched this impressive butterfly (it was huge, easily the size of my palm, including its wing span) I began to realize it was dancing. The butterfly no longer appeared alone, it had a partner. The butterfly was waltzing with the wind.

I only ask to be free.  The butterflies are free.  ~Charles Dickens

See You tomorrow.....

Day One - Fruits of My Labor

 Picture was taken with my cellphone using the Instagram app

September 27th 2012-

This evening my children and I enjoyed a late night snack of grapes, fresh off the grapevine from our backyard. This picture is simply beautiful to me, not in a technical "That is a wonderful shot" type of way. It is really more what the picture represents, the little things in life turn out to be the most important.

My father planted the grapevine when I was a child, for years he took great pride in taking care of the vine.  As an adult my parents moved to a new house and rented out my childhood home, where the grapevine was not appreciated for all it had to offer.

After several years I became the tent of that home, and in the beginning I wasn't really very involved in the yard work aside from cutting the lawn. I was starting my family and had other priorities in my life (such as taking care of my new little baby) , so once more the grapevine went unattended. After years of neglect the vine stopped producing grapes. But through some changes in my life and a different state of mind, I now view the yard as more then some place for my children to play. It can be a place that teaches my children and myself about nature. It can be a place that with a little hard work, can add food to our table. And to my surprise our backyard has become a place to feel calm and contemplate what really matters in this world, such as beauty in something as simple a truss of grapes.

These grapes provided that beauty tonight in the form of pure joy. My son's beautiful smile as he beamed while holding the grapes he helped care for. The sound of  my children crunching on the crisp fruit, knowing that I had a hand in helping nourish not only their bodies but minds, all by spending a little time in the garden.

A Little About Me

 And so it begins.........

I am a thirty year old woman that is raising two amazing children and takes pictures through out the day. To be honest I view my cellphone more as a camera than a phone. I can't bare the thought of not capturing every moment of my little ones childhood.
To me photos are a gateway into the past. When looking through pictures from my past they help conjurer up memories and emotions so strong it is like I am transported back in time. While looking at other peoples photos it helps me "walk in another man's shoes" and see the world from a fresh perceptive, which we all need from time to time.

In the coming days, I will be sharing my perceptive of this world with you one picture at a time. And even though I take pictures all day long, they tend to be mostly of my children. But this project I have set up for myself, isn't to just capture precious memories of my children, it is to step back and find beauty in sometimes, the simplest of forms. I can't promise that my children won't make their way in to this challenge from time to time, but my goal is to look beyond my own "little bubble" of a world and see what sometimes I take for granted. This is going to be a challenge for me, but one that I am ready to take on and to be honest one that I really think I need.

That being said I would like to share a few photos that mean a lot to me from the recent past, and yes some of them are of my children.

 My two loves! My son, who's curiosity can be seen on his face throughout the day as he puzzles over all this world has to offer. 
And my daughter who is a goof and who's smile can warm the heart of Jack Frost.

 Sitting outside in my backyard at dusk, amazed by the colors of the sky.

 My little thinker

 Two lovely ladies getting to know one another

Nature showing off some of it's most beautiful creatures

Cheers To The Next 365 Days!