Dreaming of warmer weather

I've been day dreaming lately of warm summer days... watching the barn swallows swoop low over the yard... taking photos of the chickens and pigs... trying to figure out what to do with too much zucchini... etc.  

I've seen a "challenge" on other blogs lately to open up your 4th folder of photos and show the 4th photo in the folder.  Mine just happens to be from August and coincidently it was the cover shot of a book I made recently for Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave (our landlords).  It has photos from the farm and this blog in it.  

It was a Christmas gift for them and they seem to like it.  I guess their daughters want a copy as well.  It was pretty easy to make.  I used Blurb.com to create and print the book.  I wasn't happy with the first book they sent (the cover had a magenta hue) but the customer service was good and they printed another and sent a better copy free of charge.  

Someday I hope to put together a hardcover book of my favorite images.  I have some amazing stuff (if it is OK to brag a bit) from my time in Mali... Maine... England... Michigan... etc.  I did a lot of black and white editorial fashion style images in college as well.  I've had a couple of gallery shows but it has been years since the last one.  Someday I would love to make prints of my favorite work and pursue a career in photography again.  I guess I am not sure where to start though.  

Anywho, it was nice pulling out the photo of the rainbow.  I'm really looking forward to this Spring.  I'm actually just looking forward to some 40 degree weather -- anything is better than the bitter cold we've had lately.

Sticky Snow

The snow yesterday was very unusual.  It was sticking to everything and looked like a really heavy coating of frost.  You can see all the individual flakes if you look closely at the first photo.  It was absolutely gorgeous and turned a day of doing laundry and running a couple errands into a photo safari (It was also very cold and I shot every single one of these photos sitting in the comfort of my car -- just roll down the window and shoot).

My girl

I realize her photos are posted all over this blog but I couldn't resist adding a few more.  She is "my girl" and so until I have photos of children to post -- she is what you'll be seeing here.  We were having a little photo shoot this morning on my lap. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll have something new to show y'all.  Perhaps some photos from the laundromat (I'm only half kidding).  Maybe I'll have time to cover some topics I've been wanting to write about lately.  I have a lot to do tomorrow -- as you can see in the last photo, I still haven't even taken down the Christmas tree yet.  Busy, busy, busy!

Photos from Grand Rapids

Some photos from my day and a half in Grand Rapids.  The first one was shot just for fun...

Then a couple of photos of the jewelry I made Mom for Christmas.  

Brooches and earrings...

Mom and I went to the new art museum in Grand Rapids on Saturday.  I had no idea they had a showing of my FAVORITE fashion photographer going on.  I'm a lucky gal!  It was fantastic!

Some of Mom's orchids...

It is icy out.  I'm getting ready to head back home right now.  Hopefully the roads aren't too bad. 

Meet Callie Jo -- the calico.  She is my family's cat.  She has been busy watching the birds outside.  She is gorgeous, but not real friendly.  She'd rather be left alone unless you have food for her (and she is picky too).  Pretty eyes though.

The weekend is about over now.  It was nice to see my family again even though it has only been a week and a half since Christmas.  Their home is so relaxing to me.

Waffles and coffee

My husband has turned into a waffle-makin' fool this morning.  He got a waffle maker for Christmas and we finally got around to trying it out today.  Waffles and coffee are just about the perfect combo for the first meal of a new year (although not entirely healthy -- so much for that New Years resolution.  Guess that will start tomorrow).  

He's quite proud of himself.  He's also got a big mess to clean up.  I don't care though -- as long as he cleans it up I'm happy.  I got some amazing waffles out of it.