The Photography Studio

I Take My Whining Seriously

kanniduba6 Comments

Whilst in the throes of my recent hating-my-house-moments, I had nothing better to do than sit with my iPad and look for trouble. There’s this handy little Trulia App that shows real estate for sale.

Well looky what I found:

Just a few miles from my house…waiting to be bought and built on. 30 acres. *sigh* Isn’t it beeee-yooo-teee-ful?!

But if you look closely at the photo, you’ll see what isn’t included with the property.

Little Neighbors 1, 2, and 3 that are as close to our children as cousins. Dear Neighbors who we have laughed with us, cried with us, supported us, and been supported by us. The many borrowed eggs, and sugar, and parmesan cheese that have passed between all our neighbors’ homes. Our Dear Sue across the street who has been a second mother to our daughters, and will always be family to us. Mr. Ding-A-Ling who drives by with ice cream every evening in summer. The deck Zan built for me. The former owners of our home who have shared their family histories with us. The sense of spirit and light our home possesses. None of that comes with that beautiful property in the photo. So here we will stay, grounded in the community we’ve helped build.

But look out neighbors…as Sue says, “It all starts with a throw pillow,” and I have some broken blinds in my windows. Better get a construction crew in to take care of them. 😉

Yesterday…

kanniduba9 Comments

…I was feeling sorry for myself.

I’ve had the one step forward, one and a quarter steps backward experience with my herniated disc tapping my sciatic nerve thing going on for a couple of weeks now.  Just when I was optimistic about my improvements on Wednesday, I wound up sliding back to square negative one on Friday.

However, just when I was allowing myself to feel pathetic, a bright spot erupted in my day.

Dear Neighbor brought me a bouquet of beautiful spring flowers.  🙂

Later, she and her kids proceeded to “sneak” into my house to tidy it up while my family was attending my niece’s birthday party.  I came home to no dishes, no dust, no toys or shoes to trip on, folded towels, and clean toilets…and made beds to boot!  It was a blessing for all of us.  Zan and the girls have been keeping up with the big stuff like laundry and grocery shopping and dishes, but with work and school, some things have had to go on the “later” list.  Interesting how, on the day I mention on Twitter how anxiety ridden I was over my messy house, Neighbor (who doesn’t read my Twitter or my blog) swooped in to save the day.  🙂

There’s always a silver lining, and in this case, it’s the reminder that I am surrounded by angels.

To See the Beauty…

kanniduba8 Comments

I finally faced the fact that my poor tulips had seen the end of their time with me.

But as I went to throw them away, their shriveled petals caught the sun, and I simply HAD to spend a few more minutes with them.  These were all taken with my 50mm lens with a magnifying filter, no flash.

May we always see past the shriveled and sunken to see the beauty.

Up Close

kanniduba24 Comments

I spent three days with these flowers getting up close and personal with them…with flash, without flash, flash on the camera, flash off the camera, with extension tubes, without extension tubes, using each different lens and various angles, different times of day so the ambient light in my dining room was different.

I must say, I enjoyed every second I spent with these lovely flowers…they were a welcome escape from all things distressing.  (And a big thank you goes out  to Scott for giving me a well timed opportunity to practice my off camera flash skills.)  🙂

A small selection of favorites…

And a black and white version for good measure: