Backwoods Babble

Had a happy ending. Yesterday was a bad day. It started bad and got steadily worse for quite awhile before it ended well. I had to take my big, scary Praxis I exam yesterday. Four hours of testing that I have been stressing over for a couple of months. I had planned to wake up fairly early since all three of the cats have pneumonia and I must dose them with all kinds of fun stuff, which naturally they hate. I forgot to set the alarm and woke up an hour late then spent a full extra hour chasing one of the cats that had suddenly decided that I was the devil instead of being the most docile of the three. She then proceeded to scratch, bite and generally behave like the kid from the Exorcist while I attempted to give her the little dose of her medicine. Then, the dog decided that she was too stressed to deal with the cats and peed on her dog bed which, since I was going to be gone all day couldn't leave just sitting there. So, I cleaned that up. Next, I went to take care of shop k...

Because I can.. that is all. And while you contemplate all that deepness, you can enjoy the image below from my trip to Washington state almost a year ago. I think it's almost time to go back for another visit! I will also be embarking on a little adventure to see what my recently rediscovered Olympus 35 SP will do. I found it at a thrift store for $5.00 and have yet to take a roll of film with it. **Fingers crossed that something will be worth sharing..**

I have reached a goal! 10 Followers! Welcome to septembermom and her fabulous blog My Voice, My View ... check it out! It's great! I'm adding a random photo from my collection, just because I love photos. This was taken out by Tecopa in California. Catch ya soon! I haven't had much time to blog because I'm studying like a fiend for the Praxis I that I'm taking at the end of the month. This means, of course, that I'm not likely to make my goal of 274 posts, but I'll sure give it my best shot as I find the time.

A complete mystery to me. I haven't decided yet. I had alot of fun with the photo contest last month, but as I started this as a way to force myself to do NEW things, I can't really justify doing one every month now can I? I guess it's time to make a list of things that I keep saying "sound like fun" and never get around to. I live about an hour outside of Las Vegas so it's not like there is a lack of new or interesting things. It's mostly a bad attitude about where I'm currently living that I have used as an excuse to not engage with the local activities. Sigh... Here's to hoping I can smack myself in the back of the head and get over it!

I have finally hit 100 posts - yay me! I thought I would celebrate by adding a couple more pics of my orchids. I am also trying out this write your post and set it for another day thing - hope it works! My dog decided to help me with my replanting a few days ago by knocking over one of the plants and smashing it to pics. Off to the store to get a few new pots. I was planning already to redistribute them, but was going to wait until after all the good flowering fun was done. How nice of her to be so helpful huh??? This is the poor plant that the dog helped. I really do love the colors - so different. I also potted a little keiki from this plant. This is really good since this plant looks awful besides the pretty colors. It's doing really well. It has already doubled in size! Sorry about the little fuzzy edges. The light was not the best. Time to track down a good portable one I guess. I have found alot of creative freedom in blogging and I'm looking forward to more and ...

Just thought I'd add the list of what was in the Sweetsauer Photo Hunt #2 since I'm taking it off my side bar... As a quick little recap. The goal was to complete the list in 1 month... try it.. I had a lot of fun and could definitely do a repeat down the road. =) If you want to see my shots, click on the label on the left for Sweetsauer Photo Hunt #2.. **Bold items have been completed** 1. A View from Above (looking down) 2. A Macro Shot 3. Laughter 4. Relaxation 5. A Celebration 6. A Sunset 7. Sun/Lens Flare 8. A Bridge 9. A Shadow 10. A Garden 11. A Park 12. A Street Scene 13. Signage 14. A Summer Activity 15. A Summer Treat 16. Earth 17. Air/ Wind 18. Fire 19. Water 20. Something Vintage (pre-1980) 21. Something Made of Glass 22. Something Made of Wood 23. Something that Floats 24. Something Railroad Related 25. Something Round Happy Snapping!

I've been really trying to work on alot of different elements of sketching. What is interesting about art, at least to me, is that it really is very much related to what I learned in high school drawing geometric shapes. It's all about illusion. You have to learn to make things "appear" like they are closer and farther. This was a big breakthrough for me in drawing class. Once I realized that I had learned these skills, my sketches started looking a little better. This is a current work in progress. I love taking pictures and this is a shot I took out at Scotty's Castle in Death Valley. It's an amazing place - if you ever get out there I highly recommend taking both the above ground and the underground tours. It's just a small sketch from my notebook, 8'1/2 by 11 at most. As I keep saying, I have a long way to go before things match what I am seeing or what is in my head, but I do feel like there's progress and that is what matters. I am th...