19/365 Bright

"Brightly Colored Socks"

I'm not sure that I had the right take on bright; I suspect that it was intended to have more to do with light than with color.  Oh well . . . Things don't get much brighter than these socks.  I hand-dyed the yarn and then knit the socks.  They are some of my favorites!

18/365 Doorway

"1900's Texas Ranch House"

I struggled with what to do today.  I do have a fascination with doors and windows.  I particularly love the colorful ones found on many of the buildings in New Mexico.  That is the image I had in my head and I could think of nothing close that was even comparable.

I then remembered a picture I had taken when we were in Assisi back in 2009.  It too is full of color.

I spent the day thinking about where to go and what to photograph.  I finally decided that the Farmers Branch Historical Park surely must have at least one building with an interesting door.  As soon as Weber got home from school, we went to see what we could find.  I've never explored the historical park.  We only had about an hour so today's exploration revolved solely around doors.

There were several pictures that I was relatively happy with.  Below is the "runner-up."

I find it rather interesting that I started the day wanting an image of a colorful doorway and ended up with a very stark black and white picture.  I guess I am an all or nothing kind of girl.

17/365 A Favorite Toy

"Teddy"

This well-loved bear was given to my mother when she was born in 1938.  As a child, the first thing that I would do when we visited my grandparents, which was usually only every year or two, was go find "Teddy."  He was always in the same chair, in the same corner, in the same room.  He was a constant companion while I was visiting Delaware.

He now lives with me.  He sits in his chair, which was my mother-in-law's, in the corner of our guest room.  Somewhere along the way, he was dressed in baby clothes.  I believe this was to help protect his arms and legs that are only now tenuously attached by a single string.

My girls never got to play with him much so they don't have the same memories and attachment that I do.  But now that Teddy is out in public and accepting visitors, maybe some day another generation of grandchildren will run to find him when they come to visit.

I am thankful for today's prompt because I don't think that I have any other pictures of Teddy.  Well, with one exception . . .my grandparent's home was featured in an issue of Colonial Homes magazine.  At that point, Teddy was still residing in Delaware and made his way into the magazine shoot.  Anyway, Im glad to have been prompted to take a picture myself.

16/365 Jumbled

"The Last of the Birthday Flowers"

On a photography blog today I saw the following paraphrase of a quote, possibly by Berenice Abbott:

I never take the photograph I intended; they are either better or worse.

This sums up today's picture taking perfectly.  I had planned to spend the day at the knit shop today since I am fast approaching going back to school and my opportunity to do this will be virtually non-existent..  Since today's photo prompt was "jumbled" I figured I could certainly find a jumbled up knitting project at some point during my day.  I had checked the battery in my camera and packed it securely in my purse.  I am trying to become comfortable and carrying it with me more.  As I turned around to pick up my knit bag, I saw the flowers that Weber gave me for my birthday.  They are almost three weeks old.  Though several of them are still bright with life, others have lost petals and blossoms.  These fallen jumble of pieces surrounded the vase still sitting on the curio cabinet in the dining room.  For some reason, this image caught my attention.  I don't know whether it was the colors, the contrast between the flowers still on their stems and those laying on the cabinet or what.  Whatever it was, I was fascinated.  Not having much time before I was supposed to leave, I unpacked my camera and started taking pictures.  I played with the angles and the settings.  I had just enough time to pop my memory card in the computer and look at a few images before I left.  I was fairly sure that I had gotten something that would satisfy the day's prompt.  I didn't take my camera with me.

I thought about these pictures all day.

When I got home, the first thing that I did (after feeding the starving dog) was scroll through them all.  This one just jumped out at me.  I love everything about it.

This was not the photograph I intended to take today.  Happily, it is much better than I expected.

15/365 Nuts

"Bur Oak Trio in the Snow"

To our surprise, we awoke to a light dusting of snow his morning.  It was the kind of snow that was really pretty.  The kind that makes the leaves glisten.  The kind that makes everything seem more quiet than it really is.  There were some overpasses on the highways that were icy, but for the most part the roads were clear.

To me these bur oak acorns look like little faces all bundled up in their winter caps.  It was a perfect image to capture a snowy morning in Dallas and remain faithful to the day's prompt - nuts.  There were so many ways that one could go with this.

Because we had not expected a snowy morning, I had planned to walk to school this morning.  Though it was cold, the wind was calm so it didn't feel that cold.  I had a wonderful walk.  It was nice to be outside getting some exercise and looking at all of the places where the snow had collected and was still undisturbed.  

I was particularly taken by this snow-lined tangle of branches that I passed on my way.

By the time I walked home this afternoon, all of the snow was gone.  I'm glad that I was out and about early this morning.

14/365 Low Light

"A Kiss in the Dark"

Photographing in low light was the day's task.  Knowing that I wasn't going anywhere this evening, I figured that I would take some kind of set-up shot.  I had put Hershey's kisses in Erin's lunch this afternoon so the kisses came to mind as I was deciding what to try.  I like the above picture compositionally.  The lighting almost makes it look like the kiss is floating in chocolate.  I handheld the camera because I was too lazy to get the tripod out so it is not as crisp as I would like.

As I was playing with the above shot, a man from the gas company pulled up out front in his truck.  We have smelled gas out at the street on and off for quite a while.  In light of the explosions that have taken place in our area due to gas leaks, we decided that we should call it in.  I walked outside to see what was going on.  There was this man standing in the dark and the cold trying to figure out where the leak was.  The only light he had was from the headlights of his truck and a tiny flashlight.  This photo best represents the real life version of the day's prompt of working in low light.

"Working in Low Light"

Gingerbread House Build

Though the Christmas decorations were all put away last weekend (except for the snowman that I noticed in the hall bathroom today), our Christmas vacation really didn't end until today.  Brooke left to go back to Chicago and Erin started back to school.  It was really nice to have both girls here with us last night.  Erin was a real trooper and spent the night with us so that she could get up at 5:15 to take Weber to the doctor.  Neither Brooke or I are useful when it comes to transportation.

Before Erin got sick on her birthday and the plans were adjusted accordingly, the girls had planned to build a gingerbread house together.  The build ended up being postponed until New Years.  They got a start on it that day, but did not finished.  The work in progress has been on the bar in the kitchen since then.  (Fortunately these things are not actually meant to be consumed!)  Brooke was bound and determined that they were going to finish it before she left.  Though she dabbled with it on her own, Brooke wanted it to be a group project so she waited for Erin to be here to help her.

Stage I

Last night they got serious about finishing.

And it definitely was serious business!

It was fun to see them work together.  I was very lucky that the girls have always gotten along and still do.

Once it looked like they would indeed finish this project, they relaxed and had a little more fun.

The details . . .

And finally, ready for a certificate of occupancy!

The finishing touches were added as the girls were heading out the door together this morning.  Erin dropped Brooke at the airport on her way to class.

I have heard rumors that next year's gingerbread house is going to be Dr. Seuss themed.  It may take me that long to get all of the royal icing off the counter, but I am looking forward to it!