today was father's day. i'm not sure if it is all over the world... but it is here in america.
the day didn't start out very nice, unfortunately, but i think it ended up just fine. we actually did our big celebration of the day at my in-laws yesterday, and that was unexpectedly pleasant. often my inlaws can be a bit over bearing, but yesterday i held my own :)
tonight ended with a great meal of grilled shrimp, roasted veggies, and baked potatoes. after a nice meal and a bottle of his favorite beer, bill went to the basement to watch horrible movies, and i haven't heard from him since :) so i think he had a good day.
while it was quiet this afternoon, i decided to practice for my photo shoot tomorrow. i haven't done many inside 360 panos.. not nearly enough to feel totally comfortable with what i'm doing. that may not say much about my skills but more about my mindset. i do need more confidence. i think after i do a few more of them i'll be ok.
http://beth.imageination.co.uk/mykitchen.mov is a link that will work for a couple of days. its just my practice pano. i know the typing in the black dot is off center and the overall image quality isn't as high as it should be. i used reduce sized images just so it wouldn't take forever to render.
i'm expecting 2 photo orders back early this week, i'm excited to see them. one is a new book that i've put together using some of my nature images, and another is a bunch of candid portraits taken for my sister-in-law.
i talked to my dad the other day, he is traveling today.. so i didn't get a chance to wish him happy father's day. he is due to have surgery soon, to remove his gallbladder so hopefully he will get home safe and sound and get the surgery over with so he can start feeling better soon.
thats it for now
b
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
do what you love, love what you do
8 nights to go until i'm in canada :)
today was extremely stressful but also very exciting.
it started off like it often does this time of year. dragging 3 tired kids out of bed to attend the last couple of days of school is just about one of my least favorite things to do. they are grumpy, and rude, and demanding. its a horrible way to start the day.. everyone at their very worst. one day more day of this and then its officially summer holiday.
the kids have exams all this week.. which makes things even worse, they can't concentrate. alex is just now realizing the expectations i have for his grades aren't going to change, no matter what he actually achieved this year. alex is a chronic under achiever. he has the capability of acing every class with very little effort. it might actually take great effort to do badly in his classes. most of the classes he had this year were not new to him. its not the academics that gives him fits.. its following rules.
i have a rule in my house. you have to achieve a 80% or better.. bare minimum or... give it a 100% effort and then we can worry about the grades as they come. there is no mercy for slacking off on school work and then bringing home crappy grades.
growing up.. my parents didn't voice any expectations for my academic achievement. matter of fact i can't even remember them ever attending a parent/teacher conference, or commenting on a report card that i got. i was blessed with a talent in music that helped me get into a college.. and then the grades mattered to me, so i did what i needed to do to be proud of myself.
i know that ultimately the grades aren't what matters in life. its your effort and rewards for your efforts, and consequences for your lack of effort that will probably shape your life much more than what a silly report card says.
that all being said... alex will probably have a very long summer of having to answer to me much more than he would if he would have taken responsibility for his own behavior.
alex has made great strides in the social arena tho.. he has the sweetest girlfriend and has a group of loyal friends that are in the band with him (gotta love those musicians!) in the past, i always thought alex would be struggling socially for the rest of his life. academics came so easily to him.... he never ceases to surprise me. he is so very talented in music.. and seems to realize it. maybe thats the direction he'll take in life.
hannah has worked her butt off this school year. she had a very hard transition from kansas to michigan. she didn't fit in with a group of friends right away (for a teenage girl that could be the worst fate of all) so, hannah did concentrate on her school work. she also made a huge effort to get involved in the community volunteering her time. about 3 months ago she stared a journalism class, and then was put on the staff of the high school yearbook.
this has turned out to be the very best turn of events for her. she really excels in journalism. she gets so excited about stories and writing them that her enthusiasm is contagious. she was made financial manager of the yearbook next year, which is a huge honor for someone who isn't even a senior yet :)
sam did great in school this year. 6th grade is the first year where the kids typically get letter grades and he really likes to see tangible evidence of his efforts. so he was very motivated for grades. he earned a 4.0 or all perfect grades this year *mom smiles proudly*
he will be so happy when he is able to be on the basketball team next year. they didn't have a 6th grade team. basketball is HIS sport. sam and i love to go to our local professional team's games as well. thats something that we share a lot. even if we can't get tickets for the game he and i will sit, glued to the tv and cheer the Pistons on :P
oh.. darn.. now i remember why i started this blog :/ i got a very exciting phone call today. i've been trying really hard to figure out a way to earn money doing the things i love to do. music and photography. music is a hard business to earn a living at. i love to teach, but building a teaching studio takes time, and the best advertisement is word of mouth. before we moved to kansas i was teaching 25 students a week. now i'm just working on building that up again. i play jobs, but often they are for the church and even if they are paid jobs... they just aren't steady enough to depend on at this point.
that means turning my efforts to photography. portraits always sell, i mean.. who wont by a picture of their kids ;) but.. i don't actually have studio space. i have all the studio equipment i need, and its fairly portable (with a small army of helpers) again.. just working out of my living room booking friends and friends of friends for portraits just isn't steady work. the occasional wedding or party helps, but doesn't really come along that often.
i've been working on some new photography skills. my friend markus from austria is a real whiz with the camera. i swear he knows more about my cameras than i do.. and he doesn't even own the same camera! markus got interested in doing panoramas and then going one step further doing 360 degree panos just for a hobby.
i thought it was so cool that i just wanted to learn out to do it too. i bought a nodal ninja ... no its not a fighting guy.. its an attachment for my tripod that helps the camera stay in the right place to reduce the distortion when i take the pano images. anyway.. after doing a few panos i realized that this could really be a marketable thing.
because i have moved so many times, i know how important it is to weed out the unsuitable houses before you ever take a trip to see it in person. seeing a house on the inside, by way of a virtual tour, or 360 pano is a great way to see whats going on behind those 4 walls and a roof.
i've been milling this idea around in my head for a while now, but today i actually did something about it. i got a call from a sister of a friend that is selling her house on her own. she was looking for a better way to market her house, and then she was told about my photography.
i agreed to go to her house on monday and shoot 4 rooms 360 style, and then give her the links to the panos.. and she is going to use them for advertising.
i wont make a lot of money on this particular job, but its a foot in the door. once i get a few of these under my belt, then i can take my services to the larger real estate companies and show them what i have to offer.
i have a temporary hosting site, thanks izz ;) but will eventually get my own domain name and website to host the images. i'm still figuring out how it should look and how it will work, but i'm pretty excited about it.
markus agreed to be my technical support although he swears i don't need it. i think its all in his plan to eventually come to the united states and visit his friend in colorado
this is something i've wanted to do for a long time, and i really think there is a need for it. its only a tiny foot in the door.. but i have big plans :)
a very dear friend gave me just the moral support i needed to take the steps to get started with this. i'm not sure this will be the thing that makes my life more financially secure, but at least i'll love it while i'm working on it.
"do what you love, love what you do" (its not just a company kippy, its a way of life!)
for anyone that hasn't tried a brand of clothing called "life is good" you should.
sorry for the long rambling blog.. without pictures :| soon you'll see at least a few 360 panos here tho
today was extremely stressful but also very exciting.
it started off like it often does this time of year. dragging 3 tired kids out of bed to attend the last couple of days of school is just about one of my least favorite things to do. they are grumpy, and rude, and demanding. its a horrible way to start the day.. everyone at their very worst. one day more day of this and then its officially summer holiday.
the kids have exams all this week.. which makes things even worse, they can't concentrate. alex is just now realizing the expectations i have for his grades aren't going to change, no matter what he actually achieved this year. alex is a chronic under achiever. he has the capability of acing every class with very little effort. it might actually take great effort to do badly in his classes. most of the classes he had this year were not new to him. its not the academics that gives him fits.. its following rules.
i have a rule in my house. you have to achieve a 80% or better.. bare minimum or... give it a 100% effort and then we can worry about the grades as they come. there is no mercy for slacking off on school work and then bringing home crappy grades.
growing up.. my parents didn't voice any expectations for my academic achievement. matter of fact i can't even remember them ever attending a parent/teacher conference, or commenting on a report card that i got. i was blessed with a talent in music that helped me get into a college.. and then the grades mattered to me, so i did what i needed to do to be proud of myself.
i know that ultimately the grades aren't what matters in life. its your effort and rewards for your efforts, and consequences for your lack of effort that will probably shape your life much more than what a silly report card says.
that all being said... alex will probably have a very long summer of having to answer to me much more than he would if he would have taken responsibility for his own behavior.
alex has made great strides in the social arena tho.. he has the sweetest girlfriend and has a group of loyal friends that are in the band with him (gotta love those musicians!) in the past, i always thought alex would be struggling socially for the rest of his life. academics came so easily to him.... he never ceases to surprise me. he is so very talented in music.. and seems to realize it. maybe thats the direction he'll take in life.
hannah has worked her butt off this school year. she had a very hard transition from kansas to michigan. she didn't fit in with a group of friends right away (for a teenage girl that could be the worst fate of all) so, hannah did concentrate on her school work. she also made a huge effort to get involved in the community volunteering her time. about 3 months ago she stared a journalism class, and then was put on the staff of the high school yearbook.
this has turned out to be the very best turn of events for her. she really excels in journalism. she gets so excited about stories and writing them that her enthusiasm is contagious. she was made financial manager of the yearbook next year, which is a huge honor for someone who isn't even a senior yet :)
sam did great in school this year. 6th grade is the first year where the kids typically get letter grades and he really likes to see tangible evidence of his efforts. so he was very motivated for grades. he earned a 4.0 or all perfect grades this year *mom smiles proudly*
he will be so happy when he is able to be on the basketball team next year. they didn't have a 6th grade team. basketball is HIS sport. sam and i love to go to our local professional team's games as well. thats something that we share a lot. even if we can't get tickets for the game he and i will sit, glued to the tv and cheer the Pistons on :P
oh.. darn.. now i remember why i started this blog :/ i got a very exciting phone call today. i've been trying really hard to figure out a way to earn money doing the things i love to do. music and photography. music is a hard business to earn a living at. i love to teach, but building a teaching studio takes time, and the best advertisement is word of mouth. before we moved to kansas i was teaching 25 students a week. now i'm just working on building that up again. i play jobs, but often they are for the church and even if they are paid jobs... they just aren't steady enough to depend on at this point.
that means turning my efforts to photography. portraits always sell, i mean.. who wont by a picture of their kids ;) but.. i don't actually have studio space. i have all the studio equipment i need, and its fairly portable (with a small army of helpers) again.. just working out of my living room booking friends and friends of friends for portraits just isn't steady work. the occasional wedding or party helps, but doesn't really come along that often.
i've been working on some new photography skills. my friend markus from austria is a real whiz with the camera. i swear he knows more about my cameras than i do.. and he doesn't even own the same camera! markus got interested in doing panoramas and then going one step further doing 360 degree panos just for a hobby.
i thought it was so cool that i just wanted to learn out to do it too. i bought a nodal ninja ... no its not a fighting guy.. its an attachment for my tripod that helps the camera stay in the right place to reduce the distortion when i take the pano images. anyway.. after doing a few panos i realized that this could really be a marketable thing.
because i have moved so many times, i know how important it is to weed out the unsuitable houses before you ever take a trip to see it in person. seeing a house on the inside, by way of a virtual tour, or 360 pano is a great way to see whats going on behind those 4 walls and a roof.
i've been milling this idea around in my head for a while now, but today i actually did something about it. i got a call from a sister of a friend that is selling her house on her own. she was looking for a better way to market her house, and then she was told about my photography.
i agreed to go to her house on monday and shoot 4 rooms 360 style, and then give her the links to the panos.. and she is going to use them for advertising.
i wont make a lot of money on this particular job, but its a foot in the door. once i get a few of these under my belt, then i can take my services to the larger real estate companies and show them what i have to offer.
i have a temporary hosting site, thanks izz ;) but will eventually get my own domain name and website to host the images. i'm still figuring out how it should look and how it will work, but i'm pretty excited about it.
markus agreed to be my technical support although he swears i don't need it. i think its all in his plan to eventually come to the united states and visit his friend in colorado
this is something i've wanted to do for a long time, and i really think there is a need for it. its only a tiny foot in the door.. but i have big plans :)
a very dear friend gave me just the moral support i needed to take the steps to get started with this. i'm not sure this will be the thing that makes my life more financially secure, but at least i'll love it while i'm working on it.
"do what you love, love what you do" (its not just a company kippy, its a way of life!)
for anyone that hasn't tried a brand of clothing called "life is good" you should.
sorry for the long rambling blog.. without pictures :| soon you'll see at least a few 360 panos here tho
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
one day after school
I have 3 beautiful and healthy children, i'm so blessed. Even though they are growing up, they still need their mom. Everyday they find little ways to show their love to me. Today was no exception.
My middle son, Alex, is 15. He went thru a huge growth spurt just recently and is over 6'2 now.. and still growing. He can put on a tough act.. but as a mother, i know his true heart ;)
We live approx. one mile from the local high school, the school district will only send school buses if you live more than a mile away. That means the kids either have to ride their bikes, walk, or get a ride to and from school.
Because i'm often teaching or busy when school is out, i expect the kids to walk home after school. They always get a ride in the morning, because its just so early.
2 of my kids have come to accept the fact that after school, they will just gather their things and walk home..... but Alex always has other expectations.
Nearly every single day at 2:30 in the afternoon i get a text or a call from Alex saying "are you going to be here after school today?"
now.. you may think he is just being lazy.. but i had a sneaking suspicion he just wanted to see him mom ASAP! Some days i was able to grant his request and show up after school with a big smile to tell him hi.. and ask about his day. but there were many many days where i had to say... i'm sorry alex, i just need you to walk today. the disappointment in his voice was always heart breaking.
well, today i thought i'd surprise my dear son :) soooo.... knowing that he'd be expecting to see mom at 2:30, i went ahead and walked up to school to surprise him as soon as class was over!
now... my daughter hannah, 16 1/2, saw me arrive by foot .. she was still in class but managed to send me this text "what are you doing here????" and i replied "why are you watching me?????" she was obviously horrified that her mom appeared at the school door eagerly waiting to surprise her brother. hannah never responded to my text and apparently escaped out the back door of the school and walked home.
i sent my dear son a text "if you don't want to walk home alone today, i'll be here at 2:30" he received it.. but because he is sooo clever he knew something was up.. but just couldn't put his finger on what was going on.
i walked into the school and smiled at all his friends.. they all greeted me... "hi mrs henson" i could tell by their faces they were feeling so happy that alex's mom showed up to meet him after school :)
then... i saw my sweet son.. and said "hi.. i'm here to meet you after school" he had this look on his face that was nearly indescribable.. but if i had to put it into words i'd say it was a "wtf" look
he said.."what are you doing here" i said.."everyday you ask me the same question... will you be here after school.. and i just know that it has nothing to do with getting a ride for a short mile walk.. and that you really miss your mom.. so, today i thought i'd surprise you and walk you home" again.. the look on his face... just priceless.
here is a pictorial guide
to our walk home....
1. alex, filled with joy at seeing his mom in front of all his friends
2. alex collecting his things... so that we can walk the entire mile together and talk about his day
3. alex looking lovingly at his mom on the walk
4. alex threatening to throw himself into traffic if i ever did this again
5. alex looking longingly at a school bus as it passes, but then he remembered how fun this walk was
6. alex and his mom.. just as we arrived home... can't you just feel the joy and the love???
i'm the luckiest mom in the world to have such thoughtful kids :)
My middle son, Alex, is 15. He went thru a huge growth spurt just recently and is over 6'2 now.. and still growing. He can put on a tough act.. but as a mother, i know his true heart ;)
We live approx. one mile from the local high school, the school district will only send school buses if you live more than a mile away. That means the kids either have to ride their bikes, walk, or get a ride to and from school.
Because i'm often teaching or busy when school is out, i expect the kids to walk home after school. They always get a ride in the morning, because its just so early.
2 of my kids have come to accept the fact that after school, they will just gather their things and walk home..... but Alex always has other expectations.
Nearly every single day at 2:30 in the afternoon i get a text or a call from Alex saying "are you going to be here after school today?"
now.. you may think he is just being lazy.. but i had a sneaking suspicion he just wanted to see him mom ASAP! Some days i was able to grant his request and show up after school with a big smile to tell him hi.. and ask about his day. but there were many many days where i had to say... i'm sorry alex, i just need you to walk today. the disappointment in his voice was always heart breaking.
well, today i thought i'd surprise my dear son :) soooo.... knowing that he'd be expecting to see mom at 2:30, i went ahead and walked up to school to surprise him as soon as class was over!
now... my daughter hannah, 16 1/2, saw me arrive by foot .. she was still in class but managed to send me this text "what are you doing here????" and i replied "why are you watching me?????" she was obviously horrified that her mom appeared at the school door eagerly waiting to surprise her brother. hannah never responded to my text and apparently escaped out the back door of the school and walked home.
i sent my dear son a text "if you don't want to walk home alone today, i'll be here at 2:30" he received it.. but because he is sooo clever he knew something was up.. but just couldn't put his finger on what was going on.
i walked into the school and smiled at all his friends.. they all greeted me... "hi mrs henson" i could tell by their faces they were feeling so happy that alex's mom showed up to meet him after school :)
then... i saw my sweet son.. and said "hi.. i'm here to meet you after school" he had this look on his face that was nearly indescribable.. but if i had to put it into words i'd say it was a "wtf" look
he said.."what are you doing here" i said.."everyday you ask me the same question... will you be here after school.. and i just know that it has nothing to do with getting a ride for a short mile walk.. and that you really miss your mom.. so, today i thought i'd surprise you and walk you home" again.. the look on his face... just priceless.
here is a pictorial guide
to our walk home....1. alex, filled with joy at seeing his mom in front of all his friends
2. alex collecting his things... so that we can walk the entire mile together and talk about his day
3. alex looking lovingly at his mom on the walk
4. alex threatening to throw himself into traffic if i ever did this again
5. alex looking longingly at a school bus as it passes, but then he remembered how fun this walk was
6. alex and his mom.. just as we arrived home... can't you just feel the joy and the love???
i'm the luckiest mom in the world to have such thoughtful kids :)
school daze....
its nearly holiday time for my kids (and me) the last few weeks of school are always so hard. school in michigan goes until the middle of june.. when the kids are out of school my life gets much less complicated. no getting up at 5:45 to make sure everyone is up with lunches made and breakfast in their tummies. no fighting 3 kids to get them in bed by a decent hour, and NO worries about teachers calling home....
my middle son just can't seem to keep it together at the end of the school year... every year since he started any type of schooling, the end of the year has been the same. he is very smart, but tends to give his teachers fits. this year is no different... i've already received calls and emails regarding his behavior... i think he alone causes me more stress than anything else in my life at the moment. i keep telling myself, he wont be 15 forever or 16 or 17 or... then its college :) (if he survives that long)
i went shooting yesterday.. but forgot i had set my iso high on my 5d, so that i could shoot the babies at my mother in laws house with no flash.. so pretty much i hate every shot.
i have been able to make some summer plans, all camping so far. in about 10 days i'll go to canada to go camping and shooting near niagara falls. actually i'll be camping on a lake called lake niagara, and from what i can tell online it looks a lot like northern michigan. i'm very excited.
this trip will be without my family, just me, my cameras and a group of people who love shooting as much as i do :D i'm very excited.
i've also made reservations for a camp ground in estes park, colorado. i have to play a job on july 8th, so i'll head out after that. i think sam, and hannah want to go for sure. Alex CAN NOT stay here alone all day while his dad works.. he'll surely get into trouble. so if he decides not to go, then i'll have to find someone to take him in for a week or so.
driving to colorado will be a real adventure. we'll stop probably 2x along the way, and will probably stay in hotels when we stop over night. its just too much trouble to set up camp and tear it down again for an overnight stay.
once in colorado i'll be staying at the same camp ground i did last year. its a small family owned piece of land... i really liked it. it was a great home base for all the hiking and day trips the boys and i took. i have to be back in michigan by july 21 because i have another job, with 3 rehearsals prior to it. so... maybe i'll take a few extra days on the way home from colorado and see wyoming or even the grand tetons. i'll just play it by ear as i go.
i really really wanted to drive all the way to california this july, but this playing job came up, and if i didn't do it, the entire group would have missed out. we normally don't take summer jobs, but this one will be good publicity.
august is up in the air at the moment.. kids have commitments to band camp and journalism camp... so maybe i'll just hang around home and try to keep my garden going until the first freeze.
in september i have a great trip planned for europe. i'm meeting with markus and malcolm again, but this time in england. i was hoping to conquer a mountain ... but will settle for some cathedral steps instead :)
malcolm assures me the lake district is hilly and beautiful.. i can't wait to see it.
i sure wish i could take my flute and just play one sonata in one of those cathedrals. i bet the sound is incredible.
ok.. sorry for the rambling.. my brain is scattered lately... i need school to END!
my middle son just can't seem to keep it together at the end of the school year... every year since he started any type of schooling, the end of the year has been the same. he is very smart, but tends to give his teachers fits. this year is no different... i've already received calls and emails regarding his behavior... i think he alone causes me more stress than anything else in my life at the moment. i keep telling myself, he wont be 15 forever or 16 or 17 or... then its college :) (if he survives that long)
i went shooting yesterday.. but forgot i had set my iso high on my 5d, so that i could shoot the babies at my mother in laws house with no flash.. so pretty much i hate every shot.
i have been able to make some summer plans, all camping so far. in about 10 days i'll go to canada to go camping and shooting near niagara falls. actually i'll be camping on a lake called lake niagara, and from what i can tell online it looks a lot like northern michigan. i'm very excited.
this trip will be without my family, just me, my cameras and a group of people who love shooting as much as i do :D i'm very excited.
i've also made reservations for a camp ground in estes park, colorado. i have to play a job on july 8th, so i'll head out after that. i think sam, and hannah want to go for sure. Alex CAN NOT stay here alone all day while his dad works.. he'll surely get into trouble. so if he decides not to go, then i'll have to find someone to take him in for a week or so.
driving to colorado will be a real adventure. we'll stop probably 2x along the way, and will probably stay in hotels when we stop over night. its just too much trouble to set up camp and tear it down again for an overnight stay.
once in colorado i'll be staying at the same camp ground i did last year. its a small family owned piece of land... i really liked it. it was a great home base for all the hiking and day trips the boys and i took. i have to be back in michigan by july 21 because i have another job, with 3 rehearsals prior to it. so... maybe i'll take a few extra days on the way home from colorado and see wyoming or even the grand tetons. i'll just play it by ear as i go.
i really really wanted to drive all the way to california this july, but this playing job came up, and if i didn't do it, the entire group would have missed out. we normally don't take summer jobs, but this one will be good publicity.
august is up in the air at the moment.. kids have commitments to band camp and journalism camp... so maybe i'll just hang around home and try to keep my garden going until the first freeze.
in september i have a great trip planned for europe. i'm meeting with markus and malcolm again, but this time in england. i was hoping to conquer a mountain ... but will settle for some cathedral steps instead :)
malcolm assures me the lake district is hilly and beautiful.. i can't wait to see it.
i sure wish i could take my flute and just play one sonata in one of those cathedrals. i bet the sound is incredible.
ok.. sorry for the rambling.. my brain is scattered lately... i need school to END!
Friday, June 8, 2007
babies
yesterday was a very very busy day for me. first an
appointment with my neurologist, just a check up about my migraines. nothing has changed, i still get them, and he still prescribes the meds to help me try to get rid of them.then i stopped by my mother in laws house on the way home. her house is only 1 mile from my doctor, and i rarely go on that side of town. i stopped because earlier in the week my
mother in law and my sister in law were in a terrible car accident. they are both fine, just bruised and shaken up. i have 4 sisters in laws on that side of the family and they are all very tight knight. i'm kinda the outsider.anyway.. laura, the one in the accident is waiting on word about a baby that she is trying to adopt from Guatemala. there will be more posts about that subject later.
yesterday my other sister in law, kristina, was visiting her mom at the same time i stopped by. actually kristina wa
s staying there for a few days with her 4 kids. ben,3, besty, 2 and the twins jamie and tommy, 9 weeks. kristina is having a hard time doing anything these days.... as you would probably guess. so i invited her to the park which is very close by, just to take some pictures of the older kids while they were playing. i haven't had a chance to shoot her kids yet.when we returned from the park, the twins were awake, so i was able to shoot a few shots of them as well. tommy, the bigger of the twins weighs about 13lbs and jamie who seems very healthy now, is about 9lbs. there was a scare during the pregnancy that the babies might not be ok... but as you can see from the pictures... they are as sweet as can be.
my own kids had a chance to hang out with their cousins, which they don't get to do nearly enough. it was fun seeing my kids interact with such young babies.
i took over 600 images yesterday, and have only begun to look at them. i'm planning on making a book for my sister in law, and another one for her mom. here is just a sneak peek of what i saw yesterday.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
home
Well... this is where i live. We've been in this house about 7 months... you'd think i'd be totally moved in.. but yet i'm not.
To make a long story really short.... i've moved an awful lot in the past few years. This time we decided to choose a home in a community that would allow everyone to get involved in something if they wanted too. I'm within walking distance of our small downtown area. The schools are less than one mile away, and the city is packed with green areas, parks and trails.
The house you see in the picture was horribly neglected when we bought it, so was the garden and yard. upon moving in there were tons of renovations that had to be made.. just to make the house livable. The major renovations on the inside of the house are finished, but thats not to say i can sit back and relax now. the house still needs a lot of work but... at least its livable now.
the family that lived here before us had college age kids that were wild. the mom and dad moved on to california for a new job about 2 years ago.. and left the college kids in this house. So that may explain the extreme state of this house...
now that the weather has warmed up... i've moved to the outside garden. it is also a mess. lots of weeds... and a swimming pool that could use a ton of work... but... i love gardening.. so it will be fun to things how i'd like them out there.
the very back of the yard has a long flower bed that lines the fence.... nothing but weeds are growing there... so i've converted that garden into a vegetable garden. Its not pretty back there.. but.. there will be fresh veggies in about 6 weeks. next summer i plan to clean up those flower beds and make them into a proper vegetable garden.
the kids believe the best thing about this house is by far the swimming pool. its been open for about a week now, and there is rarely a time when its not full of kids. even in the rain :P
the pictures of the pool here.. show sam swimming during an absolute downpour.. and the kip, the dog, wishing he were swimming too. as long as there isn't any thunder, i don't care if the kids swim in the rain.. i mean... whats going to happen? they are already wet :)
i started pulling the jungle of weeds near the bird bath this week.. only to discover that wild strawberries were growing amongst all the weeds. there are a ton of little berries on the plants.... what a pleasant surprise :)
i decided to do a lot of container flowers ... just so i could start enjoying my flowers, and not worry about pulling something that i thought was a weed.. only to discover it was actually a treasure. after this summer i'll have a much better idea of what i want to stay out there.. and what is an actual weed.
anyway.. as soon as the rain passes, i'll be out there with my macro lens and you'll see all the bugs that live in my garden too ;)
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