kam-rə & pär-tē

Well today I am pretty much useless, all I can do is constantly check for the UPS man! Is he here yet? Oh, no just another car passing! It's all very stressful awaiting the delivery of my new camera! In the meantime I have tried to spend as much time possible on my front porch... replaced the springtime flowers with summertime flowers in our containers, planted petunias in the hanging baskets, & swept the entire porch (a decision not well thought out, as it was covered in more pollen of which I'm allergic too!). After working up a sweat covered in dirt & pollen I am in need of a bath, of which I cannot take as I might miss the UPS man! Unfortunately but thankful I have to sign for it, I'm not sure what I'd do if I missed it & had to wait until Monday!

Enough of that! As my eyes slowly graze away from the computer screen to the front door, nope still not there! Last night we had the art major girls from Judson College over for an end of the year party. I made, well cut up some strawberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew for a fruit salad with poppy seed dressing (of which I did make!), yummy spicy gumbo (my mother's recipe), and cupcakes: yellow cake with chocolate icing (what can I say this was straight out of the box, well I baked it! does that count?) topped with a single honeysuckle blossom. It was all great southern food, as Candice Olson would say, "how divine". I had fun setting the table as well using Ball canning jars as our glasses, metal grill grates as chargers, white paper plates, magenta plastic bowls, & of course fine white cotton monogrammed napkins. Our center piece was three yellow sand castle molds topped with ice cream & cone molded plastic bubble containers it looked like the perfect nuclear family center piece! I actually have an idea with that table setting for a bit of an odd photograph, I would of shot it last night however I need more of a particular item! All will be revealed later!

ˈgär-dən

Well I finally finished my little veggie garden! I have planted 5 little tomato plants, 1 cucumber plant, 2 nigella plants all that I started from seeds! I also have 2 chive plants in this bed that were given to me by one of our wonderful neighbors, Jim & Mike! I also have planted around our yard wonderful herbs: peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, catmint, greek oregano, bronze fennel, dill, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, lavender, and basil! With the exception of the rosemary & lavender all herbs were given to me from our other wonderful neighbor Ann, as well as Jim, & Mike! I have planted 4 JFK Hybrid Roses, 2 Japanese Magnolias, 1 Tulip Poplar, 2 Crabapple Trees, 1 Plum Tree, 1 Apple Tree, and 1 Redbud Tree! I replanted a small hydrangea that separated into 2! I planted over 80 African Irises of which I believe died, so I ran over most of them with my lawnmower! I planted about 6 white irises, that were also given by Ann! I have been one planting fool some might say! Not to mention I tackled what was thought to be an old rose that was growing shoots off of it like bamboo that had grown to over 15 feet high & wide! I still need to find someone with a chainsaw to cut off a large branch on it! It's been challenging and rewarding at the same time! I have to say the worst was the rose bush, tree whatever one would call it! and digging up grass to make veggie & flower beds! There is still one more veggie bed I would like to do, if I could just build up enough gumption to do it! Oh, I forgot I also planted little jalapeno plants, which I also started from seeds, of which I might add are slowly disappearing, I believe they have become a light snack for some wild animal in our yard!

ˈwȯl

Another from this evening, The Wall. I am very pleased with the shapes that are represented in this image, man-made & organic combining together, the abruptness of the rectangle forcing its way into nature. It is very soothing yet disturbing.

ˈgas ˈstā-shən

The Citgo, taken around half past five this evening. "The picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, ..." Susan Sontag On Photography. With this quotation I should mention that the photographs that I have & continue to capture will always be actual not a reverie created using the latest Photoshop software! It is much more appealing to one to be true to oneself instead of hiding beneath a cloak.

ˈre-və-rē

A photograph taken this morning around ten, Reverie. It was so mesmerizing watching my little Leica flood with light & subtle colors lending their way to something of the past, once forgotten then realized again.

ˈkȯ-fē

The afternoon ritual...mochaccino, yummy! A newly added portion to my day & such encouragement for the late afternoon & evening! As I wait for my kettle to send out that soothing whistle, I am contemplating were my afternoon stroll should take me & what exciting new images will be exposed. There is an area that I believe is being made into a parking lot, sadly enough, that might be interesting... or maybe more of the neighborhood, or town. Maybe I can encourage my husband to join me, however I'm not sure he enjoys my constant stopping! Either path I take will be much warmer than I would prefer, Pittsburgh had such wonderful springtimes, unlike here, all ready summertime weather! Maybe I'll have my mochaccino iced!

ˈwāst

Landscapes of the mind flowing like those urban landscape districts of a downtown city, warehouses, strip malls, row after row of massive structures. Each one stacked against, rising, widening, stretching itself climbing higher and expanding into the vast areas of known society...kudzu, wisteria, rapidly taking over. Structures of society slowly being overtaken by the new growth; abandoned and newly visited. The unwanted refuse not taken into consideration, isolated from what was prosperous once before. Wasting.