tiny tiles color my world...thank you Marc Chagall

mellow yellow

We visited brother-in-law G last week at his summer house in Fennville, MI.  Jeff's parents were visiting overnight from the chicago burbs so we spent our Saturday an hour south, hanging in the rural-ness of summer scenes.  G's cottage is tiny and quaint, filled with green pottery, landscape oils, a miniature wooden sailboat, beach glass and dune rock, figurine birds and fish and deer, and a retro 1950's chrome and formica kitchen table and chairs(I covet).  G is an antique dealer, which explains why I love to hang out with him. 

While Jeff and Dad were golfing, Mom, G, and I drove to the big lake, stopped at a yard sale, picked up a peach pie at Crane Orchard, and asparagus at the open market.  These are the dandelion stairs to the beach...it was overcast and 10 degrees colder at Lake Michigan so we didn't stay long.  More pics later.

Meals are always fresh and healthy at G's.  Grilled brats, Mom's German potato salad, freshly harvested MI asparagus, beer and warm peach pie. See the orchards at Crane's...that's where we bought a straight-from-the-oven peach pie.  The scenery from their parking lot is special.  You look over rolling hills of apple, cherry, and who knows what other trees and plants, growing happily for years in a small valley nestled between farmland.  Notice the dandelions dancing here too...

Back to our house and more yellow:

Ahem!  Yellowstone, 1969 camper...

sits in our driveway awaiting last minute repairs so this outdoor lover can enjoy peaceful forest photography with husband and dog at nearby state park...long overdue!

more yellow photos for You Capture @ I Should be Folding Laundry (and I really should be).

PEACE,

~L

you capture: 4 states of Spring

  I saw her colors

smelled the approaching rain

  breathed fresh cherry blossoms

learned a red winged song

spied red tails hawking  

did not feed the elk in the grove

along the road traveled well

through four states

of spring

blankets of spring greens

winning the leaf race

dotting landscape and every pane of glass

reflecting welcome relief

 and anticipated renewal

 blues fading to blueberries

and fluffy skies

 bare branches extending arms

 toward lengthened light

paint strokes on shade trees

yellow, orange, red, brown

black slashes on trunks of white

standing ground

delicately mounted in fresh soil

hanging at the edge of Heaven

season's portrait

 'Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.'

--Frank Lloyd Wright

more Spring photos @ I Should be Folding Laundry...

happy post

Happy being home alone on a Friday night.

Happy listening to i-tunes mixture of great music.

Happy drinking jim beam and ginger ale.

Happy birthday french class friend.

Happy to be singing.

~~~

Influencing my photography,

caring about my progress.

Influential influence.

Careful caring...and sharing...

Dreams,

wants,

needing needs.

finding voice and making the choice,

cry now or later,

laugh with or without him.

learn everything

about him

or die trying.

Celebrate life.

Touch the teaching

and teach the toughness

to leave.

Take your love and spread it

around, over, under,

front, back, 

sideways love...

He'll find it 

eventually

and 

eventually accept it.

Making sense.

Writing right 

and

thinking straight

about

mon amour and c'est la vie

and mon ami.

Friends, lovers, sisters, brothers...

inside the circle,

linked by history,

hell and high water,

memories

and

madness.

One life,

many lifetimes,

puzzle pieces

Fit.

Find.

Fair.

Forever family.

Defining self.

 soul,

 sadness,

 sense of living, 

sounds,

silence,

simple.

Moving sound and moving mind

 to higher ground, higher life.

 Every note,

every vibration,

every tap on the keyboard

and one on my heart.

Tonight's colors are shades of grey.

hypnotize

sparkle

mesmerize

fill.

His colors reflect mine.

sky

water

clouds

sand

grass.

music

words

thoughts sorted.

ideas

goals

meaning.

My colors reflect his.

time

laughter

tunes

art

shape of a heart.

pics and quips.

notes and news.

faves

craves

saves.

~~~

Happy tears flow alongside the other kind.

Happy to be alive.

Happy to write.

Happy to love.

Happy to learn.

Happy to know him.

Happy to know her

Heart.

I should be folding laundry...You Capture

One of my favorite blogs to read is "I should be folding laundry" written by a creative Midwestern mom.  One of her talents is photography and she has created a sharing outlet for people like me, budding hobbyists.  You may link to her weekly photographic fun here or linking on a widget in my right hand column...the one of the lady with a camera in her face titled "You Capture."

Even though I've been lurking around the laundry blog for weeks now, this is my first attempt in this venture.  Each week brings a theme or starting point for our creative juices...this week we are challenged to find color in a winter scene.  I believe I've succeeded.

Sunsets over Lake Michigan are coveted and this visit was no exception.  Clad in boots and a few warm layers, hood up, gloves on, I spent an hour or so alone on the dog beach.  The warmer months beckon dogs from every neighborhood to swim and romp and poop on these shores.  This evening I was the sole inhabitant of God's graces.  Even my husband could only stand by for 15 minutes before he slid off to familiar monotony.  I shot hundreds of pictures using my new telephoto lens and I struggled to edit, crop, and choose the best to share.  These are a few of the best, maybe...

friendly observation

"Grey is a problem, grey is fuzzy, grey is the matter that must be defined.. so the black and white can work together. Logic.

You, yes you... are a rainbow of colors. You I'm guessing love the grey. You love to bounce between warm shades and cool shades. You eat up the colors of life, then ask "why can't everyone see all the colors?"

That's what I see."