macro monday 30.7.12

Earlier this summer the mister and I decided to create a small 'meadow'

in an area of the back yard where it is difficult to cut grass 

or to grow any other kind of garden

We took seeds that had been given to us by many friends, 

from their gardens,

in sympathy cards for my father,

and given out at a memorial service 

and planted them in a loosely organized way 

Although I recognize many of the flowers, 

these are two that I thought folks at Macro Monday just might be able to identify...

Please take a moment to check out some of the awesome shots from other contributors at

and have an awesome Monday!

Janet xo

P.S. Also posting to Flowers for Leontien

photo art friday 27.7.12 - Pinky Swear

I loved the concept...

but the photo didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.

...tough to take when one of your hands is tied up...

and the background was ... shall we say...

 less than stellar?

So I opened my Pixel Dust Photo Art textures file

and played around

In the end I had used the following pdpa textures:

Vintage Craqueline 

Rose Dust 

Soft Light overlay 

Golden Bokeh 

and Never Seen Before (cropped)

...and was pretty pleased with the results

Posting to Bonnie's Photo Art Friday

...some may say it is an "improbable pairing" *lol*

Also posting to SkyWatch Friday... this SOOC shot

 of a gorgeous thunderstorm over Lake Ontario 

was taken earlier this week 

from my daughter's 37th floor condo that overlooks Centre Island and Porter Airport

We really needed rain here and, though I was glad it held off until after the wedding,

I was very glad to see it finally arrive this week.

My gardens sang and danced in the rain...

photos to come...

Have a great weekend all!

Head on over to Pixel Dust Photo Art to see the other entries for Photo Art Friday and 

to SkyWatch Friday for some amazing shots!!

Janet xo

http://skyley.blogspot.ca/

{White} 52 photos project yr2 wk14

A traffic jam on the highway!

The best man, the mother of the mister,

and my son (who was seating my mother)

were all held up in that traffic jam...

There are definitely advantages to a casual garden wedding...

We took advantage of the wait to pose for a few photos

(taken by my daughter with her iPhone)

and I took advantage of the wait to take some of my own...

White bouquets

waiting patiently for the wedding to begin...

and at the reception, white baby's breath in antique jars - gifts from my father
to give him a presence at our wedding celebrations

(for 52 Photos Project and Flowers for Leontien)

We invited our guests to bring their cameras

and be our 'official' photographers and 

they did an amazing job!

(taken by my nephew, Daniel)

... and, as you can see the ceremony did eventually happen!

There are definitely advantages to having a casual wedding!

How else could the bride get away with running around photographing the guests?

I managed to get some great shots of them so I could put together this thank you

Also posting to This or That Thursday

where I found the links that led me to explore templates

and tutorials for our thank you collage!

Playing catch up this week so hope to visit everyone's blog soon!

Janet xo

5ive more sleeps!! Circles of Love, textures and more!

Yikes!

Where has the time gone??

Busy week ahead before the big day...

...so combining several shots/prompts into one post.

We finally got some much needed rain yesterday, thunderstorms included! 

(gotta love a good T-storm!)

In between the torrents

I managed to get out and grab a few shots of my one clematis plant 

that hasn't succumbed to the heat and drought...

This shot seemed just right for Lisa's Macro Monday and
for Bokeh Wednesday

We also took a trip up to our wedding venue,
the gardens of a Victorian farmhouse just north of us.
The weather on the drive up provided an opportunity
for a good SkyWatch Friday shot

***

Sorry about more wedding type shots...

trying to find just the right one for our album

and we all know how indecisive I can be!

As it happens they are a good fit

for the 52 Photos Project "Circles" prompt

as well as Texture Tuesday (any two of Kim's textures)

and Photo Art Friday (using one of Bonnie's gorgeous celebratory textures)

The above shot was created with several layers:
a photo of our invitation and one of our rings over the words on a piece of white paper
these were then layered with two of Kim Klassen's textures "chase" and "let go"

In this photo (I call it "Circles of Love")
our rings are on two pages of Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet"
open to the passage about love...

and then processed with Bonnie's celebratory overlay called "Drips of Rainbow" 

available over at Pixel Dust Photo Art.
I just love the way the ring reflection becomes a heart!!

My final shot, taken on my way in from the rain yesterday,
seems to perfectly capture my current state of mind
and a shot for This or That Thursday!

I really do feel like I am going in circles!

I am hoping to get back to visiting everyone's blogs again next week...
(I have a lot of catching up to do!)

Also posting to Flowers for Leontien
Have an awesome week everyone!!
See you on the flip side!


Janet


P.S. If you haven't already checked out the fabulous photography 


at any of these sites, why not do so now??

Posting to: 

Ooo yes!



 Please join us at 
Bokeh Wednesdays

http://skyley.blogspot.ca/





(Phew)

macro monday 9.7.12 - opinions invited

A few quick pics for today's Macro Monday post!

I took this first one last Monday and was tempted to replace that day's post!

I thought this little explorer on my phlox was kinda cute!

The extremely high temperatures (for our area) combined with the lack of rain 

have been very hard on my clematis this year...

...and that is precisely why we have cameras!

To preserve our flowers and allow us to look at them in the freezing cold of winter

and remember when it was even too hot for the clematis flowers!

A little too late, I heard that they don't like to have cool 'feet'.

I think I need to find a way to protect the roots from the sun and heat!

Okay so I have decided to add a few more...

These pictures, were taken this weekend after we picked up our wedding bands?

and

who better to get feedback and suggestions for the final cut

than all the amazing photographers at Macro Monday??

Would love your feedback!

There are always amazing shots over at Lisa's Chaos on Macro Monday's

Head over and have a peek and/or post one of your own!

Have a great Monday!

{A Different Pathway} 52 photos project yr2 wk11

Have you ever driven to work or somewhere that you go daily

and when you arrived had no real memory of where you had been

or what you had seen?

Sometimes I felt like my mind was on auto pilot when I drove the 68 km to work each day...

other than paying attention to the traffic, especially when I was in the city,

I realized that I could not recall going through a particular intersection, 

or seeing a certain store that I knew was along the route.

Not being a routine oriented type of person...

this driving without thought of where I was going was scary!

When I felt the way I described above,  I knew it was time to change up my route!

Now that I am free as a bird I generally walk in a different direction every day on my photo walks

Recently I realized that when I walk through one particularly beautiful park near home

I follow the same path every time...

possibly because it is paved, which somehow makes one feel 

like that is where you are 'supposed' to walk

but also because the flowers and trees are so beautiful along the way

Not being one to follow the rules and,

 no longer having to pretend that I follow the rules

(kids are grown)

 I guess it was only a matter of time before I decided to follow the train tracks 

that I usually crossed to get to the path

 The Mister, not being a rule breaker or, as he puts it,

 a "risk taker"

decided to continue along the 'official' path with the dogs...

even though I assured him that there would be sooo much more to see

off the beaten path...

while I walked down the tracks and then turned off into a meadow

crossed the river (which truly is more like a stream!) 

and travelled a little deeper into the woods

these pretty flowers are everywhere...even along the 'real' path..

I was beginning to lament my choice to take the 'road less travelled',

exhausted and eaten alive by swarms of mammoth mosquitos, 

and not having been rewarded with anything I couldn't have seen 

from the path the Mister chose...

Until ... 

I spotted this lovely couple having a romantic dinner

while the kids played further down the stream...

one of whom, it appears, also chose to follow a different path 

as the others continued along their way - but a diligent caregiver corralled the wayward one

YAY! I had something to show for my different path...

but I have to admit...

 there was comfort in seeing the Mister and the puppins at the end of the other path....

where I proudly shared my
"You should have seen the ducks" tales

...

but nothing about my exhaustion of climbing the hills, 

or the twist in my ankle from slipping in the stream

or the one million mosquito bites...

...

It was worth every one!!

Posting to 52 Photos Project