Winter Sky Part 2



Winter sky- Clouds and contrails

More winter sky pics

Winter Sky through the trees

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺



Winter Sun

Winter Sun- Christmas Star

This was taken a couple of days before Christmas when then winter sun was high in the sky and there were wonderful cloud formations being criss-crossed across the sky by contrails.  When Tom saw it he said "It's a Christmas Star".  After all the star that shone on Christmas night lit the night with the light of noon day.  The sun with its light rays fanning out does indeed remind me of what that star may have looked like.

In reality it is the winter sun; shown at noon and as high as it goes in the sky.  I am endlessly amazed and facscinated by the way light effects the way we see our world.  This day was bright and cheery and because of the rain the day before the clouds were amazing in their shapes.  Added to that the fact that we live south of the Atlanta Airport and the heavy holiday trafic with the contrails the jets left behind made for phenomenal sky panaramas.

Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Christmas sunrise: Off the beaten path

Christmas sunrise

For those of you who where up at the crack of dawn, but where occupied with kids and gifts and those who got to sleep in here is this Christmas morning's sunrise.

This was taken from the woods behind my house because of this:

Christmas in the woods

We have a neighbor who decorates one of the pine trees in the woods and although they can't be seen in this photo it is complete with shiny glass ornaments.

This year they added a table and chairs

and Rudolph

Enjoy

Merry

Christmas

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥

Christmas Georgia Style



Christmas Georgia Style

What a beautiful day we had today; sunny and almost 70 degrees.   All the photos in this post were taken today with bare trees, flowers, green grass and Christmas decorations.

Flowering bushes and Christmas decorations



One of the nice things about living in Georgia is we have some kind of flowers blooming all year round

December roses greeting Hospital visitors

Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

LOL Christmas- Greeting or Warning

Merry Christmas, my dog might eat your face.

Emily had her tonsils taken out this morning.  How's that for a Christmas present?  Come home from college for Christmas and have to have your tonsils removed.  Boo Hiss. Poor baby.  But while she was sleeping I was trying to do something quiet and came across this photo.  Hope you

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺

See the Beauty: Moon at Sunrise



Moon at sunrise December 2011

Yesterdays' sunrise, a beautiful start to a busy day.

Art edit of Moon at sunrise December 2011

And a fun photo to play with

Enjoy

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥





LOL Christmas Geek humor

If you are a geek; you'll laugh.  If you don't understand this, grab the nearest geek to explain it.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

BTW: Our Internet has been persnickety so I haven't been able to post, hopefully it is fixed and I will be able post more. 

Christmas lights- Just having fun

Just having fun with Christmas lights

Yesterday I had to pick up Tom from work (we are still down to one car for the two of us) and after running errands and starting physical therapy, I was exhausted.  I was also sitting in the car bored and waiting; but I had my camera soooo.. I tried to take pictures of the Christmas lights around the houses across the street.  Unfortunately due to the fact that it was dark outside in order to take photos the shutter speed has to be slow which makes it hard to focus and hold the camera still enough, long enough to get a crisp photo. See photo to the left.  Since I was so tired I did not bring a tripod (I was simply to tired to mess with it) I decided to just have some fun with the lights by purposely moving my camera.  The collage at the top of this post is a collection of the abstract photos I got.  All the editing I did was to crop the pictures and then make a collage.  They are kind of strange, but I think they are kind of cool and best of all they were fun to do at a time when I need a little fun in my life.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Old Red Barn- Seeing Red

Old Red Barn

I have a son-in-law who loves photos of red barns and I came across this one and thought he might like it for Christmas.  What do you think?

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

BTW: This also goes along with Written-incs theme of the week Seeing Red. To see great blogs that have taken on this theme click on the above link and take a look at the comments for directions to some wonderful post listings.

I'm back- sort of...

A little off balance

Even though I have been home from the hospital for a while now; I am still feeling like the shed in this photo.  While the photo and world is straight, I am like the shed- off balance and a little worse for wear, but there is new growth in spite of all difficulties.

After all the tests and several days in the hospital the doctors (I saw 4 different doctors while I was there) decided that I had a virus.  I was reminded by multiple heath professionals and not just the doctors, that viruses can make you every bit as sick as a bacterial infection and there is less that can be done medically for you.  All they can do is lessen the symptoms and give your body the support it needs to survive it.

This is what they did, but due to my multiple heath problems this was quite the balancing act.  My recuperation also turned out to also be quite the ordeal, maybe worse than the virus itself.  I have Addisons which means I do not make the hormones that help one's body cope with stress or the hormones that help one recover from stress.  Even though I was over the virus and at home I continued to deteriorate.  I got so weak at one point that walking the few steps from my recliner to the DVD's and the player was not going to happen.  My body forced me to rest and do nothing but take care of myself.

I very much missed the fellowship I get on web and most other things, too.  My art, reading, cooking, gardening just about everything took a backseat to just plain resting and recovering.

HOWEVER, I am now starting to gain strenght instead of lose it and am working myself back into life again.  Carmi put up a quote on his blog a couple of weeks ago that is especially applicable to me now and my husband also found it and printed it up for me.  Apparently I really needed to hear it and be reminded of it. It goes like this

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

Mary Anne Radmacher

While some days this was about all I could do, as I am getting better I am going to try to start posting again even if it is just to show you the beauty of my life with my photos.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Fire in the Sky

This is the first picture I took after getting home from the hospital.  Tom pointed out to me the way the morning light lit up the trees.

So very different from light at any other time of the day.  Add to that the trees still in shadow and you get really dramatic skylines.

I took these propped up against my house.  This trip to the hospital combined  with all my medical problems have made made for a more dramatic recovery.  I am really struggling to gain back my life this time and have decided that I need to take a break and just rest and recover, so I'm taking a few days off and will be back in week or so.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Frosted work in progress

Jeremy's car is down and out and Tom is helping with the repairs (actually doing most of the work). This has left us with a car and parts in the front yard just waiting to be frosted in the morning. I am fascinated by frost and the reflections and shadows that it produces so on this cold frosty morning I took advantage of the still car and parts to capture some of the delights that frost exhibits. The hairy tires, the twinkle of light caught, the ragged shadow, the landscape reflection in the melting frost as the cold and the new warmth of the day come together.

Until yesterday I hadn't taken any photos in a week and have missed capturing and focusing on this wonderful world we all inhabit. Even with being at home I am still struggling to recover (I've lost over 10 pounds in just the last couple of days, not healthy :c) but I am grateful for my ability to see and share in this world.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Home again AEDM day 9

Home again- Home again- jiggity jig            This little nursery rhyme keeps going through my head.  I am so glad to be home. The Internet at the hospital worked real well for the first days of my hospital stay, Monday night it started to get flaky, and Tuesday I got warnings about possible damage to my computer, so no more  Internet for me.  It did give me a chance to do some sketching.  I really needed the distraction and for me drawing is a real good distraction.   I am always amazed at how exhausting being discharged from the hospital is and how wonderful it is to be home.  There are so many things that are so much nicer at home.  Little things that in your day to day life you take for granted.  They would not let me shower at he hospital for fear of my getting my IV wet, so coming home and taking a nice long hot shower was sheer heaven.  I now have my familiar chair and my dogs at my feet.  Then add family and the familiar rhythms that go with daily life and wonderful, wonderful feelings.

Hope you enjoy seeing my little doodles,  Creative Every Day  has it right that fitting art and creativity in your life can greatly enhance your life.  I'm glad to have committed to do some art everyday even with difficulties to overcome and in overcoming the difficulties getting the blessing.                 Enjoy     ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

AEDM Day 7- Red leaf- 400th post

Wow i was surprised when I looked at my stats for this blog to realize this is my 400th post.

I also realized today that when I signed up to do Art Every Day Month yesterday that since I am in the hospital I don't have access to my scanner so I could post my artwork.  However there are other types of artwork that I can create because I do have my computer and my photos. 

I had signed up to do a new note card swap on Swap-bot which was a scavenger hunt for three themes  on three cards.  The themes are leaves, red and nostalgia, so I went on a scavenger hunt through my photos to turn into cards.  I have a purchased Georgia O'Keefe (love her art) card with one of her leaf paintings on it which I will send, but in going through my photos I found this wonderful red leaf photo to edit.

I edited it to look more like a note card drawing and that edit is on the top of this post.

I also found this photo which fits the nostalgia theme, it was already edited, but one that I love.

Or maybe I'll send this one- which I also edited earlier but love the way it turned out.  What do you think?

When I get home I will be able to print them on textured or lightly patterned card stock to finish this art project.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Help Wanted- written inc #169

Carmi has come up with a wonderful theme this week and though I am a little late I still would like to post a blog on that theme.  The theme is bricks and mortar and as you can hopefully see I love older brick buildings and the architectural details that often accompany them.
The reason for the help wanted is because there is a local magazine that is looking for photos of local culture to publish.  The magazine Kitchen Drawer does an excellent job of promoting local events and businesses; in building a sense of community.  I have lived in the Griffin area for longer than I lived anywhere else in my life and have come to love living in the area and this town and would like to contribute to that sense of community.  The extra money might be nice but that is not the main reason for my wanting to contribute to this magazine. I have tried in this collage to not only show the building postcard style but to show the greater personality that only focusing on the details and different views can show, the collage does need some tweaking and for that I am asking for help.  I know the title needs fixing for sure but don't know exactly how to fix it. Suggestions from all on the whole collage would be appreciated. If you click on the photo you should be able to get a larger view. This would be printed on at an 8x10 size format for the magazine.
Thanks for visiting and any suggestions

Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Congratulations Frog on a Pumpkin

Frog on a pumpkin has demonstrated that which I have read about the economy and that is that small businesses on blogs and the Internet are the ones that are growing and beginning to thrive.  They got to do a graveyard scene at the Playboy Mansion; while this is not a place I would visit, it is a great venue for them to show off their considerable talent. It seems odd that Internet craft and art  blogs sites are the ones that are taking off, until I thought about it. And I've come to the conclusion that since there is no longer the need to only go to craft and art fairs to get what you want; an Internet search will find it. If you can afford the shipping you can purchase from almost anywhere in the world. 
I need to stop getting distracted and work on getting my photography website up an growing.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina ☺☺☺

PS please excuse any errors in this blog.  Being sick and in the hospital makes it hard to think.  I've spent an hour getting this one paragraph done (I keep hitting the wrong keys, too, thank goodness for spell check) and I'm now ready to go to sleep

In the hospital



My Mums that still greet me when I come home

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it”

Helen Keller quote

.

I haven't posted much this week due to being quite ill.  In fact I am now in the hospital. 

There is no doubt I am very sick, but from what is in doubt. I've gotten dehydrated from the fever and I am sure once I get hydrated again I will be feeling much better.  It is amazing how cruddy just the dehydration can make you feel.  Then maybe they can figure out what is causing all this.  

I love the above quote and overcome I will.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Age, race, location- No problem

What a great gift we have in the Internet-common interest social sites and blogging where we can get to know other people without the usual ways we have of pre-judging others.  I have found that I have developed more friendships based  more on personality and common interests than the traditional way of meeting and getting know others.  My life has been greatly enriched by this.  On the Internet  there is an anonymity that fosters a diversity of friendships that would not happen face to face.  How often do we in the world surrounding us, dismiss possible friendships because that person is not in our age group or race or any other visual cues?  How many people would we have never  met just because of the distance in where we live?  On the Internet unless one's avatar is their photo there are not visual cues to eliminate possible friendships. Your judgement on possibilities of friendship needs to be based on your common interests and the personality that shines through on the blog or website that you are visiting.  As I get to know people on the Internet I find myself with much more variety in my friendships and am  therefore exposed to a greater variety of ideas and lifestyles. This definitely enriches my life.  The diversity added by the lack of distance provided by the Internet is an added bonus.  I also find that I am less judgemental in meeting and getting to know others in my home town.  I have gained in confidence in approaching others and talking with strangers through my Internet experiences.  I had someone quote to me "we are all more alike than we are different" and I am finding this more and more to be true; as I get to know more and more people.
Thank you

Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺  

Great Halloween idea

Niel Gaiman is one of my favorite authors (Stardust, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, Good Omens and many more) and I came across this wonderful idea that he is promoting.  Hope you enjoy the idea and particapate.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

They make great Christmas gifts, too

Give away #3 Animal stickers

My computer is back. Yes!!  Had to take it back.  Boo!! Hiss!!  Now I have a computer that works so much better in spite of the frustration of getting it fixed.  First I had to take it down because it was s--l--o--w and frustrating, overheating, but put it off cuz I didn't want to be without my computer no matter how frustrating it was getting.  Then the touch pad was no longer functioning properly and sometimes the cursor wouldn't move and I would have to restart.  Kind of hard to use a computer in that condition so to the Geek Squad it went. 

They backed it up, wiped it clean, reinstalled Windows, took it apart and cleaned out the dust and it worked amazing better.  However I had to reload programs and then data but could not get my one computer, one use programs  to reinstall.  Considering this included MS Works and my anti-virus program this was a serious problem.  I also tried to reinstall my photos onto my computer and then couldn't pull them up on my editing programs another big problem for me.  Back to the Geek Squad again.  They were able to fix all these problems and I am now back in business; however I was without a computer that was set up for me for quite a while.  I had to borrow a computer to put up the posts for the last week or so.  Unfortunately this has slowed down getting my themed sticker sheets out to my winners.

Above is the sheet for SheWhoSeeks; she choose animals as her theme as she like the frog on the bottom of the first sheet of stickers (see my post on Giveaway #3.  These photos were taken of critters from my garden and the Atlanta zoo.  Hope she enjoys.

The give aways for those I heard back from will be going out Monday as I had to re-install my printer, too and then the ink needs to dry before they can be sent. Helpful tip: when you print in color on an ink jet printer the ink needs to dry and cure for 24 hours before it can even be stacked much less shipped.  It has taken longer to do this than I had expected but they are going out as quick as I could get them out

Even though I am still reinstalling programs and getting things set up like I want, I'm back.  Thanks for you patience

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

  

Climbing tree

We are down to one car for three drivers, so in order to get everyone to work I had to be on the road early today.  It gave me a wonderful opportunity to photograph the sunrise someplace else besides across the street.  This tree stands outside of where my husband works.  He loves this tree and would put it in our yard if it was possible.  Such a good climbing tree; a young boys climbing fantasy.  It also has great character and in the early morning light and combined with the steet lights what a delightfully graphic quality it exudes.

Serendipity strikes again

Have a wonderful day

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Insomnia strikes again

“See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta A couple of nights ago, I woke in the middle of the night; nothing real unusual  about that. Occasionally when this happens I get photo ops that I would normally never get; and this time was one of those times.  This particular photo is also thanks to Rascal, who normally sleeps quietly through the night, but this night he had to go, bad, and was whining to go out.  There was this wonderful moon outside, just a sliver but the night was so crisp and clear even the dark side was visible.  I just had to try to capture that image, through adjusting the aperture and exposure, putting the camera on a tripod and using the delayed timer I was able to capture this photo.  Not perfect but pretty good considering I only have a bridge camera. I wish I had the words to convey the wonderfulness of that night.   Crisp, clean, clear Air surrounding me- Profound silence Blanketing me- Only an owl Occasionally Quietly hooting- Peace enveloping me. Wonderful awakening Enjoy ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺



Frost on the Pumpkin

We had our first frost of the fall yesterday.  The appearance of the 'frost on the pumpkin'.  Since I don't have my pictures and I don't have any pumpkin pictures anyway, I decided to just have some fun and draw a pumpkin for you.  It's been a while since I've done any drawing but zentangle; I'm a little rusty.  I had fun doing the drawing and experimenting with my watercolor pencils and colored pencils.  This is not best work but it is bright and cheerful so I decided to post it anyway.

While I was out walking the dog this morning, yet another frosty morning, I noticed the frost patterns on the roof of my neighbor's house.  I thought they were kind of interesting and graphic in nature.  I then noticed the roof on my house and how very different mine looked.

Apparently the house next door has some heat leaks in their attic, which caused the patterns on the roof.  Our roof was solid in color indicating no leaks.  Pay attention here, whether you are a DIY kind of person or not; if you want to know how well your attic insulation is working, go out on a frosty morning and photograph your roof so you know where you need extra insulation.  I wish I could hire myself out to the contractors in our area to do this, but I'm sure if I give them this idea, they will just do it themselves. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my frosty mornings from my point of view (I don't have much in the way of editing programs on my husbands computer) even with just basic editing and maybe you can use this idea to help with your heating bills this winter.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

BTW I did get my computer back today but it is like a brand new computer, no programs but what comes with the computer and no data.  It was all backed up on an external harddrive, but I still have to put it back on my computer.  They completely wiped my computer and physically took the computer apart to get any dust or whatever from the inside, so basically I do indeed have a new computer.  It will however take a little while for me to get it back and up in running so please be patient.  ♥Johnina♥

So Sorry

Once again my computer is down and out and this time my touch pad on my laptop has stopped working correctly which makes the computer a little hard to use. Plus it was overheating, the cord was even overheating and the backup battery was dieing. So into the shop it went.  Good timing, my warranty runs out Nov 4.  Hopefully all will get fixed quickly and my computer will run better all the way around.   My pictures are on my computer so it will be a couple of days before I can finish with the sticker pages for my giveaway.  So sorry.

Enjoy

my picture from off my hubbies computer.

be back soon.

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Carlyn's flower stickers

Carlyn of Crafting with style has gotten back to me and chose the theme of flowers for the 2nd set of stickers she won.  I tried to choose a variety of flowers both from my garden and some wild ones.  There is even one taken at night using shutter speed to take the photo instead of a flash.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Sticker winner is:

These are the stickers to be given away and after the winner lets me know what theme they would like )see http://young-eclectic-encounters.blogspot.com/2011/09/give-away-3-photo-stickers.html.  I will be posting their personally selected photo stickers.

Using a random number generator the winner is

Gypsywomen (http://gypsywomanworld.blogspot.com/)

Since I had so many entries I decided to give a second prize and the random number generator picked

Carlyn (http://craftingwithstyle.blogspot.com/)

And since Debra entered more times than anyone else and entered in all three ways;  I have decided to give her a third prize

Debra (http://shewhoseeks.blogspot.com/)

Congratulations to all; I'll be contacting you shortly or you can leave a comment here with your chosen theme

Enjoy

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥

Feed my soul

I have had a very tough week and it has been extremely difficult to keep on being just a tad annoyed.  It has reached the point were the word ridiculous is applicable to the number of things that have gone wrong for me.  One night I started to bed at 7:30 because so many things had gone wrong that day that I just didn't want to continue on that trend, better and easier to just go to bed than to continue on with frustrating mistakes and no accomplishments being made because of them.

Since today was Sunday I decided to slow down and feed my soul.  One of the best ways for me to do that is to listen to inspiring music.

This is one of my favorites.

Enjoy

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥

Just too cool

I couldn't believe it when I saw this.  What an amazing idea!!!  There is a flickr group dedicated to pictures taken by throwing your camera up in the air and hopefully catching it and seeing what kind of photo turns out.  Of course this is done with an old camera your don't care about but it is kind of funky an fun to see.  Wouldn't they just love this camera ball?  This goes on my 'Oh what fun if I could afford it' list.

 Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺
PS Remember today is the last day to enter my sticker giveaway.  See http://young-eclectic-encounters.blogspot.com/2011/09/give-away-3-photo-stickers.html for details.

A New Attitude

I was angry really angry and probably had every right to be so, but I found that because I was angry and thinking angry thoughts; I was not treating the people I was dealing with very well.  I needed to change my thoughts and the way I was talking to myself.  So I thought how can I change I am angry to a better way to talk to myself.  First I changed to I am annoyed, next I added I am a tad annoyed.  Much softer way to think.  Isn't tad a wonderful word; I looked it up in the dictionary and it means ' a small or insignificant amount or degree'.  I added temporarily to the sentence but that was just to much so I went back to I am a tad annoyed. Much better way to think; it helps put out the fire of my anger and puts things into perspective.  It allows me to correct the problem without taking my anger out on those who caused the problem or those who are trying to help me.

I learned these tricks for changing my attitude by changing the way I talk to myself from reading Anthony Robbins ('Unlimited Power') and James Allen ('As a Man Thinketh') and the scriptures- Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Enjoy your day
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Learning by doing and a little serendipity

.It still amazes me when serendipity steps in and blesses your life in unexpected ways.  I have been wanting to try my hand at Artist Trading Cards (ATC) and had been looking for a good trading site when I found Swapbot.  It turned out that Swapbot not only helps facilitate ATC trades. but other types of arts and crafts trades, also.  They also facilitate pen-paling.  Not only am I learning about ATC's and thoroughly enjoying it but in seeing how others do their art I am learning new methods and styles.  Some of the sponsored swaps even come with tutorials so you can learn and swap of equal value.  Some of what I have learned is new and different ways of using my art and sharing the joy it brings me.  One of my discovers was in Mail art; in seeing how others did their mail art I took it a step sideways and started using stickers (see photo).  I tried different methods and papers but now I use address labels to make my envelope stickers.  The 2x4 size Avery (48363) address label  is great and so is using the Avery (25395) self adhesive name badges.

. However one of the greatest things I've learned is the art of writing a good letter.  There is a knack to it; to make it enjoyable to both you and your reader.  In todays world of text messaging and short e-mails, this artform has been largely lost.  From recieving and writing letters from those I trade with I am developing that skill.  Just like in doing a blog I have learned to express myself better (still learning) by doing and seeing others blogs ( I go back and read my early posts and wow what a difference) With pen paling, writing is on a different level.  I am now learning to more effectively communicate with others and especially my grandchildren,  Since my grandchildren are growing up, living far away and most are in school, writing can now be a way to establish ties with them.  What a potential blessing this is; all because I joined Swapbot .  You just never know what blessings can come from seemingly little events in your life. SERENDIPITY at work.

On top of the things I am learning I am also gaining in friendships, double blessings. 

The photos are what I have sent on recent swaps.  The top one is 3 different swaps with 7 different people.  The bottom photo is a swap, Stuff an 6x9 envelope.  One of the nice things about this kind of swap in I can thin down my art supplies of excess and know it will be appreciated.  A new way of the old trading system.

Fun, fun

 

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺