Camper

Friday Gratitude

No ... I haven't been sneaking into my neighbor's yard again. This is our lilac bush, a dwarf variety. The blooms are a bit smaller and will eventually turn to a very pale lavender but the aroma is still that wonderful lilac smell that permeates the air whenever we walk near it.

Once again, I'm linking up with Random 5 Friday and today I've chosen to list five random things that I was grateful for yesterday. (I'm still working on today.)

1. It was a beautiful, perfect spring day, with lots of sunshine, fluffy white clouds and warm air. Also the smell of lilacs.

2. Because the day didn't go according to plan, I had the joy of taking my granddaughter out to dinner ... just the two of us. That doesn't happen often.

3. It was a productive day, got some housework done, took some nice pictures, completed some processing projects ... yes, a good day for me. And I didn't have to cook dinner.   { ...smile... }

4. There was extra time left at the end of the day to sit down and read for longer than usual after I put the computer to bed. That, for me, is a joy. (I'm working my way through a very lengthy biography of Harry Truman by David McCollough. I know, you're thinking, "Harry Truman? Really?" It turns out he's a much more interesting character than you've been led to believe.)

5. I slept well last night. That always makes the day go better.

These are just simple things but I find it helps my attitude if I look for at least five things to be thankful for each day. I don't keep a written gratitude journal, but I do this last thing at night, before I go to sleep.

I hope you have at least five ... and actually many more ... random things to be grateful for today. And if it's not cheating, I'll add one more to my list: I'm grateful to you for stopping by to say "hello".

Hope you have a gratitude-filled weekend!

A Little Gerbera Love

Joining a new linky party today, Little Things Thursday, over at Kim Cunningham's Little by Little blog.

We've had several rainy days but today we've gotten a reprieve and it's beautiful out, perfect spring weather. When I last looked at this little Gerbera Daisy on my back porch last evening, it looked a bit droopy in spite of having gotten a fresh drink earlier in the day. Then, this morning, I peeked out and she had perked up and was pivoted around facing the morning sun.

It's a little thing ... but it means so much, doesn't it? It reminded me of ... well, me. I tend to droop on rainy days but give me a beautiful sunshiny, day and I'll perk up quickly.

Hope you're having a happy sunshiny day ... and thanks for visiting.

{Oh! By the way, I textured this image with Kim Klassen's 'Prague'}

Tuesday ... POP?

It's Tuesday again, my favorite linky party day. But something is out of whack this Tuesday. Actually, I almost skipped., but I hated to skip so here I am and I'll be linking up again to Texture Tuesday and Tuesday Muse.

The theme for Texture Tuesday is "POP". Well, things weren't popping very much around here this weekend. Okay, maybe that's not true. The grass must be popping because it's been raining for three days. We also had some hail this afternoon, so I guess you could say that "popped", too.

Since it was so rainy, I spent a lot of time catching up on my online classes and I'm almost caught up. You'd think I would be hot-to-trot to try out the new tricks I've learned but with the weather not cooperating ... well, you get the picture.

So, what's a girl to do when she can't find very much popping? You guessed it. Red tulips. These are not from my garden, those are gone now. These are from the grocery store and I couldn't resist them, such a lovely bunch they are. So my "POP" for today is the single red tulip that you see above. It's processed with one layer of Kim's Sonnet Soft (an oldie but goodie) at 45% soft light, texture brushed off the flower.

Now I must go fix some supper. Talk about something that doesn't pop, that would be it. I'd invite you over but ... well, if you're smart, you'll pass up the invitation today.

Thanks for visiting! Maybe next week things will be popping more here.

PS - I didn't cook supper after all ... we went out! (Maybe you should have come over.) Things are looking up.

Random 5 Friday: Some Local History

We're fortunate to live just 10 miles from one of the most fascinating places in the state of Kentucky, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. It is a place of beauty and more importantly, peace and tranquility. There were many days when I was still working, even before my photography days, when I would go out to Shakertown (as we locals call it) just to walk around and let the stress leak out my ears.

Since spring finally decided to grace us with her presence, I drove out there one evening this week, camera in hand, of course, to soak up the sights. It was the most enjoyable photo walk I've had in ages so I'd thought I'd link up to Random 5 Friday.

Keep in mind, that since daylight was waning, I had time enough only to scratch the surface. There is so much more I could share with you, and perhaps will as spring, summer and fall pass. But here are some photos and some facts that I hope will whet your appetite and encourage you to visit Shaker Village if you should find yourself in Central Kentucky.

Shaker Village was founded in 1806 by a group of 44 converts from the Great Awakening of the late 1700's. They were called "Shakers" because of their practice of shaking all over when filled with the Holy Spirit, or so the story goes.

The location that they chose in Kentucky proved to be very advantageous. Being skilled farmers, they found that the land was fertile and the location was ideal for taking their crops and wares to market. The Kentucky River was just over the hillside, providing ready transportation to larger towns with thriving markets.

In addition to being highly skilled craftsmen, they were pioneers in labor saving devices, such as community water service, water pumps in kitchens and horse drawn power for the wash houses. They were expert architects and builders. The buildings are beautiful and solid but as with all things "Shaker", no needless frills were added, everything had a purpose.

The Civil War was a troublesome time for them. Although by doctrine they were pacifists and against slavery, many local converts held different views. Some even joined the armies which depleted manpower at the settlement. Nevertheless, when hundreds of soldiers from both sides showed up needing food and medical care, they helped them all, draining their own resources.

Shakers did not believe in co-habitation so their numbers grew from converts and taking in orphaned children. After the Civil War, a culture change washed over the country that affected the Shakers as well. Many orphans left when their time of indenture was over and, predictably, membership declined. Finally in 1910, the settlement was dissolved. The last surviving Shaker from Pleasant Hill (don't you love that name?) died in 1923.

Restoration of this treasured landmark was begun in 1961 and continues to this day.

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And finally, I can't wind up this week's post without mentioning the 139th Run for the Roses. Yes! Tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby. We've never been but we always watch it, I think it's mandatory in Kentucky.

Thanks for stopping by ... and I hope your horse wins!

Tuesday Fun

Finally catching up on some of my online classwork. I was having some trouble watching the videos, so I got behind. Then I switched browsers and the problem was solved. Crazy, huh? So this past weekend, I spent a lot of time just catching up.

The above image was created after watching one of Kim Klassen's lessons in Beyond Beyond (sorry I can't remember which day). I thought it was loads of fun! I like to use portrait orientation photos here at Camper but to be honest, I've never been pleased with how they look in the space. Adding the color block and quote to the side of the image takes care of that nicely. So, you may be seeing more of that kind of thing around these parts.

The lilacs are from my neighbor's yard. She moved last summer and the house is still on the market, so I figured since she wasn't using them I would. I have a bunch on my kitchen table and another larger bunch on the porch. They smell heavenly! We need a scratch and sniff option on the internet, don't we?

Would you believe ... the day after we snipped these flowers, new neighbors started moving in. Talk about timing!  ... big smile ...

Let's get down to business. Today is Tuesday! You know what that means ... linking up at Texture Tuesday and Tuesday Muse.

The Texture Tuesday theme is wise words meaning the image must contain at least one layer of one of Kim's textures and some text or "wise words." Using Kim's "Add Some Noise 2" from the 2012 collection on the color block only satisfied that requirement. I applied it in screen blend mode at 100%. Then, of course, I added the text, ummm, wise words. So much fun!

The jonquils were processed with Nancy Claey's 0416-1, one layer screen blend mode 100%, a duplicate layer screen blend mode 50%. I then erased the texture from the flowers and did some gentle brushing on the background.

We've had ample rain this spring. We usually do in the spring but when July comes ... well, I'll be singing the blues because my garden is parched. That's why I try to soak it up (pun intended) now.

That's about it for this Tuesday. I know you're held spellbound by the news from our neck of the woods. As always, we thank you for visiting us and we hope you'll be neighborly and say hello ... rather than stealing our flowers.  ... big smile ...

Three Cheers for Friday

It's been a crazy week here so I'm very happy that Friday is here. After three straight days of cleaning and mopping and laundry, I decided that today I will devote myself to photography, blogging and catching up on my photo classes.

Because it's Friday, I am linking up over at A Rural Journey for Random 5 Friday. Let's get busy!

1. Happily, I was able to find some time to play this week. There are blooms everywhere in my yard so I don't have to walk far to find beauty. This is another view of my purple columbine from earlier this week with some love from Kim Klassen textures.

2. Last weekend we had Redbud Winter. Today we're experiencing Dogwood Winter. Just waiting for Blackberry Winter so that spring will finally be here to stay.

3. We have six dogwood trees in our yard, five pink and one white. This time of year I could spend hours out there taking photos. And they've really not even peaked yet which means more fun yet to come. By the way, this pink dogwood photo was processed with Kim Klassen's "Dotti" texture. Yup! I had the privilege of meeting Kim at Shutter Sisters Oasis. Following Oasis she did a lot of textures which she named after people she'd met there. How cool is that?

4. Housework is vastly overated. Photography and blogging are a lot more fun. This white dogwood was treated to a layer of Nancy Claey's "Zia" and two layers of Nancy's "NC-0416".

5. The fact of the matter is I'm plum out of facts. Did I mention that it's been a crazy week? So with that thought, I wish each of you a grand and glorious spring weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

Tuesday Treasures

In keeping with my current diptych fascination, I've used a diptych to show you two of our newest garden treasures. I love columbine! They're so delicate and elegant and come in such beautiful colors. We lost the pretty columbine we had for years so on our recent trip to the garden center, we opted to get these two. We got some other treasures as well but I'll save those for another post.

Today I'm linking up again with Texture Tuesday and Tuesday Muse. The photos above were both processed with one layer of Kim's Daisy at 100% soft light, brushing off the flowers. Since the theme this week was free and easy with one layer of any of her textures, this fits the bill.

Isn't this a fun tulip? Several years ago we bought a bunch of purple and white tulips and planted them together. This striped beauty emerged from that mix of bulbs. Sadly, we have very few of these beauties still around so I enjoy them as much as possible each year, not knowing if they'll return.

This photo was treated to one layer of Nancy's (A Rural Journal) Painted Skies at 100% soft light, texture brushed off the tulip.

It's a glorious spring morning here and I hope it is in your neck of the woods, too. This time of year invigorates me ... even in the mornings ... and I am not a morning person! But for the past week, I've been waking up early and hitting the blocks much earlier than usual. It's been great!

Thanks for visiting us here at Camper. I hope you have a glorious week and I hope you'll come back soon. We like hearing from you.

Another Friday, Another Five

Happy Friday! Why is it that even though I'm retired but I still love Fridays?

Without any further ado, let's jump right into this week's Random 5 Friday. This week's edition is all about Campbell.

1. Last weekend, Campbell spent a few hours with us and wonder of wonders, was in the mood to play model. She's a great little model ... when she wants to be!

2. Kindergarten can be stressful. So many social dilemmas. You know, stuff like who is whose BFF today and all that sort of important stuff. But that's okay. I like to hear about it. I used to listen to all of her mother's important middle and high school "stuff". I'm happy to listen to Campbell's ... even though I must admit, kindergarten seems a bit early ...

3. Campbell loves to read, whether reading to herself or being read to. She loves it. We read Nancy Drew books together after school most days.

4. Campbell has a flair for the dramatic. 'Nuff said.

5. I love my granddaughter ... wildly, unabashedly, unconditionally. She lights up my life.

There you have it. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you have a fabulous weekend and that spring is yours to enjoy.

 

Tuesday Celebration

How quickly Tuesdays roll around! It seems I've no sooner done one post for my Tuesday links than it's time to begin thinking about ideas for next Tuesday.

Kim's theme for today's Texture Tuesday is "Celebrate". And this time of year, what better to celebrate than spring? I think (knock on wood) that spring has finally arrived to stay in our neck of the woods. Oh, there will be Redbud Winter and Dogwood Winter and Blackberry Winter but they'll be short-lived and certainly nothing like our friends out west and up north have been experiencing these last few days. Big time snow in those places. Makes me glad I'm where I am.

My photo at the top of the blog is not forsythia from our garden. Sadly. It was snipped from the forsythia bush in my daughter's garden. And see that sweet little bottle? I found that when we drove to a favorite spot to celebrate Krista's birthday. So my photos are indeed symbols of this week's theme, "celebrate". Each photo was textured differently. After a pass through Lightroom for basic editing, I applied Kim's "Barbara" texture from the 2012 collection at 100% soft light. The one on the right also went through Lightroom before having two layers of Kim's "2203", both at 100% soft light. In both photos, I brushed texture off the flowers and bottle. The font is Honey Script, semi-bold, which I've been using a lot recently.

I'm continuing the theme of "celebrate" for the linky party over at Tuesday Muse. I've already mentioned our birthday outing for our daughter's birthday. Since our son-in-law was visiting his parents, we had the girls to ourselves. While I didn't take many pictures that day, I did manage to get one of my two girls.

I do hope you've enjoyed celebrating with me and I'm glad you took the time to visit. Not sure if I'll post before then but I do plan to play along on Friday for Random 5 Friday. Hope to see you soon!

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I prepared this post before the horrific news broke from Boston yesterday.

Suddenly, this all seemed so superfluous.

But then, I thought, this is how I keep my sanity in the midst of insanity.

Please ... say a prayer with me for the people in Boston.

As ever,

 

 

Spring: The good, the bad and the ugly

Today I'm going to join Random 5 Friday over on A Rural Journey. Since spring is definitely in the air, it's my inspiration today for my Random 5.

1. There is something magical about the morning after a day of rain. This morning the sun was up early, the earth looked and smelled fresh and clean and spring colors popped.

2. One of my favorite spring time sights is our red tulips under the not-yet-budding river birch tree.

3. The ugly part of spring is the wicked storms that erupt. There was a severe outbreak and widespread damage just west and south of us yesterday. We were spared, as we have been thus far this year. Last year we had several close calls. I want to tell you, sitting in a school pick up line in the midst of a tornado warning ...yes, warning ... is not fun. One day we had to go into the school basement when the county sirens blared and a tornade touched down nearby. Nope. Not my idea of fun.

4. But let's not dwell on the ugly. I've never been a great pansy-lover but this year I was so desparate for color after the long, grey winter that I decided to do two pots, one for the front and one for the back. They have absolutely filled me with joy!

5. Finally, spring cleaning? What's that? Who can even think about housecleaning when there is such spring beauty all around? And the light! Oh, my goodness. The light! Every time I peek out a (dirty) window I see gorgeous color or spectacular light and my camera just takes me by the hand and drags me outside.

So ... has spring lured you to the great outdoors in pursuit of whatever it is that you love? Or are you so disciplined and devoted that you're actually doing your (shudder) spring cleaning?

Be sure to call before you come over so I can brush the cobwebs out of your way. Better yet, we'll sit on the back porch and admire the garden as it comes back to life.

 

Tuesday Fun

Tuesday might just be my favorite day of the week. It was quite enough fun when I was just linking up to Texture Tuesday but now that I'm playing along at Tuesday Muse, it's double the fun! So let's get busy.

For Texture Tuesday, the theme was The Times Two eDition, meaning we had to use two layers of Kim Klassen's textures. The photo above had a trip through Lightroom for some tinkering then over to PSE 11 for some additional tinkering. I used one layer of Kim's Sunkissed (one of my favorites) at blend mode multiply 63% opacity, and another layer of the same texture at blend mode soft light 55% opacity. After  brushing off the texture from the book and cup, I lightened the photo a bit in a levels adjustment layer and called it done (as Kim would say).

For the tulip photo, I ran it through Lightroom for some basic editing then into PSE 11 where I added one layer of Kim's Prague texture, blend mode soft light 50% opacity, then another layer of Prague, soft light 100%, brushing off some texture from the tulips. I then added the heart circle and text and it was done.

This is a budding branch from our Japanese Willow Tree, taken in early morning. I used Nancy Claeys' texture, Chris at blend mode mulitply 85%, and another layer of Chris at blend mode mulitply 25%. That's it. You'll find Nancy and her lovely textures at A Rural Journal.

Both these lovely ladies are very generous in sharing their textures so if you're interested, check them out. They also give very helpful tutorials.

That's it for my Tuesday adventures. I hope you enjoyed visiting Camper because we love it when you stop by.

A Birthday Gift

Since this is a multigenerational blog, I like to feature Campbell's artwork and photography whenever the opportunity arises. Today I'm very happy to share her latest creation.

This past weekend was Krista's birthday and since I had Campbell all week last week, I kept her busy with artwork. She always seems to have a pen, pencil, crayon or marker in her hands when she is in the house so instead of candy, I got her a basketful of art supplies for Easter. This week she put them to good use.

The little painting you see above was done on canvas and Campbell painted it to give to her mother for her birthday. I think it's a wonderful painting and so did her mommy.

It's so much fun to see little ones experience the joy of creativity, don't you think?

Spring Break

Since Texture Tuesday is a free and easy edition, I thought I'd do something other than tulips this week. It's Spring Break week here which means I have Campbell all week long while her mom and dad are at work. This morning, we started off the week with a paint-by-number project. I was so taken with how lovely she looked as she concentrated on her picture that I just had to grab my camera.

I seldom use textures on people pictures but thought I'd make an exception and link to Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday and A Rural Journal's Tuesday Muse. I had also wanted to use one of Nancy's textures but am really pressed for time. Next week for sure!!

After some editing in Lightroom, where I used Kim's matte finish trick, I hopped over to PSE 11 to add Kim's Sunkissed at 60% opacity, brushing it off Campbell. That's it - free and easy!

Whether you're on spring break or not, I hope spring is coming your way. It seems to be getting ready to make an appearance here. And I hope your week is a good one. As always ... thanks for stopping by! Do stop and say "hi" in the comments.

It's Easter!

                                         The Camper Girls wish you  a very happy Easter holiday!





 

Thinking on Tuesday

This week's Texture Tuesday challenge is Flower Power, always a winner for me since I love to photograph flowers.

For this photo, I did a bit of tweaking in Lightroom to give my original image more of a matte look. Next, I added one of Kim's textures, Daisy, at soft light 100% opacity. I brushed texture off the flowers.

For the text, I decided to incorporate the Beyond Beyond lesson for this week, text on a path. It took a bit of trial and error to get a workable path ... that drawing tool is harder than I imagined. I think because I started out going too slowly. When I just let it rip, I did much better. Anyhow, that's the technique that I used. The font is French Script MT.

That's it and now I'm ready to link up with Kim and my friends at

and ...

{drum roll}

I've found a new Tuesday link up over at A Rural Journal.