The Heat is On

Looks like we're in for a little taste of Hell in the upcoming days.

And I'm so not looking forward to it. It's bad enough that we are already in a drought. This will make the cracks in our yard
grow exponentially bigger.

Even the drought tolerant purple coneflower
is caving in to the lack of water.

Poor thing's petals are shriveling up. :(

But at least I got a few pictures in before
the drought began taking its toll.

One day last week we had tolerable heat day; a beautiful, breezy day with some gorgeous puffy white cumulus clouds.
As the boy and I were getting into the car to go to the park,
I happened to look up and saw this....

The most gorgeous sunbeams I've seen in a very long time.

And for once I had my camera in my hand!

I was so thankful that I did!

While the hydrangeas were still doing well,
I got some nice shots of them.

This was before the drought had really kicked in.
Now they are drying up just like everything else.

...except for these Star Gazer lilies.

And they are always gorgeous!

I just love these flowers. 

~~~~~

 Wherever you are, I hope you stay cool!
Until next time....

Dessert Date with My Son

Now that school is out, the boy and I have time during the day to do some things we couldn't normally do during school hours. So we had a dessert date. :)
 

The boy and I took a little trip up to NoDa (North Davidson Street) the other day to Amelie's French Bakery and Cafe. (I must admit, we did not originally go to have dessert, but to take a ripped pair of the boy's shorts to a friend so she could repair them. She just happens to work there and is a member of the Charlotte crafting group, Crown Town Handmade, which I once belonged to as well.) Anyway, regardless of how we ended up at Amelie's, I'm so very glad we went!

Amelie's opened in Charlotte in 2008, and even though I'd always heard about it and how good it was, I had never been. It's a little out of the way for me to go to that part of town, so I just had never bothered making the trip. However, after this experience, I think we'll be going back!

The atmosphere was so much fun and everything looked so scrumptious! I let the boy pick whatever he wanted to make it sort of a special trip. I didn't want to just walk in, hand the shorts to my friend and then walk right back out without ever having tasted anything! After much debate, he chose to indulge in a piece of raspberry chocolate torte (which was absolutely decadent, I might add!).

 

Yes, I know it's not organic, but it IS local, and it doesn't come with all those yucky chemical preservatives like are in Oreos or Chips Ahoy, potato chips, or even a Hershey bar. And in addition to not having all the yucky chemical preservatives, we are supporting the local economy instead of buying a pack of Pepperidge Farms cookies or some gross honey buns at WalMart (which I absolutely detest and will not go to if at all possible). There's a huge difference!

He also tried their caramel latte since he likes the caramel macchiato at Starbuck's (the boy likes coffee). It was a bit on the strong side so he gave it to me and got something else. I liked it a lot.

very cool chandelier inside Amelie's

a little sparrow watching us through the window

If you live in Charlotte, or just come here to visit, 
Amelie's is a treat you should definitely try...often!

I know we will be going back, that's for sure!

It was totally delicious!

 

Hello Again

I have no excuses for my long absence. None. Apologies going out here. Go ahead. Smack me now.

~~~~

I've been getting more and more into photography and have neglected my blog and jewelry something terrible. But here is a glimpse of what I have been doing.

The boy's first time in a kayak.

and he loved it! :)

Easter Eggs

a wee little bee

tiny wildflower


I'm thinking about opening an Etsy shop for my photography, but I don't really know how to go about it. Does one need to own their own photo printer and paper? Does one go out to a photo lab each time a print sells?
These are some things I need to investigate.

little miss ladybug

apple blossoms

This sign is all that is left of Queen Park Cinema. It is now demolished, but was once a drive-in theater here in Charlotte.

Some pretty yellow wildflowers

Dogwood blossoms

Barney

Plum tree blossoms


So while I've been absent, I've been practicing my photo editing and have been taking photography a little more seriously. I'm trying to shoot RAW most of the time and on manual mode, and trying to edit to the best of my ability in Photoshop and Lightroom. I'd love to have some better, faster lenses as well as a Speedlight, but I can't right now. I'll just have to work with what I have and make the best of it. I love shooting. That's the most important part. :)

trees budding in January (INSANE)

February 7, 2012, "Snow Moon"

windows

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And last but not least, I listed a new pair of earrings in my Etsy shop. These consist of aqua chalcedony teardrop briolettes on shiny hammered circles, dangling from long kidney earwires. Very pretty!

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Now that I'm back, hopefully I can post at least once a week.
I'll try anyway!

See you soon!

A Fond Memory

One of my favorite memories from childhood is of my grandmother's drinking bird. It sat in the window, bobbing up and down 'drinking' water. It was absolutely mesmerizing.

I found my own drinking bird this past summer at the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC. Now it happily bobs up and down in my kitchen window and hopefully my son will remember ours as fondly as I remember my grandmother's.

What fun memory do you have from your childhood?

August Break #15

Aren't these the prettiest eggs you've ever seen?

And they are naturally colored that way!

I don't remember what breed of chicken laid these pretty eggs,

but they were some of the yummiest, prettiest eggs I've ever had.

You can't get any better than true cage free,
yard roaming, bug eating chickens to lay
the best organic eggs! 

Go organic. You'll be glad you did!

~~~~~
and speaking of food...

My mother had a cookbook that included some
really 'wild' recipes to say the least!

for example...


I think we all need to know how to cook raccoon, don't you?

And if you've ever wondered how to prepare that possum,
look no further....

Aren't these a hoot?

I guess way back when people needed to
know these kinds of things.
And for today's survivalists, these would come in handy!

August Break #14

Blue Dragonfly

I've missed a lot of days during this August Break due to coming back home from the mountains and then getting things ready for school to start. Now that it's back in session, hopefully I can do better about updating my blog with pictures from this summer (and jewelry too hopefully).

It was a great summer and we had a blast.

And we hated to leave...



...as always.

(more high country summer pics to come)