My Watercolor Sunday and Saturday's Color Books

Most of you will remember that for three years straight, every weekend, from the end of September 2015 to November 2018, I posted a watercolor photo (on Sundays) and a felt-pen coloring (on Saturdays) on Facebook.  I called them Watercolor Sunday (always with a quote) and Saturday's Color.

Purely for the sake of posterity, and to have all images in one accessible place, I decided to make books of each.  Lucky for me, Shutterfly had companion covers to make them a pair, which they are!  Both books are 10 x 10 inches.

Here they are:

Click here to find the book and then click on the book to open it (111 pages).

(You also have the option to view it in full screen.)

Because of the quotes with each image, on Sunday, I decided to call them Sermonettes.

There are 162 of them, shown in chronological order as posted on Facebook.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Click here to find the book and then click on the book to open it (97 pages).

(You also have the option to view it in full screen.)

Here there are 166 designs from 21 coloring books, utilizing 15 different felt-pen sets, 

from 2003-2018, not in chronological order but in like categories/themes.

Both of these books are now listed on my sidebar.

Through the Hartland: A Photographic Journey

It's a long story about how this book has come to be, starting back over the last several years when both of my kids have said, "Mom, you should do something with your photos," to which I have always replied that I had no intention of adding to the glut of photos already out there.  Besides, I have this blog and my photo blog that already do "something."

In the back of my mind, however, I've always known that the myriad files of photos on my external hard drives will float out into the Black Holes of the Universe once I'm dead and buried.  Maybe I could resurrect a few of them and give them to the kids as the one thing I can do...for them.

A few ended up being 831, which you can see in this book below:

Click here to find the book and then click on the book to view it.

(You also have the option to view it in full screen.)

The introduction to Amy and Mark in the book tells you what you need to know...the why, what, when and where.  Its 831 images cover the span of these past 15 years, 2004-2019, when I switched from film to digital cameras, taking you on a journey through 32 countries I've had the privilege to visit, listed on the last page.  (Another 8 countries, also listed but not represented in the book, were before I used a digital camera.)

I gave a copy of the book to both Amy and Mark at the cabin in the North Georgia Mountains.

Amy looked at her copy, too, of course, but Mark was the one I captured out on the deck.

You can also find the book on my sidebar.

ENJOY.

My Dutch Weathervanes Book

It's done!

It took me only a week to do it...380 images on 94 pages...a book that's been in the wings for a long time, as most of you already know.  I'm glad it's finally come to fruition.

Enjoy:

Click here to view this photo book larger

[I apologize that the embed code from Shutterfly does NOT allow this book to be fully displayed correctly in the video.  Pages 34-35 should be a full-page spread, but because it's not, the rest of the book is off-kilter. 

If you click on the "view this photo book larger" link below the video, and then click "view" when it opens, you can see the book exactly as it should be, but it will be hard to read the text unless you enlarge your screen several times:  Ctrl + for Windows; Command + for Mac?]

And now you can also find it on my sidebar.

Nicholas in the Netherlands: The Book

It's done!  In fact, it was ready within 1.5 weeks after g'son Nicholas left on Friday the 31st.  You know what they say--money talks.  I was able to save $75 by pressing the ORDER button by this past Wednesday.  YAY.

Here it is (click on this link and then click on Full Screen):  it's a 12x12-inch book of 74 pages.

Remember to view it in FULL SCREEN to get the best effect. It really was a Series of Very Fortunate Events!

Nicholas Joseph Grannan

Did I mention that my only grandchild became a TEENAGER in July!

So, I just had to figure out something to honor this huge milestone for him and his mom in particular.  All 110 pages and 1,000 images of Shutterfly's maximum in a 12x12-inch book!  A gift from me to him to her.

I'm sure you get the picture...HA!

Click here to preview the book (110 pages).

(You also have the option to view it in full screen.)

That's my boy!  Enjoy....

Home Sweet Home

There and back again!
No, this isn't the family cottage in Michigan. It happens to be one of my favorite houses near where we live here in The Netherlands. Daughter Amy says coming home is always the best part of going away. She's right. But there's more...which is what my post is about today at Vision and Verb.

In the meantime, here's a bit of a visual from the Michigan cottage, a total of 1750 miles driving to and fro. My disclaimer is that I took only my 100mm macro lens with me and had no intention of documenting the family time. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise you, let alone me, that I took no pics of my own kids! (What was I thinking???) But in the end, they wanted to see what I did take.

In the early hours of Friday when the rest of the family had not yet arrived,
the few of us there found ways to use our time.

That's the fun of vacation time. You get to play, few or many!


And then everyone arrives and more fun happens.


Our family cottage is on Horseshoe Lake, big enough for speedboats
but small enough and more cozy for pontoon and fishing boats.






All our fishing, however, is off the dock.
You should have seen the bass that got away! Don't you love how the kids are part of it.


Inside the cottage has its own joys and thrills, of course.
Like Asher watching Aunt Susan (my sister) making her deviled eggs...a family tradition.


Or Eli helping Dad out with breakfast.


Of course, there's lots of sitting-around time, watching and listening...


...Dad time around the laptop...


...and G'ma time with Wilma, the Mother of all Grandmas!
They were all on or next to her much of the time.


Uncle Jeff joined the family on May 14 when he married Katy,
the daughter of my sister's daughter...yup, 3 generations. Is that possible?


Let's just say he's a big hit....and a match for Aden.


There's always at least one children's movie.
Don't you love how the boys and girls (the cousins) 'segregate' themselves!


Saving the best for last...my 5 sibs of 7 who were there: Nelson, Susan, Nancy, Jim and Ruth. In chronological age, I follow Susan. Bennett, who follows Nancy, walks around the Universe somewhere. John, who follows Jim, was not present. (Lest you be confused, I have two pictures of each except for Susan.) The spread from top to bottom is 14 years. Nelson is the one who turns 70 in January...after which the rest of us follow suit. Sigh.


I told you I took my macro lens, right?
Next time I'll also take my tripod. It's much trickier than I thought!

So, we drove back to Atlanta, my kids and I, after a delightful 3 days reunioning with the family. During my stint of night driving, an adult deer crossed over the interstate so close in front of me I couldn't see its legs. My heart stopped. The kids woke up. A second later, it would have been a sobering story. It's when we once again thanked the Universe for protecting us all along the way.

Once back in Atlanta for a few days, I had a chance to make phone calls to friends as well as to meet up with Bob and his partner Marc for lunch.

Bob reminded me we have known each other for 19 years!
He even joined me on my MARTA ride to the airport and bid me adieu.
And do you recognize grandson Nicholas?? He turns 11 tomorrow and is ready to start 6th grade.
When did that happen???

You can imagine the joy we felt, Astrid and I both, when we rendezvoused at the Amsterdam airport Friday morning. Talk about Home Sweet Home. For supper that evening, Astrid made her macaroni specialty dish and a small appeltaart, to celebrate.

Coming home really IS the best part of going away. Home Sweet Home. (And another reminder of my Vision and Verb post today.)

One last thing: Remember the Shutterfly book I was working on before I left for Atlanta? It arrived while I was there. Here it is (click on Full Screen to see it better):

A Stitch in Time

A stitch in time saves nine.

That's what my post at Vision and Verb is about today, just two days before I fly from Amsterdam to Atlanta. It's a long story but it's spontaneous and alone, without Astrid. The short version is that my kids became free for the July 4th holiday and decided to drive from Atlanta to our Michigan family cottage, just like we always did.
And I wanted to be with them.

The rest of the story you can read at V&V....

In the meantime, I'm finishing a Shutterfly photo book that I've worked on non-stop for a week. I received a gift certificate from TripAdvisor after writing a review for them but it expires tomorrow. No way do I want to lose it. I'm titling it "Holland: Through My Lens" (101 pages, the limit) unless one of you comes up with something a bit more exciting. Remember helping us name our Granny Towanda car?!

I return to Holland (and Astrid!) on Friday morning, 8 July, and plan to post again here the following Monday. Till then, enjoy your 4th of July holiday if you celebrate it!

LET FREEDOM RING!