Watercolor Sunday and Saturday's Color: September 2015

This is what I plan to do after every month now, adding "for the record" what I'm posting on Facebook of my present two memes.  And yes, I decided to make a meme out of my coloring, calling it Saturday's Color.

First, here's what I did in September for Watercolor Sunday:

September 6 (photo manipulation):

"O Tiger-lily," said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, 

"I wish you could talk!"

"We can talk," said the Tiger-lily: "when there's anybody worth talking to."
-- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

September 13 (photo manipulation):

"If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment."
-- Carlos Santana

September 20 (photo manipulation):

"But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime
after the midpoint of September, it stays like an old friend that you have missed."
-- Stephen King

September 27 (photo manipulation):
"You can observe a lot by just watching."-- Yogi Berra

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Then, since I was coloring like a mad woman, I started adding my colored designs to Facebook.  After all, they're saying coloring as adults is good therapy, right?  Okay, it may not be considered "professionally therapeutic," but it sure is fun.  Besides, what do they know!

Back at the beginning of September I already added 3 of my colored designs, so I won't duplicate them here.  But here's the next designs I added to Facebook.  I've decided to leave Saturday for coloring on FB, calling it Saturday's Color:

(finished on 6 September 2015, posted on FB 8 September 2015)

This was a hard design to color.  Bejeweled?
I kept wondering what sister Ruth would do if it were a quilt!


(finished 31 January 2004, posted on FB 10 September 2015)

As you see, I decided to dip into my archives (an idea from son Mark).


(finished 1 February 2004, posted on FB 12 September 2015)
Speaking of son Mark, there's a lot of symbolism in this one.
He's a GEORGIA Bulldog grad, with red and black colors.
Their nemesis is GEORGIA TECH, with Black and yellow colors.
 I played around with their rivalry.


(finished 12 September 2015, posted on FB 19 September 2015)
It seemed fitting to post this at the end of the summer season.
I chose the 4 primary colors and thought of beach chairs/umbrellas and sailboats.


(finished 8 February 2005, posted on FB 26 September 2015)
This design, from my Native American Mandalas book, represents the Sun Symbol of the Huichiol
Native Americans.  I chose it because of the Autumnal Equinox.

 So, there you have it...for the record!

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Speaking of the Autumnal Equinox and the full BLOOD MOON on September 28th, early morning our time, we actually set the alarm for 3:45 a.m. and watched the whole thing from our outside balcony walkway until 5:30 a.m....and then went back to bed!  Seriously.

While we both weren't totally happy with what we were able to capture with our separate cameras, we will never forget what we saw, not only with our bare eyes but on my camera screen, enlarged and in focus.

 Even at 1200mm, that was the best my camera could do of the blood moon.
But those first 3 images are within a span of 23 minutes, followed by the blood moon 18 min. later.

But look what Astrid got!

Watercolor Sundays

You know I'm making a photo book on grandson Nicholas' two weeks with us, right?  I'm starting Day 10 of 15 today, so I really am moving right along...having a blast with it.  Easting, drinking and sleeping it, to be honest!

In the meantime....

It suddenly occurred to me that I want to add my Watercolor Sundays here (for the record) that I've been posting for several weeks now on Facebook.  It started when I fell in love with a watercolor photo manipulation from one of my friends, about which I inquired:  HOW DID YOU DO THAT!  Once she told me (it's the Waterlogue app for the iPad, plus some added manipulation I do in PhotoShop), I've been in heaven ever since.  Watercolor happens to be my favorite of all the art mediums out there.

And with each watercolor (photo manipulation), I add an inspiring quote...since it's for Sunday:

"In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along."--George A. Young

"The lotus comes from the murkiest water but grows into the purest thing."--Nita Ambani

"Happiness is an inside job."--William Arthur Ward

"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."--Isaiah 30:15
Happy Father's Day!

"My heart is like a singing bird."--Christina Rossetti

"It’s Fourth of July weekend, or, as I call it, Exploding Christmas." – Stephen Colbert

"The Amen of nature is always a flower."--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

 "Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see."--Jimmy Buffett

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See how fun it can be when you play around with your camera.
Who would have known!

Holland's Warmest November 1st (2014)

Now that I've finished October's trip to America (!), it's time to come back to the Netherlands before it's already December.

It so happens we were antsy to go back to our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant in the Dutch polder, which we decided to do on Saturday, November 1.  It also so happens it ended up being Holland's warmest November 1st on record, since 1901.

It was November, however, and full of the changing colors.

And since we stopped for everything, here are some stills of the following videos:

The Jan van Arkel windmill (in nearby Arkel) was turning that day.

It's a smock mill from 1851.

You can't really get the full effect of the whirling sound here because of the traffic,
but it was hypnotic that day.

When we stopped to watch these cows, imagine our surprise when the farmer came on the scene.
They were grazing ever so peacefully and then...they started skipping like sheep to him (at the end).
This alone was enough to make my day (sorry about the jiggles).

Speaking of cows, here's one going off to Timbuktu.
VEEVERVOER = Livestock Transportation.
I hope he was just sold to another farmer and was off to greener pastures?

How can you not stop at this photo op by the side of the road!
If we didn't already have a pumpkin at home, I would have bought one.

And, yes, the weathervanes of the day!
The one top-center looks like a space ship.  Hmmm.
The one bottom-center looks like the talons of a big bird that flew away?

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Those of you who follow me on Facebook have already seen the following images, but for the rest of you,  there was a Black & White Challenge going around where we could be nominated to submit 5 B&W photos.  These are the ones I submitted:

#1:  "We do NOT have snow here yet but for all those of you who do, this windmill is only two blocks
from our back door here in Gorinchem, NL (from 2009)."

 #2:  "Many of you know I love architecture, but usually I mean the old European structures
that are from long before America became America. However...how can you say NO to this modern structure from downtown Atlanta in 2012! It reminds me of a chorus-girl lineup."

 #3:  "This is a macro shot of some moss between two bricks on a ledge where we live,
taken a couple years ago when we had a dusting of snow. In macro mode it looked like a blizzard!"

 #4:  "This is for all of you experiencing winter way too early this year! This is from where
we live in Gorinchem, NL, from a couple winters ago. More Dutch you cannot get!"

 #5:  "Probably my most favorite place on earth, Kinderdijk, NL, is a village where 19 windmills
from 1740 drain the polder. It's the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands
and is only 20 miles from our home. This was taken on Christmas day, 2010!"

And because you may remember Astrid and I first met each other via our photography (!!!),
I nominated her to post her own 5 B&W images for the Challenge:

 Astrid's #1:  "Fog in the fields 2008"

Astrid's #2:  "Utrecht, 2008"
(with a bit of selective coloring added)

 Astrid's #3:  "Out in the polder/fields, 2008"

Astrid's #4

Astrid's #5:  "The sun makes an effort to shine...."

And with that, we are well on our way to December...here before we know it!

Family Time in America: 2014

The trip to America every year is, of course, MAINLY to see my kids!  We go in October because that's when the fair is, which g'son Nicholas still wants to visit with us.  "It's a tradition, G'ma!"

After our visit with Bob and Peggy, it was time to go to the North Georgia Mountains, where each year, now, since 2009, we've started a new tradition of renting a cabin...neutral territory in a space that fills us up to over-flowing.

It's a view to die for no matter what time of the day or night it is.

And we never tire of it!

Interestingly, I have very few pics to show for how much we relaxed there.

Amy wondered why I didn't take that many pics this year?  

And I decided it's because it's the one place I truly relax...and forget about the camera.

If you're a photographer, you know exactly what I mean.

Thankfully, Amy took her own iPhone pic of us eating s'mores one night on the covered porch.

We also ate good food (which Amy cooked and I cleaned up), played pool and ping-pong,

worked on a jigzaw puzzle, watched football and a couple movies, etc., etc.

And for the first time ever, we drove into Blue Ridge, down the mountain....

 ...not just to grocery shop but to actually see the touristy town.

It's a town of ca. 1300 people in an area that used to be "controlled" by the Cherokee.

You could say it's a place that depends on the tourists....

...which explains all the art and doo-dads to buy and/or explore.

But the real photo-ops were elsewhere for Astrid and me...not in the stores.

 I bet it's easy to pick out the pics I gravitate to, right, for photo manipulation?

How about $6,000 for a 1959 Rambler that "runs sweet?"

Or something a bit older and..."sweeter?"

(You know about rust and photographers, right?)

 Yup.  This is what we do.

Speaking of traditions, we always stop at Waffle House the morning we leave the cabin.

That's Nicholas, Amy and Dennis (top-left).

I always get the hashbrowns, smothered and scattered "all the way."

Imagine my surprise this time to find sausage gravy added...new since the previous year.

I could have done without that part...but still, it was good enough to forget to take a pic!

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 Since Mark wasn't at the cabin with us this year,

he invited Astrid and me for potato-sausage soup...a long-time family tradition.

Astrid LOVES taking pics of Mark's cat, Piper.

What a poser...and what a delightful friend for Mark, day after day.

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The rest of the time we just hung around at Amy's house.

Nicholas LOVES his pink socks in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.

His other g'ma (also named Virginia!) has had both breast and colon cancer, still alive.

Nicholas says she's his "best friend."  This is important to him!

You know I could eat him up, of course.

He's 14 now, a freshman in high school...and growing UP.

He and Astrid have become big-time buddies, a delight for me to watch.

This year SHE got her new iPad (like I did last year).

In a matter of hours and days, she knew more than I did after a year.

But at least I learned a new game ("2048") to which I am totally addicted.

I kid you not.  I still play it every day, trying to best my highest score.

Until next year!  The cabin is already reserved and we're counting the months.

It really is what going home is all about for me.  This is my family...

and I feel very lucky to have a home away from home.