Curious Life: February Edition

 

Sweet Lamb R.I.P.

 

 

Jade's Snow Day

 

 

Woman/Camera/Hotel

 

 

Shotgun House R.I.P.

 

 

Spring's Eternal Hope/February Bloom

Thrift Share Sunday

Some of you may have seen my thrift finds from the challenge I undertook on Friday. It was inspired by the hit song 'Thrift Shop" (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis) and it was helluva fun to thrift with only $20 in my pocket! Check out the blog Young House Love for other participants. many had never (ever!) thrift shopped before! I especially love the one where the person found a shirt they loved, but wanted to wash it 15X before wearing. me? I've been known to thrift the perfect dress and wear it the same day! I do wash most thrifted items first, but if I'm really excited to wear something, I've been known to trust the old olfactory system. I guess I always think people could have tried on the clothes at the store just the same. Not that I'm judging; I guess I'm just a complete opposite of 'germ-a-phobe" frame-of-mind and find it funny! Well, I am a biologist. I guess that may have something to do with it. I know germs out number us no matter how often we wash something. Nevertheless, the challenge inspired a new crop to thrift. Hmm, I am on the fence on whether that is good or bad (my greedy side says, "Bad...")

Of course, the challenge items have not been my only thrift finds in the last couple of weeks. I thought I would purge the rest of the photos and show you the rest of my cool treasures. Most of these came from West Virginia; a few from Louisville thrifts.

I cannot resist animal planters. I've been collecting them for going on 20 years and someday I hope to thrift one of those vintage wooden half circle plant stands. I will fill that baby up with a zoo! I also snagged a great 3M racing game (Derby ready!), and a toy camera that apparently was a promotional hand-out for a Bratz movie. Check out the last photo for why I picked it up for 50c. I like to play around with these plastic cameras and this one should take really great awful photos!

 

 Deer, horse, fawns

 

blue bird, bulldog

3M Game (perfect for a Louisville residence) and a working toy camera

Sorry for the blur-just showing the used roll of film in the camera. I cannot wait to get it developed. I also found that kitty you see in the lower right. I bought her for the Etsy shop, but notice a tiny chip on one ear (I swear I checked at the store), so she is keeping my plants company for now.

Linking it up with these fun thrift share parties: Thriftasaurus, A Living Space, Apron Thrift Girl, Magpie Monday.

Manhole+Dandelion+Tornado=KY Winter

 

Yesterday, on January 29, I found this little guy in my front yard. Of course, the warm temps and freshly blooming dandelion made me think about seed starting, urban gardening, and sunshine!

 

 

However, I must remember, we are still in the middle of winter and this manhole cover reminds me that the pipes in my old 1900 Shotgun can and did freeze just one week earlier on January 22. The temperature fell rapidly into the lower teens and I awoke to no running water. Incredibly, I had no damage and have since insulated the cellar just a wee bit better.

 

And, today, all of this climate confusion came barrelling to a head in the pre-dawn hours. I was jerked from my sleep by a sound of sirens. It took me a few minutes to realize it was the neighborhood tornado alarm. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the dog, and raced to a lower level closet. Apparently, 125 feet above me was the spiraling winds of a tornado. I waited awhile, then slowly crept back to bed. Then, I thought, today is January 30.

WV Bridge 3 Ways

 

Original taken with Canon Digital Rebel XT

 

Holga-ish (Picasa 3)

Lomo-ish (Picasa 3)

 

I've been experimenting with rogue photographs I snap here and there while on work travel (these are also for my 365 Project). I spent this week in NW and North Central West Virginia. I stumbled upon this old train bridge and loved the rusty-ness of the beams. It reminded me of my childhood visits to nearby Virginia. I had to be quick as the only place to pull over was clearly marked "No Parking at Anytime", so it is not the best composition. (In fact, a police vehicle cruised by only minutes after I pulled away from the spot.) 

 

My favorite is the last one (Lomo) as it accents the rust spots and warms it up a bit. It was bitter cold in WV yesterday; everything needed a little warming up. I hear it's suppose to be close to 65 on Tuesday in Louisville and I cannot wait. My toes and fingers could use a little Lomo-ish too.

Bug

 

Well,  I had good intentions on my daily goals anyway. I ended up sick this week and spent today in bed. Around one, I finally ate a small breakfast of coffee and mini bagels with peanut butter and blackberry jam. So this is my 365 photograph. Exciting, yes? The rest of the week's photos have not been much better.  I was dragging ass since Monday (not realizing I was coming down with something) and yesterday I was stuck in Lexington when the bug actually hit me. I think it was the longest drive ever back to Louisville.

 

I started to keep track of my 365 project photos on ShutterCal. Hopefully the photographs will be better come the weekend.

 



Blue Monday Candy #1

 

 

It's been some time since I shared any thrift shop finds, but thrift I do (although, I have myself on a nasty budget for the time being and I won't be able to be as free to pack the cart). Most of this was thrifted between October and December either in Indiana or Kentucky. Some of the photographs and the silver vase in the background came out of a great barn estate sale I got to "pick" in early December. Sadly, my first trip to the barn was with my mom who took one look and said, "I'm not going in there..." I went back the next day and still found many, many treasures. I'll be sharing them throughout the year (and I'll try to remember to note they were from the barn) as many are slated to be projects for the rehab house.

 

Left to right: Photos from late 1800-1915 (same family); postcard holder; butcher scraping block (I actually thrifted this a long time ago, but it was perfect for the photos); Virgin Mary; silver vase; old books.

 

In other news, an old friend of mine (my bff from my teens and twenties) is moving to Louisville from Chicago. He actually is my thrifting mentor. He is in desparate need of a fresh start and I have this big, old Victorian and an extra room, so he'll be here for a bit. He's a designer and I'm sure he can help me overcome my inability to pick wall colors that don't look like a bottle of Tums. 

The Kiss

 

Orca's Kiss

 

Orca has been in the family for nine months. He is a quirky and loveable dog and Lyndon is his biggest champion and playmate. They communicate to each other in their own language and Orca is the first thing Lyndon asks about during our nightly phone calls. If it was possible, I'm sure Orca would do the same.

 

(6/365: Canon Rebel XT, Auto focus; Picassa Holga-ish)

Pink Sky, Dark Trees

5/365: Early Morning Sky

 

The sky went from hazy grey, to this brilliant pink, and onward to blue sky dotted with off-white clouds. Thank you, Son #1, for exclaiming, "Mom, check out the sky!"

 

 



Rest in Peace

Not too long ago, a friend of mine in Louisville told me a witch was buried in a cemetery near his house. I was curious. It took some convincing, but I finally talked him into exploring the historical site with me yesterday.

Louisville is an old city and old cities are full of beautifully aged graveyards. This particular one is located in the Highlands. It is where the "poor" of the 1800-early 1900's was buried and sits directly next to the resting grounds of the more well-to-do.

While we were searching for the stone he remembered seeing almost 20 years ago, I took out my camera and starting snapping pictures of some of the ornate stones. My friend's eyes bugged out and he said, "It's illegal to take photos in a cemetery!"

I glanced up at him to see if he was joking and I realized he was not. I chuckled and told him I thought someone had fed him bullshit at some point. I told him I would check on this, but that I was pretty sure taking photographs in a cemetary was perfectly fine. I mentioned that there were a lot worse things you could do illegally in a graveyard than take a couple of pictures*.  The rest of the visit he had me laughing to tears at his avoidance of walking on the graves (I had to tell him that the front is not always where the casket was placed in reference to the stone). He was superstitious and somewhat creeped out by the soggy ground and old dates.

For me, I have always love graveyards. I've been exploring them since I was a child. My parents had a lake house in a rural part of Indiana. During the summer I would disappear into the depths of the nearby woods. I had discovered an old, overgrown cemetery hidden in the tangles of elms and nettles and thorny flora. I spent hours there, clearing away the vines and dirt from the faded stones, constructing stories about the people buried beneath them. In my mind, time spent in a cemetery is a way of honoring the dead, an acknowledgement that these were people who laughed like us, maybe coveted chocolate or oranges, read books and kissed their babies goodnight. In college, one of my favorite undergrad projects was a population study we did using the dates and sexes on gravestones. When I walk up to a stone, it is to look better at a name and the dates. I do it as a respect and courtesy to the deceased. And, I do it because I am curious about these lives.

Later, over vegetarian burritos, I mentioned again I had never heard about the legalities of taking cemetery photos (I was thinking about the 100's I have from cities I have visited over the years). He looked wistfully away and said: "Maybe someone just said you could capture a spirit by using a camera in a cemetery."

*There is a horrible back story to this particular graveyard, but it does not involve a witch or a camera.

Beans, Rice and Rosemary



 

2/365



Oh, no...she's already posting pictures of dinner. Cough, yea, busy day and I didn't get my photograph in today. Yes, it is day 2. But I am not going to dwell...363 more days to get right with the camera habits. And, black beans, veggies, and basmati rice is going to be a great meal!

OK, how about a bonus picture?

The tip of a rosemary tree I bought on clearance today for $1. It's making my house smell wonderful.

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2013: A {New} Year of Hope and Enlightenment!

I'm fairly certain that, after Halloween, New Year's Day is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the the feeling of hope it seems to deliver and I always feel like I've been granted a fresh slate to begin new adventures, right wrongs, and develop new skills. Of course, all of that is really kind of silly considering any of these things can be done at any moment in one's life, but there's just something about the challenge of a brand new calendar.

One of my own personal goals is to take at least one photograph a day. I almost didn't make it today. The sky was gloomy and I started in on my usual mantra of avoidance, but I made myself follow through with the goal, (albeit,not the best shot-hopefully I can only improve, right?). The cameras, circa 1965 and 1970, were found at the thrift store in my neighborhood yesterday. The books were thrifted or bought mostly last year, but just happen to be all 2013 goal-related topics. I started in reading the book on photography and I will start the others soon. It's not the best photograph by any means, but it's a check mark for the goal list. Already, I think I'm feeling pretty lucky that 2013 may be a good year!


Excuse the Dust and Silence

I have just not had the time to commit to this blog like I want. I'm not  sure if I just am having trouble finding my niche or life is just too hectic at the moment. The past couple of years have been anything but smooth and I have attempted to keep this place light and happy (as much as possible) as I have a tendency to get a bit blue, but the past few months have been a roller coaster of work, life, and other menial pursuits. This time of year, especially, always feels so rushed and time consuming.

And, I cannot say how saddened I am by Friday's tragedy. I can honesty say I am a pillar of stoic silence in the face of an emergency, but I burst out in tears and grief when I heard the news. I know, statistically and historically speaking, this is an event less likely to happen than being struck by lightning, but does statistics or history really matter to those grieving families, friends and community. Why does it seem compassion is no longer a part of our society?

All being said, I do not want to give up on blogging. I started my first blog in 2004-the year of the great blogging birth (in my humble opinion) and kept it religiously until 2010(ish). It provided me an outlet I desparately needed in my life at that time. Likewise, I started this one when I changed a bunch of life events and needed something to focus on once again. The old blog, I kept a bit on the real side of bleakness. It ended up tiring me out. So, where I consider this one to be a lifestyle blog too, I have tended to focused a lot of the posts on thrifting (a hobby since my teenage years), something that makes me happy. I kind of wish I had mixed things up a bit more.

So, for 2013, I hope to revamp this space. I feel like I just haven't devoted the time and energy to make it mine. I have goals and hopes for next year and I really need a sounding board. Blogs are the perfect medium for sharing and developing creativity. I still believe this to be true (lord knows I love reading them!) I want to refine my blogging/writing skills. I also have a side goal of learning better photography and I will need a place to share what I learn.

In case you didn't notice, I am going to be going through a bit of transformation. I know it looks really wonky right now! I hope those of you who do read here decide to come back.

Meanwhile, have a happy, healthy, harmonious holiday season! See you on the other side of winter darkness!