Uncaged

Untitled, a photo by VeronicainMo on Flickr.

Hiding In This Cage

Hiding in this cage
of visible matter

is the invisible
lifebird

pay attention
to her

she is singing
your song
Kabir

The Joy of Baking (and living)

Autumn mornings are kind of special to me. Even moreso when I am all alone here in the house. Sometimes I find myself just staring out the window early when the sun is rising having that first BEST cup of coffee. Today I had plans for baking pumpkin-walnut-cranberry muffins and some banana chocolate chip whole wheat bread. I was a little uneasy about baking, as me and the oven don't always see eye to eye. I do a pretty good job of cooking fresh meals, but baking has never been my strong suit, and once again I was determined to make a go of it.





 

I found the recipe here.It was easy to pull together, and the muffins came out moist and tasting wonderful. My mother always mixed by hand when I was growing up and I follow that tradition. Oddly enough, mixing by hand is really quite relaxing to me. I find my mind wanders from thought to thought during the whole prep time. I have a nice big kitchen window where I can mix and watch the leaves falling in a slow motion towards the ground, the free falling is soothing to my soul. I'll put on some music to bake by, ( I tend to do this while I cook anything) and enjoy the time with just me and the light streaming thru the kitchen window and the music streaming. I think my decision to make peace with the whole baking process and approach it more as an enjoyable time has made all the difference in the outcome.

I think when my heart is in it, it shows. I was rewarded this morning with wonderful, warm muffins and a great smell in the house. Mental note made: the zen of baking is enjoying the process and putting your heart into it.

Today I'm joining some old friends whom I have missed. I'm linking with A Rural Journal

for a special joining together of support for a special blogger, visit if you can.

I'm joining Live and Love Out Loud for Wordful Wednesday and Project Alicia

 

Girls, I must be honest. I woke up this morning a little cranky and unhappy about these nagging hot flashes that are never ending. Then I read this post and realized that I have everything to be thankful for, really.

 

I'm really happy to be back in blog land and visiting you all here. If I don't know you and you are visiting for the first time, nice to meet you and glad you can stop by, if we have met, nice to see you again.

Finding Light

These last several months have whirred past me. I find myself astonished how quickly the time has passed. Have you ever made a decision to just sit back and let life continue without interfering? I made that decision several months ago. It almost felt like an experiment, and in a way I will tell you it was. The decision to slow down and pay attention to other parts of life. I shifted focus to the everyday smaller moments. The light shining on a table, the voices of passers-by, the sound of the wind thru the leaves. I forgot about these smaller miracles that we are given everyday.

 

 

In spite of my best efforts to slow down, my life has still been incredibly fast paced. The demands of work, and physically moving to a new home have all been a little stressful. Brian and I made our best efforts to end the summer by getting away out west for some much needed relaxation. This is where I began feeling grounded again, collecting thoughts and pictures and journaling. It always seems that reminding myself to remain in the moment leads me back to the light. I am always seeking the light in a photograph, as well as in my thoughts. This light that brings attention to the flaws, the stains, all the little imperfections that are hidden in the shadows.




 

I'm beginning to understand why I love instant film, with all it's blurred parts, unpredictable character, flawed corners, overexposed, underexposed parts. It's alot like us. So much beauty in the imperfection. I can shoot the same photo subject repeatedly and get something completely unexpected each time. I find that fascinating. I have begun going thru a summer's worth of instant photography. I am so grateful to have these moments all journaled in pictures. I am happy to be back here from my hiatus, I am thrilled to be sharing here once again my Life In Pictures.

 

Welcome Autumn.

Exploring The American Spirit

                                                              spectra,image,2012

                                                                       spectra,image,2012

                                                                          spectra,image,2012

                                                                             spectra,image,2012

Explorations

Lately I've been on a self exploration. I have been discovering where my safe zones are,

and what makes me uncomfortable in self portraiture.

One thing I have discovered: there is beauty in all of us to be captured.

I'm doing a 30 Days of Self on instagram. The folks playing along

are quite creative in their daily shots. If you are interested in playing

along you can find me at @rnstar43.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday. We are having an unending heat wave here.

Think I will stay inside and create some art today~



"Be not ashamed women, your privilege encloses the rest, and is the

exit of the rest,

You are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul.

As I see my soul reflected in Nature,

As I see through a mist, One with inexpressible completeness,

sanity, beauty,

See the bent head and arms folded over the breast, the Female I see."-
I Sing the Body Electric

By Walt Whitman

A Week In The Life of an Instagramer....



Hello friends here in blog land. I have been a slacker here as of lately.

Life in the fast lane as I'm sure most of you know and understand.

I am able to keep up socially a little better on instagram, as it has become

much easier to communicate and create on the run!

I am still posting here, just not as frequent as I have been in the past.

I'm also fairly frequent in flikr land, also.

Hope your summer has began on a good, happy note.

This morning I read about comfrey and it's healing qualities. I find I read much more

at Brians than I do when I am home.

Brian doesn't have internet at all, can you believe it?

No distractions. It is available, but we just haven't gotten it here.

Can't say I mind too much, really.

I am shooting quite frequently with my iphone, and

I am sure the old Nikon feels neglected.

I really enjoy the freedom, and the endless apps that are available

with my mobile phone.

This is the newest addition to my family.

This is baby and she showed up at our house one Sunday afternoon.

She has made this her home quite easily, doing those crazy

things young kittens do.

I call this the secret garden because it is at Brians moms house.

I love wondering around thru her garden and taking pics.

A quiet place that stokes my creativity when I really need some inspiration.

This is my newest read. So far I'm loving it.

"Fame is a bee. It has a song-It has a sting. Ah, too, it has a wing."Emily Dickinson (front cover)

And yes, we are enjoying the local farmer markets.

Out on the deck.

Sunday afternoons.

No T.V.

No computers.

Just family and togetherness. (and a little iphone capturing the moments!)

Enjoy your weekend friends.

Life In Lo-Fi & Scavenger Hunt

                                 

Travel-I must admit I have been having a love affair with my polaroid lately.

I'm sure the Nikon is feeling neglected, but I am fascinated by how these

polaroids produce such different results each time I shoot with them. This first

shot is for travel. We went with a group of friends last weekend to camp

along the river. The weather was great, but the water was cold.

 Silly-We recently traveled to Oklahoma for Brian"s nephew's graduation from

high school. I caught them at a silly moment in the pool.

Black and White-This is a roadside shot with my iphone. It caught my eye at the last moment!

Spots-You could call these spots on the concrete or spot's paw prints in the concrete.
These paw prints went on for some time on the sidewalk.

Paper-About two seconds after this she started chewing on the corner of the paper
of this vintage gardening book. Bad Kitty!


I have not been here for SHS in sometime. Life is very crazy this summer and it
sure doesn't look like there is any end in sight.

Joining Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

Exploration

Hello and Happy Sunday. I have not been able to meet up here for some time it seems.

Life activities have gotten in the way, allbeit necessary things, but I am posting early this

weekend. I have been exploring instagram which I must admit, I do enjoy more than facebook.

I also am working with my talents in Hipstamatic ( an iphone camera app) which I really enjoy and

diving back into polaroid shooting which is challenging in its own ways. My first photo is for

"sidewalk". This was shot with my phone and the hipsta app.

This is for "inspiring". This is SOOC, with some golden tones added. This was during a walk we

took in the evening earlier this week. (iphone shot) Seems I was having a bad day all the way

around. Nothing seemed to be flowing right. I got home and we decided to walk. I decided to forget

about the day and just shoot some photos, and I shot this. More story here.

This is for "time." We visited an old farmhouse this week which was listed for sale.

I wandered around the grounds amazed at everything that had been left behind.

It really did look as if time stood still on this land. I fell in love instantly with this home.

This is for "close-up." This was actually for a Flikr group called

"Me Again Monday"

This shot is for "mirror."

I took this for an instagram phot for Tracey Clark's involvement

with vaccinations for children. This was for the "Shot for Shot" campaign.

More about it here.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day.

Here are some recent polaroids I've taken.

Visit me on Flikr to see more or here on instagram.

Joining Scavenger Hunt Sunday,

Your Sunday Best, and

The Simple Things.

 

Discoveries

Hello friends and happy Sunday. I have not been here in awhile and thought I would just share a

moment of discovery from the weekend.

We drove along last evening chasing some thunderhead clouds to photograph and came along a

beautiful, abandoned farmhouse for sale. Of course you know I had to explore. I followed this lovely

fence around the house and found this little area to shoot. I must have taken 50 pictures. Places like


 this

remind me of when I was little visiting my grandmother for the summer. I can only imagine the lives

and times that were lived here. The entire place was lovely with all of it's decay. I'm hoping to revisit


 it one more time for a few more shots.(I used my iphone for this photo)

I hope your weekend has been wonderful. Enjoy the rest of this day. Thanks for stopping by to visit!

                                                 ** You can also find me on instagram and flikr**

                                 Joining A Rural Journal for Your Sunday Best and The Simple Things.

                                       

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Simple-This is one of my photos I shot for a Flikr group I belong to. The
dogwoods are so beautiful here in yet, they came early this spring and
they are already gone!

Grain-This is a polaroid it took not long ago. The picture didn't really turn out at all
but I immediately saw the image of a wolf in the photo. See it? Anyway, I just
love the grain in the polaroids.

Transportation-The weather has been fair, actually good enough for the guy who was driving this to have the top down already.

Stitch-I admit I really don't have any ideas for this one. I did stitch these two photos together for
a self portraiture group I belong to on Flikr.

Bubbles-I was washing my new glasses and the light and reflections captured my eyes.
Just one of those everyday moments that makes me grab my camera.

How was your week? We were away for Easter having fun with some really
beautiful weather.
Here are some photos from the Mark Twain National Forest where we stayed:

Here's to many more times like these. Happy Sunday folks.

Joining Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Your Sunday Best, The Simple Things