Monday, February 21, 2011

A Lot is going on...

and it’s all good...




  I’ve got some exciting news but I’ve got to keep it under wraps for right now... But it’s going to keep me busy for a little while and it’s going to take some adjustment...   


And I’ve got taxes due next week!!!!    So I need a little time away to get my act together...So please don’t desert me...I’ll be back soon...




       

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Beatnheart is one year old.




It starts with just one photo...


I’m  exploring
and changing
and trying
and developing




seeing things different
with new eyes
different lenses
far out focus




textures
cropping
text
fade in
and out




I’m putting on my rose coloured glasses 
and making my world a bit more interesting
bigger, brighter, better,
always different
and not accepting the status quo
of the past...



Cause you can teach this middle aged brain new things. 
I find that standing still and doing the same thing
 over and over again bores me
so I shake it up
and mess about
and play.

DISCOVER
NEW 
THINGS
TODAY..

Do things different than you usually do.
challenge yourself!
You may reveal talents you didn’t know you had


 I am Celebrating one year of blogging...

I remember that first baby step and pressing PUBLISH POST for the first time.  scary...
Surely thinking no one will ever read this and that’s ok, I’ll do it for myself.  It’s my diary of sorts and
a way to pass down some sort of legacy. A tool to see where I’ve come from and where I’m 
going.   Who would have ever thought I would find all the good friends I have gathered from this
humble little place.  

THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING AND LEARNING AND GROWING RIGHT ALONG WITH
ME.   WITHOUT DISCOVERING NEW THINGS AND CHALLENGING MYSELF MY WORLD
WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT DULLER.  You all have inspired me to work harder and be
better and not just accept who I am but aim just a little bit higher and reach for new goals.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Stories to Tell...

  
I have been collecting religious icons for a long time now.
 I was raised Catholic and went to mass every morning
before school.   I loved the look of the old church, the smell of incense burning,
and the mystery of it all...



Celluloid cross on an infants crib.
Protecting the innocent baby from any harm
in the days when children were snatched from this earth
at alarming rates. 





When I started to buy and sell antiques for a living
I was able to go to Europe quite a few times.
It was there that I had access to the many beautiful things
from England, Belgium and France.  They
had an age and patina that was impossible
to resist.

Some I kept...



Old faded beauty

Years and years of gazing upon and
praying to.

Prayers that were answered and some
that were not...



How many fingers were dipped in the Holy Water
that was in this font?

Old worn pewter...
Perhaps it was on a convent wall?
Who knows of the history and story behind these objects.

I spend many a moment still gazing on these objects
and a silent prayer in a singular moment
springs from my lips as I pray like so many before me.

For Peace,  For Comfort,  For Hope...

Monday, February 7, 2011

GROWNING SUCCULENTS...




a lot of plants in my garden are succulents.





They are hardy, easy to propagate and  to share cuttings with others 
is so easy...just clip or break off a piece, let it dry out abit to form a callous and
push it into the soil, water lightly and away you go.
 In this climate  they grow effortlessly.   Mine break off,  fall to the ground
and take root wherever they land.  And  if you
have one you have a million, they are that easy.




It takes alot to kill them.  

I have some that I just threw in my potting shed in a empty flower pot and they
are still growing.  No soil.  No Water...na da... They are a little mad at me but still
they carry on with their easy grace and charm.





They get along well with others.  


I just put these in an old birdbath with
a little soil and some pebbles



In California, anyone can grow them. They live without alot of care,
fuss, and most importantly they don’t need alot of water.
I love the variety of shapes, colors and sizes. 

Answers to your questions...
(from my own experiences, I am not a professional)
so take these  with a grain of salt.

Jeanette...I don’t know jack about gardening in Phoenix, but  I would
say...too bloody hot!  Put yours in the shade, water well but not too mushy.

They grow in any kind of dirt, but to be kind and give them a good start
I buy the special “succulent and cactus mix” soil.   They like good drainage.

Look around your hood and see what everyone else is doing.   If
it works for them it will probably work for you.

Jan...I remember  the “hens & chicks” in Wisconsin.  I was a kid then
and didn’t have much gardening experience, but I think they overwinter
outdoors.  Ask a Grandma.

They are perfect to put in your broken china cups, hang on a fence in all kinds of ways
(this is where your cleverness comes in)  Recycle stuff you didn’t know what to do with
but love.

Friday, February 4, 2011

I Got A New Toy...



We just installed “Aperture”*

and I’ve been on the computer 

for about 10 hours 12 hours straight..


*(a photo manipulation software)




 I got me a new jones...




and I’m really, really hooked.



From now on

no photo will be left alone.

I’m tweaking em all!


And then with the help of my friend Jill over at GYPSY BROCANTE...
I went ahead and got into Picnik as well.




somebody stop me!
cause this is way too much fun and I
can’t quit!!






Way back in l971, when I got my first Minolta SLR camera,
I couldn’t put the thing down.   I carried it with me wherever
I went.  Then a friend took me into their darkroom and I
was hooked.  I took photo and darkroom classes at the
local junior college.  I started to hand tint photos with
colored pencils, crayons and ink...


then it all stopped and I gave up the hobby that I loved
and just got into other stuff.




And now, here I am again.  Thanks to my blog
and some nifty tools...I’m back doing what I
use to love so much.






Yay  Me! 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

California Backyard Fruit...




These were brought to me from my neighbors tree.

sweet...

deliciously juicy...

organic...

good for you...





Backyard Fruit Trees...

Really nothing quite like them, and here in Sunny, Southern California
fruit trees abound.



local lemons...



This year make it a resolution to plant fruit trees in your garden.
Because the joy you get from watching them grow,
nurturing them from little saplings
into mature trees.
 Is one of the great joys in life.






Bring Back the Old Days when backyard fruit trees were the norm,
and canning, cooking, baking and making jams and jellies were
common place kitchen skills.  I know most people don’t have
the time for this anymore, but we can all grab an apple off a tree
and then you are not contributing to the pollution caused by
fruit being shipped by trucks...fruit that is loaded with pesticides.


They are so simple to plant and care for and the rewards are tremendous.


COMING SOON....



my little baby peach tree has its first blossoms...




first blossoms on PINK LADY APPLE tree...




Tell me about the fruit trees in your life.
Perhaps your Grandmother had them...most did.


Go ahead and plant one in her honor.

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