Week 11: Flowers

This week's theme is Flowers and my image is in support of Marie Curie Cancer Care http://www.mariecurie.org.uk   It was an easy theme for me but one with LOTS of meaning and memories.  During my childhood my family had  fruit, veg and flower shops in Edinburgh (oh, and one sweetie shop!)  It meant really, really busy times of year like Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.  For those of you who don't know it, today 18 March 2012, is Mother's Day in the UK and I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my kids.  I adore them (Thanks, you two xxx).  Yesterday I received a beautiful bunch of flowers from my friend as a Thank You and the day before I had photographed these beautiful daffodils in the local park.  It has been a busy week for flowers!  I never tire of them, I wish I was given them more often and I love the things they remind me of - both happy and sad.

I think you should buy someone some flowers - even if that someone is you.

Until next week,
Dot

Spring has sprung....although in Utah Spring and Old Man Winter go hand in hand. What happened the 1st day of Spring? It snowed, that is about par for the course here. Yesterday I was walking the dog and saw three Robins hoping from branch to branch in my neighbor's yard. Yep, Spring is here, I love cold weather but I am definitely looking forward to a bit of a warm up.

Cheers!

Sammee

Theme for Week 12: Sport 

Week 10: Gratitude

I Support People Affected By Breast Cancer.  This is for Rosie.

It has been another busy week.  Manic in fact but loads of fun.  Just over 2 weeks ago I was asked by my friend Rosie, who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, if I would shoot a Calendar Girls type calendar which she was putting together as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Care Scotland.  The reply, of course, was YES!  It has now expanded into 2 calendars - one for the girls and one for the boys.  It staggers me how many people are prepared to get their kit off for their friend and a great cause.  I have therefore been photographing scantily clad  men and women all week so when it came to this week's photo I just had to do it again!!  The photo is of me and you may be wondering what this image has to do with Week 10 theme which is Gratitude. Well, I'll tell you.  I have realised this week how grateful I am.  I am grateful for my health.  I have minor ailments but I don't have breast cancer.  I'm grateful for my family.  Nobody is more special to me.  I'm grateful for my friends.  For the support they have given and continue to give me.  And I am grateful to Rosie for inviting me in to her journey because without looking in on her situation over the past fortnight I would not have taken stock of my own life and remembered what matters.


Wishing you health and happiness in your life.


Until next week.


Dot


PS If you are interested to follow Rosie's story please visit her website at http://www.nakedinspirations.co.uk/index.html or Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Inspiration/199935553439394

This weeks theme was Gratitude, I didn't realize how much I missed having a dog until we began dog sitting for my Mother-in-Law. My Mother-in-Law and her husband left on their mission to Navuoo, Illinois and didn't have anyone to take their dog Jacque. He is my Mother-in-Law's buddy and she had a really hard time leaving him. From the moment Jacque came into the house he has brought a calming effect over the entire house. My blood pressure has leveled out, I don't yell as much because he came from a quiet and calm home. He is always under my feet, following me to the door, the kitchen, the bathroom. He keeps me company when I run errands and pick the kids up from school and he cuddles at our feet when my husband and I go to sleep. I am grateful to my husband for telling his Mom that for the next 18 months we will give Jacque a loving home. I am grateful for the kisses, the cuddles and nudges with his wet nose. But most of all I am grateful for the unconditional love that he has given me, without want, without question. We are grateful for each other and I know when the 18 months is up I am going to be a snot spewing, tear soaked wreck. Next weeks theme: Flowers

Cheers!

Sammee

Theme for Week 11: Flowers

Week 9: Laughter

I laugh a lot and so do those around me but I found this theme really difficult.  Eventually I decided to revisit some of my older shoots and came across this shot.

I think Little Brother was trying hard not to laugh at Big Brother's mischievous behaviour!


Very busy week with work this week but I'm already on the case for Week 10 theme: Gratitude.


Dot

FINALLY! Week 9: Laughter is up! There is nothing funnier then when family gets together...well, there is also nothing as tragic either. Thankfully my daughter, her sister and their cousin manage to laugh their backsides off whenever they get together. I don't even remember what set them off, I just remember my daughter laughed first, then she teared up, then she kept getting closer and closer to the ground. Her giggle was so contagious that her sister and cousin joined in...oh how I love these girls :). This weeks theme is Gratitude...onward and upward!

Cheers!

Sammee

Theme for Week 10: Gratitude

Week 8: Religion

Religion, in it's traditional form, is an explosive subject and so as someone who respects other people's views and beliefs (even if I do not agree with them) I have chosen to avoid traditional religion completely in this week's blog and bow my head instead to The Mother Church of Country Music - The Ryman Auditorium.  Hubby and I are fortunate enough to be heading back to Nashville for a visit later this year and The Ryman is once again on our list of places to visit.  I will worship at that temple.

To each and every one of you, whatever your faith . . . have a good week.

Dot

This weeks theme was religion, well religion can define a lot of things. Farrier's dedicate their lives to the religion of horses. They work with horses with varied personalities and temperaments that at times can be worse then some humans. They toil away removing shoes, clipping hooves, applying new shoes, trying to keep the horses steady and sometimes getting kicked in the process. They belong to a profession that has been around for centuries, a proud and noble profession....yeah, I am a bit of a horse geek but I won't apologize for that. Have a great week and until next time.

Sammee

Week 7: Something Old

Living in Scotland should make getting a photo of Something Old really easy.  It would be hard to find something older than Edinburgh Castle, or better still St Margaret's Chapel within Edinburgh Castle.  The Chapel was built in 1153 AD.  Even lots of the buildings on our High Street and the Royal Mile are older than the United States of America itself!  So it was my plan to head on into town and photograph a beautiful old building for you this week.   But, if your life is anything like mine, you will be aware that things never quite go to plan and as I was driving northwards to the city centre I passed a little antique shop that has been there for years and years, and a little lightbulb went on in my head.  I spun the car around, parked up and there was my setting for this week's theme, Something Old.  I really must venture into this shop one day as I'm sure there are great things to use as photo props . . . . that's if I can get in the door!

Hope you are all enjoying the Blog.

See you next week,

Dot

This lamp is at my Aunt Lisa's in Boise, Idaho. I absolutely fell in love with it when I first saw it and have been on the hunt to find an old candlestick phone of my own to turn into a lamp. It is so neat, when you lift the receiver off of the hook, the lamp comes on and then turns off when you return it. My Aunt Lisa's is full of antiques that bring a quaint and charming warmth to her home. I have to admit, I have always had a slight obsession with candlestick phones, there is something so real about them. The feel of the receiver in one hand and the base in the other positively transports you back in time. Well, until next week when the theme will be Religion.

Cheers!

Sammee

Theme for Week 7: Religion

Week 6: Transportation

Okay, I have to confess that I have had to cheat this week and have re-edited an image I took some time ago. Who'd have thought it would be so hard some weeks to get just one suitable image . . . and I even picked the theme?  This is, however, a favourite of mine so I don't mind sharing it again.  Hope you like it.

I'm on holiday for most of this week and plan to get out and about no matter what the weather so I promise to work harder at next week's theme.

Until then,
Dot

Sammee is having 'puter troubles and will post when she can.

Hi all, as you have heard, I have been having computer issues. Between the wonky computer and my daughter participating in her first musical at school, I was so crazy and didn't have 5 minutes to myself. So, like Dot, I dipped back into my stash of favorite prints. Transportation, old time transportation, the chug chug of the engine, the woosh woosh of the wheels, sssshhhh ssshhhh of the steam from the smoke stack. I often feel like I was born in the wrong century, to travel by train was to travel with oneself. To gaze out at the beautiful landscapes, to marvel at the peaks and valleys as the train whistles through a mountain pass. Yes, I love trains.

Until Sunday,

Sammee

Next week's theme is Something Old

Week 5: Dance

I've been at a real loss this week as to what do for my Week 5 photo and eventually took this simple photo of my daughter's ballet shoes.  She is not a ballerina but would dance her way through the day from morning to night if she had the chance.  When I was pregnant with her she never stopped moving and is just the same 13 years on!

Can't wait to see Sammee's photo for this week as she is away at a Feis today and should have some great shots!

On to Week 6 and hopefully a more inspiring shot.

Cheers,

Dot

Greetings,

   Week 5 has come and gone and all I can say is HOLY CRAP! As you can tell, this weeks theme is dance. My daughter is an Irish dancer and this weekend I was playing Feis mom to an overly hormonal 12 year old (she's going to kill me for saying that). Irish dance has positively consumed our lives and no matter how crazy it gets between INSANE dresses, new hard and soft shoes (because her feet won't quit growing), tanning her legs (seriously, who thought this up? I want to smother them with self tanner!) and hours upon hours of practice (when she isn't having a "moment") we love it. She has managed to make and maintain friendships with dancers from other schools (which I have noticed doesn't happen very often as Irish dance is highly competitive and schools don't necessarily promote fuzzy feelings between each other). Even when she has a bad Feis, there is always a friend from her school or another to give her a hug and tell her that it's just one Feis and not to stress out over it. In the three years (has it been that long already?) that she has been dancing (the first year ended up with her dance school, which shall remain nameless since I still harbor ill will towards the owner, shut the school down with only a months notice....just dropped every girl that had been busting their butts for her) I have seen her blossom into this amazing young lady. And even with every freak out over "Why won't this stupid wig stay where it is supposed to go?!" and "OMG! These stupid bobby pins, I hate them! (insert sound of bobby pins being thrown onto the hardwood floor "PING!") I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love this crazy sister/brotherhood that we have become members of and one day, her work will pay off and she will make it to Worlds. Until then I am going to enjoy the ride.

UNW, Cheers!

Sammee

Onwards and upwards to Week 6: Transportation