Food Photo Challenge

It's been a crazy week, and an even crazier day, but I don't want to miss out on this month's photo challenge for food photography, which I've been experimenting with for a while now. I thought it would be easy, seeing as how food sits still, and you can take your time setting everything up. Boy, did/do I have a lot to learn! You can read about my first experience here, where I learned that light is everything. As I kept trying, though, my photos improved, thank goodness! If you want to take a look at my progress, just click on the link for Recipes and Food in the Posts By Subject list on the right.

I've found that natural light works best for me. In my kitchen, it's in the afternoon that the sun streams through the windows over my sink. That means that the light is hitting my food subjects from the side, which makes for a nice photo. I've also learned to use the tripod to make sure that my photos aren't blurry. As for camera settings, I use "auto without flash" or aperture priority for pretty food shots.

Here are a few of my favorites.

This is my homemade pepper jelly over cream cheese. I snapped this one at my sister's house, without a tripod or natural light!

My friend Ginny retired from a 30-year career as a middle school teacher last June. We had a nice celebration on my screen porch. It was fun to use my mother's china and crystal. As for the food, I don't think there's anything much prettier than a bowl of peaches.

We love rhubarb pie! You can find the recipe here.

Christmas goodies, up close.

Thanks to Donna for hosting this challenge each month. You can join the fun by clicking here for the link to the Personal Photo Challenge website.

Needle and Thread

Yesterday morning, with the remnants of a tropical storm drumming on my roof, I was in my sewing room. And I was actually sewing, which was comfortable and familiar, even after a long, long absence from one of my favorite hobbies.

Learning to sew was a given in our house. Mom made just about all our clothes, at least until we were teenagers and jeans took over our closets. She made play clothes, school clothes, and Sunday clothes for all three of us girls, besides making her own clothes and a vast wardrobe for our Barbie Dolls. How she did it is beyond me, especially after she went back to a full-time job when I was five. Even the shopping boggles my mind, what with all the choosing of patterns, fabrics, buttons, and such for the four of us. But without fail, whether it was Easter Sunday or the first day of school, we were decked out in new finery, all made by Mom.

Connie, Janie, Mom, and me in our Easter dresses, 1963, when I was three.

It naturally followed that all three of her daughters learned to sew under her careful instruction. 4-H projects were also good teachers, with each of our creations evaluated and scored by Home Demonstration agent Eleanor Shanklin. Her sharp eyes and high standards pushed us to learn and perfect new techniques every year, always in pursuit of another blue ribbon.

By the time I was in high school, I was making most of my own clothes, mostly dresses, skirts, and tops.

I made this dress for my senior prom in 1978.
(FYI, that nice fellow is not my husband.)

Then, in college, I lugged my grandmother's ancient but very reliable portable sewing machine to my dorm room (on the fourth floor with no elevator!) so I could spend weekend hours making new clothes. I continued sewing after I got married, making a good portion of the clothes I needed for my job as an elementary school library media specialist. I even made a wool suit and placed 5th in a "Make It Yourself With Wool" contest. I kept on sewing right up until the turn of the century. That was when several things came together and caused me to leave sewing behind. For one thing, fabric stores disappeared and finding quality fabric and notions was just about impossible, especially for me since I live so far away from shopping opportunities. Pattern prices went through the roof, with one pattern costing $10 or more when they used to be considerably less than $5. (I wonder what they cost now!) Notions, especially buttons, also skyrocketed. The last two dresses I made buttoned all the way down the front ( and I'm tall), and the buttons cost more than the fabric!

In addition, at about the same time, I discovered clothing manufacturers were finally making sleeves, pant legs, and hemlines long enough for my tall frame. And there were sales! Add to all that the fact that the year 2000 ushered us  into the elder care season of our lives with a vengeance, and sewing simply faded into the background, becoming something I used to enjoy.

I haven't made any clothes for over ten years now. I've done some mending, and I made a blaze orange jacket for my dog to protect her during hunting season, but I've not cut out and sewed a new creation for many a year. Until the past few days, that is, when I finally got around to making a skirt for the laundry room sink at the Guest House.

It's the original sink that was installed when indoor plumbing and a bathroom came in the late 1950s. I am delighted to be able to re-use it, but it is a little stark. I bought fabric to make a skirt months ago, and finally got around to it late last week. After careful measuring (more than once) I cut out the pieces for the skirt and a band around the top.

Then there was a lot of stitching

and gathering

and pinning and pressing

and still more stitching,

some of it by hand.

I was pleased with how it all came back to me: the fabric and thread, pins and needles working together under my hands, with the hum of the sewing machine and the rain on the roof creating a pleasant soundtrack for my work. When I snipped the thread from my final stitch, it was with a very contented sigh.

I don't know what it is about us humans that makes so many of us want to create with our hands. Whether our medium is fabric, clay, wood, or paper, there's a desire deep within to make something: something useful or beautiful, something sturdy or delicate, something to keep or give away. After being away from my sewing for too many years, it has been sweet indeed to once again make something by setting my hands to the rhythm of scissors, needle, and thread.

A Special Place

Everyone has a special place. For some, it's the house or farm or town where they grew up. For others, it's a vacation spot where fond memories were/are made. And for still others, it's the place where they lay their heads each night, the place they call home in the present.

Many people think of Highland County, Virginia as a special place. The ones who were lucky enough to be born and raised here will always refer to it as home, no matter where they live. The ones like me, who moved here from somewhere else decades ago also think of it as home, even though we still have that "home place" where we grew up that will always be special, too. There are some who, for one reason or another, can't make the move to live in Highland County full-time, but spend weekends and every other chance they get nestled in among our mountains and friendly folks. And then there are those who pass through, maybe only once, for a few hours or days, and never return, but wish they could.

If one of these groups describes you or anyone you know, there's a new blog/website just for you! It's called See Highland County and the format is very simple: every Tuesday a new photo taken somewhere in Highland County will be posted. Just to enjoy. Just because Highland County is a beautiful place. Just because those of us who live here don't always have or take the time to relish it. Just because everyone who loves it can't always be here as much as they would like. There won't be much to read; just a sentence or two to give the location of the photo, so it won't be a blog that will take up much of our precious time. Instead, it's a very-mini vacation to Highland, right there on your computer, iPad, or phone every Tuesday. Give it a try by clicking HERE. (If, for some reason, the link doesn't work, the address is: www.seehighlandcounty.blogspot.com)

See Highland County

For anyone who lives in or longs for Highland County, Virginia

Please visit the blog a time or two. If you like it, become a follower and share it with anyone and everyone. Don't forget to check back every Tuesday for a new photo. If you have a website or blog, you can "grab our button" and put it on your site so even more people can enjoy our Highland County home with just one click of the mouse.

See Highland County

 This little corner of the state has been called "Virginia's Best-Kept Secret." The time has come, though, to share this one. It's just too sweet to keep to ourselves any longer.

Blue Jar Note Card Party

I've taken a fancy to blue Mason jars this summer. This post will fill you in on my quest to find and scrub all the blue jars around our place. I do like them, and they are especially pretty when they're sparkly clean. I took a gazillion photos, experimenting with perspective and lighting. Here a four that would make a nice set of note cards. I also got some nice shots with candles inside the jars...but they'll have to wait for another note card party!

Thanks to Vee at  A Haven for Vee for hosting this party each month. If you'd like to join in the fun, click here to find out how.

Photo Challenge: Windows and Doors

Windows and doors...hmmm. Doesn't sound too hard, does it? I didn't think so until I tried! I found this challenge to be challenging! Lighting was tricky, what with porches and reflections to deal with. I also had trouble getting a "straight on" shot, where the edges of the doors or windows were parallel to the edges of the photo. And I realized that, even though a particular door meant something to me, which maybe made up for a less-than-great photograph, it would mean nothing to a stranger, which would only accentuate the photo's flaws. In the end, here are the best of what I shot for this challenge.

The first two are of windows in an old "colored" church, as we always called it, just down the street from the house where I grew up. The windows are huge and I couldn't get a good shot of an entire window that seemed in proper proportion. So, I settled for only part of the window, either with leaves or without.

This door is one that I had trouble getting straight. Maybe I need a different lens?

This window shot really threw me for a loop! The small window  in the middle, with the curtain, is actually on the opposite side of the house from where I was standing! All that stuff around it is the street behind me, reflected in the glass of the window I was shooting through. Confusing, huh?

This month has gotten a little crazy, making photo excursions few and far between. I dug around in my archives and found a few more shots that fit in the category of windows and doors. This first one was taken in Jamestown Settlement in 2012. I accompanied a class of fourth graders on an overnight field trip to Virginia's Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg.

The next two were taken in Colonial Williamsburg on that same field trip.

I like wondering what's behind interesting doors, and this one is no exception.

If this old window could talk, what stories would it tell?

And finally, here are some windows from my house.

Thanks to Donna at A Personal Photo Challenge for giving me such a tough assignment. And Merry Christmas in September to you!

Slumber Party

A crystal clear Friday afternoon in September finds me waiting by the roadside.

Finally I see what I'm waiting for.

Although not my own, precious cargo indeed.

She's the daughter of friends and she's spending the night with us. First, an after-school snack,

the slicing of which is quite necessary for an eight-year-old mouth.

A quick change of shoes

and we're off on country adventures: gathering eggs,

picking tomatoes,

and loving on horses.

There are household chores too: getting the laundry off the line,

setting the table,

and helping make supper.

While she waits for Robin to come home, there is a little homework to do.

And after supper, there are eggs to clean

and more reading to do

and still more stories at bedtime.

Saturday morning brings her first attempt at frying an egg

and a walk with our Sheltie, Cheyenne.

When she asks, I'm glad I know how to French-braid hair.

I know because once upon a time many years ago my hair was long and thick like hers.

The morning flies by, the camera forgotten, while we putter at this and that. All too soon her mother arrives and our slumber party is over. What a sweet memory it is for me, and someday, perhaps, for her too.