Photography

The kind of day…

/ Jodi / 17 Comments

waterfall in creek franklin pa

Wishing you the kind of day
that offers you the time to ponder
the things that touch your heart,
that stretch and broaden your mind.

The kind of day
that allows you to recognize
the beautiful surprises –
whether simple or profound

that are right before your eyes,
singing in your ears,
pleasing to your nose,
soft to your touch,
warming to your heart,
soothing to your soul.

Cherish the moments
that are just waiting
to be discovered
today
and
every day
at life in between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Break of Dawn

/ Jodi / 38 Comments

pink conneaut lake at dawn

At one of my favorite places in the whole wide world…

shovels in the greenhouse at dawn

mostly because I am with some of my favorite people in the entire universe…

rusty sun grapevine wreath

I arose at the break of dawn…

sunflowers at dawn

to bask in the beauty…

zinnia at dawn

and to cherish the moments.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Beyond the Boundaries

/ Jodi / 20 Comments

lake drive franklin pa

Boundaries…

sometimes you have to break them.

Like yesterday…

Hubby and I went on a Sunday drive to Franklin, PA to the Annual Franklin AppleFest.

It was lovely….  crowded… lots of arts and crafts, food, antique and classic cars…

But the real treat of the day was on our ride home.

The road said, “No Outlet – Turn Around Here.”

Hubby knew better…
and we drove on…
beyond the boundaries.
And we came upon scenes like this.

Sometimes you have to break the boundaries.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Seasons of Change

/ Jodi / 40 Comments
wilting sunflower

Fading sunflower at daybreak – Conneaut Lake, PA

Night fades to day –
the moon retreats as the bright sun rises.

Summer beckons Autumn’s reprieve –
when green becomes yellow or orange or red.

Flowers shrivel and wilt –
creating seeds of new life before they fade.

People wrinkle and shrink and age –
transforming the definition of authentic beauty.

Eyes blur and squint and fade –
erasing the wrinkles but not the sweet memories.

Seasons of renewal,
Seasons of hope,
Seasons of growth,
Seasons of age –

All of these seasons
are seasons of change.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

To every thing there is a season… or is there?

/ Jodi / 35 Comments

white iris

They say to every thing there is a season,

a time,

and a purpose.

So why is this amazing Spring white iris blooming in my Fall garden right now?

Makes me wonder….

I was talking to my dad on the phone yesterday morning (like I do every weekday at 7:05am) and walking around the yard with Charlie checking out the beautiful Autumn day it was going to be.  All of the sudden, I caught glimpse of a bunch of white irises blooming in my front garden up against the house.  IRISES blooming amidst the browning leaves and dying off summer flower baskets!  Irises are one of the early Spring blooming flowers here in Mars.  What an unexpected, yet pleasant little gift.   Life is so full of surprises.  

Cherish the moments.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

PS  Dad said, “I guess I’ll be seeing this  on lifeinbetween.  You were right, Dad!  xo

Covered Bridge Visiting & Doodlewashing

/ Jodi / 47 Comments

covered bridge watercolor doodlewash

This weekend, hubby and I went to a Covered Bridge Festival.  There were ten park festival locations centered around  ten different covered bridges where they had a variety of handmade arts and crafts booths, food, historic re-enactments, demonstrations and live bands.

It was fun to stroll around the festivities and capture some photos of the bridges.  We only made it to two, because we really didn’t decide to go or head out until mid-afternoon, but we enjoyed what we did see, and then ended the day with a nice dinner out.

The next day I decided to try to “doodlewash” one.  My blogging buddy, Charlie at Doodlewash.com has stirred my creative desire to play around with this whimsical art style combining doodling and watercoloring.

I struggle with the doodling/drawing part, and then I totally overworked the washing/watercoloring part of this piece, but since I spent an hour and a half doing it, I am sharing anyway.  (Chalk it up to one for the archives.  Hopefully one to look back on to gauge improvement!)

Here is the photo I took that I used for my reference.   It was such a sweet little bridge in a quaint community park.

covered bridge

And then, with some paint still in the palette and the urge to do something else, I decided to recreate a version of the DSP (designer series paper) I used in yesterday’s card post and made this piece below that I can use in a future card or project.  It was fun to mix and splash and see how the colors dried.   Loving the Autumn tones that remind me of the gorgeous weather we’ve been having these past few days!

color wash swash

Happy Monday all!  Hope you have a great week!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Reflections

/ Jodi / 34 Comments
New Orleans City Park Sculpture Garden

New Orleans City Park Sculpture Garden Bridge

Am I reflecting joy when I smile at a stranger?
Warmth when I give a hug?

Am I reflecting peace in the words I speak?
Hope in the words I write?

Am I reflecting friendship in my actions towards others?
Beauty in the cherished moments of the day?

Am I reflecting love in the way I live my life?

May I wake up each morning reflecting on the small impact I have on a great big world.

Cherish the moments.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

WordPress Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge:  Grid

After the rain

/ Jodi / 20 Comments

evergreen after the rain monochrome

After the rain
everything is fresh
and clean
and new
and glistening
and full of hope.

Dance…
after the rain.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

I am sharing this photo for the WordPress Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge:  Monochromatic.

A Grandparent Shower!

/ Jodi / 43 Comments

grandparent shower burnt almond torte cake

One of the highlights of our weekend was attending a “Grandparent Shower” for some very dear friends.

Kathleen and Jack have waited quite a long time to become grandparents, and we are so excited and happy for them.

So a small group of very close friends got together to SURPRISE them with a Grandparent Shower to celebrate how happy we are for them.

Many in attendance are already grandparents.  Once couple even great-grandparents.  But what we all had in common was our love and joy for our friends who have been through a lot and are so excited to become grandparents.

Grandmas Survival Basket Card

I put together a little Gramma’s Survival basket for Kathleen.

Grandmas Survival Basket gift

And Hubby created the cutest ever Grampa’s Infant Assistant Kit – all on his own!  One Ziploc baggie was filled with “equipment” and “instructions for Diaper Changing…

Grandpas Infant Assistance Kit for Changing Diapers

and the other was filled with Nap Time Supplies, including a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey for “medicinal spirits” for our new Irish Grandpa.

Grandpas Infant Assistance Kit for Nap Time

We also gave them a keepsake book to work on to fill with Memories for their grandchild and a couple of books to read with their grandchild that are so adorably written and illustrated on How to Babysit a Grandma and How to Babysit a Grandpa.

grandparent shower gift books

I wrapped them up and added a little watercolor card I made.

A little birdie told me watercolor card and grandparent shower gift

Our hosts had delicious beverages…

grandparent shower sangria

and treats.

grandparent shower caprese salad

And fifty pink roses were displayed all around.  Can you guess what sex the grandchild is going to be?

grandparent shower pink roses

We started with a toast.

grandparent shower toast

And so enjoyed watching them open the few little gifts we bought for them to celebrate their joy.

grandparent shower kathleen and jack

Kathleen and Jack shared reading glasses,

grandparent shower kathleen and jack 2

and it was fun to watch Kathleen explain finger puppets to Grandpa.

grandparent shower kathleen and jack 3

Supplies for bath time at grandma and grandpa’s house included more pink…

grandparent shower kathleen and jack 4

soft and fuzzy stuff!

grandparent shower jack

And hubby enjoyed one of his first showers with two awesome hostesses!  Thanks Cindy and Sally.

grandparent shower marty and hostesses cindy and sally

And all under the pretense that Jack was bringing some of his amazing homegrown heirloom tomatoes to a picnic where Gary and Cindy needed them.

heirloom tomatoes

We love you Jack and Kathleen and can’t wait to celebrate and love your bundle of joy!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

Connected

/ Jodi / 23 Comments
connected storm drain NOLA

Sidewalk Storm Drain Grate, Warehouse District, New Orleans, LA

No beginning…

No end.

Infinitely intertwining the past, the present, and the future,

the physical and the spiritual…

all plants and animals and minerals.

Eternally merged…

Continuously connected.

Life.

I recently captured this close-up photo of a storm drain grate on a sidewalk in the Warehouse District of New Orleans.  It was beautiful!  So much lovely architecture and  structural elements in NOLA!  It reminded me of the Celtic Knot and the inter-connectivity it represents.  This week’s WordPress Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is ‘Connected’.  I had to share this photo.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi