Finally!

Finally! Some furniture! I'm so excited I can hardly express in words! This is the dining room table, still waiting on a buffet for the dining room.

Two pictures of the livingroom sofa. There is a matching armchair as well!

Part of the master bedroom set and the newly finished master bedroom floor:
Last but not least, the downstairs hallway, which is being laid with oak to match the living room floor. In addition, my laundry room got a first coat of paint this weekend. In a few days, the floors will be basically finished and I will be moved into the master bedroom, and maybe have my laundry hooked up again! Plus, I finally got television service! It's like Christmas for me right now!!!

Possibilities

I look at this chair in my upstairs hallway and think of the possibilities...will I sit here with my own children someday? Reading fairy tales and rocking them to sleep after bad dreams? Will I sit here as an old woman, sewing and watching the wind through the trees? What stories will this chair hold from my life?

How'd I do?

I know it's silly, but I love entering the fair! This year all of my photos won a prize :) I dutifully write the date, subject of the photo and my name on the back of each ribbon so that someday, my great great grandkids might find them and know how much fun I had. Next year, I plan to enter the Altamont Fair as well. When the world seems so dark and lonely, there is still beauty in what we see and what is inside of us. We only need to share it with others!

Sunset and Storm

My love for you is of sunset and storm
of night woven blankets and kisses so warm
of starlight and meadows that swim in your eyes
and fresh fallen raindrops that hide in the skies.

Variety is the spice of life!

Mike's brother and a friend are refinishing several pieces of furniture for us, including this table that sat unused and rather dilapitated in my parent's backroom for some time. Look how truly beautiful it is! It has so much character and will go so nicely in an old colonial house. The next job after doing a few dressers will be my Great great grandmother's sewing machine table...I'm so excited to see how it will turn out!

These two shots are of my cousin, Sonja and her oldest daughter Madilyn. They are both so photogenic that I can't resist snapping some shots whenever we are together. Yesterday we celebrated my uncle's (Sonja's father's) birthday and enjoyed a beautiful day as well as great company.

Just for fun

Here is a pic of a spider at my grandparen'ts house (eeewww!), and a few pics from the Altamont Fair. Nothing spectacular, just for fun!

The Dark Side

Perhaps it's the cloudy overcast weather, but I've been feeling a little on the dark side when it comes to photography lately. Not that I enjoy seeing pictures of ruins and destruction; rather I would say I am seeing more beauty in certain darker aspects of life. These photos are the proof. As a former fire victim myself, I understand the heartache and despair one would feel from losing a home. These shots actually were not someone's home, but the ruin reminds me of the loss of my own home. In these shots, I see beauty and sorrow.

As for this shot, again, I see disrepair, but also a strong beauty. Something that has weathered decades of life and is still standing, determined, unafraid. Please let me know what you think of the tone of these images. I used an action on photoshop elements, something that is relatively new to me.