August Break: Queen Anne's Seeds

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Will be working on making notecards and some cute crocheted pillows available later today. Stay tuned!

August Break: Light

August Break: Butterfly, Pottersville Bridge

August Break: Grass Head, Pottersville Bridge

Will and I have been walking the path at Pottersville Bridge. It is so beautiful, full of butterflies and enormous monster weeds and wildflowers. The only sounds are of cicadas and grasshoppers and birds. He got tired of me taking pictures of everything; there was just so much beauty!

August Break: End of Season, Hollyhock Leaves

A few days ago, you got to see my hollyhock leaves at the beginning of the season. Now you get to see what they look like at the end. Weathered by time, rust, and insects they become lacy and ethereal shadows of what they once were.

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Emily Joyce asked me in one of my comments if my August Break photos would be up for sale. After I use rollip.com, the photos are low res, so they wouldn't be appropriate for 8x10s, but I am looking into making note cards available and will be offering individual and combinations of note cards available soon in my store, Howard Knits.

August Break: Hot Child in the City

I saw this car and it took me back to sneaking into the Drive-In Movie, waiting in line for gas, trying to move like The Solid Gold dancers, begging my mom for clogs, playing our "Disco" pinball machine in the basement with with song "Pinball Wizard" playing in my head, and our awesome yellow AMC Pacer that I thought looked like a lady bug . . . so many fond memories of the late 70's.

August Break: Nothing Like a Sleeping Baby

Will sleeps with us. When he was around 2-1/2 years old, Tim started falling asleep in the bed with him. I would be up working all hours of the night and he would fall asleep with the baby. And a co-sleeper was born. And a year later he's still there. I will admit that I love waking up and seeing him there. And that's where I'm going to leave it. Hopefully when he's in high school he'll sleep in his own bed!

August Break: Hollyhock Leaves

A photo from earlier this summer; just getting around to sharing it now.

August Break: Don't be a Crabby Appleton!

My name is Crabby Appleton,
I'm rotten to the core
I do a bad deed every day,
and sometimes three or four
I can't stand fun for anyone,
I think good deeds are sappy,
I laugh with glee,
it pleases me,
when everyone's unhappy!

Kick it old school!

And don't be a Crabby Appleton!

August Break: Lily Bud

Resurrection lily bud

And the stately lilies stand Fair in the silvery light, Like saintly vestals, pale in prayer; Their pure breath sanctifies the air, As its fragrance fills the night.
Julia C.R. Dorr

August Break: Immaculate Heart

I collect statues of saints. This bisque statue of Immaculate Heart of Mary is my favorite. She is just so beautiful, full of ethereal grace.

August Break: New Shoes

Gotta love the Chucks!

August Break: Lichen

These lichen are on a tombstone in Dublin, Ohio's historical cemetery. I love the color of lichens. Did you know that the tree tops on model railroad tracks are made of a form of lichen? That they are used to scent soap and were used in the past to dye wools? But mostly, they are beautiful, these the most gorgeous rusty orange color. They are beauty in the most inhospitable of environments, a lesson that we can thrive no matter where we are thrown, even if it means only growing a fraction of a millimeter a year.

August Break: Escapee

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Very lazy day today. It's 81F (27C) outside and it feels like fall after our weather near 100F (37C) with high humidity. Made pizza for dinner, did the dishes. Kendall hasn't taken any of her pain meds today, which is fantastic. She's had a constant stream of visitors keeping her occupied. Thank God for lazy days.

Oh, and I don't get the appeal of "Shark Week." Tim's all over it, and to me it's just endless shows about fish attacking people. Although sharks are amazingly beautiful and so graceful the way they move through the water. But I don't get it.

OH! I decided to stick with etsy because I was having trouble creating a "Buy It Now" button for my blog/store. All of the hidden values are listed on top of the button when I publish it. And I really don't want that! So until I figure that out, click on the banner at the top for Howard Knits (named after my Grandpa "Chub" Howard - he was called Chub even when he got skinny as a rail - that's him in the photo in the 50's with Bluebell the parakeet) and our ancestral name. And Tommy and William have the middle name Howard. So it's an important name in these parts. Anyhow, check it out - it only has photos on it, but I'm trying to figure out how to do note cards and am working on some crocheted cushions.

August Break: Iris

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My daughter had a bunion removed yesterday (she's doing great) and my husband has a broken rib (he's doing pretty well, too). I don't think I'll have any problems posting, but if I do, just know I'm busy!

On another note, do you remember when I alluded to the fact that I would soon be able to call myself a professional writer? Well, now I can! I can actually tell people that I have a JOB (!!!) and I'm a writer! I'm one of the newest bloggers to join the Today's Mama community, where I blog specifically for the Columbus, OH region (but anyone can read my posts, no matter where you live!). I'll be blogging about Parenting with Depression (I think I want to call my blog "Parenting Through Depression" unless I can think of a snazzier title). You can read my first post here if you want to follow my blog, there is a link for the RSS feed on my profile. Then check out more of Today's Mama, as there are some really great blogs there!

August Break: Bunting

Jeni's Ice Cream is decorating with colorful bunting right now.

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I scored a Kodak Brownie from the 60's yesterday for $6!! If anyone knows of any good sources for inexpensive 127 (discontinued) color film, please let me know. I'm SO excited to use it!

August Break: Window Display

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A special thanks to Julochka of moments of perfect clarity for featuring an interview with me yesterday! Her site is one of the ones that made me think "I want my site to be as cool as that" when I first started blogging. So I'm all geeked up that I'm part of her interview series! Thank you, Thank you, Julochka!

August Break: Linus

Someone asked me what I did to my picture yesterday to edit it. I went to Rollip.com, used the second "Vintage" texture and then uploaded it to photobucket, used "Old Picture" on it, reduced that to about 3%, saved it, and there you go! Today's photo used the "Vintage" texture and then the "bronze" effect on photobucket reduced to around 7%.

August Break: Corn

We had sweet corn for dinner.

An explanation of Susannah Conway's August Break from her site:
"Here’s the plan for the August break: you simply share one photo per day on your blog – Monday to Friday, or every day. Or whenever you want. Using any camera – DSLR, compact, Polaroid, Holga, iPhone (my choice), Instax, 35mm, video – with or without words – anything goes – for the whole of August. No pressure - just looking at August through your camera lens as a way to be more present this summer. And to have a little break from the pressures and expectations of regular blogging."

So I'm not gone, I'm just doing much less!

August Break: Butterfly

Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time. ~Deborah Chaskin