Time Out at the Beach!

Hubby and I took a break this past weekend.  We packed up the truck and headed to the Eastern shores of Maryland.  When we arrived on Thursday the air temperature was in the 70s.  The sun was hiding behind the rain clouds and it made for a chilly day.  Still...it beats a 100+ degree humidity and heat wave we experienced only a week ago.

Apparently, others thought it would be a great weekend to head to the beach.  Here's a picture from Friday afternoon taken from the pier near the beginning of the boardwalk/beach area:

This next picture was taken early Sunday morning before the clouds rolled in.  This was taken further north near 80th Street.  It was a calm and peaceful stroll along the beach.

Couldn't ask for better beach weather.  More pictures to come....

The Other Hobby...Knitting

My knitting mojo came back at the end of last year.  I've knitted through the end of winter and I'm still going strong into the summer.  One thing I'm doing different this year is to keep one or two projects in my queue.  That means having the pattern and yarn on hand ready to go.  When I've completed a project, I can immediately start another one.  There's no waiting or wondering what I'm going to do next.

I've found a fascination for cotton yarns.  While I enjoy knitting with soft wool, I do find them a bit scratchy against my skin.  So I've been building my cotton yarn stash this year and well...knitting up a storm.

Here's some of the results of my knitting adventure:

A cardigan made from recycled cotton blend yarn:

A lace cape made from the same recycled cotton blend yarn:

Another cardigan made from a cotton blend yarn called Candy in Sour Apple color:

A two-tone vest made from the same Candy yarn:

I started a new knitting project last night.  A colorful tee.  This yarn color is called Sunset.  Appropriately named and such a beautiful yarn to knit with.

My final knitting projects above were taken while they were being "blocked" on the towels.  One weekend I need to setup my portable studio and take pictures of moi modeling each of the garments.

Knitting is a great stress-reliever.  It's portable.  I keep my current knitting project in my messenger bag.  Ready to go at a moment's notice.

Birthday Art!

I quietly celebrated a birthday earlier this week while Hubby was out of town on a business trip.  It's hard to get excited about birthdays especially when they land on a work day.  After work, I spent my evening perusing knitting patterns and then ordering yarn...gift/treat for myself.  I ended up knitting and watching chick flicks and enjoyed my quality time.

Hubby came home the next day and patiently waited for me to get home from work.  He presented me with a small box that was in the fridge.  Hmmmmm...something edible?!  Of course!

He found a shop that specializes in hand painted chocolates:  Le Chocoholique in Columbus.

I'm saving the chocolate goodies to enjoy over the weekend.

A good friend of mine and a fellow photographer, sent me something in the mail.  When I opened the box, this beautiful tin appeared:

A huge tin!  

Three popcorn flavors and they're all mine!  :)

I think there's a theme to my birthdays....  Yes, I'm a yarn junkie and a foodie!

Happy 4th!

Hubby was asking me when do the fireworks start?  I told him around 9:15 or so.  I was busy knitting and pretty much content to stay inside.  Hubby disappeared and came back, dressed to go outside.  Are you going somewhere I asked?  Let's go see the fireworks!  I dropped what I was doing and quickly gathered my camera and tripod.

Hubby drove (5 minutes away) to nearest parking lot which was packed with locals and everyone had the same idea.  I was the only with a DSLR and tripod and I quickly setup my equipment.  Crack!  Boom!  The fireworks started:

 I set my camera to Shutter mode and 3 seconds.  I set my 24-120mm f/4 lens to manual and infinity.  I watched for the bursts to see where I needed to zoom in and just snapped away.

There is a trick to capturing fireworks shots.  I've learned to listen for the launch.  Since I had my lens open for 3 seconds I knew I would be capturing the bursts at different stages

A Quiet Morning!

I saw hubby off to work early this morning.  I was standing on our porch enjoying the peacefulness of the morning.  The sky was overcast and the temperature was warm with a little humidity in the air.  I took a stroll around our garden and realized it was a perfect opportunity to take some pictures.  I grabbed my camera and my 60mm micro lens and headed back out for a quick photo adventure.

I took a few steps off our porch and noticed a few spider webs tucked in between the shrubs.  I got down really low to the ground and captured the morning dew on the webs:

I also found a spider resting in it's web:

I saw our colorful daylilies blooming.  Too bad the flowers don't last a long time:

I'm so thankful for a long weekend.  Time to unwind, rest, and enjoy my hobbies....