Fair

As the last of our garden winds down we have been traveling to the fairs. The Common Ground Fair was last weekend and ended up being one of the best times I have had there. The drive wasn't bad and the exhibits and learning booths were perfect for Eliot. He tried his hand at playing the spoons, making fire from a bow and how to make felt balls. I talked to a bunch of rabbit folks to try and decide if I want to make the plunge and get a couple of Angoras.

Jess the Model

So - I decided to model my Alabama Chanin shirts that I finished. This sort of picture feels a little goofy when I see them of myself but I wanted to do an experiment with my lights to see if I could overpower bright sunlight in the way I wanted to. I tend to use strait on flash to fill in scenes vs light on one side like this. So - kill two birds! So, forgive the gazing into the middle distance 'look' and check out the clothes.

This one was made using the tank top pattern and three thrifted and free tshirts. The orange lining shows through with the reverse applique. I used her stencil, too. With the lining it's a tad small. I'm glad I did this with the lining as a precursor to the dress I am going to start. I plan to size up with the dress.

This is the tunic length top and is unlined. This has applique with lots of beading. I forgot to take a detail shot but trust me it is sparkly. If you click on the picture you can see it a little better. The hand beading took a long time but in the end it was worth it. I get a lot of complements on it when I wear it out.

Mushroom Hunting

A sure sign of fall around here are the plethora of mushrooms appearing. I visited the woods yesterday for a few minutes alone and wound up taking more than 50 pictures. Every where I turned a new color or type would appear. There were several I had never seen before. Truly amazing colors and saturation. My knees were certainly dirty and a lot of twigs in my hair after this trip!

This is the woods I was walking around in. I was planing to take a long walk but I didn't get more than 100 yards before finding all of these. I was crunching around so loudly I'm sure I scarred off any wildlife that might have been watching.

I have a huge backlog of pictures that I need to post. I have been photographing a lot lately and editing has taken up most of my free time. I'm working on a photography website that I will link to when I am done - probably a while!

A belated update:

The crazy garden at the peak of its wildness. Lots of herbs, beans and a tomato jungle. I got hit with powdery mildew and lost all of my pumpkins and squash but I still have one that is hanging in there. We have plans to build two more boxes and I want to move the perennial herbs into the yard if our soil tests come back OK. Not to mention the 'great honeysuckle removal project' in preparation for a spring tree planting. Just typing that out makes me hot and tired!

The carrots were really good. They were a tad short and I didn't thin them enough but they tasted, and looked, great.

Eliot likes to pretend he is a bunny and eats the veggies out of the garden. Fine with me!

The calendula I planted is still going strong. I plan to make some soap and bath sachets this winter. I had a mad rush before Irene to pick, dry and otherwise store herbs. The garden is pretty flat right now but at least the tomatoes all survived.

Here is a little craft update while I'm at it. This is the 2nd of the Alabama Chanin shirts I've made. This one is almost done now. I will post some finished products soon. This is two thrifted t-shirts sandwiched with some reverse applique. Next up will be a dress with stencils and some quilting...

Mothering Part 2

Eliot and I had a chance to make another image together for the 'Mothering' series we started. He was a little bummed he didn't get to jump off the couch again. Let me know what you think!

Off to a long weekend...

Harpswell Vacation

We had our annual vacation up in Harpswell, ME again this year. We had mostly lovely weather and lots of fun with the kids. It is so nice to get them all together again to spend some unplugged time as a family. Summer light is just the best. We nicknamed this beach 'Sea Glass Beach' while we were there and the other cove as 'Hermit Crab Cove'.

Got to do some family pictures, too! My brother and Eliot (such a ham):

Silly family photo:

Lobster yoga:

Now we are gearing up for the possible hurricane. I am more worried about my tomatoes than anything else!

Cape Cod Vacation

We went to Cape Cod for our first vacation. We stayed in the house of Kurt Vonnegut in the town of Barnstable, MA. It was a huge, charming old house with fantastic sunsets and nooks and crannies galore. There were books everywhere and a little kids room under the eaves with teeny chairs and games and a teenager attic room with a ping pong table!

We stayed with Kevin's family with lots of people in and out throughout the week. I was only able to stay for a few days but I certainly enjoyed it.

There were even bunnies! I didn't see the fox that a couple of people saw.

Eliot went fishing with his 'Sandwich Grandpa' off the little dock that was at the end of the field. The pond was perfect for kids and fish alike. He caught a fish every time his hook went into the water! What a way to get 'hooked' on fishing.
There was lots of interesting art and various eclectic things around. We read The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. It was a really funny story.

The pond was home to this very brave swan, too. It swam over to the dock every time we were near it. It was fascinating to watch such a huge bird so close.

The sunsets were amazing. They made such beautiful photographs.

Even the little nick nacks around their garden were whimsical.

With summer closing it's doors for this year we will hold this trip close during those cold winter months until we can get together again next year.

First

I have some serious catching up to do! We are going way back in time for this first post. Back to the Yarmouth Clam Festival. I love this fair. It has a decent craft contingent, good music and rides galore. I dread the day when Eliot wants to go on the big rides but for now I can handle the kiddie rides. Mom's usually get to ride for free if you get a nice carnie. Eliot wasn't too keen on me tagging along this year though.

I get my yearly binge on fried dough. My Mothers birthday usually falls during fair week so that is our treat together.

He rode on this dragon ride alone and was so brave! He has grown a lot more independent in one year.
We watched the parade with some friends we happened to see along the way.

Eliot and one of his best little buddies watched together. She has so much unbridled enthusiasm she gets Eliot really excited - so sweet for my usually somewhat reserved kid.

On the walk back to my Mother's house we were standing by this field watching the clouds of fire flies. The picture doesn't show much for fire flies but I liked the light and openness of it.

I have been doing tons of crafting lately, too. I am onto my 2nd Alabama Chanin project and I just got a Joann's coupon that I think I will use for fabric to make one of the dresses.

My garden is doing amazing things namely by producing gigantic tomatoes. My squash are just about done and my first round of beans did OK. My Hubbard and gourds seem to have some kind of bug so I hope they survive. Not enough to save but lots of plans to relocate and move around and add for next year. I am getting my soil tested this week to find out if we can plant in our soil directly without worry of contamination.

So - more updates ahead! Anything you want to know about that I have forgotten to mention let me know!

More off camera lighting

More experiments with lighting:

What to do when it's 90 degrees out? Jump on the couch and take lot's of pictures! Some geeky photo notes for those of you who are interested. I was light on the photoshop with these. The results are so great right out of camera with the lights. I've got to get my portable power up and running so I can bring them to the beach!

Shoot through umbrella/ab600

shoot through umbrella/ab600

Oh how he does love his picture taken. He is very easy to direct.

Canon speedlight w/ Gary Fong diffuser.

I figured I could whip out a shot of him with the moon and sky with fill flash in no time. This took me longer than all of the others! I am not as intuitive with my Speedlight as I would like...yet.

ab600/30 degree gridspot

This is direct, hard lighting. Not really a great mode for kid shots but the experiments continue.