MY YEAR IN PHOTOS 2012 :)

Hi All :)

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life :)

For the past couple of years now I have been keeping score of how many photos I take, each year, with my Nikon camera and also sharing with you some of the photos that I really hadn't got around to sharing as the year flashed by so quickly :)

For the record I only took close to 10,000 photos in 2012 compared to the previous years, I feel a bit of a slacker, LOL!!!! :)

You can see the previous posts and photos here; 2011 and 2010 :)

Note to Self; you do tend to write a lot about being sick at the beginning of every year, stop partying so  much over the Holidays, LOL :)

So, here is my 2012 in Photos :)
(it was really hard to keep it to just 2 photos for each month but you didn't want to be here for a whole month looking at them, LOL!!! :)

                               I Hope you enjoy them :)

                                       JANUARY

                                             click on photos to see larger images :)

This Rose was from a lovely bouquet and as it started to fall apart, I realised it was pretty symbolic of how each of my New Years' do begin.

A winter walk at the local park. A glimpse of a blue sky, clouds and trees reflecting in the Tualatin River :)

FEBRUARY

A lovely Hellebore at the Rose Garden, P.Town, Oregon :)

This would not be Portland, Oregon without a "BIKE" sign or shop :)

MARCH

Sunset shimmering on the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, California :)

Came home to "SNOW" and one of the worst rainy March's on record :(

APRIL

I love to decorate for Easter; Alabaster Eggs with a soft blue Fenton Glass Basket, I love the reflection in the window :)

Blossoms in my Garden, could not resist doing this in Black and White :)

MAY

I think by now you all know I have a "thing" for Poppies, here are a couple from my Garden :)

The "Rose" arbour in our back Garden has been taken over by the beautiful Wisteria (well, I let it on purpose, much to the horror of my Hubby)

JUNE

A day trip to the coast with my Son :)

On the way I saw this decaying tree stump and love the textural qualities that were happening, then when I looked thru the lens and saw the vibrant greenery in the background it was the perfect combo of "Old and New" :)

JULY

Beach Grass shot thru the window of the Ocean front rental house we stayed in :)

Haystack Rock, Pacific City, Oregon as the sun sets, gorgeous :)

AUGUST

An "old" Fire Hydrant in N.W. Portland, Oregon, looks like it is growing out of the tree root, this was a fun shot :)

On one of the Hottest days of the year, I went to take photos at the Rose Test Garden in Portland Oregon; I wanted to see how the Roses were fairing in the heat.

SEPTEMBER

Scarecrows at the local "Allotments" or community gardens, so fun :)

The Beautiful "Multnomah Falls" Columbia Gorge, Oregon, 

OCTOBER

Couldn't resist taking this shot, what a colourful face and expression :)

One of the fun bars to hang out in "en" Portland :)

NOVEMBER 

Red Chairs and Tables stacked for the Night, P.Town, Oregon :)

A frozen "Dead" leaf at a local park, Lake Oswego, Oregon. I LOVE everything about this image, the lighting, the textural quality of the leaf, the shapes and the movement, even as its season ends it is beautiful :)

DECEMBER 

Beautiful Fire in great room, Skamania Lodge, Columbia Gorge, Washington.

Xmas Lights and Red Bows on the tree lined streets of Hood River, Columbia Gorge, Oregon :)

So this past year, I have been working again with multi layering photography, as well as challenging myself to continue my quest to produce beautiful imagery with SOOC (Straight out of camera) photos.

There are a few candidates in this post that I think I will add layers to, so when that happens, I will do another post with before and after images and you can tell me which you prefer. :)

So, I hope you enjoyed my 2012 Year in Photos :)

Have a lovely Wednesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

A New Year, will it be any different?

Hi All :)

I Hope you are all well and enjoying life :)

So, I hadn't really thought I had given much thought to New Year resolutions until I realized that I had promised myself, some time last year, that in the New Year I would blog more, well.............um, I think I totally failed on that one already, LOL!!!

Then I thought I really see resolutions, for me these days, as more like wishes. So here are a few I have been wishing for a while.

I wish I could be well and healthy. (Totally accepting and grateful that I am still around to wish for that :)

I wish I could earn money. ( I totally feel guilty for being constantly challenged healthwise and therefore am not employable in the ordinary sense of the word and can't contribute to our family's income) 

I wish I could travel farther afield. (Haven't had the energy to travel to England for a very long time, which is rather depressing but am grateful I can at least tolerate 2 hrs flights)

I wish I could expand my business. (I am working on that, albeit slowly)

I wish I could keep everyone safe. (This is a bigger challenge but I wish all the crazies would hop on a jet and go to another planet) 

2012 was not such a good year for me in many respects, healthwise. A LOT of challenging testing and no conclusive results or some rather vague diagnoses, a  LOT of health repercussions because of those tests and also some out there treatments that left me completely wiped out for weeks. It truly doesn't make sense to do that over and over again to myself because some arrogant Neurologist has the attitude "it's my way or the byway :(.  
So, as 2013 started I had a chest infection, then a cold and then a relapse, (Woo Hoo!) I realized it was time to start again, to regroup and look at what my options are. I will keep you posted.

But.......

2012 definitely had its lovely moments. Time I got to spend with my amazing family all together; the trips I did get to take were awesome.
 And when I was able, I got to work on my Art and Photography which truly brings me great joy and being able to share that with others is so amazingly rewarding and uplifting.

This is one of my Favs. from last year :)

SOFT AND GENTLE (Peony)

The subtleness and beauty of nature blows me away all the time and gives me the strength to stay the course. :)

And Knowing that my supportive and amazing Blogger Buddies are there is totally incredible. :)

WHEW!!!!!

OK, then, moving on :)

I also wanted to share with you this beautiful giveaway from one of my Blogger Buddies :)

This wonderful piece of artwork is up for grabs, so amazing, her work is truly inspiring :) Check the giveaway out HERE :) (ends on Wed. so be quick :)

K. has also inspired me to do my own blog giveaway very soon, I haven't done one in forever, so come back soon and see, but don't hold your breathe as I seem to be only blogging every 10 days or so, LOL!!! :)

Have a lovely Monday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

Hi All! :)

I know I am a little late but better late than never, hey!! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!! :)

Our 2013 started beautifully with a sunny but freezingly chilly walk in a local park by the lovely and fast flowing Willamette River.

Here are the first photos SOOC (Straight out of camera) of 2013 for you to enjoy. :)

Click on photos to see larger images :)

Sunny but freezing, the Willamette River, OR.

The fallen trees rushing down the river are getting caught in the old pilings making a beautiful natural 

sculpture, I just LOVE it :)

These basalt columns the "Stafford Stones" were created 

by artist and sculptor Frank Boyden. They are engraved with the poetry of William Stafford, Oregon's most famous poet who was Oregon's Poet Laureate. He lived in Lake Oswego where this beautiful park (Foothills Park) is located along the Willamette River.

Even though is was sunny on New Years' Day, it was a little hazy out over the Mountain 60 miles away but she looked so magnificent I had to take a photo ( taken from Lake Oswego, OR. looking East to Mt. Hood over Milwaukie OR. 

We often say, "Have you seen THE Mountain today?"

On our drive home, I had to stop and take this photo, it looks like the birds are having a NEW YEARS' DAY meeting, LOL!!! :) 

I Hope you all have a lovely Wednesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.