Home Sweet Home

Bella's Prompt:

What is home to you?

A place?

A person?

A room?

A feeling?

Where do you go

when it is time

to go home?

Home is where my gardens are . . .

From the front door, where I keep my boots and gloves and look out from the stoop at the flowers

To the deck where I overlook my back gardens, enjoy the company of my wonderful man and my friends, barbeques and beverages . . .

. . . and of course watch the sunrise

Waiting patiently for spring (and remission) so I can enjoy the outdoors again. . .

Assignment - Sweet Escape

Thank you Bella for the prompt that could bring me out of my self inflicted pity party !

Having just lost my father and going into a major flare up of my auto-immune disease, I think my desire to create decided to take a hiatus. You are welcome to view one of his awesome photos and my tribute to him here.

I LOVE Arizona. 

I love the canyons, deserts, sunshine/heat and the waters of the Colorado and Lake Powell.

I love to hike, ride, drive, raft and kayak in Arizona!

I love to explore and photograph Arizona!

Did I mention that I LOVE Arizona?

My first visit was almost 50 years ago at the age of 10, with my family on vacation. 

My parents, five kids and a dog in a station wagon camped our way from Toronto Canada to California. 

It was the year that my father gave me my first camera and taught me how to take pictures.

In the past 9 years I have returned almost every year. (the first few without a camera unfortunately!)

I start planning my trip in the winter with research, usually into new sites or locations that I had read about or passed by on a previous trip. 

I learned how important this was when I tried to book a 7 day raft/camping trip through the Grand Canyon only to discover that they were booking a year in advance!

For a variety of reasons I won't be able to go to Arizona this year so this perfect prompt inspired me to take a wonderful trip down memory lane through years of photos from my youth to last fall's excursions.

Sharing a few of my favourite shots in reverse chronological order:

2011 - Kayaking Lake Powell and Lone Rock at sunset

2011 - Monument Valley (which is technically in Utah!)

2011 - Antelope Canyon - I had to come back with a better camera as we wanted to be able to enlarge and hang the photos

2009 - Antelope Canyon is one of the most spiritual places I have ever experienced 

2009 - Colorado River Rafting through the Grand Canyon

2009 - Saguaro Forest with blooms in May

2009 - Horseshoe Bend near Page AZ - again, I returned in 2011 with a better camera and tripod

     

2008 - a return to Grand Canyon 

and the moment I decided that I wasn't content looking down from the top. 

I had to get down in there and explore the river, waterfalls and canyons!

1963 - where my love of Arizona began Grand Canyon National Park (left) and Meteor Crater (right)

I have so enjoyed this prompt Bella!! Thanks for the nudge that you didn't know I needed ! *lol*

This has allowed me to recall some treasured memories and to identify and appreciate yet another wonderful way that my father contributed to who I am today. . . 

Assignment - Renewal - Where I lay my head down

 Bella's prompt this week is to share the place

Where I lay my head down

To rest,

To sleep,

To dream.

My go to spot 

where my spirit

becomes renewed.

This one was tough for me . . . sooo many places to choose from

Why?

Because . . .

1)  It is winter and the place I might choose most readily without thinking is not available to me (that would be my garden) and I live in a part of Canada that doesn't have a winter growing season

2)   I have tried to surround myself with little 'sanctuaries' in my home where I can regroup and be rejuvenated on an ongoing basis

3) There are many activities that regenerate my spirit . . . things I love to do that relax and refresh my heart and soul . . . they are mostly the creative activities in my life

The camera is a relatively new creative tool for me

For example I love to create with garden tools . . . 

when it is above 0 degrees Celcius and the soil isn't frozen and covered with snow 

my gardens are my go to place for a bit of me time and re-energizing . . . 

I can hardly wait until spring

I have created spaces throughout my home for some of my plants to 'vacation' during the winter.

Some are located just inside my patio doors 

where I enjoy my morning coffee in the morning and Egyptian Licorice tea at night . . . 

the morning sky always breathes life into my body and soul at the outset of the day 

my kitchen is a sanctuary year round. . .

I love to create in the kitchen . . . 

here I use the tools of (one of)  my professions . . . but that is another story

Heck...one of the MOST relaxing activities I know is putting my hands in warm bubbly water . . . 

I don't even own a dishwasher . . .  

I love doing my dishes by hand

Another year round sanctuary is my local hot yoga studio. 

Being housebound at the moment, I couldn't get a photo

however

this is where I practice at home . . . 

In the dead of winter, on those cold not-goin'-out-no-way-no-how kind of days

this is where I take what I have created in the kitchen 

and wrap myself in warmth and peace.

I guess you could call this my winter sanctuary

As for where I rest my head?

. . . at this time of year it is under a down blanket and duvet 

and just before my eyes close on another wonderful day 

I look up and breathe in a rainbow . . .

Night Night

Assignment - Colour w/ Emotion

Colours of the sun/sky


There is nothing that stirs up emotion in me like a beautiful sky . . . be it a sunrise, sunset or fluffy white clouds . . . It is the transitioning sky that appeals to me most . . . moving from day to night or night to day, or from clarity to storminess and when it occurs at the transition between water and land, and between earth and sky ...


I literally live for sunrise.  For years I have intentionally arisen to enjoy my coffee watching the sun rise on a daily basis, no matter where I am . . . I can't even begin to describe the serenity that it evokes in my soul or my life.


I am a sunset whore! Sunsets have not been as easy for me to experience each day but I do seek them out with regularity, camera in hand, especially while vacationing but I have also been known to take off in my car looking for 'just the right spot' to catch the sun going down. It can't be just anywhere; must be a peaceful, natural place for me to enjoy it.


It isn't just the bright golds, reds and oranges that appeal to me but also the soft violet, pink and greenish hues that buffer the sky blues from the bold colours of the sun . . .


Needless to say I have far too many photos of the sunrises and sunsets that have danced across my sky, which you are welcome to view here if you'd like.

This prompt from Bella totally raised my awareness of how many of the sun rise and set colours I have in my wardrobe and have used in the decorating of my home as I did a 'photowalk' through my home.


I was in the fortunate position to 'start fresh' a few years ago and, having absolutely no knowledge or skill in the area of home decor I simply chose things I liked! I seem to have ended up with was a rather 'southwest' colour scheme, perhaps influenced by frequent vacations and a great love for the state of Arizona.
It makes sense really  -  Colour is an important part of the rich tapestry of Native American life, incorporated  into their weaving, pottery, jewellery and other artwork and they draw the colours of their work from their surroundings . . . and these colours are the same as those seen in the sky...


My 'photowalk' walk  revealed deep wine reds, oranges and golds with terra cotta and pinks and splashes of pale yellow, violet and turquoise and a wee bit of what I like to call sky green . . .


I am sure it all sounds quite messy to someone with decorating taste . . . but I seem to have surrounded myself with, what I consider to be, the colours of the transitioning sky . . .  and it feeds my soul on a daily basis!

I bought these dishes in the mid-70s.

They were called 'Sun' by Midwinter. A few mugs and saucers, one side plate and a bowl are all that remain but I still use them daily . . .

I guess I have always been a sun worshipper!

I even spotted a scarf I had tossed on a chair that was a colour match for the room! haha
























My closet reveals a similar array of colours . . .

Thanks for the prompt Bella !  Very eye opening !

Assignment - Up close and personal

This week 52 Photos Project is about Macro photography.
Perfect. I asked for a macro lens for Christmas and received money to buy 'the lens I want"


Our prompt was: "Choose a subject. Get close, closer...when you think you're too close - click."
We are invited to photograph people or still life, as we choose but to "just get in there all close and personal."


Fortunately, I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my son and his girlfriend for my birthday last week ... it turned out to be the perfect subject. I got closer, then too close then and - click. 
Well, truthfully, I went:
click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click


But I'll just post a few, as well as one other I took for this prompt. I might slip in a few past photos too because I do love the details in close up photography that escape the naked eye.


THE Bouquet: 

. . . . and this is what happens if you come to see what I am taking pictures of . . . .