random – This Old House 2

The reasons

Recently another blogger discussed blogging, it’s pros and cons and all the things she found out about it while trying to make the decision to become a dot.com. I was surprised by some of her findings and did some googling of my own and .. behold!.. all the articles about how blogging is dead or dying. I don’t know that I agree with it but I suppose it has something to do with why you blog in the first place.

My reason for blogging is personal – I use it as a journal of sorts. It’s an outlet for my photography, a way to record special moments I don’t want to forget, and it’s a way to share things with anyone who wants to sit for a minute or two and read my little ponderings in this space I call This Old House 2. Someday when I’m gone, my kids and grand kids and great grand kids might enjoy browsing through these posts. – Or not!- but at least they have the option. Oh, if this were only possible years ago, I would love to browse my grandmother Elsie’s “blog”. Although she was so careful with her thoughts I don’t think she’d be a blogger.

Another blogger I came to know who has become a huge success and has thousands of followers asked me once If I’d like her to help me boost my readership so that I’d have more followers. While I appreciate the generous offer, it’s not about the number of followers I have on the sidebar. Another felt she needed to suggest I do more give aways, because that would –bring me more followers-, especially if I insist they “follow” me to enter to win. Again, the advice appreciated, but I’m not in it to tally numbers. * I just decided to remove that particular feature.

I’m in it to share with my family. I’m in it to share with any of you who care to stop by here what I saw that was cool today. What I cooked and enjoyed today. What really pissed me off today. What inspired me, what ired me, what made me think.. let me spread this out in the world and hope that it will bring more good vibes to the universe.

Two more things I learned while doing a little research about blogging. Photos are important. Well, dang.. I got that right. I take lots of photos… it’s safe to say I’m addicted to taking photos. I see a photo opportunity everywhere! Even in a blade of grass. I don’t mark each of my photos before I put them on the blog or facebook, because that particular habit annoys me. When I see a beautiful photo that has a watermark or blog name on it, I can’t help but feel it’s been violated somewhat. I get it if you’re a photographer and that’s where your grocery money comes from. But most of us don’t make money off our images. And now there is the pinterest red “button” that appears on some images to make it easier for you to pin that image on your Pinterest board. But.. while viewing it, you’ve got that big red P button right smack in the middle of your image. Call me a purist here (because it doesn’t fit anywhere else in my life…LOL)… but it’s a practice you won’t see here.

*** After reading TexWis girl’s comment below, I realized this post might sound -snarky- and I want to clarify before you read further. I don’t want to imply that having or wanting followers is wrong. It’s a great tool if it’s something that appeals to you. I also know that there are several reasons why some people watermark their images… one of them being theft. I understand the desire to protect your images especially if you make money off them. Many of my images have been used by others, and it doesn’t bother me. I take it as a form of flattery. But again, I don’t make my living by those images and I might feel differently if I did. I still stand by my belief that it does take away from the beautiful image originally created and I am willing to risk someone else using my image without my permission.

The second important tip?…. Keep it simple, Stupid. Hmmmm…. So I pulled out the backgrounds I often employ here, and made it simpler to look at. I’d like to know what appeals to you. Simple? as in what I have here now?

One more thing about blogging – I want to thank you… for checking in now and then and sharing whatever we’re sharing here in this space. Some of you have become very dear friends. This little community we create in these spaces is not dead, nor is it dying. It’s what we make of it, aren’t most things? ……

HAIR

We love it, we hate it. We want it where we don’t have enough of it and we want to get rid of it where we have too much of it. Doesn’t seem fair, does it.

I have had long hair, I’ve had sorta short-ish hair. My husband loves REAL short hair on women.. go figure. I don’t know if I’ll choose really short hair unless I’m lucky to get really old. – not that there’s anything wrong with really short hair.

I only go to the hairdresser a few times a year, if that. Lazy about the trims, don’t like sitting in a salon chair for any length of time, although I have a terrific stylist who is fun and spunky and makes the time go by fast.

So, what to do. Two nights ago at the dinner table…

Him: Um… are you going to the hair salon this week? (he never pays attention to these things)

Me: Why, yes I am. I have an appointment on Wednesday.

Him: Good, your hair is looking ratty.

Now, right there I wanted to maybe slap him, or perhaps just an arm pinch and a really mean stare.

But right behind him came the rising son’s remark….

Him 2: Yeah, mom, definitely… get a haircut.

So off I go tomorrow and I don’t know what to do. Help me out here. First, I am getting a glaze, which is not quite a Dye Job, but sort of a rich color wash to deepen and fortify the color. I think.

Shorter days…

My current ratty self…

This is what I have in mind maybe… maybe not?

(minus the color)

Or this?

So, what say you… any other suggestions? I have plenty of hair, but
it’s fine/thin. Sometimes what I want isn’t do-able with the styles I like.

oooh, Stephen…..

waterlogued

Modern technology astounds me, seriously. Who woulda thought just ten years ago that most of us would be walking around with a square device about the size of a pocket calculator that serves as a phone, a camera, a navigator, a calculator, a date book and appointment reminder, an alarm clock, a flashlight, and it keeps going… and going… and going…..

Thanks to Diane, I learned of an app yesterday that turns your photos into watercolors… just amazing. The app is $2.99, and if you’re a shutterbug like me, it’s awesomeness. I downloaded it yesterday and have been doing a happy dance ever since.

Waterlogue app

Wow. Just that.

Fresh tracks

When we have a fresh snowfall overnight, I look for all the new tracks made by the various critters who live around here while I’m out doing the morning round of barn chores.

Little bird feet at the chicken coop door…

I found these particularly adorable, so delicate and determined.

A mouse scuttles back and forth between the garage and coop

picking up dropped grains from the hens and hopefully not depositing

them under the hood of my Jeep.

These are my Timberland boots… awesome for my kind of wear.

Waterproof, rugged, long lasting, NO F-ing EYE HOOKS

to trip me up and knock me over.

Deer….

Squirrel….

Heading to the feeder from his favorite big old maple tree…

The manchild took down the remaining wreaths for me

and left tracks of his own on the side porch.

If you’ve still got wreaths up… get them down, for crying out loud!

I believe that’s why we’re getting more WEATHER.

It’s those leftover wreaths! I’m tellin ya!

Mouse or chipmunk, not quite sure.

..and GATOR tracks… a heart from me to you.

Maybe I shoulda climbed a tree for a better angle.

Your opinion appreciated, advice welcome, suggestions encouraged.

I’m kicking it around again. If you’ve been reading this blog since I started years ago, two things were happening at the same time. We were putting This Old House back together and I was a partner in a little artisan gift shop just up the road in a friend’s retail space. Click HERE for a blast from that past.

While it was only a two year stint and there was definitely some heartship and heartache as we stumbled through a worsening economy, Fire & Rain brought me a lot of joy and gave me experience I would never have had if we hadn’t given it a shot. I met some wonderful people and saw what it meant to create a little space where people could come and browse and admire the crafts of others, talk up the community scene, gift themselves or another with something someone else had made infused with love.

The aggravations? Well, my hearing loss is always a difficult navigation in public but I managed and people were kind. I won’t let that be the reason I don’t do it again. The bills…hmmm, not easy, but we paid them with a little left over, in the worst of this economy. That tells me we had something good going on.

The plus side… meeting so many talented people and selling their pottery, jewelry, photography, paintings, quilt work, candles, soaps, fair trade items, etc. etc. etc… And getting to know so many customers, sharing the days news or weather, it was a good feeling, that little space we filled with “stuff”. Needful things, I like to say. We had a goldfish bowl on the counter filled with chocolates, a – help yourself – and people always did.

I don’t know that I’m jumping back in those waters for sure, but I am kicking it around. This time I would proceed without a partner, which was a comfort as well as a difficult navigation. I think most partnerships are. Heck, think of any marriage!

What would I do this time? Well, location is everything. I’d look for something along route 1, our shoreline area.. with an affordable rent. There-in lies one of the major rubs. My vision is to have another artisan shop, but with a little different vibe. You all know I am BIG into animal rescue, and one wall would be dedicated to framed photos and descriptions of local dogs and cats who are languishing in shelters in need of a home. A wall of adoptables. There would also be a coffee station where you can make your own coffee using the available Keurig machine for a donation in the amount of your choice, even a dollar is OK – all proceeds go to our rescue mission at dog days or CT Animal House. I have this vision of a big cork board too, a Community center full of information on local events, available jobs, whatever the community comes in to tack up. As for the merchandise… pottery and jewelry made by local artisans, clothing with logos from rescue organizations, dog and cat bowls and supplies made by local artisans, hand crafted items made from recycled materials, fair trade items, candles and soaps, even some refurbished antique toys, and a few handpicked vintage items. This would all be displayed well… not made to look like a cluttered attic, which is how it may sound to you right now…lol…

The name? I’m thinking… RESCUED. The other name that floats around in my thoughts is HAVEN. These two words can mean a lot of things… can you see it? Can you feel it? No?… that’s what I need to know.

Red Sky at Night

Over it

I’m one of those people who puts the christmas tree and decorations and outdoor lights up the weekend after Thanksgiving. For me, it’s the weeks leading up to the holiday itself that speak of “the Holiday Season”. It’s the anticipation of the family gatherings and the giving of gifts that were chosen with love, the preparation and consuming of all those traditional foods that I cherish most.

The day AFTER Christmas?… it’s over. I’ve already put away the stockings and taken down the holiday cards taped to a wall in the kitchen. The – Dear Santa, I can explain – kind of pillows I have tossed around the house are bagged and sitting on the cellar stairs waiting to be shelved. All gifts have been put away and clothes that are too worn or too small (for various reasons, not just youthful growth)… are bagged or thrown out, replaced by the new stuff that was under the tree. All extra Christmas Candy and most of the leftover cookies were thrown out yesterday and I’m staring at that Christmas tree, trying to hold off until New Years. I do love the look of an evening house with soft Christmas tree lights to illuminate a room –

My neighbor across the street, an amazing woman of 93 years… begins her decorating on Christmas Eve. For the month of January she will enjoy her festive home and water the tree in her living room. When my mother was very young, my grandparents also brought the tree in and decorated it on Christmas Eve after their three children were in bed. I know that by the time I was born my grandmother put up the tree weeks before Christmas… but I’m curious as to when the majority of people begin their decking of halls, and then pack it away… what say you?