Comfort Cottage

A Walk In The Park

A few weeks ago, after photographing the Brandywine Rughooker's exhibition, I noticed a beautiful park across the street from the library.  It was one of the first really nice days of spring, so I decided to take a closer look through the lens of my camera.  Would you like to take a walk with me?

 

 

Doesn't that bench look inviting?

 

 

I love the pattern of bricks at the entrance.

 

 

The flowers were glorious!

 

 

The cherry blossoms were amazing against the electric blue sky.

 

 

Wouldn't this be the perfect spot for wedding or prom photos?

 

 

All over the neighborhood, the magnolias were bursting into bloom.

 

Their pink fluffiness makes my heart skip a beat!

 

 

Down the street from the park, I found a lovely koi pond where I captured beautiful reflections on the water.

 

 

The koi appeared to be swimming in the clouds!

 

 

All the earth has come to life.

 

 

 They look like neon confetti!

 

 

The light brings out every detail.

 

 

 

We are surrounded by miracles.

 

 

I hope you find a few miracles of your own today.

 

 Happy Pink Saturday to all of my pink-lovng friends out there.  To enjoy all of the wonderful pinkness, click on the Pink Saturday icon in my right sidebar.  Thank you to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting today's pink celebration!

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Until next time,

 

A Haddonfield Christmas

Today, since I don't have my latest journal entries done yet, I wanted to share a few photos from my day in New Jersey.  My sister and I had originally thought of going to Pitman, but we ended up in Haddonfield.  We were blessed with a beautiful day. 

 

 

We wandered into a shop called Patricia of Mullica Hill.  It was a cross between an antique store and a home decor shop. 

 

 

I love the wool-applique pillow on the sofa.

 

 

Isn't the quilt wonderful?

 

 

Don't they look cozy?

 

 

A splash of berries and greens.

 

 

I just love their cute little faces and bright red sweaters!

 

 

A country Christmas tree.

 

 

This cute kitty is the perfect way to salvage what's left of an old, threadbare quilt.  Isn't that a gorgeous piece of furniture?

 

 

 

The lovely painting makes me want to run for the paint brushes!

 

 

 

A colorful choir.

 

 

I love the way the left side of this cabinet angles back. 

 

 

We eventually made it to the tea shop, where I finally found this year's new ornament for our tree.   Lorrie and I had lunch at a new sandwich shop.  While we were there, the middle school let out.  This particular shop seemed to be their destination.  I really love middle-school age kids.  They always make me smile.  They were actually all quite polite, and their cheerful, noisy presence added to the holiday mood...and I'd forgotten just how much they can eat!

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

Christmas In November

I know it's a bit early, but I just can't help myself.  A few years ago, my sister and I visited Longwood Gardens for their annual Christmas display.  Needless to say, it was magical and breathtaking.  Lorrie called me earlier this week to firm up our plans for this year.  I'm so excited because I'll be able to document our visit with my new camera.  Somehow, I missed sharing my photos from our 2008 visit.  They were taken with my old camera, but the beauty of Longwood shines through.  So come along with me, and we'll start the holiday season early.

 

 

This is the scene that greeted us as we entered the Conservatory.

 

 

I've never seen so many pointsettias in one place in my life!

 

 

 

I love the way the light played with the petals and leaves.

 

 

There was no shortage of Christmas trees!

 

 

The theme for that year was cranberries, so of course, there was a cranberry bog.

 

 

As always at Longwood, you have to remember to look up.

 

 

 

I love white lillies.

 

 

There was a gorgeous white poinsettia topiary surrounded by a sea of red geraniums.

 

 

 

 

The horse is made entirely of vines!

 

 

The cold didn't seem to deter this little fellow.

 

Sometimes we just have to remember all the beauty that surrounds us.

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

Stonington

I've been working on processing more of my photos from Maine.  I have some to share with you from Stonington.  I spent an entire day exploring this lovely harbor town.  I couldn't take pictures fast enough!  There were so many interesting things to see.

 

The Stonington Opera House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

 

On the hill is the opera house in Stonington.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

 

The center of town was bustling with activity.

 

 

There is an irresistible charm about the place.

 

 

 

 

I wandered along the waterfront, soaking up the character of this productive fishing port.

 

 

As the skies were clearing, fishermen returned with the morning's catch.

 

 

There were many cheerful cottages with gardens and window boxes bursting with color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were so many lovely touches that seemed to say welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

I featured this photo in a Pink Saturday post a few weeks ago, but I just loved the look of this inn in Stonington. I had to include it again.

 

Back down on the waterfront, I wandered about the docks, soaking in the character of this busy, productive harbor.

 

 

 

 

I was fortunate to capture this beautiful ship just as it was coming about in the harbor.

 

 

This is a sobering tribute to those who have lost their lives at sea.

 

 

 

 

There's no doubt about what is the major industry in Stonington!

 

 

 

 

 

 I hope you enjoyed my tour of Stonington.  This little town holds a special place in my heart.

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Maine

I'm a little late with my Texture Tuesday project, but better late than never!  By now, you all know of my passion for all things Maine.  I took three of my photographs and turned them into vintage, well-worn postcards.

 

The first one is the marsh across from Seawall on Mount Desert Island.  I used two layers of Kim's Nature's Beauty texture over the photo.  Both layers were set to Soft Light at about 70 percent opacity.  I used the Vintage Companion texture over top of a layer of off-white for the border.  The texture layer was set to Multiply at 80 percent opacity.  I applied a brown photo filter the Vintage Companion texture at about 80 percent.  The font is Cygnet Round set to Bevel and Emboss down.  I reduced the 0pacity to fade it.  To give the photo that grainy look that vintage images have, I added added CS5's noise filter and checked the Monochromatic and Uniform boxes.  To imitate the look of worn-off color, I used the Eraser tool with various grunge brushes on the photo.  I also reduce the saturation of the photo.

 

 

My method for the second one is the same. 

 

 

I took this photo at Stonington Harbor on Deer Isle.  My method was a little different.  I only used one layer of texture over the photo - Bent Edges, set on Linear Burn at 21 percent.  I reduced the saturation of the photo and set the opacity to 94 percent.

 

 

If you would like to enjoy all of the beautiful work of Texture Tuesday's participants, head on over to Kim Klassen Cafe.  Kim offers free textures if you sign up and wonderful tutorials to get you up to speed in the wonderful world of digital artistry.

 

Until next time,

 

More From Maine

I've been trying to process more of my photos of Maine in between working on art projects.  Sometimes it's hard to tear myself away from my studio long enough to post!

This is an iconic scene on Mount Desert Island.  The small building used to house the historical society here in Somesville.  There's a museum back further from the road.

 

 

Here's the view looking across the road.

 

 

I took this one from the trail running along a very high cliff.  It is a view of the beautiful Echo Lake, and beyond the lake is Somes Sound.

 

 

This is the beach on Echo Lake.

 

 

Another view from the cliffs.

 

 

This heavenly spot is on Schoodic Peninsula.  It is called Tidal Falls.

 

 

 

There was a flock of cormorants on the island.  Unless I wanted to swim, this was the closest I could get with my telephoto lens.

 

 

Further along Schoodic Peninsula, we came to Wonsqueak Harbor.  I love the name!

 

 

Many of the buildings on Schoodic Penninsula are more than a century old.

 

 

I would love to restore this one and use it for studio space.  In my dreams...

 

 

Isn't peeling paint wonderful?

 

 

 

The West Gouldsboro Library is a charming Tudor-style building, built in 1907.

 

 

 

Finally, for today, I'll leave you with a scene from Maine's magnificent coastline.

 

 

I know all of my east coast friends will be battening down the hatches for Hurricane Irene.  We've had quite a week between the earthquake and now the Hurricane.  Did any of you have damage from the quake?  I had a huge picture fall off of a shelf and it smashed into a million pieces in my bathtub!  Be safe this weekend.  God bless you all.

 

Until next time,

 

A Maine Pink Saturday

I'm just getting back to somewhat of a normal routine after our summer adventures, and I have some wonderful pink to share with you.  Yes, even in Bass Harbor, I found you some pink.  The thing I was most enchanted by as I strolled through Bass Harbor was the seaside cottages.  Of course, it's always fun to read about them in magazines, but it was fabulous to get out and photograph some of them myself.  Are you ready?  When I saw this one, I could hardly believe my eyes.  You can probably guess what went through my mind when I saw it.

 

 

Is this cute, or what?

 

 

 

There was a botanical garden of wildflowers in Acadia National Park.

 

 

 

I found lots of beautiful pink flowers on the islands.

 

 

These lovely geraniums were growing in the yard of a historic church.

 

 

I think these are nootka roses.

 

 

 

This beautiful garden was in Bass Harbor.

 

 

Another magical Bass Harbor cottage.

 

 

It's gardens were inviting.

 

 

On this trip to Maine, we explored a new place.  We went to Deer Isle.  Deer Isle is accessible by a very narrow, high bridge.  Though the ride over it is a bit hair-raising,  the island is a peaceful place to escape from the real world.

 

 

On the opposite side of Deer Isle is one of the most productive fishing ports in the country-Stonington.  I fell in love with this town.  It was everything I imagined a seaside town could be.   Street after street of shingle-style  cottages charmed me.  Like the brilliant hues in my paint box,  color dripped from window boxes and mingled together into a dazzling sea.

 

 

The fushia was such a deep pink, it was almost red.

 

 

 

I walked to the end of the main street and followed the road up a steep hill.  If I had stopped just a step to soon, I would have missed this storybook bed and breakfast.

 

 

 

 

These looked like giant zinnias but I'll bet some of you gardeners out there will know what they are.

 

 

I found bunches of these growing by the roadside.

 

 

It is called fireweed, because it is also commonly found growing in burned out areas.

 

Finally, for today, a few beautiful Maine sunsets from Mount Desert Island.

 

 

This one is from the marsh at Seawall.

 

 This is from the shore on the other side of Seawall.

That's all for now.  I hope you've enjoyed sharing the pinkness of Maine with me.  If you would like to visit all of the Pink Saturday participants, please click on the Pink Saturday icon in my right sidebar.  I want to thank Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting another wonderful Pink Saturday.

I have much more of Stonington to share with you.  I hope you'll join me later this week as we continue our tour!

 

Until next time,

 

Back Home Again

I've missed all of you!  We just returned from a camping trip in Maine.  I realized after we left that I neglected to let you all know we were going!  I'm sorry for going AWOL on you.  I guess my brain was too cluttered with trip preparations.  I brought back lots of pictures for you, and a few stories...

We camped at our favorite hideaway in Bass Harbor.  It's a lovely, working harbor town off of the beaten path.  Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is just a mile's walk down the road to the waterfront.  I love to climb out on the rocks and lose myself in the sound of the sea.

 

 

The lighthouse is now automated and maintained by the coastguard.

 

 

A day without fog or rain doesn't happen often.  When the sun was shining, I took advantage.

 

 

Even on a sunny day, the lighting changes on a dime.

 

 

The harbour is so colorful.

 

 

 

There are lobster cages piled everywhere.  Lobster fishing is the main industry here.

 

 

All of the waterfront properties are privately owned.  The owner of one of them was kind enough to invite me to access the waterfront from his backyard.  I think he was a fisherman.

 

 

He had the cutest cottage.

 

 

I'd like to live there!  Isn't the crab cute?

 

 

 

I wish I would have noticed all the lobster buoys on that building.  I would have gotten a closer shot.

 

 

A fisherman returns from the sea.

 

 

A well-worn vessel.

 

 

Beautiful flowers were in bloom everywhere.

 

 

 

 

The town museum is one of my favorite buildings.  I love the cheerful, bright red color.

 

 

 

This is probably the most photographed scene in Bass Harbour.  I had to stand in the middle of the road on a blind curve to get the shot.

 

 

The blue building on the left is a wonderful restaurant.  My hubby and I had an unbelievably delicious seafood dinner there.  We had a view of the harbor from our table by the window.  It was raining that night, and the scene was very different.  It looked like something out of an old novel about the sea...lonely and sad, but very picturesque.

 

 

 

A lone sailor makes his way home as night falls on the harbour.

 

 

I shot this one a few days before the rest of the photos.  There had been quite a bit of cloud cover that day, so I was not able to get some of the brilliant sunset hues I was hoping for.  Still, I love the ethereal look of this shot.  This view of the lighthouse did not come without a price.  In order to get a partial, frontal view, I had to climb part of the way down the cliff, and wait on a ledge for the sun to go down.  I was in good company, as there were three other photographers occupying the same four square feet of granite.  Climbing down wasn't too difficult.  The climb back up proved to be a bit more of a challenge.  It's easy to get disoriented and lose track of the best route back to the top.  On the lower levels, the rocks were still wet and slippery.  I was grappling hand over hand, finding any crack or crevice to hold onto.  It's a bit difficult to manage camera equipment while making the treacherous climb.  At one point, one of my lens covers fell eight feet into a crevice.  I debated for awhile whether or not to climb back down and retrieve it.  I decided to go for it.  Eventually, I made it back to the top.  Now I know why photographers do crazy things to get a shot.  It seems as though I've become one of them :)

 

I have much more to share with you later this week.  God bless you all, and again, I apologize for my unannounced absence. 

 

Until next time,

 

 

Tales From Camp

On Sunday, I promised to share my snake story from our camping trip.  On our last night in Badlands National Park, I made it my mission to photograph the sunset.  Now, I didn't want to photograph just any sunset.  I wanted to catch the sun going down behind the mountain peaks.   We drove part of the way through the park until I found the perfect spot.  It was about a half hour until show time, so I found a huge rock, climbed out on it, and sat down to wait.  The night sounds of the prairie are delightful, and the air had cooled to a very pleasant temperature.  I called down to my hubby to come on up and sit with me.  He dutifully climbed up on the rock, complained about how hard it was, and shifted around behind me, trying to get comfortable.  Finally...quiet.  I adjusted my camera for the light, and just as I put it up to my face, I heard him.  "Oh no." 

Mildly exasperated, I said, "What?!!"

"There's a giant rattlesnake, a foot and a half from my butt."

There are many species of animals and reptiles on the South Dakota prairie, including a few varieties of snakes.  One of these is the hog-nose, a relatively harmless, non-venomous breed.  And then there is the rattlesnake...an icon in the American west.  The prairie rattler is native to the Badlands and is considered to be the more aggressive of the rattlesnake family.  It is also venomous.  In the heat of summer, they wait until early evening to come out to hunt.

I turned around, and I saw nothing.  He pointed to a low shrub growing out of the rock.  I went to where he was standing.  I still saw nothing.  I aimed my camera at the area using a huge telephoto lens and snapped several photographs.  I examined the screen and could find nothing.  I was beginning to wonder if hubby's eyes were playing tricks on him.  Even he started to wonder.  Finally I changed places with him, and looked at the trunk of the bush where he was pointing and bent down a little.

 

 

Because of where he was positioned, I had trouble focusing on him.  I was not about to take my eyes off of him, so adjusting my focus mode was out of the question.  Even still, there's no mistaking him.  Of course, the whole time I was flashing my light meter at him, hubby was trying to tell me that I'm probably agitating him.  Finally, common sense prevailed and I climbed down off of the rock.

 

This was not my first encounter with this delightful creature. In the early days of our marriage, the hubby and I were visiting the Badlands and I went out for an afternoon run.  (Yes, there was a time when I was able to do that)  Being an experienced runner, I was sort of zoning out as I made my way along the path.  Somewhere in my dehydrated brain, it occurred to me that there was something laying on the path.  I was just about on top of it when the light dawned.  I stepped around a rattlesnake sunning himself.  When I got back to camp, I identified it from a field guide...a prairie rattlesnake.

I did manage to get a series of shots of the sunset...from a safer location.

 

 

 

 

The colors changed minute by minute.

 

 

I love the way you can see the rays of the sun in this one.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my snake tales.  Camping is never boring.  Have a terrific day!

 

Until next time,

 

 

Pink Saturday Sunrise

Hello, my friends!  Happy Pink Saturday!  It's been awhile since I've been able to come up with some pink for you, but my recent trip to Badlands National Park in South Dakota has provided me with some gorgeous pinks.  Before I share them with you, I want to thank Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting our weekly pink get-together.  If you would like to visit all of our wonderful pink particpants, just click on the Pink Saturday icon in my right sidebar.

 

This week, I visited Dixie at French Lique for the first time.  If you love antiques, you will love her latest post.  She takes us to visit an amazing shop called The Curious Boys, in French Lique, Texas.  Thanks, Dixie!

 

Finally, I have some pink to share with you.  I snapped this photo at sunrise last week in the Badlands.

 

 

 

There were many species of wildflowers.  This one is the musk thistle.

 

 

This one is field milkvetch.

 

 

Those were the more tame photos from my Badlands trip.  Next week, I'll show you the rattlesnake that was curled up three feet behind me as I waited for the sunset.  Have a great week, and thank you for visiting.  You are what makes Comfort Cottage special.

 

Until next time,