Slowing Down

"Without patience, we will learn less in life.  We will see less.  We will feel less.  We will hear less.  Ironically, rush and more usually means less."  -   Mother Teresa

"Slow down and enjoy life.  It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."  -  Eddie Cantor

A Few Little Things

"You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you 

suddenly thrill you."  -  Andy Warhol 

A few little things from my week...

A Beautiful Day

"Everywhere we look the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."  
-  Van Gogh
"Sometimes the most beautiful things are in front of our eyes and we don't even notice, because we're either too busy or too afraid to take a closer look." 
 -  Katja Michael

I shoved a plastic grocery sack in my pocket on the way out the door.  I had my big girl camera in hand and was determined to use it, no matter what the sky was threatening.

Orchids

"You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one.  Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own.  It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle."  -  Paulo Coelho

Last week a friend and I went to Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio to take pictures.  They were having their annual orchid show...so many beautiful orchids of all kinds. 

Nature Abstracts

'Everywhere we look the complex magic of Nature blazes before our eyes.'  -  Van Gogh

      Sunday it was rainy.  Between the storms I grabbed my macro lens and headed out the door.  

 I captured my irises in a way I had never looked at them before.  

I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.  I used Kim's Lightroom presets DM_ Autotone and DM_kk_Sunday (with some tweaks) on all the images.  My Finds are my beautiful irises and realizing if I just take the time to stop and look, I will be amazed at what I find.

I am spending time with my family this long Memorial weekend, so it may take me longer to stop by and visit your blogs... but I am looking forward to seeing what you have discovered this week.  

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a happy and safe weekend!

Michelle

Spring Tulips

'In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.'  -  Mark Twain

Spring is definitely in the air, soggy yards, warmer temperatures and I wore flip-flops yesterday.  

I wish these pale pink tulips were from an Ohio yard but they are from Trader Joe's.  They are still pretty, but I am looking forward to having flowers soon grow outside my door.  

My birthday was yesterday.  I asked for an olloclip macro 3-in-1 lens for my birthday.  Guess what? I got one.   This daisy picture was among my first attempts at using it.   I can see many more iphone macro shots in my future...  

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  I used Kim's texture flow on my top image.  

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Michelle

Spring!

‘Be the plant growing through the cracks in the cement, beautiful- because it doesn’t know it’s not supposed to grow there.’   – Shane Koyczan

‘Bloom where you are planted.’ - Mary Engelbreit

My daffodil plants are very short this year, their green leaves are almost half their usual height.  I’m sure the abnormally cold winter created a stunt in their growth, but they are still blooming.  

It seems plants, no matter where they end up, do their best to grow and bloom.  They know their purpose and go all out to make it so.  They make the absolute best of the situation they are in.  I think I  need to be more like plants...

We had one day of beautiful sunny and 70 degree weather here in SW Ohio earlier this week.  I worked in my yard for a short time, it felt good to dig in the dirt.  I also took some pictures. 

I played with my Lensbaby Lens and macro lens kit.  It was my first time.  I have no idea what I am doing with it, but with practice I am sure I will figure it out.  While I was on the ground, this tiny spider came by to visit.  I was happy to see some bug life return, outside of course.

Today I am linking up with Kim Klassen’s Friday Finds.  My photos were textured with the Kim Klassen texture ' simply'.  My Friday Finds are spring daffodils and a tiny spider.  I also have to tell you I found the best pizza EVER at our local grocery store.  Although I don’t have a picture (sorry), it was a Fig & Goat Cheese Pizza , with extra-virgin olive oil, fig preserves, gorgonzola, goat cheese, pancetta, and arugula.  The best of sweet, salty and rich all on a hand tossed crust.  You can’t get any better than that.

Thank you so much for your well wishes to my husband.  He made it through the ‘blasting’, but is still waiting for the kidney stone to pass, hopefully it will soon.  

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Michelle