In Between

We moved out!

We went from this. . .

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to this. . .

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to this.

moving

I don’t think I have ever worked so hard physically as I have the last few months- and especially the last week. We either gave away, sold, or packed twenty-six years of accumulated possessions from my parents, us, and our children.  I mentioned on Facebook a week or so ago that I dreamed I was running a marathon (if you know me, you know this would be a nightmare!).  Well, last night I dreamed I was gliding around on a Segway!

There is a HUGE sense of relief at having completed this arduous task.  Our backs are unstiffening, and our joints are no longer screaming as we make our last good-byes.

And so now we are in between houses and living in hotels. There is a bit of a feeling that I should be packing or cleaning something, but it’s OK. And we are looking forward to the next part of the adventure- MOVING IN!

Melinda2 Comments

Back in First Grade

This is just an iPhone photo, and I didn’t even take it- but it’s not just a photo.  This is a photo of me with Anne, Barbara and Kathryn, who have been my teaching partners, BFFs and family for a good part of my life in Benicia.  We’ve not only experienced all the daily ups and downs of teaching together, but we’ve also had some great fun, supported each other through some tough times, and laughed and cried together more times than we can count.

Bye, girls! I’ll miss you! Remember- there are guest rooms!

firstgrade

Melinda3 Comments

Don’t worry. . .

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As I was putting this little stone (a gift from Tra!) into my purse to make sure it goes with me to Arizona, I kept hearing “Don’t worry, be happy” playing in my head. Good words to remember as we make this huge change in our lives!

We are mostly packed.

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We (assisted by some nice young men) have packed 137 boxes so far- and there are at least 50 which were professionally packed (mostly china).  We’ve lived in this house for over 26 years and have accumulated a lot of STUFF  (listen to George Carlin’s STUFF routine on YouTube!) over the years. I cannot imagine ever doing this again; our bodies are aching at the end of each day.

We are taking the afternoon off to say good-bye to some of our friends (sniff, sniff. . .).  Then we start packing our suitcases.

But where is my phone? I hope I haven’t packed it. . . (seriously!)

 

Melinda2 Comments

Saying good-bye

Although it seems to us that we have been getting ready to move forever (especially to me- the declutterer), our friends are commenting that it is happening all too fast.  Now that we are getting packed up and starting to say good-bye, time is speeding up for us too. We will be closing escrow in less than two weeks- and will be out of our house in a little over a week. We have said good-bye to many, many possessions, and now we are starting to say good-bye to friends.

Last night we attended a fantastic party at the magnificent Sappho’s home with many of our friends from Unity of Walnut Creek.  We were surprised and overwhelmed when we were gifted with gorgeous hand-blown margarita glasses brimming with beautiful notes of love, good wishes, and promises to visit (all written on cactus decorated paper).  Thank you, Sappho and Unity- we will miss you so much!

How can we leave all the beautiful friendships we have made over the last forty plus years in the Bay Area??? I keep telling myself that we are at a stage in our lives when we are free to travel and that we will be meeting up with friends at various beautiful vacation spots over the years. And we hope to have lots of visitors to our new home in Arizona!  Hear that, everyone???

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Melinda2 Comments

Sunset in Arizona

The sunset was beautiful as we went out to get into our car last week when we were on our trip to Arizona.  I went back inside to grab my camera and got this quick shot of the pines by our friends’ house.

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Image enhanced with Jessica Drossin’s Mumbai texture

Melinda2 Comments

Green Jewel

We are moving out of our house in 2-3 weeks and into the new at the end of August.  Despite the presence of creatures like the one below found on my friend, Debbie’s window screen, we are getting so excited about moving to Arizona!

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Melinda1 Comment

Back in Arizona

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We bought a house!!!! It’s just what we were looking for- smaller, one level, low maintenance, and beautiful! We will finally exhale when all is finalized with the sale of our home in California- but it looks like we will be living in Arizona by the end of August! This will be a HUGE change for us- especially leaving all our friends. We expect lots of visitors!

Today’s photo was taken in the backyard of our ever-hospitable friends, the Thomases, who live in a gorgeous home in the pines of Prescott. We’re hoping they won’t be sick of us by the time we move here!

Melinda2 Comments

Among the Vines

I went over to my friend, Kathryn’s yesterday to help her learn some photography basics so she can move beyond AUTO on her Nikon D60.  We had fun shooting with different settings, and I especially enjoyed photographing her backyard vineyard.  Kathryn is a quick learner, so I am looking forward to seeing some of her photos.

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I added a couple of Jessica Drossin’s textures to this image, which give it some warmer tones and a nice vignette.

Melinda2 Comments

Beyond Beyond- Day 23

I’ve gotten behind in my Beyond Beyond lessons. 😦
In Lesson 23, Kim showed us a desaturated flower edit and gave us her “recipe” as a preset as well as a step-by-step version in Photoshop and Lightroom.  The steps involved desaturating the image, giving it a matte edit and haze, adding some subtle split toning and a texture.  I tried these steps in a couple flower photos I’ve done recently, but wasn’t satisfied with my backgrounds. I finally went back to some of the orchid photos I took at Tra’s house and found an image where I could apply the techniques successfully. I also added just a bit of a white vignette to lighten the background.

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Melinda2 Comments

15 Seconds of Fame

Today I am having a brief moment of “fame”, thanks to WordPress, the site that hosts my blog .  My jellyfish photo from a few weeks ago was published in an article about serialized posts, such as Texture Tuesday! The WordPress editor, Ben, didn’t write about Texture Tuesday itself, but included my photo as a demonstration of how to bring readers to your blog by having regular features that would draw in more visitors.  The article appears in the daily WordPress blog, which I confess I had never read before (I’m going to start reading it RIGHT NOW!).

Now, back to photography- here is Jackson, our constant companion in Prescott.  He is the very goofy, playful and extroverted kitty belonging to Debbie and Dale, our wonderful hosts in Prescott, where we house-hunted.

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Melinda9 Comments

Morning Flowers

Here’s a view of flowers blooming on the balcony of our hotel room at Lake Gregory, where we stopped on the way to Arizona last week. This photo is textured with two layers of Kim Klassen’s kk_1301, one at soft light blend mode and one at color burn.

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Check out some more photos using textures by Kim Klassen by visiting her site at kimklassencafe.com

Melinda3 Comments

Mama Bunny

Mama Bunny is a regular visitor to my friend, Debbie’s backyard in Prescott, Arizona.  Baby avoided my lens, but I managed to zoom in for this shot of Mama.

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Melinda2 Comments

Old

We took a drive yesterday and checked out some model home sites in Enchanted Canyon (in Prescott). It is a beautiful area, and one of the attractions is petroglyphs on Indian Rock.  There are several other areas around Prescott that also have petroglyphs; I hope to check them out someday.

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Melinda1 Comment

Wildfire

I haven’t posted this week, because we’ve been busy visiting our friends in Prescott, Arizona- and looking for a house to buy.  I’ve barely taken time for photography, much less gotten my laptop out.  It has been a wonderful visit, and although we haven’t yet bought a house, we’ve fallen in love with Prescott again.

The day before we left for Arizona was the day of the horrible tragic deaths of the firefighters in the Yarnell fire (just outside of Prescott). The town is in mourning and coming together to help the families of those who were evacuated and/or lost homes as well as the families of the fire crew who lost their lives.

Fire was on our minds as we drove Hwy. 40 from California into Arizona. Just past Kingman we saw another wildfire- the Dean Peak fire.

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Since we’ve been here, we’ve seen a wildfire- and experienced lightning, thunder, a hailstorm and flash flooding! We’ve seen lots of lizards and one javelina- think I’ll go sit outside now and hope a herd of javelinas come through the yard before dark!

 

Melinda4 Comments

Bully

This little guy still won’t let me get close.  He has no problem buzzing around my head- basically telling me to BACK OFF from his feeder.  But he won’t come near the feeder itself unless I’m 8-10 feet away.  He is basically king of the yard this summer.

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Melinda3 Comments