Gifts at Christmas Time

This will be a very quick post today.  I really want to wish everyone a very happy Christmas with plenty of laughter, good health, and happiness, and especially time to spend with those you love.  This can often be a very sad time for people, remembering those they've lost, but for many it is a time to re-unite with their families, and spend time together.  I am grateful for the support and friendship I have received from so many wonderful readers.  These friendships would never have been possible but for this wonderful world of technology.  I am including one photograph, a small gift I've just completed.  This little pink cardigan has been made for a baby I will never see.  I am sending this to a friend in the US, a gift for her niece whose baby girl is due in January.  Why...........well, I don't know, simply because small things count, and the friendship and support I receive from my friend means a lot to me.  I receive that same support and friendship from so many.  What a pity more people in the world could not take a lesson from we ordinary people, plodding away, making friendships and sharing our passion.

There isn't much else to say today, except to again give my good wishes to all my friends, near and far.  Take care, have fun, stay warm/cool/safe, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.  The comments I receive mean so much to me, and this has helped me continue blogging for so long.  

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FRIENDS

Our 'Dancing Queen'

Not a long post this time, days are running away on me.  I just wanted to share two very nice photographs I took of our grand daughter at her dance recital a few weeks ago.  She has always been a most photogenic child, and now it seems as though she is growing up too quickly.  She has been a very busy girl this term with swimming, as well as dancing, AND trying to cope with family life still disrupted as a result of the house fire.  Hopefully, all will be done by mid January, and things can return to normal.

The night was pleasant, not a long programme, but the small crowd enjoyed every dance.  One last photograph and I'll be off to try to catch up on some Christmas cleaning.  Sadly, I was unable to successfully clone out the arm in the following photograph.

Thank you to all who continue to support my blog.  I so enjoy your comments.  After a bit of conversation with my friend, Dian, I've realized the textured seed pods in my last post belong to the Plane Tree. 

More about texture

As fibre artists, I think we all get the thing with texture.  It's what makes us feel a buzz when we see a piece of embroidery, knitting, mixed media work, etc.  I've been playing with both my cameras lately [who's a smarty pants then...........LOL], and thought I'd share a few photos where the main focus is texture.  I know the guy in the photograph above isn't something delicate and genteel, but boy, just look at that skin, such a lot of texture there.  I took lots and lots of this fellow, sunning himself on a post.  He didn't seem to mind how close I got to him.  This one has been taken on my new DSLR Nikon, not on macro, but a reasonably close shot with a medium sized lens.  Somehow, I don't think he quite trusted me.........LOL..........

Much of the time, my world is full of drab colours.  I'm sorry I can't provide something a little livelier.  But, hey, not everyone sees beauty in the same thing.  This dry and decaying rose hip came up pretty well with the macro feature on my small Nikon, with just a hint of sharpening in PhotoShop.  French knots and long bullions would probably be the way to stitch something like this.

Right down on the ground, almost obscured by the lawn, I found these white puff ball fungi things.  On closer inspection, they had quite rough skin.  The little Nikon really is good with these macro shots, and I've taken the shutter speed back to 100, not the default 200.  Again, a tad on the boring side colourwise.

I decided to have a play with the fungi photograph.  Don't ask me what I did, but between PhotoShop and GIMP, I created this image, just for fun.  It's been filled with a light gradient, cropped, had the perspective altered, cropped again.........., well I won't continue, because to be honest I forget what I actually did and in what order.

On our recent trip to Toowoomba, I picked up these really interesting seed pods under some trees - much to the disgust of my husband.  If he hadn't been there, I'd have picked up a few more!!!!  They look like miniature meteorites to me.  I will try to find out the name of the tree.  I just love these, but again, they are quite dull.  This photo was just snapped on the verandah rail outside with the new camera, nothing special, just point and shoot.

I really like the seed pods in the above photograph, and decided to play with an image.  This altered image, again using a mixture of filters in PhotoShop and GIMP reminds me of something from a futuristic movie.   When I look at it, I have the feeling one of those pods is heading straight for my face!!! 

And, lastly, I took part of a macro shot,  added lots of filters, lightly coloured it with a gradient at 30% opacity, trying desperately to make the dull paper wasp nest into something resembling middle earth perhaps?????  No, I haven't been drinking, just trying to turn something dull into something interesting............LOL...

Just recently I received a newsletter from Sue Bleiweiss.  In the newsletter there was a link to a post where Sue is sharing her method for making the most gorgeous textured shoes.  These are simply gorgeous, not bright, but very dramatic, and I hope you make the time to visit the link here, and see how Sue created these.  

As always, I have to say a big thank you to everyone who so kindly commented on our old dog.  I am so touched by the friendship and support.

Farewell Old Friend

Thank you so much to the lovely people who always find time to comment on my posts.  I am sorry they have been so few and far between of late.  This won't be a long one I'm afraid.  Perhaps I'll have something a little more chipper in a few days.  It has been a sad time in our household in the last week.  The time came for us to send one of our good working dogs to the big cattle muster in the sky.  He was one of ten in the litter - February, 2000 - and from the moment I saw him, he was 'my pick'.  Although he was a 'working dog', he was always treated with great affection, and termed 'Mum's loving pup' because he was my pick of the litter.  The boss has said he never regretted keeping him, as he was very good at his job, ie working the lead.

Farewell old mate, we miss you Hank.  Dogtown is not quite the same without you.