look what I have

going on in this box.

 

 

Potatoes.

I'm going to try growing potatoes.  I heard someone say, "turn your waiting room into a classroom."  So while these potatoes are waiting, I'm reading and trying to learn what to do.  I'm going to stick with containers because I'm not ready for anything else yet.  And while we wait, the potatoes are in a box in the laundry room.

So yeah, that's what I have going on.

I also found a really good deal on large containers for plants.  I added a few 15 and 20 gallon pots to my cart and before I checked out with my $36 subtotal, I saw that shipping was $280.  Yikes.  I decided to keep looking.  I'm sure there's a better deal elsewhere.

That's what's going on in my gardening world.  In my covid news, I realized something.  Coke sometimes has the chemical flavor while Diet Dr. Pepper never does.  Cosme suggested that the sugar could be part of it.  That's disheartening.  Also, Goldfish crackers and plain Saltines have the campfire flavor, but Cheez-Its and Saltines with butter don't.  Raise your hand if you're tired of all the covid stuff.

I'm not talking about here on my blog, I'm talking about in the world.  If it's happening to me, I'll post about it here and if you don't want to read about it, go read something else.  That's not all I'm over, but we won't get into politics, internet trolls, nastiness, or intolerance right now.  Okay, maybe just a little.  I'm tired of people with the same views as myself being grouped together and called names and made fun of by people I know.  Do the people I know actually know how I feel or where I stand?  Probably not because it's not about them.  Am I going to come out and start being vocal about it?  No, because that's not how I am.  Okay, that's enough.

Dad tells me I need to take more pictures.  I agree.  I take a lot of pictures with my phone because it's fast and easy, but I want to start doing more.  I'm not talking about dropping everything and doing it full time, but it's what I like to do and I want to do it because I enjoy it.  I started a 12-week photo thing this morning.  When I finish here, I'm going to take some time to think about it.  I don't have the granddaughter today so I might try to read up and focus on that challenge.  Not to get all deep or anything, but sometimes I get busy doing so many other things that I don't stop to do any of the artsy fartsy hobbies I've always had.  If it's not your thing, then you might not understand the feeling of needing a creative outlet.  I'm definitely not some amazing artist, but it's something I've always done and it usually gets put on the back burner.  And sometimes, when that stuff stays on the back burner for too long, I feel like nasty moods come along.

So that's enough of that.  I'm going to TCB.

for a few minutes, it got a little

rough this morning.  I'm always super sensitive to smells.  I just did the litter box and it almost didn't end well.  I'm recovering right now. 

I was looking online over the weekend, thinking of all the things I could ask for when my birthday rolls around.  It all started because of Pinterest and pergolas.  Anyway, I ended up at this grill somehow, not that I want or need it.  A grill with wifi.  How have any of us managed all this time?

I guess they took hotspot to an all new level.

We also ran out of dog food on Saturday.  I didn't make it to the store because I had other things going on, like cleaning and Vikings.  They were fed for the day so I decided I'd go Sunday morning for food.  We let them outside before heading to Kroger.  This is how our dogs let us know we failed them.

They expect breakfast as soon as they go out and if they don't get it, they lay there staring at the bowl until we get the message... or until food magically appears.  We got the message.

I felt like drawing or something along those lines the other day.  In junior high, when we first learned contour lines and how to draw our hand, it became a goto for me.  Can't think of anything to draw?  Draw your hand.  That's what I did.  Oh, then I added my stick of charcoal on the page so my drawn hand could hold it.  It's not awesome or anything and I've done it plenty of times but it led to a mess and that led to me getting my camera out.

I haven't looked at the pictures yet but maybe I'll pull them up today and share tomorrow.  I don't know.  There wasn't anything awesome there either, just me wanting to do something. 

We've also started the first half of the fifth season of Vikings.  After this we'll be caught up.  This show is seriously good.   We were about to head to bed last night but we had to see how a situation played out.  We ended up watching the whole next episode.  We turned everything off in the living room and watched a little more in the bedroom.  I don't even know when the rest of the season comes out.  I guess I need to look that up so I can stay on top of things.

Now I've got to go turn my water off.  I'm determined to get the grass looking good again.  I really think it was the snow we got.  I noticed there are quite a few yards that normally look perfect and this year they all seem a little off.  Glad it's not just us.

I think I might go finish that oatmeal I started before doing the litter box.  Toast might be a better option.

i was out at the

local tennis court with Cosme on Sunday morning.  That sounds totally misleading.  I didn't go out there to play, I actually didn't even go out there with him.  He went out there to hit a few balls off his machine while I lounged around before getting ready for church.  Not long after he left, he called and said he'd forgotten the thing to pick up the balls and asked if I'd bring it out.  I got out there and picked up a few balls.  I walked around for a little bit with my camera but it was so hot and humid, my lens wouldn't quit fogging up.  I took a picture anyway.

Then I headed back to the house to start getting ready... and Cosme still managed to be ready a few minutes before me.

on friday i signed

off because I hadn't had lunch or breakfast and just ate the Cheetos from the last picture.  I needed to go get something to eat.  Guess what.  I didn't.  I got sidetracked and before I knew it, the only thing in my stomach was margaritas.  Really strong margaritas.  Let's just say Friday didn't end well and Saturday was spent in bed.  I don't have a theme from the list but let's just go with "what happened Friday".

Again with the 50mm and black/white.

I learned a few things on Friday.

1.  Make SURE you remember to eat something before you meet for drinks.
2.  If you don't, make sure it's a place you'll never go to again... it makes running into walls and holding onto walls for balance less embarrassing.
(And having your car parked where the patrons can't watch while Cosme walks you out to the car so you can TCB before you pass out doesn't hurt either.) Just saying...

today's post is

"texture".  I stuck with the 50mm but opted out of black and white because it took away a lot of the detail.

I have no time to discuss anything else because there is an open bag of Cheetos sitting right next to me and I haven't had breakfast or lunch.

day three is here

and I feel I've accomplished a little more.  I've been reading a few articles and apparently, this funk of a creative slump is an actual thing.  Well, maybe not officially but enough for people to feel the need to write articles on it.  So I did some reading and will do more reading today.  One of the suggestions was finding a photography club.  Sure, there's always Houston Center for Photography but the photo walks/capture crawls are once a month and sometimes that one day happens when I'm busy... or too busy to drive to Houston.  Like I said, I'll keep reading today and hopefully find something.  The photo club was sounding a little better than doing things on my own, especially since a man's body was found last week under a local bridge.  They still haven't found his head or a suspect.

On a lighter note, today's photo was still with the 50mm and the theme was "black and white". 

Now I'll continue on with my reading/researching while I fight to stay awake with this sinus pill and squeeze in some time to make a batch of snickerdoodles.

day two of

the attack on the creative block and it seems things are about the same as day one.  Oh well, what's important is that I'm trying.  Right?  Anyway, I stuck with the same lens (50mm) and black and white.  The next topic on some of the lists was "rule of thirds".  I would explain but it seems a little obvious... and that's coming from someone who has a username of FractionsAreStupid.  The same person who, when learning about fractions in elementary school, didn't understand that "two-and-a-half" meant "2 plus a half" but instead "I have 2 and one of those is a half".  Perhaps I've always been an over analyzer but I eventually caught on, eventually.

Anyway, today's "rule of thirds" is Lucille and there are two.  Not 2 1/2 but two whole pictures of Lucille.  And don't pull a ruler or grid out because they seem more rule-of-thirds-ish.

Wait, two pictures for one challenge?  Could this be progress?  I'm not sure but it wouldn't hurt to over analyze it, I guess.


Now I'm off to do a few chores before I leave to count at the church.  And also, I've been using my computer in the kitchen and the smell of that banana bread in the oven is about to be too much.

i've been in somewhat

of a photography rut.  Maybe not so much a rut as an uncreative streak.  Creative block.  That's a good term for it.  I want to do but I don't know what to do or where to start.  Earlier this year I mentioned all the lists I found on Pinterest to getting back on track, especially when it comes to things like being organized... and we all see how far I got on those.  So for the last few nights when animals woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep, I picked up my phone and started searching for ways to get ideas.  We all know I do a daily Instagram challenge and that's great and all but it's just my phone and I want more.  So I found a few more lists with daily themes, along with a few ideas of using one lens for a while or all this or that or whatever.

Well, it wasn't just an uncreative streak that hit, I also updated my operating system a few weeks ago, just before I took some prom pictures for a friend.  Long story short, I couldn't open anything from my camera on my computer.  I finally found the cure, which came through asking for help on an Adobe forum and assistance from Cosme on following the directions I was given.  (ps- two things I've NEVER been good at are math and computers) We fixed it yesterday, I got the prom pics finished and here I am now.

So, to work my way out of this rut or around this block, I looked over a couple of lists and the first one on each was "self portrait".  Here's what I did last night.

It's a self portrait with one of the things that might be keeping me in a creative block, my phone. Words With Friends, anyone?  Also, I used my 50mm lens and decided to go with black and white. Maybe one of those will be the start of a theme?  We'll see.

Today I'll look more into getting around creative blocks in addition to putting a few things back on the computer that I had to delete yesterday.  Hopefully this ends well.