My Treasure Hunt

Ever since I was a little girl, I always loved to go outside and just look. Not necessarily at beautiful vistas, but just at the details that are found in even the smallest patch of earth. I guess it was sort of like a treasure hunt for me, to discover the tiny gems in nature -- the seeds and berries and flowers and leaves -- and to watch how they grew and changed with the seasons.

I guess I am still at it almost half a century later. So much time has passed, so much water under the bridge, so many seasons have turned, and I am still hunting that treasure. The cedar trees are almost bursting with berries this autumn, a thousand tiny dusky pearls clinging to their branches. And every misty morning brings more small mushrooms to the lawn, appearing seemingly overnight, as if a whole colony of fairies had decided to take their rest in our backyard by the light of the moon.

The spiders are busy weaving now, too. Everywhere I walk, they have spun their soft yarns, spreading lacy silver shawls across the garden.

I hope you have enjoyed coming along on my little treasure hunt. Often I find myself at a loss for something to post here. My life is small and ordinary. But filled with treasure. :)

Mosaic Monday: San Francisco Landmarks

Yes, I m still posting pictures from our trip to San Francisco in August. And I'll probably be posting gardens we visited in June in October. :) I'm late getting this Mosaic Monday together because I had to drive my daughter back to school tonight. We had a lovely weekend together, though, which makes it all worthwhile.

So, what do we have pictured here? The top picture was taken along the Embarcadero, which is prime waterfront property filled with high end shops and eateries.

The second set of pictures shows the Transamerica Pyramid, the tallest building in the city, and a small street fair which we happened upon while visiting the famous City Lights bookstore, founded by the Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1953.

The beautiful green building is the historic Sentinel building, home of the famous film company American Zoetrope, which produced Godfather I & II, and Apocalypse Now, among others.

Below that is Ghirardelli Square, home to the famous chocolate makers, as well as a mall filled with high-end gift shops and eateries. The final picture shows the wharf directly across from Ghirardellli Square. The Transamerica building is in the background.

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of San Francisco. :)

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Happy Autumn

As the fields outside are filled with goldenrod, and the autumnal equinox approaches, bringing that golden light inside seems perfectly natural. We are creatures of the light, and we respond almost instinctively to golden flowers.

So, because the past few days were cool and rainy, a bunch of yellow roses came home from the supermarket with me.

It makes perfect sense, right? ;)

Happy almost-autumn, dear bloggers!

Mosaic Monday: Land's End

We spent an afternoon in San Francisco hiking to Land's End, a remote and deserted beach with fabulous views of the water. The hike itself was all down hill to reach the beach. The return hike was a b*tch! But the views were definitely worth it. The beach was littered with beautiful rocks and timbers, and as the tide was coming in, it battered and splashed the rocks. I'm so glad we took the time to make this hike -- it felt like a quiet and precious discovery so near to the city.

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

A Few More From San Francisco

It's been over a month since we went to San Francisco, and I'm still editing photos. :)

As you have probably guessed, I'm currently loving a vintage feel to my images. These shots of the Golden Gate Bridge were edited with a Florabella Photoshop action called Heiress.

Do many of you use Photoshop? I never know whether my little editing notes are helpful to you, or if they make no sense whatsoever. ;)

I've been feeling very scattered lately, between blogging and flickr and Facebook and Pinterest. Do you know what I mean? There are so many places on the web to keep up a presence -- I think I may need to pare down a little.

I have been spending more time with my portrait photography business, which I hope will keep growing over the next months. I've also got a 2012 garden calendar in the works, which you will see here soon.

And one of my favorite rummage sales is coming up in a few weeks. I keep telling myself that I don't need any more milk glass, but you know that will go by the wayside as soon as I get there... :)

So how is your September going so far? Last night was the first time I felt a little bit of fall in the air. How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Mosaic Monday: We Remember

I have no words, except these:

We will remember you always.

Here are the instructions to join today's post:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Collecting on the Cheap

Are you a collector? Does your heart go pitter patter at the sight of red transferware dishes or monogrammed silverplate or milk glass? In fact, my heart goes pitter patter at the sight of all of those things. :)

But I am also a cheap collector -- it's not just the thrill of the hunt, but also the idea of finding a bargain that appeals to me. And so, I also have to admit that some of the most fun I've ever had has been when I have been searching for shells or fossils or stones -- all free.

I found the fossils in the dish pictured above while on a class trip with my daughter when she was in junior high. We wore old sneakers and walked through a stream where glacial activity had deposited many treasures from thousands of years ago. The kids soon got bored, but I had a ball. :)

When our kids were small, we went on vacation in the Adirondacks, and stayed close to the site of a former garnet mine. I had a blast spending an afternoon seeking out stones with tiny bits of garnet (my birthstone, by the way) in them. :)

I think perhaps I inherited my love of "collecting on the cheap" from my father, who was famous in our family for coming home from the town dump with more things than he had brought there. He was a child of the Depression, when necessity made a virtue of collecting. How wonderful it is to find something useful or beautiful, for a pittance!

So here is my question for you: Are you a collector? What do you collect? What was your best "cheap collecting" moment? Give me your answers in the comments. :)

Mosaic Monday: Palace of Fine Arts

I have some more photos from San Francisco for you today. (Told you I had a lot!)

Patterned on an eighteenth-century engraving by Giovanni Piranesi entitled The Isle of the Dead, the Palace of Fine Arts was designed by Bernard Maybeck for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Originally one of many fantasy monuments, the neoclassical-style Palace was the centerpiece of the Exposition.

The dome of the rotunda is surrounded by a classical frieze and an octagonal arcade. There is also an open peristyle of Corinthian columns, flanked by a beautifully landscaped lagoon.

Because it was built as part of the Exposition, the Palace was not intended to last. However, the city of San Francisco developed such a love for the monument that it was preserved. It required a large amount of upkeep, and by the 1950's it became obvious that the original construction would not last. A group of influential San Franciscans, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, banded together to collect donations for reconstruction of the Palace, which began in 1964. Today, the Palace of Fine Arts remains as a beautiful attraction for tourists and San Franciscans alike.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Doors of Alcatraz

I just wanted to share a few more images from Alcatraz with you today. Although the gardens were lovely, there were parts of the prison itself that were starkly beautiful in a very different way. No bright colors and soft petals here, only nails and rust and stone and wood. And a sense of emptiness that is somehow beautiful as well...