The August Break 2012

How it works: you simply share one photo (or more!) each day on your blog – Monday to Friday, or every day. Or whenever you feel moved to share. Using any camera – DSLR, compact, Polaroid, Holga, iPhone (my choice), Instax, film or digital – with or without words – anything goes! – for the whole of August. No pressure – just looking at August through your camera lens as a way to be more present this summer. And to have a little break from the pressures and expectations of regular blogging. ~ Susannah Conway

My August Break is over. 

I enjoyed taking quick snapshots this past month and editing them in Instagram. It was quick and easy and so very different than all those other daily photo challenges that I have done (year 1, year 2 & year 3). And now, after doing this project, I am so tempted to get an iPhone.

By the way....how can it be September already?

Things will be different now

We are finally a 2 car family again! 

No more rearranging of the schedules. No more deciding who drops off who at work.

I will get to go straight to work in the morning, come straight home afterwards (or not) and not have to leave again unless I want to. 

I will get to make dinner while the sun is still out and then eat it at a decent hour.

I will be free to make plans, accept invites. Yippee! Yay!

Maybe I will even have enough energy to do my classwork on a week night. C'mon, it could happen.

I didn't think it was that long ago that we ended up with only one car but I looked it up and it has actually been about 6-years since the devil car died. 6-years is a long time.

uh-oh

Lately I have been doing more of this.....

Knitting is more fun than doing homework

than of this.....

I really should be studying

I think I may have a problem.

poofy clouds

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone...and I don't know if it will be coming back any time soon. To say that I am a little sad about this would be a bit of an understatement.

peek-a-boo sun

It rained today.

How do I know that?

A co-worker announced that it was raining and that the weather radar showed a huge storm. So, I looked it up and this is what it looked like. See that green stick pin smack dab in the middle? That is where I live.

OMGee that is a lot of rain!

Weather radar is usually all I have to go by when I am stuck inside. Well...that and Facebook. People love to post about the rain on Facebook (I have no shame, I am totally guilty of this). I usually end up making a call to the husband, just to make sure that it is indeed raining. That is, if he doesn't call me first.

You could say, rain is a pretty big deal around here.

I was looking forward to seeing the rain when I got off of work today. But when the time came to go home, the rain was no where to be found and there was the sun, all bright and shiny. Well, there is always tomorrow.

raindrops on window

I had no idea it was raining today. The drive to work this morning was hot and humid with no hint of rain. At work, I sat at a desk in a room with no windows. I stepped outside for the first time when I left work at 5 pm and was surprised to see it was dark and cloudy and wet. Rain is awesome!

hot, humid and stormy

Actually it was more like hot, humid and not so stormy. According to the weather forecast, the rest of the week promises to be the same.

Last night, we had quite the storm. Lots of rain, wind and lightning. I heard some people even got hail.

Today, when I left work, the storms clouds were building. As I was driving home I could see the lightning getting closer. The car has a broken window and I was happy to make it home before the storm hit. But that's just it, the storm didn't hit. Outside it was grey, dusty and windy. After I went inside, it all just disappeared. It's very disappointing.

Here's hoping that tomorrow is a bit more on the stormy side.

These past few days....

It appears that my August break has taken a bit of a break. But to be honest, not much has happened in the last few days.

On Thursday, there was chocolate cake. Oh and ice cream. Office birthdays sure make for yummy days.

My kitty is not doing too well so on Friday I stayed home to be with her.

There is new yarn in the house. I am almost ready to add a new color to the baby blanket that I am knitting. I really should be studying, but this yarn is just sitting here staring at me.

August sunset

I have really been enjoying this month's little photo project. Maybe because the photos are nothing fancy, just quickie snapshots. Or maybe it could be the fun of playing with Instagram. 

I don't have an iPhone so I have been using my point-and-shoot camera and then editing with Instagram. Instant editing makes me very happy.

I don't have that many photos on Instagram but if you want to check them out you can click here: Dreamsofnyssa's Instagram  (This link will work even if you are on a regular computer, no app needed).

rainy door

Happiness is...An evening thunderstorm. Especially one that lasts most of the night. It totally makes up for the heat of yesterday.

frosty

It's 109 degrees outside and it's snowing in my freezer.

 

backyard visitor

I was walking around the backyard when this caught my eye. Just a few steps to the left and I would have stepped on it. I was surprised and a little excited to see it. Creatures like this do not normally exist in my sad weedy backyard. I guess the weeds really are good for something after all.

After doing some online searching, I believe this is a White-lined Sphinx caterpillar. In fact, a couple of months ago I found a dead moth on the back porch that fit the description of this caterpillar. From what I read, they burrow in the ground. I wonder if this is what has been making holes all over the backyard.

smile

The sign at work said to smile. So, that is what I did.

baby needs a blanket

My cousin recently had a baby. So, I am making a blanket. Because every baby needs a blanket.

Weeds of Green

If the weeds in the yard can grow so lush and green, I figure when the time comes there shouldn't be a problem growing flowers and veggies and other pretty things, right?

Ombré - Is it manly enough?

ombré
adjective:
shaded or graduated in tone: said of a color

Objects made with graduated color have always been a favorite of mine. In the past it was kind of a hard concept to explain to people, plus you didn't really see it around all that much. But, times have changed. It appears to be pretty popular now-a-days and ombré seems to be everywhere.

Now on to my question.....I have big plans to crochet another ripple blanket, this time for my teenage nephew. I was thinking that using all one color, like grey, would look pretty neat. Of course being me, I am stuck on WHICH grey to use.

I also thought about using different shades of grey but wasn't sure how it would turn out. That is until I saw this awesomeness the other day. This is exactly what I was thinking of doing. The different shades of grey look so pretty but it also makes me think that maybe the ombré look is not really a guy thing.

So, what do you think? Is ombré manly enough?

Index card a day 2012

Another project FINISHED.

♥ draw ♥ doodle ♥ write ♥ collage ♥ paint ♥ cut ♥ haiku ♥ stamp ♥ stitch ♥

ONE INDEX card each day

JUNE + JULY

61 DAYS : 61 CARDS

 If you start late you do not need to catch up, just start.

The challenge was to create 61 cards. I managed to complete 19. For me, this is a total accomplishment and I deem this project a success!

I had fun playing with supplies that have not seen much use in the past few years. Some were still packed away from our move (3-years ago), some had never been opened and some were all dried up. This project was also a great excuse to buy a few new supplies to experiment with.

I am very happy I came across this challenge. I learned quite a bit from looking at all the cards that other people created. There are some really talented people out there that can make a simple index card look like a masterpiece. Amazing!

To see all my ICAD 2012 posts click here or click on the thumbnails below to get a closer look of a particular card.

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

No. 4

No. 5

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8

No. 9

No. 10

No. 11

No. 12

No. 13

No. 14

No. 15

No. 16

No. 17

No. 18

No. 19