Lost and Found!

 

Yesterday as I was pulling up my driveway, I saw what looked like a Fed Ex package stuffed in the shrubs. I got out to retrieve it and found the above balloon. It got me thinking. Who was this Anna Sue Gardner, mother and grandmother, as it says on the front. How far had this memento traveled? How old was she when she died and what kind of life did she have?

I was curious and googled her name along with the word Georgia. And this is what I found.

Anna Sue Gardner

Here is the back of the balloon:

"Forever in my Heart"

Assuming that this is the right Anna Sue Gardner and i hope that it is, she is missed and loved by someone. Isn't that what life is all about; to make a mark on an other's life and know that you are loved?

I hope you all are having a good week! Yay, tomorrow is Friday!

May the peace of the Lord, Jesus, be with you today and always!

♥Charlotte

Tones on Tuesday

This is actually a photo that I took about six months ago. It is hard for me to get models but Lorena loves to have her picture made, so I think I will call her and set up a photo shoot. I edited this with Flora Bella's BW Blush action and then adjusted it, as it was too light.
I am linking up with Tones on Tuesday and Favorite Photo of the Week.  Will try to do more next Tuesday.

 

That's all for today! XXXXOOOO to y'all!

♥charlotte

Some new touches in my great room

A few months ago (?) I had the pleasure of being in Debra's Design Challenge.

Click here


I was amazed at the generosity of other bloggers. The ideas were just so great and I have since implemented some of them. This is a work in progress and I have to fit it into my budget.
The mustard walls are going to be history. I just have to sweet talk my husband into painting them. It will be a French gray, I think. Something very light and airy.


As you see above, I added some white items to brighten up my mantle.
*note to Richard of My old historic home 
See the architectural items on either side of the mantle? Do you think they work?

Chalk paint has changed my life. Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. They call it Girl's paint since you don't have to go to the trouble of sanding and priming. You just open up the can, wipe down your furniture with a damp cloth, stick your clean paint brush in, and paint away. That part was easy. Distressing is a haphazard thing. You can't predict the outcome. So you must be flexible and just have fun with it.

This sofa table was painted with two coats of Old White, and the top got two coats of Old Ocher. With 120 grit sandpaper, I distressed the legs and drawers, then the top. After that, I applied clear paste wax all over. Then a second application of wax the next day. The top has a little of the dark wax to age it some. I had a mirror left over from Christmas decorations so I propped it up to reflect the blue items on display.

I bought two French inspired pillows from Restoration Hardware and a cream colored throw from Costco for $20 to brighten my leather sofa. Someone suggested a quilt to use as a throw and I will be on the look out for one.

Thanks for visiting my home today! Blessings to you all! Have a wonderful and fun weekend!

♥charlotte   linking with:

It's a tiny world out there

The bees (?) are busy doing their thing, whatever that is, on my sedum blossoms in the backyard. Now I don't know about you, but I am new to this macro game. And I don't like it when the bees do not behave and stand still for me. I can't tell you how many blurry bee shots I had to take until I got this one.

I just love the purplish blue of this morning glory. Aren't they pretty climbing fences right now? I used a Flora Bella texture and one from Isabella.

The top leaves are processed with Everyday Element's Amanda's "Hershey" action. You can find Amanda here: She is awesome!

The second one I used a cooling filter(82) at 25%.

This zinnia is a volunteer in Jan's vegetable garden. I love how the +10 gets in close and personal. :o)

I am linking up to a brand new party today:

 

 Enjoy the rest of the day, my dears!

Peace and love,

♥charlotte 

Learning Macro

Last Mandevilla blossom on my deck

Hi Everyone! I hope you are having a good week so far. You are, aren't you?

There haven't been too many photo ops for me lately but I am looking forward to going to the country in the next couple of weeks to get some fall color shots. 

How about you? What have you been up to lately?

Since the 60mm macro lens is out of my range (budget) right now, I decided to get a set of macro filters to try out. They were under $20 for a set of 4; +1,+2,+4 & +10.

I just screwed the filter onto my lens and headed to my backyard to shoot.

I figured out that you can't use your auto focus...have to go manual focus. Which is hard for me as I don't see that well. But I will continue to try.

I think I probably should have had a smaller aperture, like a 16, to get more focus on the petals.

 

Although this is the most unfocused of all, I kind of liked the dreaminess of it.

Enjoy your day!

♥Charlotte

http://www.lgordonphotography.com

What happened to my "crab"?

This is Tammy's Photo of her "Crab" Cakes

Doesn't this just look luscious?! The photo is from my friend, Tammy's, blog:

Simple Southern Happiness 

BTW, she has some really cool macro shots. So be sure to visit her.

Anyway, back to the "crab" cakes. My husband and I went shopping for the ingredients two days ago. This morning, I decided to gather all the mixings and make these goodies for lunch. I got the sour cream, mayo, red pepper, scallion, celery, spices, bread crumbs, corn meal. But where is the Imitation crab???

I looked high and low. In the refrigerator inside and in the garage. In the freezer inside and out. But no crab! I called my husband and he said that he put it in the outside freezer. Well, he couldn't find it either.

Ooooooo......I hope it is not in my trunk. Yuk...if it is ...I wonder how I will ever get the smell out.

No,  not there either. Oh well, maybe it fell out of the bag from the store to the car.

No problem. I will just go and buy some more. And I did. Let me tell you, this is one really good recipe. She also includes a recipe for tartar sauce that is wonderful.

It made 7 "crab" cakes. We have leftovers for tomorrow. Not really low cal but such a treat!

Here is the exact post for the crab cakes:

Crab is on the menu

 I am still wondering what happened to my "crab".

blessings to y'all!!

♥charlotte

Bug from outer space?

Lola, one of my sweet companion dogs, has a bladder infection, for which she is now being treated. But still she has to be taken out about 15 times a day until it is cured so I have been in the backyard a lot.

Today when I was leaning over the railing, I saw these two insects. And they were perfectly still so I thought they had killed each other. I ran in the house to get my camera and since I had recently purchased some macro filters, I decided to put them to the test. This on is a X4 and I put  it on my 50mm lens. Apparently it doesn't allow auto focus, so I went manual. My eyesight is not what it used to be, so it is probably not crisp.

As I was changing positions, the larger insect flew into the air, along with the yellow jacket, still attached and landed a few feet away. Does anyone have a clue about this?

Hope you all are enjoying cooler weather where you are!

May the peace, joy and happiness of Jesus be with you today and always!

♥charlotte