Burst Spring Pink

A Quick burst of spring pink!  Pink petal rain...I don't mind!

 

                                                 Maria

       Dragonfly jewel compliments of Donna's Designs

 

Sailing along in more ways than one!

Hello again,

This is a bit of a record for me....so many entries within 24 hours.   However,  I feel as though I'm sailing along with my journal this weekend.  The photo of the ocean and the waves breaking with the Picante catamarran sailing behind them is a trigger to a more relaxing memory and time earlier his year.

The first photo is a snapshot in time...the second is a gif which gives a little motion to the magic.   Join me in dreaming of your ship coming in and your troubles just sailing away!  That would be good,now, wouldn't it?  Maria

                             Troubles sail away.........................................

                   

The Ixtapa Getaway Views

Hello, again!

Just thought I would share a couple more Ixtapa photos...Mexico!  These are views from  almost two months ago!  It's hard to beleive it was so recent.  Why do vacations always seem so far away whether you are waiting to go on one or looking back to one that just happened.   I could sure use some of the sunny weather from there right now...it's a raining frenzy around here in Seattle being that time of year.  I'll just reflect on these views from above and below our getaway in February of this year...:)   Maria

 

 

Manta ray animation - my very first!

Hello, all,

Tonight or should I now say this morning...it's after midnight...I accomplished my very first homemade animation.  Crude and simple as it may be I am very proud of it!  It is a manta ray swimming on top of an undersea restaurent.  I did not take this picture but it seemed to call to me for some reason.   My last entry had a praying mantis and now this one has a flying manta ray.    You just never know what you will get here.   There is actually an underwater restaurent being built somewhere in the world.  I got an email and it had some pictures of what it will look like...imagine sitting at the table and having the seafood watch you!  It is kind of an eery picture for sure!

   Maria

 

Praying mantis from Mexico

Hello all,

I'm jumping around a little bit...keeps me on my toes.   This entry is about the praying mantis that stopped by our deck in Mexico.  These insects bring back memories of Pittsburgh for me.  I used to find them in the outside play areas all the time.  I really thought they were holy when I was a child...they were PRAYING!   It just looked like that, I later discovered....duh!!!!!   These two photos are different views due to lighting...in the first one the light is behind the object and in the second it is in front of it.  Sometimes we can be blinded or distracted by something and not see the entire picture...although we enjoyed it as it was.   How much different is the picture when the light is shining directly on it.  More color and detail...yet there is something about silhouettes that has always impressed me. It's is a simpler view drawing me in to look more closely at the edges and the white spaces.   I miss all that when the light is shining right on the object because THAT is where my attention is drawn.    Before really getting to know anything we must look at it from all sides....think of the praying mantis......

                

Maria

Spring Roses in different moods

Hello all!   

I've been thinking about roses.   A few days ago I got some very nice roses and took some pictures, predictable.....  I thought it was interesting how the mood of the flowers changed slightly when I added different backgrounds the the photo.   It's the same photo just seen in different ways.   It's like that with most things..our mood can change with how we frame things.....say the yellow background is more for an easy and fun occasion...the darker background for a more elegant or somber occasion.   Try framing your photos in different colors and see what you get!   I framed these using microsoft powerpoint.   Nothing fancy just plain old presentation software...surprised?  It's good to try different approaches, I always learn so much that way.

 

 

 

  Maria

FLower and Garden Show Gazebo

Hello again,

Two entries today...I may have mentioned earlier that I went to the Flower and Garden show at the Convention Center in Seattle.  It was really inspiring and fun.  I took quite a few pictures.  Looking back through them reminded me how charming Gazebos are especially when you add a little setting for two...a little afternoon meal in the white wrought iron...isn't it inviting?    Ah Spring.....Maria

                                    

 

New Phone

Hello, all!

Have you considered getting a new cellphone lately?  I got a new cellphone...it's a  Cingular Motorola SLVR or 'Sliver'..got the pink one.  Why is this phone so special?  It plays Itunes music...

I can load up to 100 songs from my computer Itunes files and it has a little microphone so I can play and hear the songs with or without earphones.   My Ipod Shuffle battery died recently and I was debating whether to get a new one..then I learned that Cingular had these little phones...I do miss the flip top feature but not that much.  It's amazing how being able to recall a favorite tune any time of day or night can lift your spirits.  It also takes still and moving pictures.   It can go play for six hours without a recharge and has an airplane mode where you can shut off the cellphone but still listen to music.  What a nice feature!  I used it in the garden today when I did a little spot gardening....too.   La de da!

 

Maria

Feeling Green

Hello, all!

Green reminds me of many things...Spring, St. Patrick's day, ..my eyes...they're green too.  It's an interesting color in cars...these two would be great in a St. Patty's day parade...a green bug and a green scion...one curvy the other boxy.  Not a lot of cars this color.....wear a little green and celebrate your favorite green thing!  

 

                                         

          

        

 

      

                                 MARIA

Feed your Alligators

Hello, all!

 

It's Monday and time to do something to keep clear of the alligators.  A little planning ahead and some knowledge about the week will keep me clear of this week's alligators.  A couple photos I took in Mexico reminded me of that this morning.  The first photo is one of a rather innocent and shy looking little kitty.  Don't be fooled this cat has figured out how to keep clear of the alligators as it plans to get food for the day...as is evidenced by the second photo where the kitty calmly walks by the alligator not more than a couple of feet away.  Why is this possible?  There are alligators all over the golf course and creeks around the place we stayed in Ixtapa.  At 3:00 every day they feed any hungry alligators with raw chicken meat.  This keeps the alligators happy and docile.  They are fenced in at the feeding area but do roam free on the golf course.  Makes for an adventurous round, don't you think.  Especially interesting is that in the alligator infested pond the golf course regularly has someone come in and get the golf balls in the pond...you really have to know what you are doing there.  In any, case...plan ahead and watch out for those time alligators to make sure they are fed.....it's best to stay clear of them by doing things when planned if you can.  Monday is a good time to assess which of your time alligators need feeding...don't you think?  I've got two with particularly sharp teeth....Tax time and College Scholarship paperwork time......:)

 

Bridges through Windows

 

  Can you tell I'm excited?    I've actually done two entries in one day...it's been awhile for sure since that has happened. 

This entry is about seeing bridges through windows..restaurent windows to be exact.  One of my favorite restaurents here in Seattle is Chinook's by the Ballard Bridge just past downtown Seattle.  As you can see the Bridge is open most likely for a sailboat.  The marina you can see is Fisherman's Terminal and holds many boats.  You can take a walk after you eat on the wharf to see all the boats and imagine what it must be like to be a fisherman. 

The second picture is looking outside the window from Joey's an upscale but nice restaurent bar at the south end of Lake Union in Seattle..right downtown.  The bridge you see through the window is the Aurora Avenue bridge.  It is an interesting bridge...underneath it a famous troll on the north end.  A sculpture big enough to dwarf a volkswagon bug which it holds in it's hand...will have to get a picture of that one later.  It's one of the two main north/south routes through Seattle...and ta da....my husband worked on earthquake proofing it a few years back.

I love to look through windows.  Bridges have always fascinated me.  Symbolically a bridge helps you get across something difficult..a wide chasm or a body of water.  Many bridges are a marvel of humankind.  I like the peaceful ones too.  Although you probably go to a restaurent to just eat and maybe visit...take the opportunity to look out the window..you will never know what you will see.

 

 

 

       Tag by Dianna

 

Got it! Figured out the File Manager - with Help

 

 

I'm back in business!  This entry should catch me up for the last two entries....rather than change them.   Thanks to the help of a fellow journaler I found out I can get to my Files in my FTP Space by going to http://hometown.aol.com/_fm/mt.ssp?a=b  ...however, I did have to do it in a back door manner.   But once I got there I could open the file by clicking on it...copy the picture and then get back to my journal entry and paste it in.  Got this from a journaler who's initials are JJ...here is the link back to JJ"s journal  Adventures of an Eclectic Mind.    Wow...I'm so happy!!!!!

Having a ball or two

Hello all!  

I seem to have lost the ability to add pictures from my FTP space...since I haven't tried any other locations except my computer you may have a little wait until I figure it out.  Forget animations for awhile. As a result,  I thought these photos were appropriate.  Yep, I'm just having a ball or two or three or more...LOL.  

While in Mexico I spotted these sculpture pieces in the lobby.  They were beach ball size and larger sized cement balls.  There was no sign, which was fine since my Spanish is a little rusty.  They were just so mesmerizing...all these round objects, manmade and pleasing to the eye.  What is it about round objects?  Maybe that they remind us of the solar system and it's vastness or the molecular world and it's invisibility. We are all surrounded with circular objects......rolling, rolling, rolling... spinning, spinning, spinning...  That's it for now.  Take it easy,  Yours, truly.    Maria

PS: I'm also having trouble with my computer.  Keep getting script errors when I try to print emails or directly off the internet.  I will be doing diagnostics but it is possible I may have to reload some of my program software....somehow I think some critical file got corrupted.   Stay tuned for more of the computer drama..and yes...I have backed up all my pictures and other data files.