by Susan Lobb Porter | Cool Apps, Digital Art, Gardening, Photography |
Oh my sweetums, today I wandered in the garden. It was beautiful! Gorgeous! Came pretty close to being spectacular! The plants are poppin’. The temperature was perfect. And there were bunnies EVERYWHERE. Easter Jackrabbits en masse, reminding me again why it’s not a good idea to plant a vegetable garden.
Ever the multi-tasker, I had the phone with me and chatted with the kids while I was outside. Remember the days when phones were tethered to the wall, when you ALWAYS knew where it was? And when it wasn’t a camera?
Well, since I had my phone-which-is-a-camera with me, I not only noticed how the sun did magic things in the garden, I was able to snap a few shots.
And since I’m a painter I decided to throw them into a painting app and art them up a bit. Here they are:
Nothing says SPRING to me like a Dogwood in bloom. Nothing.
Except maybe Lilacs. I loves me my Lilacs.
This is my exhale spot, one of my favorite places in the garden.
Technical Info: All photos were taken on an iPhone 5C and digitally altered with Aquarella.
What’s your favorite photo app? I’m always open to playing with something new. Tell us about it in the comments below.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Choices, Life, Porterosa |
OK sweetums, yesterday I publicly declared that my focus for the month of February (besides writing and arting, that is) will be the daily de-cluttering of the physical space in which I dwell. Fifteen minutes (no more) a day, with ‘after’ photos. ‘After’ photos that I will explore enhancing with new apps, ever the creative multi-tasker that I am.
If you didn’t read yesterday’s post go read it now. You’ll see that I was flush with victory from completing the 30 Paintings 30 Days challenge and was up for anything. And 15 minutes? (Shrug) After the painting challenge, that’s a piece of cake.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. It still does, actually. Today I found myself wandering around the house, poking at piles of clutter like the wicked witch poking Hansel and Gretel, checking to see who had the most fat on their bones.
But I wasn’t ready to gnaw on the fattest pile, like the master closet or spare bedroom, not so early in the challenge. I settled instead for an appetizer…the coffee table.
If you’ve been reading this blog for the past month when I undertook the ginormous task of learning to make art on the iPad while in the midst of a thirty day painting challenge, you might recall that I made most of the art while on the sofa with my feet stretched out on the coffee table. It was a cushy studio. No wet paint involved but there were plenty of sketches, loose papers, pens, reference photos, magazines and assorted STUFF. Piles of ’em.
So tonight I put it all away. Or threw it away. Then I polished the table. And because I was getting into this this tidying thing I moved over to the sofa and fluffed the cushions. Folded the lap blankets too.
Took all of 15 minutes. Really. And now I’m looking at this lovely, inviting, clutter-free mini zone and finding myself exhaling.
Clearing space, day 1
And I want to keep it that way.
What do you think? Are you doing this with me (waving at ‘cha Kelly!). Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
xo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Everyday Ordinary, Photography, Porterosa |
Oh my sweetums, one day, right here at the Porterosa, I went in search of hearts. Because sometimes a girl needs signs of love from the universe, just sayin’.
And I found them EVERYWHERE. A veritable plethora of love signs.
On the ground.
Fallen from trees.
Cast by shadow.
Created by fleeting light.
And spun by Charlotte (with a little help, perhaps, from a pony nose. Or not.)
Lessons learned:
- Open your eyes.
- Open your mind.
- Whatever you’re looking for is right there in front of you.
Technical info: All photos taken using an iPone 4S. Point. Shoot. Dat’s all.
As always, my best best BEST beloveds, if you like what you see here please tell me about it in the comments below. And share it with your friends. I’ll be your best friend if you do. Really. I’ll sit with you at lunch. Play with you during recess. And if you pin it, I might even do your homework.
Pinky swear.
XO
by Susan Lobb Porter | Country Living, Gardening, Porterosa |
Ah my sweetums, it’ SUMMERTIME!!!
Melons! Flipflops! Corn on da cobb!!!
Now if I was a little kid I’d be whining right about now how bored I was with vacation.
And my mother would be telling me there was laundry to fold, dishes to wash, furniture to polish. Then off she’d go to work, leaving me with a couple of older siblings calling the shots. Or she’d pack us off to Nana and the family summer place on the Long Island Sound where the beach was a one minute walk. And the hammock under the oaks was the best place to read Nancy Drew.
And the front porch was perfect for lobing water balloons at passing teenagers, the BIG kids, y’know..
All theses years later (and no, I’m not going to tell you how many) my summer vacay consisted of jumping out of bed early, what FirstBorn calls the butt crack of dawn, to be showered and dressed and semi-coherent before a herd of pickup trucks and landscapers descended on the property like a colony of worker bees in Levis.
Because after nearly twenty years of living here, Mr. Spouse and I decided it was time, way past time, to pretty up the property. To define a little patch of civilized garden between the house and the forest that surrounds us. For years we’ve been building rock walls and terraces because we’re good at making things. But since neither one of us had a clue what to do about plants, we hired a designer. And a contractor. Got the soil prepped and the irrigation in.
And then the plants came. I took a week off from work to greet them.
Heat
from the Shadows and Reflection Series
©2013 Susan Lobb Porter
Did I mention this is summer? That it’s hot?
Watering
from the Shadows and Reflections Series’
@2013 Susan Lobb Porter
I spent most of the week running around with the hose. Hand watering precious little green things still in the can. Or newly planted but not quite in the irrigation system yet. Telling them this was their forever home and they would be very happy here. Please don’t die!
Mmmmm…Roses!
We’re still not finished. The next wave of plants comes this week. The icing on the cake according to the designer. And after that there will be more as I grow into this. Already I know that the three old fashioned English roses, the ones that smell divine, will not be enough. I can move this and that and have room for a couple more.
And I see spots for bulbs. For Day Lillies and Daffodils. And those whatchamacallems with the big poofy flowers. And up in the little orchard I’ve been assured there’s room for two more fruit trees. I’m thinking Nectarine and French Plum will go nicely with the Apples and Pear. With native wildflowers growing between them.
I suspect that this garden will further blur the lines between LIFE and ART. Plans are growing in my head for sculptures. For wild haired crazy women spirits among the trees. Assemblage! Mosaic! Whatever…they will evolve as the garden evolves.
One Step at a Time
from the Shadows and Reflections Series
©2013 Susan Lobb Porter
But for now there’s more work to do. And I have to keep at it, one step at a time.
xoxo
Are you a gardener? I’d love to hear about your favorite plants and adventures in the comments below, especially if you know anything about zone 9. I think it’s 9. Snows some in winter, hot in summer. That sound like zone 9 to you?
And remember, if you share this on FaceBook I will eat chocolate for you! What’s not to like about that???
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life, Porterosa |
Last night, while I was sleeping, something special happened.
I woke up, looked out the window and said, “Holy crap!” The sky was gray. And the leaves were tumbling down.
Mother Nature snapped her fingers and Just. Like. That… Said, Yo, listen up, it’s fall. Oatmeal weather. Flannel shirts. Apple pie.
The colors around our place are subtle.
And just starting to turn.
I’m loving the textures. And the colors.
Reds. More reds.
But not every leaf is flashy. I photographed quite a few on the ground. I think these are my favorite. Quiet. Subtle. The colors elegant. Inspiration for a painting, perhaps?
And then there’s the meadow, the grass brown since summer. And trampled where the deer bed down.
After the rains come this week, I’ll light a fire. I’ll hunker down in front of the wood stove in the evening. Maybe I’ll read. Or write. Or draw. Or maybe I’ll just stare into the flames and dream.
Someone once asked me what my favorite season was. My answer…the beginning of each of them. I love the change from heat to cool. From sun to rain. From rain to snow. From snow to spring. And all around the cycle again.
So in a month or so if I start whining about the dreary rain and lack of daylight just remind me the next season is right around the corner. And there’s ALWAYS something to look forward to.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Country Living, Porterosa |
Early this morning, I mean early, like around 4 when it’s still black as pitch, I stood out on the front porch in my jammies. Jammies in this case being a euphemism for an old T-shirt and finest kind panties from JC Penny. Standard romantic sleepwear after thirty years of marriage.
I stood out there scaring off THE BEAR.
And why would I be doing that?
Because for sure he’d knocked over the recycle can, a bin nearly as tall and far broader than I. It’d been the sound of crashing bottles and cans that woke me up. Then he moved on to the garbage. We’ve done this drill before. He’d rip open the bags, drag them who knows where, leaving a trail of yucky things I’d have to clean up later in the day. Damn bear. Worse than kids when it comes to making a mess.
So as soon as I heard the recycle go, I was out of bed in a flash. I flipped on the driveway lights, stood on the porch and…well, how does one scare off a bear?
Easy peasy. If the sudden glare of the lights and the sight of me in my Penneys panties wasn’t enough for Mr. B, I clapped my hands. Five sharp claps.
He answered through the darkness, a few gutteral grunts.
I clapped again. He grunted again.
And then I went back to bed. Because, really, what else could I do? I rolled in beside Mr. Spouse and told him all about my adventures. He grabbed the blanket, rolled over the other way, muttered something about bears. And then he snored.
But in his own way, I’m sure he was quite impressed.
And after breakfast I restocked the recycle bin, located the remains of the garbage about fifty feet from the scene of the crime, put on some gloves and cleaned up the mess left by Ursus Americanus. And I do hope he enjoyed the turkey burger, the one that spent a couple hours ripening in a hot car on a hot day before finding its way to the trash.
Now, to the age old question, does a bear chit in the woods, the answer is well, I’m sure the one who ate nearly ten pounds of pony psyllium does.
But that was another bear. Another adventure.
And now I’m off to Studio Grande to design my new business cards, paint and have a most productive arty life kind of day.
Have a great weekend! And if you didn’t spend the morning cleaning up someone else’s mess, dearest sweetums, then consider yourself ahead of the game.
