abby try again

colors and cuts

 

 

While junk shopping in my hometown, My Mom and I came upon a little corner of a store that had all sorts of feathers for very little money.

I don't know if you've ever tried to buy neat feathers from a millinery shop or craft store-but I've found them to be extremely expensive.

Turns out the intended use for all these aviary goods was fly fishing. Many of the feathers were strangely cut-not for decoration but for practical, bait making purposes. But I found them to be very beautiful. These were some of my favorites.

Hope you enjoy.

Happy Sunday!

sponsor spotlight: One Hundred Photos

 

(For the past month, I've been introducing my sponsors for the February. My blog sponsors help me pay for all my film and developing-basically-they make this blog possible. A huge thanks to all of them! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor in April, I am now booking spots- please email me at abbytryagain@gmail(dot)com. Thanks!)

One hundred photos is a blog started by the very talented and very kind Toni Weber. She created the site as a challenge for herself. Over at her blog she is taking one hundred photos and examining them with the hopes of gaining a better understanding of photography and having a beautiful portfolio of 100 images at the end.

I think it is an awesome project!

And Toni is encouraging any who'd like to join her. Many already have! You can check out the flickr group over here if you are interested.

Thank you so much, Toni!

five senses friday

 

 

 

 
Good morning! I hope you are all doing well today.

James and I scored a ridiculously inexpensive off season rate at a little inn by the coast so we are headed off to have a small adventure-but first, five senses friday.

For those of you who are new readers (or maybe never understood what I was blabbing about) five senses friday was started years ago by my friend, Shari Altman. I use it weekly as way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for me.

I would love it if you played along-you can leave your own version in the comments or on your blog.

Seeing:

the most gorgeous spring blossoms

Hearing:

an old Grandaddy album

Tasting:

Mom's famous chocolate sheet cake with rich frosting

Touching:

Noah's sweet curls

Smelling:

a little bar of lemon wood soap from Amber, a sweet gift

* * * * *

I am bringing a few more new things to the blog in the month of March-can't wait to share with you! I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

what once was

My brother and I stumbled across this house one day while driving. He pulled over and I whipped out my Polaroid Land Camera Automatic 440.

When I hopped out of his truck and into this abandoned front yard I had no clue that I'd be hopping into ankle deep mud.

But it was worth it. I now have this photographic memory of a place that was probably once a great home.

(I'm posting twice in one day? Scandalous, I know.)

four memories

 

 

I realize that when planning a trip back to my home town, I often try to plan a trip back to childhood. I guess I never learn that you can't really go back.

But there are those bits and pieces; those moments that remind you of a magical time or a happy memory. Those are the things I hold on to; the things that keep me coming back.

An old pair of binoculars, some rusted garden urns placed just so, a trip to a familiar junk store, the taste of my favorite treat. These things remind me of how I came to be what I am today. Isn't funny how all these little, seemingly insignificant things can shape who we are?

* * * * * *

If you are interested, there's an interview with me over at the Pink of Perfection blog.

* * * * * *

What little things have shaped you?

back to life

 

Well, hello out there.

I am back home in Portland and it feels great. I guess while I was gone, spring decided to show up in full force. It felt good to be greeted by blossoms and blooms.

My trip home was great. I took more than a dozen rolls of film and had a couple small adventures. I am excited to share more about it all with you but I must get things back in order around here first.

I wanted to thank many of you for your recent emails and comments. It feels good to know you are out there enjoying my work and while I have not had the time to get back to each one of you-the words are very much appreciated, thank you.

I hope you are all having a lovely week-hard to believe it is Wednesday already.

See you back here tomorrow with more photos and stories.

five senses friday

Hello out there and happy friday!

I'm still down here in my hometown visiting the family but I thought I'd pop in today for a hometown version of five senses friday.

For those of you who are new readers (or maybe never understood what I was blabbing about) five senses friday was started years ago by my friend, Shari Altman. I use it weekly as way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for me.

I would love it if you played along-you can leave your own version in the comments or on your blog.
 

Seeing:

-the beautiful green hills on the way up to Kings Canyon Park

Hearing:

-the sweet voice of my little nephew

Tasting:

-fresh tortilla chips and salsa

Smelling:

-incense burning at the Laotian Buddhist Temple (we stumbled upon it and stopped for a little visit-more later)

Feeling:

-sand in my shoes as we walked along a dry river bed

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and I will be back to normal blogging the middle of next week.

Happy friday!

an impromptu trip

Hello out there.

Hope you are all well.

A kind of funny thing happened yesterday. I bought a plane ticket to California and today I am headed back to my home town.

I had no previous plan to do so, but I've been thinking about it for awhile now and there are a couple of projects I want to work on with the help of my Mom, so I just decided to do it. I'm still planning on blogging a bit, but for the next week I will be kinda hard to reach.

I'm excited to dig through old family papers, see the blossom trail, visit my favorite antique shop, watch my niece walk, and explore some old familiar places with my camera in tow. I cannot wait.

I will for sure be back on here (the blog) friday, with the last of my sponsor spotlights for the month and for five senses friday, of course. Until then-I hope you all have a lovely couple of days!

(Oh yes. Order placed in my main photo shop or my etsy shop between now and next Tuesday will not be sent out until Thursday of next week. Thanks!)

some plans made

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend.

Thank you for all of the nice comments lately and welcome to the new readers who found me through Artful Blogging. I hope you will stay awhile and say hello.

This weekend while Portland was its usual late winter soggy self (not complaining-just saying) I was dreaming of summer and what exactly, I wanted my little garden to look like.

I've had some failed gardening attempts in the past and I think my fails came from a severe lack of planning. So I was reading about soil mixtures and reading about different types of light and then I started to think-okay-what do I want my garden to look like? 

Of course, it is quite trendy right now to grow a kitchen garden. And that is great. It really is. But we joined a CSA and we probably won't need a whole lot more produce for the two of us so I decided I can selfishly focus on flowers. I really love flowers.

I went through my photo archives and found my favorite flowers (well, at least of the non tropical variety). I also threw in tomatoes and charentais melon because those are two of my favorite foods.  I think I have a nice selection going on.

We rent and cannot dig into our lawn, so the garden will be in containers on or back porch and patio area. We've got plenty of space, I think and if I can grow half of this, I'd be happy. 

Do you have any garden plans made?

some flowers for you

 

 

 

 

Hello out there and Happy Valentine's Day.

I'm not 100% sold on this holiday, but I figure, if it means we get to have a special meal and have more flowers than normal-I'm in. I think this post pretty much sums up my feelings, too.

This weekend's been great so far. We were able to catch a film at the NW Film Festival and if you are in Portland, I highly recommend trying to make it to one of the films. Next week I hope to see a couple more; but we'll see if I can fit that in my budget.

Yesterday we also signed up for our first CSA! I am so excited, I always seem to  miss the sign up times (as they are in winter and I never remember to check). If you are interested in learning more about CSAs, this is a good site and if you are in Portland, this site can help you find one.

We chose Helsing Junction Farm because it seems just right for us. The shares aren't too big or too pricey and they include fresh flowers which is a big bonus to me. Also, reading about the farm and the people who work there made me certain we were supporting the right one.

Anyway...our first box won't be here until June but I am still excited.

Have you done anything fun this weekend?

* * * * * *

I hope you all have a lovely day today, in whatever way you chose to celebrate!