Shoot and Edit week 12

I'm really late to the game, week 12, oh my!  This is week one for me, but better late than never, right?

I took a photo of my friend Jackie's adorable puppy Andorra.

Although she is a gorgeous pup, the SOOC image is dark and dull, so not like Andorra!
I used some of Ashley's suggestions about adjusting hue/saturation and color.  I also sharpened, lightened and added contrast and voila!

My final edit:

Now there's the bright sparkly girl we know and love!

Thursday Macro Pansies

Sometimes the best days to get outside with my camera are the cold and showery ones, at least in the spring, when the droplets are visible on the new spring growth and flowers, snap, snap, snap!

Just a quick puppy update:


Our little Caligirl is doing beautifully, adjusting well to the other dogs and vice versa and she is bursting with personality, which is such a relief as she arrived so scared and timid.

She begs for the treats like a pro, having learned from our veterans, Timmy and Joy.

West Coast Represent!

I've been meaning to make this post for several days but just getting around to it.  I'm going to introduce you to a new member of our family:

She's our little Caligirl!  Alexa brought her back on the plane with her when she was visiting my cousin Eileen in California for spring break.  It wasn't a surprise though, we were totally expecting her.  My cousin is a volunteer for a small dog rescue out there and I've always told her that if we can help somehow and adopt one we would, it was just a matter of working out the delivery, which we did!
Cali's mom is a black and tan dachshound and her father a chihuahua, but I bet you could guess the chihuahua part, haha!

Cali was so shy and timid when she arrived.  That is changing quickly with every day!  Playful is her middle name.  Timmy is adjusting so well, he loves little dogs!  The jury is still out for Joy though.  She's taking longer to warm up.  I think her current philosophy is, "If I ignore her maybe she'll go away".

All things considered, Cali is adjusting nicely, well, that is if you don't count the snow we woke up to on Thursday morning.

That's the thing about Southern California girls, they're not too fond of the cold...

They do however appreciate a good cuddle on the sofa.

She is loved.

Weeds and Seeds

It seems since the weather has improved my posts have come further apart.  Which is odd because being in the outdoors has provided much more opportunity to take photos.

We got out the old seed can and started combing through the packets to decide what we will be planting this year.  I thought the canister and some packets would make a good photo-op!

In other news, I finally got the full version of photoshop CS5!  I received an offer from Adobe that I couldn't possibly pass up, $400 off!  (Even so I really felt guilty letting Tony know of the price) ugh!  Anyway, for those of you that have it, call me crazy but it seems waaay more user friendly and easier to use than Elements.  I'm loving it for that reason because I tend to be really clueless when working this stuff.  I did get Scott Kelby's book so hopefully that will help me with everything.

I'm expecting a special delivery from California on Monday night.  Hopefully I will have some great news and pics to share with everyone on Tuesday morning!

Have a wonderful weekend,
Nancy

**Edited to add**
I ended up returning the Scott Kelby book.  As much as I loved his Digital Photography series, this book just wasn't what I needed for CS5.  Almost the first half of the book was spent talking about Camera Raw and since I shoot in JPEG this really didn't apply to me at all.  I did order a more textbook type CS5 book that looks like what I need as well as signing up for Kim Klassen's Photoshop Essentials ecourse.
 

I've never been disappointed with any of Kim's things and I suspect this course will be no exception.  As a matter of fact, it started on March 15th, so I'm a late registration.  I emailed her to be sure I would still get the log in info and within 5 minutes she responded with the info, amazing, and on a Sunday afternoon no less!  I'm so impressed and can't wait to start it on Monday!

My moment in the land of 4-poster beds, claw foot tubs and deep windowsills or why I can never leave home again

Tony and I recieved a generous gift certificate to a local inn from my brother and sister-in-law, Nick and Rose.  We had originally just planned on going for dinner, but when we looked on their website, they had excellent overnight packages for rooms and dinner.  Since we haven't been anyplace alone in years, and I do mean YEARS, we thought an overnight wouldn't traumatize our son too much.  It also helped to know that we were only ten minutes down the road.

Here's my attempt at a b&b tour of our room and grounds:

I arrived ahead of Tony and took advantage of the quiet and claw foot tub.  Tony takes the train to work and got off at the station just up the road, walking distance, very convenient!

It was a lovely stay.  The inn portion of the property is a converted barn, very quaint.  Dinner was outstanding.  We were even given the coveted "private room" that seats only 4 people, very romantic.  The service was excellent and the best part was we didn't have any dishes to clean up!  Whoo hoo!

We arrived home Saturday morning to some very happy pups. They missed us terribly, so much, in fact, that thirty minutes after I dropped my overnight bag at the door I came back to it to find this:

She wouldn't get out of it for hours.

Which is why I can never leave home again, at least not without her.  The end.

I Adore Andorra

I took Timmy to my groomer/friend Jackie today for his spring cut.  He was well overdue:

Before:

After:

Doesn't he look handsome, even though he's giving me the stinkeye?

The big excitement today (other than Timmy shedding 30lbs of fur) was meeting Jackie's new Great Pyrenees puppy, Andorra, that she rescued from Florida.

You don't have to be a dog person to melt from the cuteness that is Andorra...

Look at the size of that paw!!  Oh, my, goodness, she's gonna be big!

Jackie won't be able to pick her up like this for long!  But for the meantime, she's lovin' every minute of it!

I can't say that I blame her, not for one daggone second!

Overwhelmed

This is the way my kitchen stove has looked lately.  I just can't seem to get it together to put things away after they're washed.  The candle orders have piled up as well.  I need to give myself a good swift kick in the keister and focus, focus, focus!

Love, Honor, Truth

Today is Founders Day for my beloved Phi Mu fraternity.  I pledged in the spring semester of my freshman year in college.  How fortunate I am to have met so many exceptional women and with facebook, have renewed those connections.  I could never have imagined how supportive these women would be so many years later, being there for my daughter, it is what sisterhood is all about.

This picture of me(pink) and my lil' sis Georgette is in my living room, taken at our big sister reveal in 1983.

I was thinking a lot about my wonderful experiences as a member last night and how the words of our creed are still as important and meaningful in my life today as they were when I first read them 30 years ago:

The Phi Mu Creed:

To lend to those less fortunate a helping hand.


To think of God as a protector and guide of us all.

To keep forever sacred the memory of those we have loved and lost.

To be to others what we would they would be to us.

To keep our lives gentle, merciful and just,

Thus being true to the womanhood of love.

To walk in the way of honor, guarding the purity of our thoughts and deeds.

Being steadfast in every duty small or large.

Believing that our given word is binding.

Striving to esteem the inner man above culture, wealth or pedigree.

Being honorable, courteous, tender,

Thus being true to the womanhood of honor.

To serve in the light of truth avoiding egotism, narrowness, and scorn.

To give freely of our sympathies.

To reverence God as our Maker, striving to serve Him in all things.

To minister to the needy and unfortunate.

To practice day by day love, honor, truth.

Thus keeping true to the meaning, spirit and reality of Phi Mu.
 
March 4, 1852, Forever ΦΜ