174/366

Hanging Baby Clothes

I was at my daughter's the other day and was changing her 1-year old.  It's been a while since I've been in that room, so this was the first time I saw this sweet site.  

My daughter is a little more creative than I am, so I was really impressed with this decor.

I only had my cell phone with me so the quality isn't great. 

I just love this.

My heart is grateful that:

my kids are more creative than I am

114/366

Dream River Sculpture, Amsterdam, NY

I don't usually like abstracts, but this artwork is just beautiful and I can't resist making photos of it every time I'm in the area.  The sculptor is Dimitar Lukanov, it was created in 2019.  It's stainless steel with beautiful aqua color standing on a base of concrete and it's 32 feet tall.  

It's located on the south side of the river in Amsterdam on the Amsterdam Pedestrian Bridge.  

It would probably look great against a blue sky. Each time I've been there it's been cloudy but I still think it looks beautiful.

My heart is grateful for:

everyone having a unique vision for art and beauty

102/366

Living Room Decor

I've had this rattan cube for a long time.  I store extra blankets in it.  Once upon a time I saw a photo in a magazine about decorating by putting books in a pile and then some kind of knick-knack on top and I loved the idea.  There's a spot in my living room where I can't really put a piece of furniture, so I put the cube there with the books on top of it.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.

My heart is grateful:

That I have something pleasing to fill that space

157/365

Shakelford County Courthouse

This is the courthouse in the town square in Albany, TX, with a gazebo off to the side.  The building is sooooo beautiful.  It was built in 1883, by mostly Scottish stone masons.  They used native limestone which they brought to town from a nearby quarry.

My heart is grateful for:

my new pothos plant that is decorating my living room

136/365

Disguising Electrical Boxes

Visiting a friend in a small coastal town in FL.  Walking around downtown I saw this wall art and how they used it to disguise these ugly electrical boxes.  If you were quickly walking by, you might not even notice the boxes, just the artwork.  What a great idea.

My heart is grateful for:

the safe trip to my friend's home

95/365

My Shadow

I was in town today having coffee with a friend.  On my way home I stopped to make some photos of a church and when I looked down I saw my shadow.  I thought it was more interesting than the church, so I experimented with a few different compositions.

It's very difficult to hold the camera and press the shutter button with one hand while trying to strike an interesting pose.  This was the best I could do.   Too bad there weren't two of us.

My heart is grateful today for: 

everything getting greener before the heat really sets in for the summer

93/365

The Staircase

In Santa Fe, NM there's a chapel that was built in the 1870s. (Loretto Chapel)  After it was completed, the nuns realized there was no way to get from the ground floor to the choir loft.  

They prayed a 9-day novena and on the 9th day a carpenter wandered in from the dessert.  He contracted with the nuns to build a spiral staircase and it took him 5 months to complete it.  His only tools were a carpenter's square, a saw and a hammer.  (he must have had the wood with him)

When the carpenter was finished, he left without payment.  There is no known record of the man and the subspecies of wood he used can't be traced.  They never heard from/about him again.

There is no center column and no side supports.  The only support for the staircase is the bottom step on the floor of the chapel.  He didn't put a railing on the staircase so for the first two years the nuns used the steps without railings or anything to hold on to when ascending & descending.  

The railing was added after two years of use.  

The Chapel was in use until a short while ago, but it's now a beautiful museum. The Chapel and especially the Staircase are strikingly beautiful.

My heart is grateful today for:

God's gifts to mankind for making beauty

65/365

Eyes of the Lorax

Abilene has the nickname of "Storybook Capital".  There are a couple of parks in town where there are statues of storybook characters.  The parks are very sweet and very child-orientated.

These are the eyes of The Lorax. 

 The assignment of my photo club this month is eyes.  Ick.  I have no imagination so I figured I wouldn't submit anything for the assigned topic, then I happened upon the statue today during my walk around town.  

I love Dr. Suess and read a lot of his books to my children, but somehow I never read this one.

Apparently the book is about human greed being the cause of the destruction of the natural environment. 

The "lesson" is basically, "nothing will get better if no one cares".

My heart is grateful today for:

the friend I play racketball with every week

49/365

Decorated Coffee Cups

One of the local coffee shops has this display of cups behind the counter.  I once heard that customers decorated the cups and then they were put on display.  

I'm not sure that's true, the drawings look very similar to each other, but whether it's true or not, it's a cute idea.

My heart is grateful today for:

my good health

41/365

"Coming Through the Rye"

This statue was created by Frederick Remington.  I've loved his work for many years but had never seen this one before.  It actually took my breath away and I had to make an image of it.  

How awesome it would be to own one of these, but they're pricey and ownership is probably not an option for me, so I'll just have to enjoy the photo.

Thankful for:

the chicken piccata dinner I had while having dinner with friends

30/365

Chalk Butterfly

This is an older image from my files, but I reworked it and think it's really cute.  I love the colors the artist used.  It's so fun to see street art, whether on the sidewalk or sides of buildings.  There are so many good artists wandering around. 

I'm so glad I saw this.

Today I'm thankful for:

good friends

                                                                                11/365                                                                                                                                                                Paint and Brushes   

It was a dreary day on the heels of 3-4 other dreary days.  I'm glad I'm on a roll with photographing still-life in my house.  It's challenging when you don't have many props in the house, but it's great when you have friends who can loan you objects to practice with.

I didn't spend much time on this one.  I should have started earlier in the afternoon, but I procrastinated a lot and only had about 40 minutes before I had to leave the house for Sunday Evening service. 

Still...I'm not terribly unhappy with this image.  I have a few more ideas that I'll try in the future, but this is it for today.  Acrylic paint with brushes against a pale pink watercolor background.