The first day of the year here in RI was unusually warm…perfect weather for a walk on the beach. Which is exactly what we did, along with what seemed like the rest of the state’s population…
There is a lot about the exposure of these photos that I am unhappy about…but I’m happy to have started off the year with some of my family and friends at the beach.
I have never been good at making or keeping New Year’s resolutions…but the past few years I have had a focus word. Two years ago my word was “gather”. It was a year in which I needed to gather my family, my friends, and any strength I could find. Last year was my year to “restore”. I feel like I accomplished very little last year but maybe that is exactly what I needed. My word for 2011 is “Embrace”. I hope to be mindful of embracing each moment of each day…to embrace new adventures and to embrace old traditions. I hope to “take or clasp in the arms…hug” family members and friends more often. I hope to “take in with the eye and the mind” via photography every day. I hope to “receive gladly” new ideas, new sensations, new friends. I hope to “seize” each day.
To start the year off we lost our internet access for a few days and I have to admit that I found it easy to embrace having more time to read and for getting to bed earlier…but I still plan to embrace my love for photography here at Picturing the Year. Happy New Year to all who stop by!
I got this wonderful recipe for gingerbread pound cake from Pamela at From the House of Edward. It was Pamela who suggested baking the cake in a castle cake pan, one of which I have owned for a few years but have only used once a year to make sandcastle cakes for a summer birthday. Now I have another reason to take my pan out…and the cake is delicious. I changed the original recipe by adding a big handful of crystallized ginger. I love biting into a chunk of that candied ginger…one of my favorite tastes. Also, I ran short of the key ingredient molasses. Mr O suggested using maple syrup rather than running back to the store…and I loved it. The best part about baking this…is the spicy smell permeating the entire house… I’m pretty sure this cake would be delicious made in any cake pan!
Gingerbread Pound Cake
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1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of molasses – I didn’t have a whole cup of molasses so I used 3/4 cup molasses and 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup sour cream
I added 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger – it’s optional
powdered sugar
whipped cream
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Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer, beating well on medium speed.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each.
3. Combine flour, soda, and spices. Set aside.
4. Combine molasses and sour cream. Lightly whisk together.
5. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with molasses mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
6. Mix until just blended after each addition.
7. Fold in chopped candied ginger.
8. Pour batter into a greased and floured pan.
9.Bake at 325F for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean.
10. Cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes, then remove and let cool on a wire rack.
11. Sprinkle with the powdered sugar “snow”.
12. Pamela serves this with Lemon Sauce but I prefer barely sweetened, freshly whipped cream.
One day, during my sister’s illness, she asked me to go with her for a walk along the river at a nearby park. There she mentioned that rather than having a headstone in a cemetery she would like to have a memorial where people could bring a dog, rest, picnic, enjoy beauty, contemplate life, and remember her. Today marks one year since her death. The river flows on just in front of her bench…
Sunday, I celebrated my 60th birthday with my family and many friends…This involved a not so very secret party held at our favorite Mexican restaurant, three hours of dancing with abandon to my son-in-law’s band, and an overnight at a beautiful old inn. I made a decision not to bring my camera and I would never have had time to take photos…but I wish I had. Photos help me remember things and I want to always remember this birthday.
Sunday also marked the second anniversary of this blog. I may not be sure of the future of this blog but I have certainly enjoyed the past two years.
The next prompt for Picture the Holidays was “The View From Here”…and it just happened to occur on the day after I received a new 50mm 1.4 lens as an early birthday gift…so my view was through my new lens…and it has been ever since.
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…it is so nice for shooting Christmas lights!
“What helps you to slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy the moment…” These are the words from the prompt on day 4 of Picture the Holidays that jumped out at me. They could be interpreted in many ways but what was the first thing I thought of? Why a glass of wine of course…
If truth were to be told, I don’t really need help or reminding to slow down…I am the Queen of slow and enjoying the moment. I can escape into another world at the drop of a crown. What I need is a technique for speeding up a bit…getting a few things done at this time of year.
On the second day I already had difficulty finding the time and creativity to come up with something for the Picture the Holidays prompt. Today was different…I still watch my grandchildren on Fridays and it remains one of my favorite days…full of love and joy. I didn’t have much trouble coming up with a photo for the prompt “All you need is love”. I did have trouble getting any photos in focus…they still move too fast for me and my camera.
I rather like the slightly out of focus look here though. Mr J tried very hard to display that sandwich at just the right angle…he was much more patient than I thought he would be.
I have found that a daily prompt can inspire me to get 0ut the camera and take some pictures that I normally wouldn’t take the time to do. I think this shows my lack of creativity as much as my lack of motivation...so I signed up to participate in Picture the Holidays during the busiest time of the year. By the end of the month I might have some photos with a bit of variety and improved quality and I will have documented my holiday season better than ever. The first prompt has to do with gratitude and it had me not only standing on a stool to get a shot with better light and perspective but it also had me dusting the living room. Now that is inspiration!
I photographed family portraits to illustrate gratitude for my family and realized as I was editing the photo that it also illustrates my gratitude for the ability of photographs to save memories. Memories of my children as babies, of my sister dancing, of my parents in good health…
…for all the big things…Family, Friends, Health, Food, Shelter, the Land and Sea… and for all the small things….melted butter, fleece jackets, children’s artwork, a good story, the smell of hot apple cider, the dance of a dry leaf caught in a whirlwind, the sound of a camera’s shutter…
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am participating in a blog hop sponsored by some wonderful photographers at Mortal Muses. I will be thankful if I can find some time to visit each and every link!
Throughout the month of October I participated in Picture Fall, a photography workshop held by Tracey Clark, the founder of Shutter Sisters. Every day my inbox held a beautifully written assignment with accompanying photography tips. Every day I was inspired to take photos and share them at the online class site. Some days I liked what I did and some days I didn’t but I tried to submit something every day. I loved meeting other photographers of all levels and learned from each of them. I did find that extra encouragement very helpful. On the other hand I did find it very time consuming to take so many photos, edit them, upload them, and comment on other submitted photos. I haven’t taken many photos since the workshop ended…Burnout?
I may be crazy but I plan to participate in Picture the Holidays in December…
Now that I have grandchildren Halloween can make me a bit sentimental so this post is very nostalgic. I loved sewing costumes for the kids and had fun scanning a few of my old photos. The first was taken when my eldest, Ms O, was 3 years old…
Now my granddaughter is 3 years old and Ms O makes the costumes. Instead of things like witches and devils and gypsies, the children wanted to be Batman and Pearl the squid…
Perhaps you never heard of Pearl? My granddaughter, who loves all thing aquatic, wanted to be the squid from Finding Nemo…..
I suppose I should admit here that I did bribe the children with candy to get them to pose…:)
This is the season for mushrooms. They pop up abundantly after every rain. On my walks I meet mushroom gatherers who, hopefully, know the edible from the poisonous…no one wants to share the secret hiding places of the best to eat. Every year I resolve to take a class on mushroom identification and then forget to sign up for one…and every year I try to take photos of those I find on walks around home. I don’t own a macro lens so most of these shots are taken with my Canon G9 on macro setting. I find beauty in these earthy things…and I’m pretty sure Sylvia Plath did too…
Sylvia Plath – Mushrooms
Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.
Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.
Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,
Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,
Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We
Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking
Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!
We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,
Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:
We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
