repetition is the heart of education

That little saying was one I heard many times while in the Geography Dept. at UNR. And isn't it true? the more you do something the better you get at it, the more you hear something the more you remember it, the more you are around someone the more you understand them and learn about them.

I have been thinking about taking a photography refresher class for awhile now, did I want to go up to the University and take a class? or maybe the Community College? These two options didn't really sinc with my schedule being mid-day and semester long commitments. One of the local photography stores has classes, maybe that would work? and when this came out I was trying to figure out just how I could get over the hill to take a class from the lovely Hula...

Over a month ago I had gotten to my prenatal yoga class a little early. On one of the tables in the waiting area there was a University of Nevada Extended Studies brochure. I flipped thru it and came across a "Using your Digital Camera Basics" class. hmmm, I though. Maybe that would be good for me. I thought about it, put it on the back burner, had a baby and then a couple of weeks ago remembered that they class was going to start soon- maybe I SHOULD sign up for it. I emailed the instructor for a bit more information on the class and decided to go for it.

Yesterday, I got up early- for the first time in over a month with an actual place to go, not just a baby to feed or change. I got in the shower, dressed, packed up my gear and headed to the campus. The class was full of basic information about photography, but basics that I needed to hear again. Things like adjusting the shutter speed will cause the aperture to adjust and compensate as well. It's all about painting with light, remember those days of film? And you know that little book that came with your camera, I think it's called the manual, keep it with you, ALL.the.TIME. because there is information in there that can actually help you know how to use your camera. No, really it can help you! (now I just have to find mine....)

We also discussed lenses and what types we should use for what type of photography we are shooting. I finally found out that a prime and a fix lens are the same thing, and that SURPRISE! my 50mm is exactly that. I go back for a second session next Saturday. I am hoping we dive further into the menu of the camera and learn more little tricks on how to use its inner workings of it all.

All this re-learning of my camera is really good. The other thing that I loved hearing again, besides f-stops and shutter speeds was to hear "If you want to take good pictures, you actually have to have your camera with you", "setting aside time once a week or even once a day to take pictures will only enforce your skills". This got me thinking, about people who I admire as artists or as yogi(ni)s. What makes them somebody that I look up to as an artist or as a practitioner? They MAKE time for their skill, there again, it's all about repetition.repetition.repetition. Cultivating time, cultivating creativity, cultivating a practice of one kind or another- giving yourself permission to make that time in your day or week is okay and wonderful. Setting an intention and sticking with it.

My bag might be full, but it's all about what I make of it (with the bag above I see pies, sauce and a crisp!)

Basin to Beach: GREEN

Vanessa, Nevada on the left-Angela, Maine on the right

This week's word GREEN
Next week's word SOUND

B2B: Food

me on the left, Angela on the right
I am loving all that green and the thought of fresh, home grown food has me giddy.

This week's word: Food
Next week's word: Flora

I cus, you cus, we all cus for ASPARAGUS!

Look what's popping up in the garden! We planted the asparagus last summer and were crossing our fingers to see it pop up this year. I hear you get one harvest the first year, and consecutively more the following- anyone up on their asparagus gardening rules?

The other leafy greens are volunteer broccoli and in the top left corner is garlic or onions (we have a ton of both since it too went to seed). I am sure there is some cilantro in there if you look really hard- it always comes back and is such a great herb to have on hand in the back yard.

We need to do a bit of thinning so we can make room for some other veggies- I would love to do snap peas and cherry tomatoes this year. But, we are waiting for the weather to settle down. It can be 70 one day and snowing the next...

What about you? Anything growing in your yard yet?

Happy St. Pat's!

green gaurd

keeping watch over the kitchen.



Somewhere along the way I came across these little army men. It started in college, placing them here and there. I would put them in my plants and in other unexpected spots around the house sort of as a joke with my roommates. I like to think they are keeping watch over me and the random spots that they are placed. The bottles are old finds from my childhood. I have carted those things around with me for years.

I have been meaning to get outside and find some green in my world. I actually spotted a fantastic old motor home that would be perfect for a Polaroid or TtV shot but it is in a shady part of town near some of the weeklies along 4th St. I have snapped the shot mentally, and maybe this weekend I can talk someone into taking a walk down there so I can capture it. There are also some great signs in town that would fit the bill, again getting out when there is still light is a trick these days. All in all I am having a great time spotting all the green around the house.

So glad tomorrow is Friday. It has been a long week and today was one of those days where anything I touched sorta went south. I am looking forward to having brunch with the girls this weekend and possibly a lunch date with my bff to a new eatery on CalAve. (Freeman's Natural Hotdogs- the site is www.fnhotdog.com)

Be well friends!

green-like sugar

Before we moved into the 'big house' we lived in a sweet little 1960's casa. A two bedrooms one bath sort of deal. It was our first house and we were ambitious about making it our own. We promptly set to ripping up all the carpet (including that which was in the bathroom-eww, say it with me, ewwwww).
We (or should I say Daddy-O) installed hardwood floors thru out the 800 square feet of bedroom, living room and front entry. As with most projects when you spruce up one part of the house you start to see where the rest of the house needs help. The interest rates were dropping and so, like so many others we re-fied the house. This gave us a bit of money to go big and remodel the kitchen. We gutted the thing, all the way down to the studs.





I learned how to hang drywall and cook in the microwave . We did dishes in the tub and ate out more then I liked to adimt. We had a guy come in and tile the floors, we had new appliances delivered (oh how I miss that dual fule stove), silestone counter tops and cabinets installed. The place was gorgeous. One of my favorite parts about the new kitchen was that we had a plate rail installed. We had received a set of dishes for our wedding (that I adore) but there were only settings for four, a much smaller number of settings then we regularly needed for when friends or family showed up.
The hunt was on for dishes that we like, no, that we loved. And just in time, a Crate and Barrel catalog arrived in the mail.
It was settled as soon as we saw them in the pages, Samoa Dinnerware was it.
Now, in the new house, we don't have a plate rack to show off our fancy dishes. But there is one piece of the set that dose get to live outside the cupboard doors and be part of the counterscape- the sugar bowl.

I love it's little round handle and squat round belly.

green handknit

Are you enjoying green week so far? There sure are a lot of really great photos out there.

Just like with yellow, there are green hand knits too.



I made this over the summer before Mr.O was born. I went with the green partly because I loved the color and partly because we had opted not to find out the sex of the baby- green seemed a safe bet for a little boy or a little girl.
For some reason I never got around to posting the final picture (or any picture for that matter), even though I had talked about making the sweater when I started. It is the placket neck sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I think next time I would like to add a dash of other colors to the mix to jazz it up a bit.


Hope you are all snuggling in for the night- we are expecting snow but right now I just hear the spatter of rain on the house.

Be well

green (and a bit of orange)

We'll try out these in the next few weeks. I roasted them, gave them a good whirl in the food processor, and then frozen the puree in ice cube trays. Now they are ready to mixed in with cereal or thawed and eaten on their own.



If he doesn't like the taste of them at least he had a good time playing with them.


more green here...

First Taste and a bit of green

It was his first taste of 'real' food this weekend, rice cereal and a little bit of mama's milk.


(look, I'm eatting from a spoon!)

Have fun finding all the green this week. Thanks again to Emily for hosting!
PS there is a flickr group if you want a big dose of the madness.