2019 The Year of This and That: Week 10

Have you ever had a week that felt busy in the moment but didn’t result in a list of accomplishments?  My best case scenario for a week like this is that everyone made it through without any major problems and each busy day lead to something good later so by this metric I’ll call last week a success.  Yay!  I took steps toward bigger goals, put out plenty of fires and used my photo sharing time to feature some favorites from the past year that didn’t fit into an overall weekly theme.  In other words “a bit of this and that.”

My photo choices were little glimpses into things that made me happy; some pretty garden flowers, a forest road, a hiking trail, fluffy white clouds and an iconic PNW beach scene filled with driftwood logs.  All images taken with my iPhone 8+ edited in Hipstamatic or VSCO.

A fun side note:  posting so many hiking photos led me to design a new hiking T-shirt available now in my Etsy store.  All I need is some warmer weather and John, Ryan and I will be hitting the trails in style.

Northwest Frame of Mind on Etsy

Lisa13 Comments

2019 The Year of Looking Back to Avoid Seeing Today: Week 7

Looking back to avoid seeing today… not something I usually recommend but every once in a while it’s a coping technique I can get behind.  We’ve been snowbound for weeks and while I’ve promised to post a photo a day I was tired of looking at icy pictures so after one final black and white I turned my back on the great outdoors and dove into some older picture files for inspiration.

The first photo of the week is the view down our street after the neighborhood worked in shifts to shovel off some of the ice, and the second is Finn coping with this chilly weather.  From here we travel to Bellingham, WA and a 2015 visit to the marina, I couldn’t get enough of these fishing nets and the picture perfect vintage Ford Truck.  The dancing goats are in front of an art gallery in Edmonds, WA and I took their photo along with the softly glowing lantern on Christmas Eve 2018.  My final photo is a look back at a sun filled day at the Oregon coast and, as I noted in my Instagram post, the best-selling print in my Etsy store.  Many of the photos you see here are also listed for sale there so if there’s something you’d love to have please let me know and I’ll send you a link.

All images were taken with an iPhone (5 or 8+) and I used three editing apps this week:  Hipstamatic, Stackables and Snapseed.  If you’d like more information I usually note editing details and filtering choices on Instagram or you can ask me a question in the comments below and I’ll be happy to share my process.

Lisa15 Comments

My Year In Pictures: January Week 3

Processed with VSCO with 5 preset

The third week of January was a big one for us here as our country transitioned from President Barack Obama to Donald Trump.   While it’s clear that Trump lost the popular vote and the majority of the country remains firmly against his platform we are all waiting and watching, hoping for the best while planning for the worst.  As a result my week was spent focusing on things that matter to us while trying to dial down the digital information overload. I attended my first congressional office open  house to meet our new Representative Pramila Jayapal, Ryan and I set aside time to talk about Martin Luther King’s legacy and we had a great afternoon watching a matinée of Hidden Figures.  I shipped a basket to a new customer in Ireland and snapped a close up of a painting I walk past frequently then captured this one woman waiting and watching as Seattle Police prepared for an evening demonstration/protest against the Trump Administration.  Saturday morning John, Ryan and I joined the Seattle Women’s March and we added our voices and our feet to the more than 600 marches around the world.  If you’d like to see more pictures from the day please take a look at my post about Marching in Seattle.

There’s one more week of this daily photo project so I’ll be back with seven new pictures soon but if you don’t want to wait please join us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about any of the images but you don’t follow me on these accounts please feel free to click here for IG, here for Twitter and here for FB or select a photo from the Instagram previews in my sidebar.  You don’t need an account at either place to view my photos, everyone’s welcome.

 

Lisa15 Comments

My Year In Pictures: January Week 2

If we say a New Year shows it’s colors in the first weeks of January I hope my 2017 is filled with shades of a pastel rainbow.  Fingers crossed that these photos start a positive trend leading to more time with family, more time in the outdoors and a chance to create some new things for our Etsy store.

The first two photos are the last of my cold winter beach walk with Ryan and John followed by our year-end recap of monthly selfie shots. 🙂  If you’d like to see how we’ve changed over the past three years check out my wrap up posts from 2015 and 2014.  I used my day off to photograph some new baskets and a blanket I completed at the end of the year and I finally tried to capture one of my favorite winter morning moments, sunrise reflecting off snow capped Olympic Mountains.  Cheers to you all from the wintery Pacific Northwest!

Lisa10 Comments

My Year In Pictures: December Week 2

A week filled with Christmas preparations and winter weather make for a merry and bright set of images today.  In typical Pacific Northwest fashion we’ve had our first SNOW freak-out, lit up the short and gray days with plenty of bright lights, enjoyed peppermint mochas and spent a little time shopping online.  The snow may be gone but we know it’ll return so in the meantime I’ll listen to Seahawk football, fold my laundry and watch Ryan and John put up our outdoor lights so everything will be colorful and cheery when we come home tomorrow. 🙂  How are you spending  your weekend?

I’ll be back with a new post in a few days but if you don’t want to wait please join us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about any of the images but you don’t follow me on these accounts please feel free to click here for IG, here for Twitter and here for FB or select a photo from the Instagram previews in my sidebar.  You don’t need an account at either place to view my photos, everyone’s welcome.

 

Lisa10 Comments

My Year In Pictures: November Week 3

Sometimes my weekly photo subjects are selected in advance so each blog post shares only a small peek into our days and sometimes the collection of images tell a story all on their own.  This week I think the story of old vs new came through pretty clear as we spent the majority of our time making room for furniture from my grandparent’s estate while finishing some new listings for our Etsy shop.  Cleaning, moving, making, photographing and listing filled each open moment and left us with a welcome sense of accomplishment by the end of Saturday afternoon.  I have a few additional photos of Grandma Emma’s things that may appear in future weeks and I’m happy to report a red and white basket sold within hours of its social media debut.  If you’re looking for a handmade holiday gift they are in our Etsy store and ready to ship now. 🙂

I’ll be back with a new post in a few days but if you don’t want to wait please join us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about any of the images but you don’t follow me on these accounts please feel free to click here for IG, here for Twitter and here for FB or select a photo from the Instagram previews in my sidebar.  You don’t need an account at either place to view my photos, everyone’s welcome.

Lisa7 Comments

My Year In Pictures: October Week 1

Processed with Snapseed.
Processed with Snapseed.

October is here, the weather is changing and my thoughts are turning to late garden color, cozy accessories, movies and spooky lights.  My week in a nutshell!  After ignoring our yard for much of the summer I had fun at some end-of-season plant sales and shipped my first warm scarf of the season from our Etsy store.  John’s favorite tree turned from a soft green to brilliant orange and red within 24 hours, Ryan and I enjoyed a matinée of The Magnificent 7, the wet Seattle sidewalks are back and John has started decking out the house for Halloween.  How did you spend your week?

I’ll be back with a new post in a few days but if you don’t want to wait please join us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about any of the images but you don’t follow me on these accounts please feel free to click herefor IG, here for Twitter and here for FB or select a photo from the Instagram previews in my sidebar.  You don’t need an account at either place to view my photos, everyone’s welcome.🙂

Lisa14 Comments

My Year In Pictures: August Week 1

Processed with VSCO with c3 preset
Processed with VSCO with lv01 preset
Processed with VSCO with 6 preset

At first glance this week’s photos look like a typical set of my daily random images and on the surface that’s true but with a little more background they really tell the story of what’s been occupying our time and how we’re trying to capture some feel-good summer moments in the middle of our busy days.

When we moved into this house 7 years ago I was excited to see little clumps of anemones spread across the backyard but it didn’t take long to realize they are really invasive and grow even faster when you try to pull them out.  Lesson learned, now I sit on my hands instead of reaching out and yanking up the fresh shoots and I’m trying to re-appreciate their pretty pink flowers.  Monday afternoon Ryan and I finally made it to our favorite coffee shop and on the way out we walked past this little flag pin stuck in a tree trunk.  Tuesday’s shot is a sad view of John’s trusty Subaru.  This was a great car that served him well for over 10 years but it wasn’t a match for the dreaded “rush hour accident on the freeway”.  He was hit from behind by a distracted driver and after a thorough inspection we received the bad news that his car is a total loss. 😦   Shopping for a new (to us) car wasn’t on my list of things to do this summer however and coming only a few months after we had to replace my car made the process even more painful.

Life goes on though and Wednesday I posted this photo of a new UPF Scarf in our Etsy shop.  We’ve kept to our schedule of introducing a few new things every couple of weeks so the shop stays fresh and interesting while behind the scenes we are working hard to finish some fun Halloween items and new cold weather accessories.  For a change of pace Thursday’s photo is of our collection of beach walking sticks resting by the back door.  Each stick came from a memorable walk with Ryan and seeing them together reminds us of fun times in the past and fun times yet to come.  Friday’s shot is also from our back deck and highlights one of my favorite begonias.  Our week ended Saturday night with our 22nd Wedding Anniversary!  To celebrate we visited this amazing distillery close to home and tasted award-winning, scratch made gin and vodka. 🙂

I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  If a once-a-week (or two) blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

 

Lisa18 Comments

My Year In Pictures: July Week 4

Hard to believe July is already in the past but at least we had a good time while it lasted. 🙂  This week’s set of photos is a mixed bag combining some favorite vacation shots with scenes from my walks through the city and a new order ready for shipping from our Etsy shop.  All in all it was a good month here in the Pacific Northwest.

Sunday’s photo is from the deck of our return Ferry as we slowly navigated the thick fog between our island cabin and home on the mainland while Monday’s image is a piece of public art inside the Seattle Bus Tunnel at Westlake Center.  Tuesday I brought back a lovely sunset from Lopez Island and Wednesday night I packed this driftwood scented candle to ship to a new customer.  Thursday and Friday I was in the mood for some black and white and both images are from our hike out to Iceberg Point.  Saturday closed the week with one last sunset.  I promise to be more creative soon but with all the pretty sunsets we’ve seen I just couldn’t wait to share!

I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  If a once-a-week blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

Lisa12 Comments

My Year In Pictures: July Week 2

While there are two different ways to view the lack of regular entries on my posting calendar the end result is the same… I’ve fallen woefully behind in my recap schedule.  The good news is I’m keeping up with my daily Instagram/Facebook/Twitter pictures so there are plenty of new images to write about and I plan to do a lot of writing over the next three days so we should be caught up soon!

The second week of July began with a flurry of pre-vacation activity and ended on a driftwood filled beach in a quiet corner of the Pacific Northwest so if you’ve been following me on social media you’ve already seen a lot of pretty Lopez Island pictures but I’m really looking forward to sharing them with everyone here.  Sunday was our day to catch up with yard work and Ryan’s turn to grumble and groan about the fact that this is our second summer with a push-mower.  Monday is a shot of some pretty Mahonia berries in our front yard and Tuesday and Wednesday are scenes from my evening errands to the library and grocery store for books and BBQ sauce.  Thursday morning I shared this super soft throw blanket in our Etsy store and Friday’s picture captured the moment we left clouds behind and sailed out to sunny skies.  Saturday brought a hike along this rugged beach where the kids explored, flew kites and gathered walking sticks.

Coming soon I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  If a once-a-week blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

Lisa13 Comments

My Year In Photos: June Week 2

I see a lot of blues, grays along with some warm patches of gold in my latest set of photos which is just about right when it comes to June in the Pacific Northwest.  Blue skies and flowers mixed with heavy gray clouds and warmed by the sun during our longest days of the year.  We had a full schedule with all the end of the year school activities, a quick day trip across the water and a busy work week so for the first time you’ll see I posted more than one photo without any editing.  In contrast, other images are more heavily edited than usual but both approaches are a reflection of how I felt in the moment.  I either wanted move on and post quickly or I tried to add a little color and interest to something that was just a small moment in the day.

The week started with this view from the passenger deck on one of our state-run Ferries and Monday afternoon I began writing the Etsy listing for this new blanket.  Tuesday I wanted to experiment with the new pinhole lens available through Hipstamatic and Wednesday was Ryan’s final band concert.  I made him pose for the usual “hurry up mom” snapshots in his Tuxedo but this spontaneous click taken after John told a slightly off-color joke is my favorite of the night.

Thursday is a look through a large pane of shattered glass and Friday shares one of my favorite ways to relax – watching clouds float over the islands.  Saturday I visited our local bookshop for some last-minute Father’s Day gifts and was happy to see they’ve expanded their hours for the summer season.  Now we’re looking forward to long summer nights with plenty of new books to enjoy.

Coming soon I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If a once-a-week blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

 

Lisa12 Comments

My Year In Photos – May Week 5 & June Week 1

Processed with VSCO with x3 preset
Processed with VSCO with e8 preset

After nearly 1.5 years of taking and posting daily photos along with a 2 year tradition of regular weekly wrap-up posts here on the blog I’m finally throwing my hands up and admitting this time around I’ve totally blown my self-induced deadlines.  I hope you like this super-sized post covering two weeks in one!  As you can see from the size of the gallery above I am still keeping up with a daily photo routine but my writing time has really taken a hit so today I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum and let you enjoy the photos. 🙂

May ended on a good note and my first seven images reflect some of what filled our days.   Gardening, sunshine, music and donuts.   The first photo is a “work in progress” shot of one of my new baskets while the second is from my Memorial Day walk along the waterfront.  The third is a close up of a lamp I admired and the fourth is one of the hardy clover plants that thrive in our yard.  The fifth photo is a screen shot of my in-car entertainment for the day and the sixth is how Ryan and I chose to celebrate National Donuts Day. Our week ended with a fun afternoon at the theater watching a stage production of Billy Elliott and a walk through Issaquah, WA.

June started with frosty Root Beer Floats at this 50’s themed diner and then you see Finn searching for two stray Samoyed dogs who appeared on our porch looking for fun.  Tuesday I was happy to see this hydrangea opening and Wednesday found us back at Children’s Hospital for another Orthopedic check-up.  Ryan’s healing is continuing to follow the slow and steady plan so our fingers are crossed that by the end of the summer we may know if he can avoid surgery.  Thursday you have a close up of this small wood statue my father-in-law brought back from a trip to Peru in the 1960’s, Friday is a collage of the finished baskets and Saturday was my Birthday.  We enjoyed a relaxing day at home, John cooked a fantastic dinner and for a mid day break we took a ferry ride over to Kingston for ice cream and a walk along the harbor.  I thought this photo really captured the temperamental nature of June in the Pacific Northwest.  Every day brings an unpredictable mix of sun, clouds, rain and wind so we dress in layers and always have a spare jacket tucked into a bag on the side.

Coming soon I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If a once-a-week blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

Lisa14 Comments