2019 The Year of Pollen and Pretty Flowers: Week 13

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If you’ve ever tried to complete a year-long photo project you know each week brings a new challenge and today’s post is my answer to the seasonally specific question “what do I share when the focus of my blog is an outdoor PNW lifestyle but the arrival of spring means I can’t be outside because of the sneezing?” This is the third time I’ve set myself up to share a year’s worth of daily photos and while I might want to say I’ll only take and share pics from indoors until allergy season passes the truth is I need better choices or you’ll all leave me for more interesting reading.  Plus, the inside of my house is boring and spring in the Pacific Northwest is really lovely.  It would be a shame to not share.

This year I decided to risk the pollen induced sneezing and in one fast-snapping tour of the yard collected 6 images of what’s blooming now to create a fresh post all about flowers.  Our late start to spring meant the morning I made my flower dash there weren’t 7 interesting plants blooming so the begonia close up is from last summer. I like to think of the final result as a digital, sneeze free, bouquet.

All images were taken with my iPhone and edited in VSCO.  If you’re interested in more detail please click through each image individually as I’ve captioned them with the specific filter presets used within the app.

Lisa9 Comments

A Surprise Every Day: Shaking Up April With Hipstamatic (week 4)

This past week was a good example of how nice it is to have a few things to look forward too spread out over the course of seven days. We had just enough time to keep our regular life running smoothly while enjoying a birthday celebration, crazy spring weather and meeting online friends for an afternoon walk and dinner.

Sunday started our week in the best way possible as I got to meet a good blogging friend, Andra Watkins in person.  Andra was in town with her husband Michael and we all enjoyed a nice visit, a great meal and a walk through the city on a warm April day.  Monday started off with plenty of sunshine too and I took this shot of our rhododendrons before the incoming rain and hail took a toll on the soft blossoms.  Now that Easter is over every store is preparing up for Memorial Day BBQ’s and Tuesday’s brightly colored shelf full of outdoor toys reminded me of lazy afternoons watching bubbles float up to the sky.

Wednesday is another shot in our backyard as I walked down the hill to find Finn munching on new fiddleheads.  Lucky for him our yard is full of ferns and snacking opportunities so he can spread the damage out over many plants instead of eating one prize perennial.  Thursday’s random photo finally used one of the new combinations for this image of the Tesla Store in Bellevue Square Mall.  I was surprised the first time I saw a car showroom in a mall but these cars are so pretty I think they actually belong here with the high-end retail stores.   Friday’s Sasquatch socks are a close up of Ryan’s legs, he couldn’t wait to wear his new birthday present to school and I liked the image of these little Squatches walking through our lawn.  The week ends with a closeup of our dwarf Korean Lilac tree that’s followed us from apartment to house to house for 20 years now.  Fully mature, it’s about 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide with a spicy scent that tells me April is almost over.

Each photo is straight from Hipstamatic’s “shake to randomize” function and posted without any additional editing. If you like a particular combination and want to try it at home just click on the image to see the lens and filter used.  For variety I’m working with some new lenses and filters this week so if you want to try Hipstamatic but are unsure how to start let me know and I’ll do my best to answer your questions!

Lisa26 Comments