Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

deGroot Violin circa 1982ish. Handcrafted by my amazingly talented father.
Since I have been little, I could spot one of my Dad's instruments amongst a sea of other violins. To me the varnish, the cut of the tiny edges, the delicate inlay, all combine to make more than a piece of wood that makes sound...but a unique work of art.

(This segment inspired by soulemama.com) 

Snow and Smuggling

Winter has officially set in round these parts. Though snow is not unheard of, it is not super common where we live...and his has been coooooooold. These days have been full of homemade soups, hot coffees and snuggy hats. There has also been a lot of knitting happening, as I have been working on my first Yarn Bombing project. More to come on that! 

Also the colder it gets, it seems that I want everyone and everything around me to be nestled in knitted comfort. It seems there are never enough hats or blankets or hot water bottle covers......

Challenge Accepted!

But there is new life around, with the introduction of some indoor plants recently. I felt like an intercontinental plant smuggler (I know...sounds exciting doesn't it)...as I sneaked these lovelies on my carry-on bag, flying from the east coast to the west. Technically I didn't do anything wrong, but it sure felt scandalous going through TSA.
The jade is abundant, and I am already finding all sorts of nooks of sunlight to keep my beauties happy. As I have stated previously, my thumb is not super green but I want to be a better gardener.... I think 2014 is going to be full of new life and very green indeed.
Have a wonderful Monday All.

Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

First snow. Blissful December All.

(This segment inspired by soulemama.com)

Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

This is a precious moment to me because, our cats are inside cats-and the only time they get let out is "under adult supervision". But they looooveee it. They don't go anywhere, just simply sit in a patch of grass that gets good sunlight. Except Sasha's favorite spot is just outside the door....looking inside. This girl spends her time begging to get out just so she can look back in. 

Good times.

(This segment inspired by soulemama.com)

Today Feels Like: Rain

I think these photos pretty much capture the mood around here right now. We have settled into rainy days, hot coffees, warm soups, and fuzzy slippers. I find there is something very peaceful about this time of year. Right before all the holiday hustle, it is like the world takes a breath.

This season also brings a shift in focus to more "nesting" projects. My attentions have been on making big batches of food and freezing them for the days to come, planning holiday fun, and of course knitting. It seems that whenever fall turns over, I dash to my yarn stash and dreams of hand knits fill my thoughts.

As as post scrips I have made a funny discovery this week...apparently when I am doing a Knit stitch I use the English style (of holding the yarn in my right hand) and when I am doing a Purl stitch I use the Continental style (of holding the yarn in my left had).  For any non-knitters out there the Purl stitch is basically the back of the Knit stitch, so to get that cool knitted look-you have to do both stitches. I taught myself to knit many years ago, and I have just figured out my quirk this week. Ummmm Hello!?
In retrospect my teaching myself is probably what led to this inconsistency. So now the question is do I switch my Knit stitch to Continental style (because let's get real- it is just easier) or just roll with what I have been doing for so long?......It makes me wonder what else I am doing backwards. :)
Hoping everyone has a wonderful Autumn day.

Swirls

Here is a picture of an oil painting I did a few years ago. I love this painting mostly because I had such fun painting it. For me, sometimes I can knock out a work in a few hours or sometimes it takes many many....many hours. This labor of love came fast and spontaneously.

"All children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist once we grow up"

Pablo Picasso 

Mehndi Mondays

Original Mehndi Henna Design by Danielle.

Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Simply my most favorite photo that I took on a morning walk the other day. No other words, just love.

Have a great weekend everyone.

(This segment inspired by soulemama.com)

Halloween

Hoping your day is filled with more treats than tricks. 

Have a Happy Halloween from Gypsy Gnome.

Documenting

For a while now I have been watching other bloggers and creative folk on the interweb create Project Life scrapbooks. And I have been thinking a lot about documenting life as of late.

I never loooooved photography when I was younger, it always seemed somehow serious to me. It was fine to snap a few photos at birthdays or the holidays (when everyone was "dressed up"). But the idea of taking pictures of the little things seemed like a lot of work; as if taking a picture of just my hands, or something I ate for dinner would be wasting film. And I think it used to be hard to argue with that; film cost money, and you only got 24 pictures on a roll, and you would have to wait to have the film sent off to be developed....it all just seemed like a lot for what could turn out to be a blurred mess...

But now...

Now the whole concept of how and what the average person can document is almost limitless. Between the clarity we can achieve from just our cellphone pics, to all the free photo editing software out there, photography is now a daily part of so many lives. Most of us find ourselves snapping away and accumulating 100's (let's be real 1,000's) of  photos, stored on our computer. And it's cool right?! 

So now what do you do with all your collected moments?

It is a good question. Blogging is a good tool, instagram, flickr....all sorts of social media.....but there seems to be a missing element. For me the best part of taking pictures with film was getting them back after being developed, scrolling through them reliving the moments and holding the pics trying not to smuge them. 

That being said I am determined to print more of the photos I take and put them into some sort of organization. Because I really do like taking pictures now. And  because it tuns out that the super embarrassing photo taken of you with food on your face, is the best moment of that vacation. Or that the selfie you took that you thought cut off your face, turns out to be the perfect artsy crop. Photography has a way of capturing more than just our visual memory of an event, but the feeling that the moment conjures up. And these memories are the good old days we are going to miss in the years to come.

Mehndi Monday

 So this week's henna installment is very cool for me because I did this design on myself!

 I am right handed and all of my henna practice has been with my right hand, but recently I began wondering if I could do it with my left hand....

So here it is. The closer image was applied with my non-dominate hand. 

Pretty cool right?! I don't really know what I can do with my new found talent, but it is definitely a reminder that we all can do amazing things if we don't limit ourselves.

I wonder what else I can do with my left hand...

Happy Hennaing Everyone.

Thrifty DIY

I think going to the local thrift shops has become one of my favorite activities. We have some gooood ones in town, and I have been able to grab some awesome finds. With a little TLC so many discarded items can be reinvented.

Yay! I am super happy with how they turned out. And they have helped making morning lattes for Hubs a breeze. Happy Thirfting!

Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

It is finally my favorite time of year (anywhere) but especially in the Pacific Northwest. Every morning lately has been filled with fog and cool air, colored by the changing leaves.

Have a happy Friday Everyone.

(This segment is inspired by soulemama.com)

West Coast Love

Hubby and I have driven across the country twice now, but until we moved here neither of us had ever been to Oregon. So although my camera was packed away, on a few occasions over the days of our trip I picked up my cellphone and grabbed a few shots from my passengers seat. *This would be a good time to point out that I am the consummate passenger on our distance trips. Hubby has done all, and I stress ALL the driving from the west coast to the east, and back again. Thus giving me the opportunity to grab some memories along the way. He is pretty awesome that man of mine.

So here is my first impression of the beautiful pacific northwest, as we cross over the mountains in Oregon.

Mehndi Mondays

Original Mehndi Henna design by Danielle.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday.

Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Lovely sunset view from our house. This is getting to be what I think is the loveliest time of year.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

(This segment is inspired by soulemama.com)

Mehndi Mondays

Doing henna or having it put on are both so relaxing. The paste I currently use has a wonderful lavender scent, and the henna is so cool when first touches the skin.

I have been really into hand designs lately- have you noticed?!

Happy Hennaing Everyone.

Captured Moments

A Friday ritual. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor, and remember.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

His name is Mufasa. 

Mu-ManO, Mu-GKhan, Teddy RuxMu, Muboto, MuMu, Comrade Mufasa, Mubie Doobie Doo, MuManicus, Fassa Man, Muasaurus, MuBu....I won't go on.

He is a practitioner of Catrate, late night house surveillance, and shoulder rides. 

 He is a good man that cat of ours. He has one job, just to be a living stuffed animal-available for all sorts of love attacks at any moment, and he does it well. 

Have a great weekend All.

(This segment is inspired by soulemama.com)

Mehndi Mondays

Simple hand henna design. 

Original mehndi by Danielle

The Life of a Tomato

 I have never grown my own food, but I have wanted to, reeeeaaallly bad. I don't really know why it has taken me so long to get on this, but I am so glad my thumb is getting greener. So when I saw this beautiful tomato plant one weekend at the farmers market, it stuck out in my mind the whole time we were there, and I just had to circle back by the stand on our way out and snatch her up!

Yummmm! Yes the pizza and the caprese tasted just as wonderful as they look. And PS folks, I grew the basil too. It is pretty much a party in my mouth around here.

Good times :)