What I do when I'm having a Blue Day . . .

I'm having a bit of a blue day today.

Not too surprising all things considered. Last week was filled with this, that and the next thing and I was anticipating the Wellington Garden Center Auction, which was held this past Saturday. My friend Nicole and I spent a couple of hours previewing everything on Friday, I had time for a quick nap before I drove the bus that afternoon and we were all at the auction by 8:30 Saturday morning.

And oh my, was it cold!  And snowing. And crowded. But, more about that another time. . .

I didn't get home until 5 on Saturday and once I started poking through everything I had gotten (I may have come home with a bit more than I had intended. . . ) I just felt so sad . . . I had brought home bits and pieces of someone else's dream. A dream that had died . . .

And so, when I got up this morning and looked around at a house that needed digging out once again, ( A never ending task . . .) I was feeling quite blue.

I spent a little time wallowing in it, and then, since I'm a grownup (most of the time), filled the sink with hot, soapy water and set the first load of dirty dishes to soak.

I didn't stop there though. I think the best cure for the blues is to first do something that needs to be done, and then something that wants to be done.

For me, today, that was to make something pretty. Something that only I can make.

I started with a photo I took last year that I love, added some textures and a little French script, played with the dodge and burn tools and finished up with a quote that really speaks to me these days . .

Here's the original picture:

and here's what I did with it:

I'm going to print it and hang it on my bulletin board right above my computer screen. Because sometimes it's nice to have more that just an image on a screen.

What do you do when you're feeling blue???

Why I'm Weird and You should be Too. (The making and Inspiration of a Spring Nest)

I was chatting with one of the younger girls on my bus the other day, about being weird. She commented that someone she knew was 'weird'. I laughed and said we were all weird in some way. She smiled and nodded.

"I know I'm weird" I said.

She looked at me oddly and said" That's funny, most adults don't admit they are weird . . ."

So here's the thing about that conversation. Although we used the word 'weird', really, what we were talking about is how each one of us was made  by the Creator to be different.  To be unique.

I'm happy to proudly stand up and say "I'm weird." I like the things about me that make me different. They make my life interesting. And more fun.

 Once you let go of the notion that everyone should be exactly the same as everyone else, that is. . . 

I follow an amazing photographer named Heather over at Fairyography. I've always loved fairies and fairy-tales so her work really intrigues me.

A while back she commented on a session done by a photographer she admired, Kira Hancock Sanoja. She posted a link on Facebook from a session Kira did and one to to a session she did inspired by Kira's work. This one is Kira's and this one and this one show how Heather interpreted Kira's idea.

I loved the idea of a nest in a photo shoot and as I had my first newborn girl shoot coming up, decided to do one of my own . . .

Three woman, and a nest. Each one of us could have copied someone else's  idea of what a photography session using a nest looked like. Instead we each looked at the idea through the filter of our own individual 'weirdness's' and created something uniquely our own.

Wouldn't life be just that much more amazing if we all admitted we were weird and enjoyed that fact rather than trying to hide it???

Here's a little photo esssay on how my nest and shoot went, but be sure to click on the other links as well. They really are amazing . . .