I always think the images from my travels home should be better than they end up. I love it there, it’s familiar and there’s always a lot going on. I guess I just want to visit and not photograph…

First stop on our very looooong road trip, Jersey diner food with the in-laws…

Love…

My husband thanking God for his 6 scotch sampler for lunch in Laramie…

And good ranch for his wife so she will stop bitching about the crap they try to pass off as ranch anywhere east of Wyoming.

I would just like to add, the new image gallery format that wordpress has set up, blows.

The amazing view from Janelle and Nate’s house… Thanks for letting us stay!

“All my cousins are dogs” Ellie told her friend… Still makes me giggle.

Ya, baby!

I spent the better part of my late 20’s in this building…

…and this lab.

My old locker. Jayne you’re the best! No more boring numbers…

I rarely saw this room with the lights on… Still smells the same.

Lunch and wine with one of my favorite people… Thanks for playing hooky!

Of course my friend Mo has a disco ball in her basement, one of the many reasons I love her…

Happy dogs!

Ridley rolling in something nasty, you’re welcome Alanna.

Of course several trips to Sam’s for our RL Ales fix…. And sandwiches; bring back #9!

One of the perks of staying with Mick and Alanna, they have an espresso machine in their basement.

And homemade chai…

I have seen her mom make this same face in the same situation…

Bloodys at Chico… Perfect!

So So proud of my mom… She was honored this year at her school.

Two year old mint from our wedding…

  

My mom gave me all her Christmas records while I was home… The greatest collection of Christmas music ever!

Don’t worry siblings, as soon as I can figure out how to record them, I will.

Fitting…

My dad was so in love with the Lennon sisters when he was little, he cut out the picture of them and put it in a frame.

Perfect Montana snow.

My head is gigantic!

So long Montana!

J is in LOVE with City Brew coffee.

His top three favorite cups of coffee on the trip (out of thousands): Mick and Alanna’s basement coffee, City Brew kiosk in Red Lodge and the Flying J on the border of Nebraska and Indiana.

Ahhh Cracker Barrel, I love you and your slushy lemonade.

Disturbing on so many levels…

Thanks for the great trip Loves!!

It is once again my favorite holiday, St. Nicholas Day.

I wrote about it last year, and find I have nothing to add.

This year I’m celebrating by hanging new curtains and cleaning my bathrooms. Not the most eventful St. Nick day in history…

We have a shiny new natural gas heating system… after six days of double (sometimes triple) layers and space heaters. Welcome home! your oil tank gauge is a big fat liar… We won’t miss you, you black tank of nasty. 

I got our tree up yesterday, LOVE!

And I’m happy to say my Christmas cactus is blooming at the moment, so I didn’t miss it. I think all my plants went dormant due to lack of heat, I did not mean to leave you in the cold…

I’m in the process of going through my vacation images, 697 to be exact. I’ll post soon…

It’s good to be home…

 

 

 

Preparing to be gone for three weeks is no small task, but I’m plugging away on my list…

This time tomorrow we’ll be halfway to New Jersey!

I heart road trips…

I’m kinda sad, my christmas cactus will bloom while I’m gone…

We had our first snow last night! It was the perfect.

Happy Vacation Loves!!!

It is hard when your hobby and profession are the same. I feel like I haven’t left my office in weeks.

I could photograph forever but the sitting on the computer part blows…

I’m trying my hardest to keep the professional work from overshadowing the personal work, but I feel my poor blog gets shoved aside all too often.

I will find a more efficient way to do both… I’m almost there.

I want a wood burning stove…

My first bed…!

We finally had a meal at the Hilltop Steak House. It’s like stepping into Montana, the “Bonanza” part of it.

J’s dad had his bachelor part here forty years ago… I bet it hasn’t changed.

My final peppers…

I put them all in soup… With onions, sausage, hamburger, zucchini, tomatoes, veggie broth and topped off with cilantro.

It turned out pretty fantastic!

We’ve been finding all sorts of treasures as we start digging our garden… I’m kinda excited to see what we come up with at the end of our backyard overhaul.

I PLANTED MY GARLIC!!! And then we got hit with a hurricane; I hope they don’t rot. Fingers crossed.

One of the varieties I ordered I couldn’t get so I ended up planting mainly softneck, elephant, and a few hardneck cloves I got from a farmers market. We’ll see!

Wynn and I were back in our old stomping grounds the other day visiting Michelle and Lola.

The view is still great!

This picture makes me smile, even though neither one of them is.

Happy 40 to one of my dear friends, I’m glad we could celebrate with you…

All my fall decorations this year are things I found outside; that makes love them even more.

I’m kinda proud.

I moved my disco ball just a touch and pow! Afternoon sun plus a thousand tiny mirrors, magic…

I drive by this unbelievable tree every time I go visit Andee and Rudy. I have been wanting to stop but it never seems to work out. Last week I was finally able.

I met Jean, a great gal who loves her red maples and was more than happy to share them with me…

She says they stay that color year round; I have a feeling I will be seeing her again.

And Bear…

This a Japanese red laceleaf maple.

Happy November Loves!!!

My favorite month!

I’m hoping to do a little blog before we leave for Montana, so I will see you soon…

It is absolutely beautiful right now in Mass. The sun is shining in my window making my whole office glow. I think a nice loooong walk with my favorite girl (who is still in bed at 10) is the perfect way to spend the afternoon. I believe it to be one of the last warm days we’ll have for awhile, not that I mind it getting colder.  I appreciate the feeling of warm on bare skin knowing it will be months before I feel that again; I have to go soak up all that I can…

And that’s when I decided to leave and go for a walk before I finished my blog.

It was a soul cleansing walk. Such a happy, calm feeling in the air. Every time the wind blew you could hear 20 quiet thuds of acorns hitting the forest floor…

The first day of fall is always a cause to celebrate in my book. We spent it with friends…

Our close friends moved to Pepperell a month back and now I want to. It’s just the coolest area, its the picture of “quaint”. Every time we drive there I love it even more…

The day started with the Pepperell farmers market and then on to a fall festival a couple towns over in Groton. And so the four of us spent the afternoon being festive.

We had an actual conversation with a teenager, I did not think that was possible anymore. I should have taken a picture of him… Isn’t it amazing that having a 90 second back and fourth with a 16 year old is so uncommon that it sticks out in your mind.

This house makes me miss my sister Mary Kay, it is sooo her…

I want to see what it looks like on the inside.

I just realized I have two disco balls downstairs and not one in my office, the room in the house that needs it the most!

Dear little girl,

Your coloring is sub-standard at best, I hope you have other skills or you’re going to have a hard life. Take a lesson from your friend, she seems to have the coloring thing down…

This baby almost came home with me!

My husband had that look in his eye that told me not to even ask…

If it’s still there next time, I’m going for it… Why not, it’s a giant disco ball! I’ll find space.

The second half of our day was spent with more friends playing mini golf and eating chinese food.

Words can’t describe how much I love this man…

Even the props master of the group (her actual job title for you all that don’t live around theater and have no idea what a props master is) couldn’t figure a good reason for two halves of a bucket instead of a whole. Shirley a whole bucket would be easier to find…

Yes, that is my ball… Skill.

Matt was the champion!  I came in fourth, shocking I know. I lack the competitive edge needed in such sports; and the hand eye coordination for that matter… It was a blast!

Lastly, scotch, cigars and a campfire.

A perfect end to a perfect first day of fall…

I ordered my garlic yesterday!!!! This year I will be planting Inchelium Red  and  Music. One softneck and one hardneck.

I’m beaming as I’m writing.

The first thing that will go in my garden this year. Garlic is a commitment and I’m overjoyed to be in that place in life making it possible to commit.

The first time I looked at my phone the morning we left for our anniversary trip. I figured it was a good omen to have an extra 11. It happened again four days later but my camera wasn’t around.

Every other year we trade off on who plans our anniversary trip. This year was my year…

I decided on Portsmouth, NH. Only about an hour from our house so we didn’t spend the whole time in the car.

It was a great little town! On the water which is always a plus, usually means great restaurants.

This gal was so nice! She gave us a list of her recommendations for the area…

Wynn spent the three days with Michelle and Lola freeing us to sit for hours eating and drinking without the worry of her sad and lonely in the room.

We sat at the bar in the Gaslight and visited with the cooks. The bar opens up into the kitchen, very cool.

This was the best hummus ever! I wanted to eat it with a spoon…

The cooks told me how they make it,  I’m going to try it.

And we had a fire…

We found a great little spot for breakfast. You would think there would be more than one breakfast place in a town that size… There were a lot of coffee places that served danishes and such, not a whole lot inside for two people who don’t eat grain (more on that later).

Three words,  bacon and eggs.

And they served you a whole pot of tea, not just a cup. It’s the little things…

This place was packed about 30 seconds before I took this. Everyone seemed to come all at once and then leave all at once.

Cafe Mediterraneo, another great place. Good sangria!

Out for our anniversary dinner, in our wedding clothes:)

I’m a lucky gal…

Our view for dinner… Like last year, (and also our wedding day) it was warm enough for us to sit outside. The end of September is a great time to get married!

HA! I’m not much of a blingy girl but Nat insisted I get this when we were out shopping months before the wedding. I still wear it on occasion, makes me laugh.

He’s just my favorite…!

Portsmouth is right next to Kittery, home to Roberts Maine Grill. We eat there every time we are anywhere near it.

They never disappoint…

And home once again…

To raspberries! They just keep plugging away.

And our anniversary gift… Whoever doesn’t plan the trip picks the present.

He makes me laugh! Pretty good, cotton is a hard one…

My husband and I are going gluten and dairy free. We pretty much gave dairy up awhile back and aren’t too heavy on the  grains but we decided to be strict about it for two months to give us a realistic view.

I don’t see us going back… After four days I found my energy, I didn’t even know it was gone.

It’s indeed soup weather…  I’ve been trying to think outside the box.

Whatever soup:

• leftover pork broth
• one can of chopped tomatoes
• grilled hot italian sausage
• leftover roasted beets, carrots and chicken
• 1/4 large sweet potato chopped small.
• couple cloves of garlic
• dry basil
• red pepper

I think it turned out good enough to put the recipe on MDG…

This year I finally made it to the MIT pumpkin patch…  It was great to see friends and hunt for the perfect first pumpkin.

I had ADD bad! I of course expected nothing less. Colors everywhere!!!

Our first pumpkin… I had this one in my hand the whole time, others came and went but this one remained.

It was so beautiful and simple; it stood out in the sea of color…

Our friends have a party every year that includes sauce made entirely with tomatoes from their garden. I didn’t go to the party but I hung with them that day while they prepared…

And they sent sauce home for me and the mr. We’ve had one jar so far,  it was phenomenal of course…

Jar two tonight I think.

One thing we’ve  allowed ourselves on this diet experiment, our friend Tamiko’s chocolate jalapeno ice cream. It is a true treat! Life isn’t worth living if you deny yourself too much. It didn’t hang around long enough for a picture…

A little ball time with the Moose in the backyard…

I broke out Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus the other day… It’s officially that time of year!

Happy Autumn Loves!!!!

And happy Winter to all my MT/WY Loves!! Snow on October 3! Certainly don’t miss the two season thing…

It’s done!! …enough.

Housewarming parties are good for two things: getting to see all your friends all at once without you and your husband having to flip a coin to see who drives home… and forcing yourself to finish those tasks that are keeping your house from turning into a home.

It was a long two weeks but I would finally consider it homey…

I think it’s the curtains. I have a really hard time with curtainless windows. It’s like a drag queen without false eyelashes, just looks incomplete…

Projects….

This window is one of my favorite things about our house. I so love it even more now that my husband scraped the old paint off the glass.

And the ugly brown railing is now white!

I also cooked, canned and preserved . Gardens wait for no man…

My first hot sauce…

I’m just in love with all the color!

We’ve been planning the back yard area… I’m so freaking excited for my garden next year!!!!!! My first full garden season!

And so that next huge project begins… next month!

11 4×8 beds, seven 4×4 beds and a patio/pergola worthy of another party…

My husband eats more salsa than anyone. It’s what I make with the majority of our tomatoes. Next year I’ll grow all the ingredients. We’ll go through these three quart jars before the end of the month. They’ll keep my fridge looking pretty until then…

My little raspberry bush has been giving us a few treats here and there…

I’m in love with the yellow!!! They just brighten up my often too dark kitchen…

I was grating the skins off by hand which isn’t so bad with big red tomatoes but little yellow tomatoes suck!  I bought a food mill…

I love ETSY day!! I usually go through my favorites list and order everything I want all at the same time, so it usually shows up on the same day… It’s like Christmas!

This is why I like buying from little “stores”.

I fell in love with this artist…

Now her art is all over my house, I’m not the biggest fan of the frames (it’s what I already had) but that is for another day.

My new chalkboard wall…

So I pickled for the first time.

I pickled beans that come to find out, have inedible shells. Super! That’s how I roll. I did look on the internet first but found nothing so I went for it…

They are beautiful. And I learned about one more garden plant.

They don’t stay purple for long, once you start cooking them they turn green.  Wouldn’t that little tip lead you to believe you could eat them shells and all…? Ya, me too.

Roasted garlic is my new fav!

Sunday we went to the beach. I left a counter full of dirty dishes and headed out to celebrate completed goals, perfect weather, living so close to the ocean, fall being right around the corner… and these two.

These flowers remind me of my grandma…

A huge THANKS to all our friends who made our house warm… And the diehards that stayed for the fire.

Happy Tuesday Loves!

My first tomato of the season… big smile!

I’m pulling ten a day nowadays. I love my garden.

We ran up to Maine the other day to do a little clothes shopping and eat at one of our favorite restaurants…

We pulled into town and about died! There were 4857394574 people running around.  Last time we were there it was snowing and we pretty much had the town to ourselves… Lesson learned.

We very quickly changed our plans to just lunch… and Sangria!

I made my first batch of stuffed peppers, using MY peppers. I was so freaking impressed with myself!

Aren’t they perfect…!

I would give you the recipe but it seems to have disappeared… I will have my friend send it again.

They had black beans in them…

We have this in our backyard…

It’s full of ponds and hiking trails, it’s pretty fantastic!

I can’t wait until the temperature drops and we can start going on full day hikes.

It’s still hot and nothing looks any different but in the last week I can just start to feel summer winding down. Makes me want to go buy #2 pencils.

My two favs…

Why yes that is a PURPLE MUSHROOM!

I’m a huge fan of the fungi!

AND THEN this beauty…

It was the most perfect shade of periwinkle…

I need the Deb’s (bestie’s mom) mushroom book.

I was convinced if I looked at them too long I’d start seeing unicorns…

I LOVE YOU TOO!!! Thanks a ton for the pressure cooker… I’m really excited to try it out.

One more room painted! I’m loving blue lately…

My first ripe habanero!

Those colors belong together.

A very happy birthday to my little Tyler Joseph (not so little anymore being he’s in college).

I look back on my 20 birthday not so fondly,  in the emergency room with a cracked skull and missing teeth. I was such an idiot.

Do you remember your 20 birthday?

Happy Sunday Loves!

Is there such thing as a golden deathday?

If so,  a very happy one my dear sweet sister.

20 years seems like an eternity, and no time at all… I miss you every day.

 

Like every other photographer out there, my workflow has changed significantly since I started back in the day… I used to save every image I shot, even the out of focus ones… I also had a jpeg file attached to every RAW file; I don’t even remember my reason for this.

So, I have started the very loooooooooooooong task of going through all my old images.

I see no reason not to share…

They make me smile.

These are from a couple trips through Bighorn Canyon in Wyoming (near my old college stomping grounds).

Ah Bill… The kindest asshole I have ever met (Only people who really know know him actually understand that statement).

I so miss my “special” friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From J’s first trip out to see me…

 

 

 

 

One of my all time favorite clients and her husband…

 

 

No tattoo!

 

Oh yes, there will be more…

 

Living in this seemingly completely F-ed up world I find it a little too easy to slip into the negative. Meeting me around every corner: greed, laziness, lack of empathy… greed.

Passionate people are more susceptible to despair, I understand that far too well. But I also find we are equally susceptible to joy.

It is just what we choose to focus on.

So now when I’m riding in the car with my husband and something comes on NPR that gives me anxiety I simple turn it off and focus on the trees. And when I realize the trees are dying from some nasty disease, I focus on the family playing under the tree. And when one of those kids slaps his mom and starts screaming I focus on the fact that the little bastard is not mine…

Focus on the Joy!

And visit the ocean as often as you can…

Yes, that’s bacon in his drink… Brilliant!

As is date night…

We tried a new restaurant in Swampscott, “G”  I’m already ready to go back.

The chef cooks with the seasons and uses local ingredients so the menu is always changing,  the way it should.

I’m kinda a freak for mashed potatoes, but I’m picky (shocking I know). I like going to places where you don’t have to ask if the mashed potatoes are real… When they’re made with truffle oil, they are.

And I do enjoy long walks on the beach…

We’re trying to force Wynn to like water… She hates being in it but once she gets out she is so excited and beyond proud of herself.

Oh my gosh!!! My husband put my new composter together the other day!! It works like a dream…

Audience…

Sylvie and I hung out on Friday… I LOVE BABIES! This is the first shoot in forever where I didn’t want to go home and throw my camera in the garbage. I slowed down, used my tripod and really payed attention to what I was trying to accomplish. Of course there were things I felt I should have done differently but that feeling will hopefully never go away; thats what makes us crave the opportunity to go out and do it again.

Happy Sunday/Funday Loves!