Highbush Cranberry--May

It appears that I have come full circle with this project of posting photos of our Highbush Cranberry. I have been faithful to my commitment made last June to post monthly photos of this beautiful shrub in our yard and many of you have been faithful in checking in and commenting.

The change from April until today is really amazing. We have had a wet spring so maybe that has had an effect but as I've said all along, even though I love this bush, I have never paid quite this much attention to its changes.

Some of the berries from last year are still hanging on although they are looking pretty sad and getting ready to make their exit, I'm sure.


There are berries hanging in there right along side the new growth of what will become this year's fruit.

Last but not least are these blossoms getting ready to pop and become the beautiful white flowers this shrub produces in June.


If you've been following along monthly, Thanks! If you haven't, take a look at each of these posts to watch the progress.

June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, and April.

Are You a Good Storyteller or Like to Take Pictures?

It's been three weeks since Words of Wisdom (WOW) hit the blogosphere, something Pam and I find hard to believe. The first couple weeks were challenging but things seem to be working out. For more information, visit our Welcome Message.

After only three weeks, we have over 100 followers. It's been fun and encouraging to read the feedback and comments. We have been featuring a new "Blogger of Note" daily on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We look forward to finding more “bloggers of substance" to share with our followers and visitors. If you want to know how to be a BON, you can find out how here.

We know that in addition to writing great blogs lots of you out there enjoy photography and creative writing (fiction, poetry, essays, etc.). As a way to include those types of blogs and posts, we are now including two new features. Beginning today, every Sunday you can link your favorite posts of photos or creative writing.

If you want to share some of your writing, visit the Writer's Forum and put up a link. If you would like to share some of your photographs, visit the Photo Gallery and link it up. If you are looking for some new and interesting photography or creative writing, drop by and check it out. We really looking forward to what you have to share.

Dad Would Be Proud

I took this photo of a cotoneaster beside an antique cultivator last fall. This is one of several antique farm implements on our property that came from Paul's grandfather's farm. This one sits in a rock garden in our yard. Paul remembers walking behind the cultivator hooked to one of the farm horses and in front of his grandfather. Walking behind a cultivator and a horse? What century was that?

With this photo, last fall, for the first time in my life, I entered a photo competition. I actually entered two contests and won both with the same photo. The real estate company I work with, Residential Properties Ltd., has a photo competition four times a year, one for each season. We have so many fabulous photographers among our agents, I never considered entering a photo until I saw this one. The winning photos are used as part of a slide show on the company's website. Most of the winning photos have always been interesting houses or local scenery. This was a little out of the ordinary but I think they liked it because it was in my yard and had a personal story.

The second contest I entered with this photo was on the blog The Badass Geek . A professional photographer himself, The Geek has a really cool website at Shift Photography, please go visit him. Feeling pretty full of myself after having won the company contest, I figured 'why not?' I entered and won! The Geek actually offered a prize. I was told to choose a photo from his website which he would send matted and ready to frame. I picked a beautiful sunset over water which arrived yesterday.

I started taking pictures when I was eight years old. I don't know what I was using for a camera back then but I remember seeing what looked like 35mm negative strips hanging in our make-shift darkroom. Soon I had my own little 110 Instamatic. I've moved up a little since then. Here's my newest camera.

My father set up a darkroom in the cellar of our house in the early 1960's. And I do mean cellar. Half the floor in the cellar of our early 19th century house was dirt. The photo enlarger was on an old work bench. I use to develop and print black and white photos. There were only three baths necessary to develop black & white and many, many more for color so we only worked in black & white. My father is gone so I can't ask him so my memory of the whole process may be a little fuzzy.

I remember how cool it was to watch pictures of my dog Missey come up from the trays. Notice there's always a dog in my stories? I still have some of those photos. I also remember one day, in my clumsy way, knocking a bottle of a chemical wash over in my mother's kitchen. I watched the cabinets instantly turn white as the stuff splashed across the wood. Fortunately it washed off but for a minute I thought I was in big trouble.

So after starting my photography experience in a dirt cellar 45+ years ago, I still enjoy taking pictures.

Mama Don't Take My Kodachrome Away

In the 50's & 60's my father and grandfather shot a lot of slide film. I actually did, too, when I first started taking pictures with my little Instamatic at about age 9. Consequently I have boxes of slides that I really can't conveniently look at. I don't know if we ever had a slide projector. We just used a slide viewer which only allows you to look at one slide at a time. So it's been years and years since I've looked at them.

While Christmas shopping I came across this little thing, Ion Slides 2 PC , a slide and negative scanner at Staples for about $70. On a whim I picked it up. First of all, you get what you pay for, it was pretty cheap and it's not that great. But it did what I wanted, it allowed me to digitize the slides and begin to finally enjoy them. The one disappointing thing is that my father started having his slides developed into a 2 x 2 format and the only scanner I've found that handles that size is out of my price range, for now anyway.

I happened to be in a camera store soon after I bought the scanner and mentioned it to the owner. Despite my admission that I bought the scanner in Staples, this is exactly why I prefer to shop locally rather than in those big box stores where you end up speaking with a clerk who's selling cameras this week and vacuum cleaners next. Gerry in the camera shop actually knew what he was talking about having sold cameras for 30+ years.

Back to my point, Gerry asked how old the slides are. I told him some are 50+ years, and he said, "Don't wait. Scan them ASAP." He went on to explain that Ektachrome only had a lifespan of 35 years as opposed to Kodachrome which was 75 years. As soon as I got home I checked and ack....most of the oldest are Ektachrome! Sure enough, when I began to scan them, I realized they have deteriorated quite badly. I did them all anyway. Despite the poor quality of some, it was wonderful and a bit sad to see all those long-gone faces. So here are a few for your viewing pleasure, I hope!

Mom & Dad and Guess Who? After I scanned this one, I realized you need to defuzz the slides first.

Not just a Day at the Beach!

This was a family reunion in 1956, I'm in the yellow diaper being carried by my great-uncle. I especially love this photo because my great grandmother is there on the left.

I think this is Christmas 1957. Sleepy girl.

Family reunion 1961. Everyone is there, mom, grandparents, great grandmother; everyone but Dad who, no doubt, was behind the camera.

Catskill Game Farm in upstate New York.

A little out of order, this is Story Land on Cape Cod. Whose idea was this?? Hello, Child Services?

I still have this pencil drawing being done at Story Land.

Easter Sunday with my cousins, Don and Dave. Could someone please tell the little girl to put her knees together?

Happy Birthday to me!

The Wonders of Nature

I was wandering around the yard today with my new camera looking for something interesting to shoot. I happened to notice these odd looking buds on the magnolia my mother-in-law gave me about 20 years ago. It's one of my most favorite plants in the yard and today it took on a whole new look for me. I've never noticed these before and was fascinated by what they look like.

A baby bird just hatched?

This looks like a bug.....

My all-out favorite.....

"I'm watching you!"

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up

Remember that great line from Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard?" Let me tell you, it's not something you're likely to ever hear me say. Not particularly photogenic, I really don't like to have my picture taken. I think I picked up photography as a hobby because I decided I'd prefer to be behind the camera rather than in front. Although that has backfired on me a bit. When I look at vacation photos now I sometimes ask myself "was I even there?"

So imagine my terror when an editor from Rhode Island Monthly magazine called to tell me they wanted Paul and me to come in for a photo shoot. Photo Shoot?! Me? Are you kidding me? I thought Paul's going to kill me when I tell him this!

A few months back while on the Rhode Island Monthly website I read they were putting together a piece on love in Rhode Island. If you are interested in participating, fill out the online form and someone will be touch with you. I must have been on my second glass of wine as I sat here that evening because I submitted my info and promptly forgot about it.

A few weeks later I got an email asking me to tell them a little about me/us or something to that effect. Paul's birthday had just passed and I had written this birthday post. I sent the editor a link to the post. She quickly wrote back...."Wow. I just teared up reading your blog post. That’s just lovely. And yes, we’d love to have you come in."

Surprisingly enough, Paul was fine with the whole thing. So on August 11 we went to have our pictures taken. While I can't say it was fun, it wasn't awful. They took photos of each of us alone and then together. The deal was that on one page they would have a bunch of individual photos asking you to match up the couples. Then on the next page they'd have the photos of the couples and a little info about each.

The article turned out to be a Survival Guide to Dating in Rhode Island. Not exactly something either Paul or I have done in a couple decades but I guess they liked our story 'cause it's sort of a happy ending. They only chose 7 couples out of hundreds of responses. So go here to the digital issue of the October 2009 issue of Rhode Island Monthly and check out pages 63-64. You just might see someone you know

This Is What I'm Talking About!

Nothing too amazing, just a lone honey bee gathering pollen in my yard. These are the types of photos I miss when using a point-and-shoot camera.

I'm actually quite fond of honey bees. Used to keep bees back in the day. I think I had as many as 8 hives at one time.

Paul and I talk about getting involved again. It's an incredibly interesting hobby.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. It's a beauty here in the Northeast.

Say Cheese

I got a new toy this week. I finally bought a digital SLR. I've had four point-and-shoot digital cameras since I stopped shooting film, all Nikon Coolpix models. I have been very happy with their portability and results.

My most recent is a Nikon Coolpix P1 which I've used for about 3 years now and which has taken most of the photos you've seen here. As a realtor I'm in and out of houses and need to take photos constantly. It's important to have something small and easy to use but with good results.

When I dug around my photography equpment after getting this new camera, I found the receipt for my last SLR bought in 1987. A Nikon 2000 with a couple lenses. A major investment at the time.

I'm no professional but I have been taking pictures since I was about 8 years old when my father had a makeshift darkroom in our basement, and I was developing black and white photos of my dog, Missey. I've taken a class here and there over the years but never really got too artsy with my photos.

Lately the point-and-shoot cameras just aren't cutting it for me. I miss having the flexibility of different lenses and mostly miss being able to take macro shots....close ups.

When I started doing some research into DSLR's I read good reviews of the Canon Rebel. My father always shot with a Canon so I thought I'd give this one a try. I bought a Canon EOS. I still need to purchase a macro lens.

In my perusing of so many blogs I see such fabulous photography, I'm inspired! I'm especially fascinated by the mosaics so many of you make with your photos. So now I've got some new stuff to learn and I'm looking forward to sharing some of the results with you.

Highbush Cranberry---June

I have always been a photographer although nothing you've seen here would indicate that I'm anything other than a real amateur. The photos at the top of my blog are some I took in South Africa that I am quite proud of though.

My father and his father were both shutterbugs and had a dark room set up in the basement of the house that my father and I grew up in. At the age of 8 I was shooting and developing photos in black & white. We never developed anything in color as the processing required many more baths than the three needed to produce black & white. That's probably changed in the 40+ years since I was watching photos of my beloved dog Missey come to life in that 3rd bath, but I couldn't say.

Over the years I have seen a few framed collections of photos of country scenes shot from the same spot in different seasons and always thought I'd love to do something like that. Not particularly arty in my photography, I've never tried it until now.

In our yard is a Highbush Cranberry brought back from a visit to friends in Vermont about 16 years ago. Each season has a distinctly different look, and it is one of my favorite plants in our yard. The botanical name for the shrub is Viburnum trilobum and is a native shrub with supposedly edible fruit (haven't tried that yet) and year-round ornamental value. Although the common name for this plant describes it as a cranberry, it is actually more closely related to a honeysuckle than to the cranberries eaten with the traditional Thanksgiving turkey.

Starting today I am going to take monthly photos of the bush and post them. I hope you appreciate it as much as I do and that my photos will show why I love it.