Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Friday, December 26, 2014

This Morning 12/26/14


Out of sync, I'm sure, but I just felt I had to post it...for me.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

This Morning 12/24/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Monday, December 22, 2014

Brookly Tweed



This post is a thank you to Brooklyn Tweed who sent the skein of yarn when the project I was working on ran out with two rows to go.  It was one of those rare events where a skein was "light".  I contacted them to see if they could send me a few feet of the color and they sent an entire skein!  I have thanked them profusely and am now spreading the word.  I wish I had more readers to this blog!

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Saturday, December 20, 2014

This Morning 12/20/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

This Morning 12/17/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Monday, December 15, 2014

Saturday, December 13, 2014

This Morning 12/13/14


Well, this morning is last night.  I had the pleasure of, once again, photographing the winter concert for one of the local community college bands.  And he's holding my (this year's) favorite Christmas music.  I look at this shot and think about the fact that just about everywhere, at least in the Western world, there are people coming together for celebrations of one holiday or another.  A very fragile blanket of peace.

In bocca al lupo. m (no v)

Thursday, December 11, 2014

This Morning 12/11/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

This Morning 12/10/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

This Morning 12/09/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Sunday, December 7, 2014

This Morning 12/07/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Saturday, December 6, 2014

This Morning 12/06/14



In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Friday, December 5, 2014

This Morning 12/05/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

This Morning 12/02/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Sunday, November 30, 2014

This Morning 11/30/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Thursday, November 27, 2014

This Morning 11/27/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Saturday, November 22, 2014

This Morning 11/22/14


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Friday, November 21, 2014

This Morning 11/21/14



In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

This Morning, 11/19/14



In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Mornings 11/18/14



In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Thursday, November 13, 2014

My Dog Spot!


My Dog Spot Photography is born!  The web site is up and running.  I'm excited and curious and scared.  I am learning so much and isn't that what makes life really fun?  The style of photo I create is with a white background although certain props can be optional.  Family members can be included in a few of the shots as well. We've had fun adding a couple of "extra legs" to a photo.  As time and interest go on I will be trying out different styles, so stay tuned.


Public debut will be at the Holiday Craft Fair at the Monterey Bay Aquarium this Sunday (7-9:30pm if you're a local).  10% of my proceeds will be donated to the educational fund established in v's name at the aquarium.  

Other vendors will be donating 10% to an educational scholarship being set up by the aquarium itself.  Since 1985 the aquarium has hosted school groups with students 18 years and younger at no charge to the students. 

Please wish me luck!

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Monday, November 10, 2014

My Family and Home Life


I've spent a few days working on the upcoming My Dog Spot Photography web site.  I have such a headache!  I am amazed at all the new things I need to learn and even more amazed that I learn any of it.  What is the best of all that comes out of this is the amount of support I'm getting from my friends and associates.

So much has happened in my life since I decided on the title of this blog, or more to the point, the sub-title of this blog: a home and family life, and not necessarily blood ties.  It's good I added that.  At the time it was because v and I had such a small family: we were the two of us and r, his beautiful daughter, in Portland, Oregon.  Now it is just r and I and that extended family of non-blood ties.  Home life is me and my two cats and the succession of possums that come by in the evening for a small snack in reward for keeping the garden organic and snail free.

Home life is my circle of friends; a friend who would come by a few evenings a week to help break the new and crushing silence that had become so rare in this house since v moved in those years ago. With her help I've eased into the rhythm of my own movement and the sound of my thoughts.  It is my kind and thoughtful neighbor dropping by to see how I am and to share his own small business adventures and woes (please remember Fog's End Distillery's Monterey Rye and California Moonshine!). Another neighbor who has taken the time to attend to my apple trees. It is the daily emails with the reconnected life-long friend now in Georgia, the morning texts from my oldest friend still in Southern California, and the wonderful letters from a dear, dear friend in Pennsylvania who also lost her husband way too early--another gentle, loving, and passionate Italian... lucky us! My weekly connection to the aquarium and my new, but no less dear friends, who have become a part of that non-blood family. Home life is my two cats, one sweet and one crabby (there always has to be a balance).


And now home life is about re-inventing myself and trying to succeed with a new endeavor.  Fingers crossed!

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Friday, November 7, 2014

Into the Unknown!

Big breath and deep sigh...I'm starting a small business: pet photography.  

I figured there are any number of wedding and portrait photographers around.  I have sent the card designs to the printer.  I have my contact info blurred because I haven't quite gone live just yet and most of you who drop in aren't exactly local, though if I'm ever heading back to Europe I will make an announcement.  (And for those of you in Russia, v would have loved practicing his language skills with you!)




Once I have the website up and running I'll publish the address.  I will keep this site in the loop as far as any successes I may have.  I am nail-bitingly nervous. v was the impresario and had all the courage and hutzpah.  He was a born salesman though his heart was in wood working and his vocation was teaching.

So, I'm soon to launch in a quiet, modest way.  Fingers crossed!

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Sunday, November 2, 2014

BiondoBags


Another one of the projects I've been up to lately. These are shopping bags, or totes if you will. They are made of laminated cotton, are extremely lightweight, and can fold up and be tucked in a purse or pocket.  Easy to keep in the map pocket of the driver's door in the car.  There is a three inch pleat on each side making them expandable for groceries or several items of new clothes.  They can carry a lot of weight. I've recently toted home two half gallons of milk in glass bottles along with four glass bottles of root beer (brewed locally I might add), in a single bag along with a loaf of bread and a few vegetables.  I happened to only have had one bag with me at the time.  They are washable.  They make nice gift bags too.


I make them in several ocean related prints (the one at top I consider "beach umbrellas").


Each and every one is designed and made by me.  They'll be on sale at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Craft Fair on November 16.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Friday, October 31, 2014

Congratulations San Francisco Giants!


As much as Halloween has always been my favorite among fun holidays, this year my heart is not in it.  If you follow this blog you will understand there won't be any holidays for awhile.  But, I continue to explore my life options.  One of those options is developing my skill as a photographer in the field of animal portraits.  It isn't something I set out to do, it has evolved.  


I'm having so much fun meeting these soul mates and I am looking forward to meeting many more.

So, Happy Halloween to all of you.  Good-bye to October.

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants! You guys are amazing!  Keep in mind, with all the great players and the heart of that team, their fortunes turned toward championships in May of 2010 when Buster Posey was added to the roster.  He knows how to manage his pitichers and the games.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)


Monday, October 27, 2014

Black and White


Black and white editions.  More fine tuning to stay tuned for...


My baseball buddy. She looks like this when the broadcasters get excited. I like to think she's enjoying the game with me.


In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)


Thursday, October 23, 2014

World Series (Go Giants!)


It's World Series time and the Giants are in it!  This household has no television but v and I found we preferred to listen to the games on the radio.  That way we were free to do everything else we wanted to do.  When v was here we played a lot of chess during games, or hung out in the garden, or worked in the kitchen.  Baseball is the only sport I follow anymore.

In preparation for launching a web site in, hopefully, the near future, I've just registered my domain name.  I will keep you posted as business progresses and for when I take it "live".  A new venture.  It's very scary.  If all I ever get out of it is the knowlege of how supportive my circle of friends are it will be worth it.

But in the meantime: the series is tied up 1-1 and resuming tomorrow in San Francisco.  My ears will be glued to the radio once again at 5:00 pm PST.

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Fall Rhythms


Maybe it's because it's October, I'm finally feeling able to get back into my knitting.  Maybe other things will begin to settle back into place.  Just in time for r's birthday.

















In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)

Monday, October 6, 2014

Monday in October




This is the first post for October, my favorite month.  I married in October.  I always loved the warmth, color, and fun of Halloween.  In Southern California there was, usually, a promise of cooler weather and here on the Central Coast there is a burst of a summer, finally, after all the drabness we normally experience in the actual summer months (though not this year).  So this is just an odds and ends sort of post. Pictures from today, starting with a bowl of curiosities.


Bruschetta and...


sauce about to happen.


Already


Gone...

In bocca al lupo.  m (no v)