47/365 Painting pottery

To celebrate my birthday with some of my girlfriends this year, we met for dinner in Broad Ripple and then walked across the street to the paint-your-own-pottery studio. This is probably my fifth time visiting here, and I always enjoy it.

Painting is not an art form I've ever had a big desire to pursue, but painting a ceramic item like this is a lot of fun. You go in, choose your base piece, choose your paint colors, and go to work! You can make it as simple or as complex as you like.

Through all my visits over the years, I've learned that for me, simple usually turns out better.

When something is abstract, there's not much you can criticize!

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/60s, f/4 at ISO 1250

46/365 Cooking up some new recipes

I've been in a cooking mood lately. In my book, that's a really good mood to be in! The increasing availability of fresh produce certainly helps encourage that state of mind.

Some of my recent creations? My first quiche, for one -- I felt like fixing something new, had some eggs on hand, and wanted to use up some mushrooms and spinach. I found four or five quiche recipes and picked out what things I wanted -- no crust, various seasonings. And, voila! It turned out great, and I ended up with some to freeze for later, too.

Pictured here is a simple cucumber, tomato and goat-cheese feta salad that was a fantastic side dish. The next night I made portobello mushrooms "stuffed" with tomato, red pepper, and spinach.

If nothing else, it makes the kitchen smell fantastic. And now I'm ready to find some more new recipes!


Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 640.

45/365 Stormy sunset

We've had some stormy weather recently, and one thing that produces are some gorgeous, dramatic skies. On this particular night, I was driving home and HAD to stop the car twice to get out and photograph these skies. It was absolutely breathtaking.

All you have to do is look through the weather-related tags on this blog to see how much I love this!

See here?
Weather posts
Sunset posts, which are particularly great when they follow stormy skies
Storm-specific posts
Sky posts in general

This is one of the things I love about spring and summer in the Midwest.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/500s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 9:00 p.m.

44/365 Tart cherries

My family's little cherry tree has produced its annual offering of tart cherries. Unfortunately, I missed the chance to visit the tree and pluck off a few right there, but I'm counting on being able to enjoy part of the crisp made with the harvest!

I was never a huge fan of fresh cherries until I met a tart one, and I found them to be completely addicting and incomparable -- especially when I got to enjoy them standing right beside the tree. Now I'll get a batch of sweet cherries when they're ripe, but they don't hold a candle to the ones picked fresh off the tree.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 6:30 p.m.

43/365 Smelling like yuccas

I'm sure the name "yucca" is derived from Latin or Greek, meaning something lovely, but nevertheless, I can't help but think, "What an unfortunate name." Unfortunate, to be named something that sounds like a rejection of food or reaction to something smelly: "Yuck."

I suppose that's probably why we liken things to "smelling like roses" instead of "smelling like yuccas."

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/250s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 6:00 p.m.

42/365 Attention to detail

Ah, the love between a man and his truck.

When it comes to detailing and cleaning a vehicle, I know of no one who does it better than my brother. And of course, he spends the most time on his own truck, this beautiful red Ford pickup.

For several years, he made extra money by detailing vehicles, and he had a rotation of regular customers because they knew he did such a great job. I've even hired him several times to detail my car, because that job is not at the top of my list of things I enjoy doing. I admittedly prefer to just go to the automatic car wash, run a vacuum through it, and clean the windows when they need it.

Chase, on the other hand, washes his truck in a series of perfected stages that I enjoy watching simply for the appreciation of his attention to detail.

I'll just stick to the basics.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/125s, f/5.6 at ISO 320 at about 6:00 p.m.

41/365 A little bit of pampering

One of the things that seriously grosses me out are long, unpainted fingernails.

A little weird? Yep, I know.

I don't know where this started, but it's true. I'm a tad obsessive about having my hands and feet clean, so I'm sure that mental compulsion has just spilled over. The sight of long fingernails spurs thoughts of grime and bacteria hiding underneath... it gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

So I generally keep my fingernails very short, which therefore means I rarely have them painted. Letting them grow long enough to make painting them worth it is a challenge. But to celebrate our birthdays, a girlfriend and I decided to treat ourselves to a professional manicure and pedicure (my first).

And that meant I needed to let my nails grow. Boy oh boy, did it drive me nuts! I painted them in the week beforehand to make myself stand it.

I made it, and I had a lot of fun getting that little treat of pampering. Unfortunately the paint started chipping after only two days (it shouldn't have), so I had to take it off.

Bummer that it was so expensive and didn't last longer. But hooray for the refreshing feeling of short, clean nails again!

Camera: Canon 40D with 430EX Speedlite, 1/30s, f/5 at ISO 500 using a tripod.

40/365 Field of wildflowers

I took a little road trip with Mom to get this photo. She passed this place one day and immediately called me to let me know I had to photograph it.

The people at this house have planted yards and yards and yards of gorgeous wildflowers in the ditch in front of their house. It's an incredible sight, because this field of flowers stretches for at least 50 yards.

The flowers themselves are delicate, with just four tissue-paper petals overlapping in two layers. I'd love to know what they are.

And another bonus for them? No mowing the ditch!

Beautiful flowers + no mowing = win-win situation.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/160s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 5:00 p.m.

39/365 Greener grass

Though I've never owned goats myself, I've always found them to be humorous animals. This is mostly due to their curious, intelligent, explorative nature.

It seems like whenever I pass a farm that has goats, there is always at least one animal standing on top of its shelter. They're known for being very skilled escape artists; if there is a weak spot in your fence, they'll find it and get out.

Some of them, like the one pictured here, are quite cute. I passed this guy on a walk, and he came right up to the fence to say hello. He quickly discovered that the grass on my side of the fence looked preferable to what he had, so he promptly stuck his head through a hole and got down on his knees to chow down.

It wasn't the head-through-the-fence that struck me, but the kneeling that made me laugh. Clever! I hope his lunch was worth the effort.

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000 at about 11:00 a.m.

38/365 How does my garden grow

I have a garden! Dad and I spent a beautiful afternoon getting it in, and I'm awfully excited about it. I made sure to get before and after photos, which you see here.

I had a small garden last year in a different location that didn't work out so well. From four tomato plants, I reaped about six tomatoes, and they were still attempting to ripen at Thanksgiving. And my cucumber plant's lone cucumber never did mature. The spot was too shady and the dirt in too poor condition. So this year: relocate!

Being surrounded by large maple trees, my yard is largely shaded. Great for the electricity bill, not so great for growing plants. So we chose to put the garden on the south side of my garage, in the one area of the backyard that gets some substantial sun.

The roof of the garage doesn't have gutters, so we also had to take that into consideration and put the plants outside of the drip line. We bought five bags of organic top soil, because we expected the soil to be in starved condition -- but, lo and behold, when we tilled it up, it looked fantastic! I have two bags of top soil left over that I'll have to share somewhere else in the yard.

I now have six lovely plants growing in my garden: two Better Boy tomatoes, one cherry tomato, one cucumber, one red pepper, and one jalapeno. Add three marigolds for bug control, and voila! Six plants doesn't sound like much, but with a good location and plenty of room to stretch out, I expect they'll produce plenty of fresh vegetables for me.

I also didn't want to get in over my head this first year. If all goes well this year, look out 2011!

Camera: Canon 40D
Before photo: 1/250s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 11:00 a.m.
After photo: 1/125s, f/5.6 at ISO 200 at about 5:30 p.m.

37/365 A trip to the playground

The swing set was always one of my favorite playground features as a kid.

Chase and I had a swing set in our backyard while we were growing up, and we each had "our" swings. If you used the other person's swing, not only did you risk getting kicked out of it, it just felt wrong. The world was situated incorrectly, and the airflow felt different.

I drove to a school near my house to get this photo. It was after hours and after school had let out for the summer, so the playground was empty.

One thing I noticed about these swings -- something different from the ones I remember -- is that the chains are covered. They've been dipped in a plastic coating, eliminating the finger-pinching and hair-entangling links.

While eliminating this kind of hazard is probably a good thing, and I'm sure it eliminates some crying trips to the nurse, I can't help but be struck by some eye-rolling nostalgia. Do we really have to remove every possible danger for our kids now? Does every surface have to be padded and smooth?

I'm sure a parent somewhere sued a school or swing manufacturer for millions of dollars in damages when their child pinched his finger or caught her hair in a swing's chain. Then all swings were probably removed, the chains coated in plastic, and reinstalled. It's a little sad.

Nevertheless, after I photographed these swings -- padded chains and all -- I did set my camera down and swing for a few moments myself.

And I enjoyed it.

Camera: Canon 40D with 24mm wide-angle lens, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 160 at about 7:30 p.m.

36/365 Cooky neighbors

Come nightfall, one house in my neighborhood stands out. During the day, it masquerades as an ordinary ranch-style house nestled in a well-established neighborhood.

But when the sun sets, it looks like a small airport.

These neighbors have accent lighting focused on every. Single. Tree. And Bush. And Rock. And window around the house. Seriously. Their electricity bill must be astronomical. The patriarch of the family has also boasted about their highly sophisticated video security system.

And all that makes me wonder is: what the heck do you have in there? Because while the house is very nice, it's nothing special, or large, or fancy. It's just an ordinary home. An ordinary home that doesn't normally require that kind of security.

The mystery-novel reader in me wonders what's going on behind those closed doors.

Camera: Canon 40D, 10 seconds, f/5.6 at ISO 100 at about 9:30 p.m.

35/365 Vintage sewing patterns

Vintage sewing patterns. Aren't these fantastic?

It's a bit like looking at the costume design for an episode of Mad Men, except these patterns are actually from the 1940s. House coats. Fancy aprons. Dresses. And mens' boxer shorts.

Mom is sorting through stacks of patterns like these and is selling them on eBay. I'm acting as her photographer, and these four were striking enough that I had to share them here!

Take a close look at the man the illustrator sketched on the mens' pattern. (You can click on the image to enlarge it further.) Remind you of someone? Clark Gable, perhaps? And also notice he's wearing loafers and has a cigarette in his hand.

So, if you've ever wondered what Clark Gable's boxers look like, they feature a wide, slimming waistband with a three-button closure.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/60s, f/4 at ISO 640 in natural light by a window

34/365 Decked out in pink from head to toe

I'll be attending my second wedding in three months in a couple weeks, so that means the time leading up to it is spent celebrating and sending this gal off into the land of the marrieds!

That, of course, includes a bachelorette party. And what bachelorette party is complete without a tiara and a sash? 

Danielle, the bride-to-be, was a great sport. She wore that tiara and sash all night, as well as a pink feather boa, pink and red Mardi Gras beads, and a blinking pin -- all of which matched her pink dress. She also wielded a pinching device that incited some amusing moments throughout the evening.

Danielle, what fun we had celebrating with you!

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000

33/365 Free parking

On the list of Life's Awesome Things (much in the spirit of the blog of a similar name), here's one to add: getting a metered parking space at a time when it's free!

I've been taking dance classes in downtown Indianapolis, and the parking meters are free after 6:00 p.m. on weekdays. I generally arrive around 6:30, just after that time begins.

Free parking has almost become like free shipping to me: I'm a sucker for it and will go out of my way to get it! And if you have to be in the right place at the right time to get it, it's even sweeter.

Do you feel the same way? When it comes to retail offers, what can't you resist? Free shipping? Buy one get one free? Free gift?

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000 at about 6:30 p.m. under cloudy skies