Grow Your Blog . . .

. . . it's another par-tay!

{A big shout out to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for once again hosting the Grow Your Blog party!}

Welcome to my little space in the universe.

My name is Kim,

light seeker and finder of things,

of ordinary and beautiful.

I record moments through a box with a hole,

and thoughts through a pen.

I am a mom of two, a girl and a boy. One in college and the other soon to follow. A wife of 23 years this year, photographer, dreamer, mess maker. I love little adventures and exploring even if it's 5 feet from my front door. And, you could say I have a little nature nerd extraordinaire tucked into my soul.

Ever since I can remember I have loved creating in some form or fashion, and the need to express myself has appeared through the years in many forms. For me, creating, whether it be in photographs or jewelry or something else, allows me to express myself about the world around me, in ways that aren't always possible any other way. It's my way of working through life, its ups and downs . . . trying to find the beauty in the process through my lens and on paper, and moving from moment to moment.

And, this is me, looking through my milkweed at caterpillars, monarch babies. No, I don't normally take photos of myself, in fact I avoid it at all cost, but this was for "a quirky selfie" prompt (full blog post here).

I guess it was only fitting since I started raising monarch butterflies 2 years ago this coming March. Yep, my family has graciously they had no choice in the matter let me take over the dining room table, and sometimes parts of the kitchen, with caterpillar tents and related items. So far to date, I've raised and released over 1000 monarch butterflies. 

I started a blog series about my journey with the monarchs, and unfortunately got a little derailed this summer. But I'm working on finishing the rest to be ready for spring. You can find the first of three so far here, and each one directs you to the next post.

And when I'm not knee deep in caterpillar poo, I'm at the beach exploring . . . our 30 minutes away from an hour vacation.

Or watching the sunrise . . . one of my very favorite things to do in the world.

You can also find me every other Tuesday, sharing about life and photography on my collaborative blog called Focusing on Life, with 9 other women. I'm looking forward to connecting with other creatives in sharing this journey thing we call life.

Have a wonderful day, and thank you for stopping in!

Love, Kim

True colors . . .

But I see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

- Cyndi Lauper "True Colors"

. . .yep that's why I love you, nature,

you can't help but show your true colors

Whether it's the subtle colors of the sunrise,

Or the way the sun shines through butterfly wings.

I love the way your color shines when reflected back into the water,

And that your colors attract butterflies to my garden.

{KK Oh My}

I love how . . . 

"Nature always wears the colors of this spirit" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wishing you a colorful Tuesday...

Love, Kim

Sharing with Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Song-ography

The three S's in my summer

{KK 511}

From my front porch . . . simplicity, silence and solitude.

Simple . . . a state of mind. Not complicated, not always easy, but definitely not empty.

Silence. . . music for the soul. Not necessarily the absence of sound, but of noise that disrupts the contemplative mind.

Solitude. . . a state of being alone. Not lonely, but refreshing the mind, cultivating a relationship with oneself and nature.

Yep, the three s's were my motto for this summer when I wasn't in the crazy house taking care of caterpillar business. I've lost count, but I'm sure I've released more butterflies this summer than last. There has been more disease and predators to deal with too. My last batch of about 70 was released last week and I already see momas in the patch. The milkweed has finally gotten some serious growth but not for the amount of new eggs I see being laid.

I may also need someone to throw me a rope to climp out of the never ending photos to edit. I don't know why I do this to myself. It took me days just to cull and download photos from 3 full memory cards. But, I have photos of emerging butterflies, the pupation, and a caterpillar coming out of his egg!

I'm going to be busy . . . send chocolate! lol

We have a new theme over at Focusing on Life, where you can also find me today . . . it's going to be a fun month!

More later,
Kim


Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday

Lavender fields forever . . .

 While on a little adventure,

not exactly planned out,

it's always good thing when you find a sign that says open.

So we made our way down the long narrow road

where the air was filled with fragrant fields of lavender.

{ KKlassen texture dream it and warm sun }

While some were harvesting,

{ KKlassen texture dream it }

the bees and butterflies danced from one plant to another . . .

. . . in a nectar gathering, pollinating nirvana. 

And the best thing is that it was only two hours away. The Chappell Hill Lavender Farm is located just north of the historic town of Chappell Hill (Texas), a little town that time forgot. We had set out that morning in search of something else but even the best layed plans can become derailed by a "google" search and the scent of lavender.

I really could have spent all day there . .  sigh . . . but the other side of the road awaited.

Join me today over at my collaborative blog, here at Focusing On Life, to see what

I was looking for and found on the other side of this road.

Love, Kim

XO



   

Foto Friday . . . Nature, nothing but beautiful

I seem to be in a state of contemplation lately, well, I guess I should say more than normal, ha!

Spring just does that to me . . .

I spent an entire day at one of my favorite places, Maas Nursery.

For some it's just a place to buy plants,

for me it's a photographic haven, all 8 acres of it. But more than that it is a place that I can

simply enjoy nature at it's best, and yes for hours on end. 

I was deciding what photos to include today and   

this is where my contemplation came in . . .

I love ALL things nature, truly. Anyone who knows me knows I get excited at the

smallest, and some the strangest things and I understand that not everyone has the same

affinity for nature that I do, I am a bit of a nerd that way. There is a lot we will probably agree on that is beautiful, but I think when it comes to creatures somewhere the road splits.

So I was wondering to myself what constitutes beauty in nature? Is it texture, color, shape?

Certainly all of these add to an objects beauty.

So why is it that most find beauty in flowers, a landscape, a sunrise, but have more difficulty with things that have legs. You know, insects, spiders etc. They too come in a lot of textures, colors and shapes.

And I had this thought....

For me, I think the most beautiful thing about nature isn't its aesthetic beauty, but its rhythm, and how it

all works together in harmony. In nature there is no waste, and everything and every action has a purpose.

And sometimes when we have knowledge about something we have a better understanding and are better able to connect to it or at the very least tolerate it. Hopefully to protect it.

And isn't this true of people? If the real beauty of people lives on the inside then maybe the real

beauty of nature resides there too and a little knowledge could change everything.

What if we could change the "ewww factor" to a "WOW"!

I know, I know, but can I get a maybe?

As I was walking around I noticed there were dozens of swallowtails that would keep coming back to a certain plant, but I sure had a hard time getting close. So I decided to just stand there and wait . . .  and my patience paid off. Holy cow, I thought I was going to hyper-ventilate . . . not only did it land right in front of me, but she was laying her eggs, and it was just incredible to watch through my lens!

Of course I had to share with anyone that walked by, lucky them, haha!

[Photo Art Friday]

And here they are, just check out the texture on these!

I had a few stare downs, and I always won. : )

And sometimes things in nature are hard to watch.....

I found a remnant wing from a gulf fritillary . . . you can see where it's missing some scales.

[Photography life - texture]

Check this out -I was working in my garden and noticed the mulch was moving, slowly.  As I looked closer I realized it was a small caterpillar. It's called a looper and they camoflauge themselves by sticking things to their body. He was only about 3/4" long and as I got to watch him as he was sticking more things to himself.

You all know I love my spray bottle, lol! I was out on my front porch looking for spider webs, with my spray

bottle and then noticed this guy, an assasin bug that had gotten in my line of fire. I couldn't resist the water drop bokeh on his legs.....and check out his his mouth parts! They don't call it an assasin bug for nothing - he uses it to stab his prey. I would love to capture that!! They are beneficial to the garden, however I have heard they have a very painful bite!

And I couldn't leave you without a flower . . . a lovely clematis.

[P52- things that grow] [Shoot, edit, submit]

"Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully,

he can learn more than what is in our books for they speak with the voice of God."

- George Washington Carver

So what constitutes beauty in nature for you?
When and where do you perceive beauty?
And do you do it only when you have time or do you make time?

Have a beautiful weekend!
Love, Kim
XO

P.S. - I really am curious, please share

  
                           

Foto Friday - Some bees, some butterflies and a few trees

This week I am thankful

for the bees,

the butterflies,

and the trees.

I took another walk,

but this time it was back to my favorite trail

and I started off at the butterfly garden. 

Okay, let's say I lost myself in it!

But then I made my way 

over the bayou

and through the woods

to the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

I was so immersed in my walk

that I almost forgot about my son's

basketball game -

how does one forget that?

And had I not filled the card on my camera

I might have missed it altogether.

So, to say the least

the last part of that 5 mile walk

that started out at 74

became a challenge

in what ended up a 90 degree day!

"Praise the bridge that carries you over"

- George Coleman

I love this walking bridge, it has carried me over many things in my thoughts!

{linked to Photo Art Friday}

After doing some of my favorite go-to's in Picnik I decided to try a few different things. First I used a little

orton-ish, then cross process. Then I tried ripple blocks fade 20%, HSL filter until I got the color slide

I liked. Then I added Hex cells at 55% size 8.68 and softened at 50% brushing off the bridge. The last thing - circle splash on screen mode faded 48% at a radius of 246.49. This is really different for me!

This is the before picture - no edits.

Before I even left the house though, I walked to the end of my sidewalk to enjoy the incredible smell

of this trailing purple lantana and was instantly graced by this skipper butterfly.

Maybe someday technology will be so incredible that I can share this fabulous scent with a scratch and sniff!

This one done in sepia brushing off to expose some color.

{linked to Fabulous Friday and Shoot, Edit and Submit}

From the butterfly garden, an orange sulfur butterfly which had an incredible brown markings on the inside

of it's wings. Of course it didn't stay long enough to capture that!

And the bees, lots and lots of bees - it almost felt like a spring day, not fall!

But I guess they are busy gathering and storing for the winter.

All summer I hadn't seen any Monarch butterflies, until the last couple of weeks. This garden was FULL of them, dozens and they were playing tag-your-it with each other and made it really difficult to capture

a photo. I couldn't get within 5 feet of one before they would fly off, so my experience last week when I got one to go on my hand is just that much more special!

The light that day was just perfect . . .

I even came across a little Christmas in the forest!

I kept thinking that any minute when I turned another corner I would find someone building a new

bench or something - it sounded like someone was pounding wood - more like pecking.

Is that not just a gorgeous woodpecker? A red headed Pileated Woodpecker!

Just a beautiful day all around!

Have a really fabulous weekend!
Love, Kim
XO