Foto Friday . . . vacation part IV

"A vacation trip is one-third pleasure, fondly remembered,

and two-thirds aggravation, entirely forgotten."

- Robert Brault

Okay, we can't be the only family that has been met with vacation aggravation. Or should I say

vacation expectations, in which course I am sooo guilty!! It had been so long since we as a family

went on vacation that it led, for me, to many expectations. Yeah, expectations just spell danger for me, and

aggravation for my family. I guess that's why I do better with spontaneous exploration...

it's all a surprise, there is no room for disappointment and everybody's happy. Win, win.

So, one day we decided that since Tallahassee was only 2 hours away and we are on a quest to visit all

the state capitols, that we would take a little road trip (we only have about 40 to go). Welcome to the Florida Historic Capitol Museum. Yep, this building is what is left of the original structure completed in 1845 and then expanded on several times through the years, with the addition of the dome, several wings and the House and Senate Chambers. In the 1970's when they built the Florida State Capitol Complex they had decided to demolish this historic building but the Floridians saved and renovated it.  They had settled on restoring it back to its 1902 appearance and I guess somewhere along the line of additions it lost its dome. But lucky for them when they were tearing down walls they found all the original glass that had been in the dome in the walls and were at least able to match the colors along with the help of pictures to restore the design as close to the original as possible. Remember that show "If Walls Could Talk"? Makes me wonder what else is hiding in all our historic places, well just old places in general.

I'm pretty sure this was the House Chambers.

The office attached to the Governor's office...

And the Governor's office....

And what's a vacation without the character cutouts.

Parentals on the left, and kids on the right.

{ Photograph life foto Friday - eyes }

And we sure did have fun in the Senate, deciding on some important familial things like where to eat afterward!

{ Project Alicia - summer daze }

Oh and that nice blue sky in the very first photo, was no longer blue but gray and with storm clouds and thunder when we came out. Yes, we were about to get yet more rain and so we decided to just drive on back. This might be where some of that frustration set it. It's hard to see so much history and be thwarted by a thunderstorm, again. But as we were driving away I spied this cemetery and was able to hop out and capture a few shots before the rain came. Oh, how I really wanted to get inside...but it was all fenced off and I had to actually shoot through it. I probably could've stayed here for the rest of the day shooting. All the Spanish moss lined trees and the thunder really added to that spooky feeling, and not that I like spooky, but there were just so many photo ops.  It's the oldest public cemetery in Tallahassee, also segregated, where slaves and planters, governors and store clerks, veterans of war and victims of yellow fever are all buried.

 { Old City Cemetery }

  { French kiss stonebrush and Pixel Dust Art craquelure }

[Photo Art Friday, Shoot.Edit.Submit]

And last but not least my submission to Flower Art Friday . . . and Photo Friday.

If you want to know how I got this shot you can go here.

 { Kim Klassen texture Peony and Happy heart }

"When we put down ideas of what life should be like,

we are free to wholeheartedly say yes to our life as it is."

-Tara Brach

That is so true, isn't it. And for me, I should have exchanged the word life for vacation. Maybe

I'll make that into a t-shirt for next time, lol! Why is it that you finally get in vacation mode and it's the last day. . . that's next week!

Have a wonderful weekend - I'm hoping for a little sunshine as it has been raining alllll week!

Love, Kim

XO

   

 

 

No rain dance needed . . .

"Everywhere water is a thing of beauty

gleaming in the dewdrop, singing in the rain."

- John Ballantine Gough

{ KKlassen texture peony and dream }

Natural, that's our theme for texture Tuesday and although dewdrops and raindrops absolutely occur naturally, sometimes you just need a little help from your friends. I've been a little fixated on drops lately, dewdrops, raindrops, just water drops in general. But they just don't always occur in the right place at the right time and frankly I get tired of laying in strange places gleaming strange looks from my neighbors in search of the perfect water drops after a rain (or the sprinklers)! ; )

So now I hide behind my bushes on my front porch with my little bag of arsenal consisting of

a spraybottle and an eyedropper, whiling away the hours. Losing all track of time. And voila, instant dewdrops and rain on command.

These were all taken with my 40mm macro lens on my covered front porch. These lilly shots were taken on an overcast day with my camera on a tripod and a slower shutter speed to give the rain water from the spray bottle some movement.

 

This one was quite a bit trickier and still on my covered front porch, but this time there was a little sunshine. Dewdrops don't work on coneflowers, they just suck up the water until they drip off. The tricky part about this one was spraying just enough water to get drips off the tip of the petals while getting the effect of rain and then anticipating the timing of the drip. I'm still working on getting the drop with more focus, but for now I'm tickled pink I'm even getting the drip in the frame. Practice, practice, and more practice.

{ Texture by RHWest }

So, that's what I've been musing on lately - what about you?

And speaking of musing, I was invited to join a collaborative blog with nine other women.

Women of all ages, who share a passion for photography and life and write about it. I would love for you to join me over there at Focusing On Life today where I am sharing a little story about none other, water! And while you are there, perhaps take a look around and considering following us. There is also a link to our Flickr group where you can add photos relating to our monthly theme and you may even be chosen for our weekly InFocus selection. Thank you, and don't forget to let us know you were there!!

Love, Kim

XO 

Linking with Communal Global and:

 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Hello fellow hunters and scavengers . . . this week went by fast!
Not much to say this week, sitting at the computer at the moment is a little difficult.
Who knew photography could be detrimental to ones health. First my knee, and today
I strained my neck and my shoulder feels like it's on fire - but I think I got some
great photos of the sunrise this morning! haha

{ patriotic }

4th of July  +  fireworks  =  patriotic
All I can say is that I'm glad that every Friday this summer they are going to shoot fireworks
off a barge on Galveston Bay, so I can get in some practice. Once a year is not nearly enough!!

{ view from above }

On vacation  +  14th floor  =  view from above
I know I've shared this recently, but it was perfect for this prompt.

{ mosaic }

Pieces of colored glass  +  design  =  mosaic
From the archives, this is one of twenty stained glass windows in a church in Galveston built in the 1800's.

{ something tiny }

Handy dandy blue kids net  +  seaweed  =  something tiny
The kids and I went to the beach this week, and I played in the seaweed (shock) . . .  this wasn't the tiniest of crabs I found but this was probably the smallest I couldn't photograph so that you could tell what it was.

 { vibrant }
Flower  +  strong color  =  vibrant

And that concludes today's scavenger hunt Sunday, with the help of arithmetic.

Here's hoping that some sleep  +  Advil  =  better in the morning!  ; )

Love, Kim

XO



Foto Friday . . . vacation part III, The Wedding Tree

"A vacation is having nothing to do
and all day to do it in."

- Robert Orben

I don't know about you, but one of the things I like to do whether on vacation or not is to explore.

 Since the beach flags were still red and it was overcast, we decided to do just that. My google search

found the Eden Garden State Park and it was only $4 per car, my kind of place! I mean who wants

to go shopping when you can traverse a place like this with ancient oak trees and a mansion?

The Eden Garden State Park is tucked away on the shore of Tucker Bayou and part of the estate that was owned by a lumber mill family, the Wesley's. At every turn there are these incredible live oaks with Spanish moss and resurrection fern. The fern grows right on the tree in the bark and stays dormant until there is a rain and it comes to life.

{shoot.edit.submit}

And just as we started out, before we got to those trees, a corn snake crossed our path. I'm definitely

not an expert of snakes, but I know a corn snake when I see one . . . I used to own one, only he was much

more handsome and colorful than this one.

And here she is, the turn-of-a-century plantation house. It was built in 1895 by William Henry Wesley with all the elaborate Victorian trimmings, that is until Lois Maxon bought it in 1963 and restored it in the Antebellum style. I mentioned earlier ancient oaks, how about 600 years old ancient? That would be the tree on the left and what they endearingly call "The Wedding" tree because of all the weddings that have been held under it. We all put our hands on this tree, and you could just feel it's energy.

The windows even have the original glass that gives a bit of a wavy reflection.

After all the renovations she filled the house with a very expensive collection of Louis XVI furniture, which is the second largest in the U.S. The needlework on this chair was exquisite!

This was one of the upstairs bedrooms . . .

And a reflection of the flag on the front of the house from the upstairs wrap around porch....

{Photograph life - patriotic}

I forget how many acres there were, we didn't get to it all,  but what we did see was magical.

We took some sandwiches and snacks with us and ate at a picnic table on the edge of the bayou.

There were a few beggar squirrels who enjoyed a some Cheetos, and this one cracked us up at how he would go up the tree and hang upside down while he ate.

One of the formal rose gardens, which wasn't in great bloom. There was also a secret garden, in fact it was so secret . . . we couldn't find it!

. . . but, there were these beautiful hydrangea's to make up for it.

{Flower Art Friday, Photo Art Friday}

I love finding little gems like this on vacation, or well anytime. What about you, what's your favorite part

of a vacation? Do you like to explore?

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself . . . a friend is driving down from Dallas for a short get away and I can't wait to see her. It's been 4 years . . .Whoo hoo!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Love, Kim

XO

P.S. Next vacation stop, either the wharf, or the gators . . .hmmm