Day 215: Starts with "M"/Heather

All day long I thought about various things that start with the letter "M." I still hadn't thought of what I was going to do when I found myself stuck at a stoplight (as usual) on my way home from work and realized I was staring at a mural. I like the way this turned out as it looks like the retaining wall and bench are part of the picture but they aren't.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 24mm

Day 214: Moss/Heather

This morning I went on a very scenic hike in the Columbia Gorge with the dog lover's Meetup group. One of the things I noticed was the abundance of moss and since we didn't have a theme, I sent Selina a text to see if that would work for her. This is the first time in a long time I've actually had a hard time choosing a picture because there was more than one I liked!

f8, Exp. 1/250, 70mm

Day 213: Cars/Heather

My plan for today was to meet up with some friends for brunch and then head over to the International Car Show. I had visions of all kinds of awesome shots that would be hard to choose from. But I woke up with a headache that just wouldn't go away and ended up not going to the car show. As today wore on and I realized my headache was here to stay, I finally just took a shot of my cars.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 18mm

Day 212: Short/Heather

Once again this did not go as well as I had hoped. I volunteered at a fundraiser tonight and was offered one of the centerpieces to take home with me. My intention with this shot was to show how short the container the flowers are sitting in is.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 38mm

Day 211: Long/Heather

I really didn't know what to do for this one. I had a dinner at my house on Sunday and one of my guests brought me flowers. As I was looking for something to use for this shot, I decided to try to get a picture that showed the length of the stem on one of the flowers.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 46mm

Day 210: Frosting/Heather

This did not go the way I had envisioned it. I went to a bakery in Portland that specializes in cupcakes and they had doggie cupcakes so I bought a couple for the boys. I didn't get a shot I liked of it so I took a lazy shot of the frosting I had in the cupboard instead.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 38mm

Day 209: Dry/Heather

I thought this was an interesting theme and one I had no clue as to how to pull off. I finally decided to try for a shot of Charlie being dried off. In hindsight, I probably should have used a towel that isn't almost the same color as the carpet!

f5, Exp. 1/60, 18mm

Day 208: Veggies/Heather

I had a pizza party for my young widow and widowers Meetup group last night and as usual, I was concerned I would not have enough food, despite always having enough food to feed a small country. So I bought a few things to round it out, including a veggie tray. Of course, I had leftovers.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 46mm

Day 207: Black and White Tree/Heather

Since my camera doesn't shoot in black and white, these are always a fun challenge for me. For this shot, I decided to wait until dark and take a picture of my neighbor's white birch tree.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 65mm

Day 206: Yarn/Heather

I was on the go all day today and when I remembered to check and see what today's theme was, I saw we didn't have one. Looking around my desk, I saw a skein of yarn and called Selina to see if that would work for her for today.

This was supposed to be a potholder/trivet for my brother for Christmas. Maybe I'll get it done for his birthday in February instead.

f5, Exp. 1/60, 62mm

Day 205: Coasters/Heather

Given that I am a coaster Nazi, I had plenty to chose from for this shot. Selina gave me an awesome set for Christmas but they are still at work; I took them in to show them off. So I couldn't use those like I wanted to. I'm disappointed about how my pictures turned out. These are a set I had made for me when I worked at a glass company when I first moved to Portland.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 44mm

Day 204: Ice/Heather

Being that it's January, a nice icicle hanging from the house would have been a great subject for this shot. However, it's rare to see those here-not that I'm complaining! So, here's a shot of the ice from my freezer.

f4, Exp. 1/60, 31mm

Day 203: Hook/Heather

I love how this turned out even if the bottom of it is blurry. These are the hooks on the key holder my grandmother gave James for Christmas several years ago.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 60mm

Day 202: Bath Time/Heather

I love taking a nice, long relaxing bath. And my mother loves giving me what she calls "bath pretties." I got a huge basket of new goods this year for Christmas.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 201: Starts with "S"/Heather

I took a couple of shots of sunflower seeds that I really liked but in the end, I just could not resist this shot of Sammy. It's almost time for a haircut and I think he is starting to look a bit like a stuffed animal-especially his head.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 44mm

Day 200: Puzzle/Heather

Here's the puzzle I am currently working on. I was going to take a picture of the puzzles I have stacked up on the shelf in the closet but I went with this as I suspect Selina, who came over to surprise me (sort of) for my birthday, took a similar shot based on the "evidence" I found in the living room. :o) It is part of a 10-pack of puzzles and I believe this is the one of the Toronto skyline.

f3.8, Exp. 1/60, 27mm

Day 199: Heather Day/Heather

My plan for this was to take a shot of several of my favorite things but I didn't have time. So at my birthday dinner, I just took a shot of myself and called it good.

f4, Exp. 1/60, 31mm

Day 198: Hair Accessories/Heather

There really isn't much to say about this one. These are the clips I use to hold my hair off my neck and face when I dye my hair.

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 35mm

Day 197: Purses/Heather

For someone who isn't really girly, I seem to have more purses than necessary. That's mainly because my aunt keeps sending them to me as gifts. I use the little black one for going out when I only want to carry the bare minimums and the red one was my way of stepping out of my comfort zone of being practical and doing what I really wanted. Love the red purse!

f3.8, Exp. 1/60, 22mm

Day 196: Button/Heather

Once again, I waited too late into the day to dig out the sewing box. So I grabbed one of my sweaters. I really like the buttons on this one but don't wear it too often as the buttons on the cuffs tend to get in the way and I've never gotten around to taking them off.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 195: Leather/Heather

Once again, I am getting really lazy with my shots. This is James' old leather jacket that I have yet to decide if I am going to keep and wear it myself (I've always wanted one) or donate it to Goodwill.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 194: Sidewalk/Heather

This was a bitter cold day in the Portland area, so I went out and snapped a couple of quick shots of the sidewalk that runs along the side of my house before retreating back inside where it was much warmer.

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 38mm

Day 193: Shot from the Hip/Heather

It turns out there isn't anything really cool at my hip level, but I do like the way this shot of the top of the step-ladder turned out.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 55mm

Day 192: Graffiti/Heather

I got lucky with this shot. I intended to take one during the day, but the day got away from me. I was at a "Welcome Home/Birthday" party for a friend and happened to look out the window of the pub we were in and saw the fence had been tagged. The litter on top of the fence just added to the overall effect.

f4, Exp. 1/60, 29mm

Day 191: Bread/Heather

I love bread. It goes well with my love of cheese. And this loaf of French bread I bought to go with a Greek salad I made for dinner worked out well for today's theme.

Day 190: Grill/Heather

This was one of those "Crap! It's an hour past my bedtime and I still need a picture!" shots. It's my George Foreman grill, which I just love.

f4, Exp. 1/60, 31mm

Day 189: Zipper/Heather

I was too lazy to dig out the sewing box to see if I have a zipper in there so I grabbed a sweatshirt out of the closet and used it instead. I really like how this one turned out.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 48mm

Day 188: Hallway/Heather

Here is a shot of my upstairs hallway. I love how long this picture makes it look. I also love that Charlie isn't in this one as he's got "demon eyes" in all the shots I took he is in-which was most of them.

f3.5, Exp. 1/60, 18mm

Day 187: Say Cheese!/Heather

I love cheese. I always seem to have plenty of it to choose from as evidenced by this picture, which leaves out a few of my options. I have to say, Tillamook definitely makes the best cheese (and ice cream).

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 38mm

Day 186: White/Heather

I looked around the house for white objects today and finally settled on the shoe rack/bench that I have near the front door. I liked how the shots I took of it with the door open turned out the best.

f3.5, Exp. 1/60, 18mm

Day 185: Happy New Year!/Heather

My new year's day tradition is to take last year's calendar and transfer all the birthdays and anniversary's to the new one. I had a busy day so this didn't happen and I'm glad it didn't because I was able to take a picture of the new calendar as a blank slate, which is what this new year is. I'm hoping that at the end of this year, my blank slate will be filled with more happy memories than sad. Here's wishing everyone a joyous 2011!

f4, Exp. 1/60, 29mm