Team Up Thursday - Week 7 - Morning

OK - I am really sorry - for some reason I can not upload the pictures - so I am going to post just the text and story - please go to Mariette mk-appreciatinglife.blogspot.com to see the pictures - If anybody can let me know if they are having the same problem - please do so, is it anything to do with the changes that "blogger" has made - Or am I the only one so dorf that I could upload pictures last week and nothing this week - I am really feeling very frustrated....
Anyway, Mariette chose Morning this week - I found it a challenging theme, possibly because we were on leave and our normal morning routines did not really happen.
Mariette's picture is of apples - which she prepares every morning as part of Maxine's lunch.  I like the contrast and colour of the picture - I can almost taste the sour Granny Smith apple...

My picture is of our alarm clock, which goes off at just before five thirty – I try to tell Mike that I can not get up before hearing an early news bulletin because then if the world ended in the night, I know there is no need to get up - I guess I am not a morning person.  The weather report comes on at 5h45 – then I at least know that the world did not end in the night and I know what to wear for the day…

I also took a photo of Kayla-Fern's cereal and a "MORNING MOON" - which I found really interesting...(Unfortunately - as said at the beginning I can not load them - but enough of the grumbling - as soon as I find out what I am doing wrong, I will upload them so you can see them)...

Team Up Thursday - Week 6 - Teddy Bears

It was my turn to choose the theme this week..I briefly considered joining the group “FLYING WITHOUT WINGS” challenge, I think it is a lovely challenge and am looking forward to seeing the work of other participants, but I just felt too inexperienced to tackle this challenge…so TEDDY BEARS is our theme for this week – nice and easy..

I remembered that Mariette used to collect teddies (before she left for the UK),  and I have made a few of my own and with us both having a daughter, I thought that we would not be short of “models”

I also put a lot of thought into “composing” my picture and thought of doing a “Teddy Bear’s Picnic”, “Teddy Bear in a Tea Cup”, Teddy Hanging onto a Branch”, “Teddy with Flowers” – the ideas seemed endless –

I did not do any photos over the weekend, because I knew that I was on leave from yesterday afternoon (no, we are not going away, but the children break up today and we just want to spend time chilling and doing things around the house) – It was wonderful to be able to dedicate more time then usual to TUT this week – I took 141 photos in total and the one I chose is in a league of it’s own – I am thrilled with it.

The little girl in the photo, was a present from Bradley one year when he went on holiday with Claire (TUT – Inspiration for the Soul) and her family (before they moved to Wales), so she is beary special.

Mariette is in Germany on business this week… She says that she is not entirely happy with her photos this week and feels that perhaps her bears were not “talking” to her – I think her chosen bear just has so much character – that cheeky grin…He is a new addition to her bear family - bought whilst she has been on this business trip.

…For various reasons, our bear collections have been in storage in boxes for a few years, and I thought mine looked very sad and grumpy, when I unpacked them for the photo shoot – I have come to the conclusion that bears (like children and animals) don’t like to be shut up for long periods of time, so Mariette you know what to do…

Below is a picture which Mike took - a beautiful effect created by using a simple desk lamp (paced in the right position) and MY little camera..

Florentina, (left) is also a special little bear - she is the first bear that I made myself and she is small and very pretty.

The two photos below, whilst not having the great attributes that my winning photo has this week, are still cute enough to be shown...

Tyler (left) is also a little bear

that I made and Josh is the first bear that I made from scratch i.e pattern and fabric that I chose separately rather then a kit..He is a big bear and is wearing "hand me down" dungarees from Bradley.

Well - that's it for this week - I'm going to rush around now and check what everyone else has done.

Team Up Thursday - Week 5 - Water

Shew - How frustrating that I could not get in to post my blog earlier today - so sorry that it is soooooo late everyone (I have still made Thursday though - and in certain parts of the world it is still lunchtime>>>>) - Anyway, Hope that it is worth the wait

Mariette chose the theme this week…I adore her picture above – the contrast between the yellow leave and green algae is lovely.  I like the swirls of the water, which give it a feeling of depth/3d.  It is also bright and sharp – a very “in focus” photograph –Lovely.

Water was a lovely theme and I took lots of pictures of the same place (swimming pool in our garden), same time (Sunday morning about half past ten) with the same equipment (water in the swimming pool and Kayla-Fern creating various effects with the hose pipe) – I was astounded at how different all my photos were.

My chosen photo (Water Explosion) was chosen specifically because it is so different and dramatic.  I was actually trying to get a “fine spray” effect ….am not sure how this photo happened from that idea, but it worked out anyway.

I was also very happy to capture the rainbow in the picture below – and yes, I knew the rainbow was there when I took the photo.

The two pictures here were also taken of our swimming pool (promise) – I love

the air bubbles created by holding the hose pipe fairly high over the water (Mike says it is like looking at something under a microscope) and the ripples created on the water surface when the water droplets hit...

All in all a very interesting theme.  The thing I really enjoyed this week – was how different every single photo was….Also a big thank you to Kayla-Fern for your help and suggestions.

Next week, our theme is soft and cuddly???

I am frustrated - Can not do TUT - won't let me post in the main body - Will keep trying - Please visit later..

Team Up Thursday - Week 4 - Shoes

Mariette took an awesome photo of a stunning shoe – I am blown away – Well done Mariette – I would never have thought of just having a portion of the shoe in the photo…stunning, stunning, stunning - I love it

Kayla-Fern (9) loves buying shoes….I have no idea why because most of the time she runs around bare foot – perhaps it is because she is a girl and that is what girls are supposed to do.
Her old black pumps were looking really terrible. I mentioned to her that they look pretty tatty and we should throw them away, she looked at me with disgust reflected in her blue eyes and said “But mom, these are so comfortable”, so last week I suggested that we go and buy her a new pair of black pumps.
She quickly cottoned onto the idea and ended up with a new pair of black pumps/red wedge heel courts/black wedge heel courts and a new pair of takkies.
It is not even a case of she buys for the sake of buying – she is VERY selective and all four pairs of shoes are stunning and that is what I wanted to highlight with this week’s story..she has a knack of just knowing what will look good on her AND instinctively knows what to mix and match. I don’t have the same knack so I think she is very talented....Don't ever lose this talent, sweetheart - it is a great one.
Bradley (almost 15) also cottoned onto the fact that money had been spent and since I always ensure that there is an equal amount for both of them, he knows that there is a shopping spree on the horizon for him – He is not too phased about the “fashion” side of it – my cricket mad son has his eye on some fancy training shoes for his sport…His one pair of shoes is going to cost as much as Kayla-Fern’s four pairs, but I comfort myself with the thought that because he is older, he should not grow out of them as quickly as she will, and he will love them every bit as much as his sister loves hers.
Once again I had the exact image in my mind – once again it did not work out…I tried to take a picture of just the shoes and some of her legs in mid-air as she jumped off a chair…OK – so that did not work out – all I got was lots of blank pictures…
Anyway, my “static” choice for this week is below…

There were a few others which turned out with more of the character that I wanted, but I had not thought about where I was taking the photos, so the background has made for an ugly photo…So my lesson for this week is ....

BACKGROUND IS IMPORTANT….

The picture below is one of the better “character” shots but the background has been manipulated.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lovely theme for next week Mariette - I am looking forward to it...

Team Up Thursday - Week 3 - Flowers

Mariette’s theme this week was FLOWERS….Mariette it was a lovely theme and I really enjoyed doing it…1st September is the first day of spring in SA, so our flowers are just starting to bloom into their real beauty.
One thing about taking photo’s of flowers is that you need to get up close and personal with them, and you can (unlike birds) and I realised that during winter, I had forgotten the sweet and soft smell of fresh flowers….The fragances of the different flowers was awesome.
My favourite flower is the orchid – but I did not have access to any of those – my favourite flowering bush is the “Yesterday/Today and Tomorrow” – Yesterday’s flowers are a pale faded mauve, because yesterday has already gone, Today’s flowers are a darker mauve, and tomorrow’s flowers are purple…The whole bush looks so beautiful with the three different colour flowers on it…and for me, this bush signifies life…Yesterday is gone – don’t worry about what happened in the past, tomorrow is still coming and sadly it is not always guaranteed, but we have TODAY – wonderful, glorious today – LIVE it, TREASURE it and ENJOY it.
Some of the residents in our neighbourhood have beautiful gardens..so I went for a walk on Saturday - I took some beautiful photos of all sorts of flowers and was stuck to choose one…In the end though I chose one of the few that I found in our own garden…Chosen specially because it is in our garden – I love the colour and the shape of it. My mom says it is a “CLIVIA” – I would not have known that in a million years – it is indigineous to SA – see I did not know that either – Team Up Thursday is improving my general knowledge. Anyway, the clivia is really pretty, and the fact that it has lasted in my garden, shows a special kind of strength.*
*I am the least green fingered person in the world and whilst I love a pretty garden and fresh flowers, I just don’t have the interest in developing and planting and caring for a garden – so our garden is lovely in it’s own way, but it has to be very “easy care” and low maintenance...

I also loved this as my second shot…These flowers just made me feel happy

Mariette took a lovely photo of pink carnations…..The two different pinks are beautiful – Different colour carnations have different meanings and pink carnation mean a mother’s love - which Mariette has in abundance..she just does not always think so...

According to Christian legend, Carnations first appeared on earth as Jesus carried the Cross. Carnations sprang up from where the Virgin Mary's tears fell as she cried over her son's plight.

Miss. Anna Jarvis (The Founder of Mother's Day) used Carnations at the first Mother's Day celebration, because Carnations were her mother's favorite flower

That's my post for this week - an interesting theme next week - hope we can make something meaningful from it...