Prayers for the tornado victims....

This says it all...

God Bless the tornado victims...prayers going out to each and every person affected, and hoping and praying that more people are found ALIVE!! 

Summer....right a round the corner...

Now that Easter has come and gone...summer is right around the corner.  My husband and I are preparing our home for some new colors, both inside and out.  We've agreed on the exterior color, now it's just the inside.  My upcoming Blogs will be about colors, inspiration, and making some big changes to our decor with color only.  After a visit from family and reviewing all the photographs that I took of them - ummm, over 300, I decided I am so over the color inside our great-room, kitchen and dinning room, I'm ready for more tropical colors and/or desert southwest...and there is where my dilemma comes in...so much to chose from and I love both those beautiful bright tropical colors of Hawaii and the warmth of the color of the desert, so I need to find a way to incorporate both and not over do it.  I have a medium green, some would call it olive green in the great-room, and terra-cotta in the kitchen and a very pale color in the dinning room, which I cannot describe, because it changing throughout the day, depending on the sun coming in through the windows.  I'm ready for something bright in the great-room such as we had in our condo in Hawaii, which was not yellow, or mango, but in between...I'm kind of leaning towards that color.  I need to be brave and just go for it.  I don't like the ordinary, and don't like to follow "what's in style right now" all the time, I enjoy seeing what is in style, but put my own flair to it...it has to make me feel good, happy and a place I love to be.  So, for now, I'm off in search of more color combinations.  I hope to get some honest feed back from anyone who sees my ideas...I guess a few visits to the beach the last several weekends has totally inspired me to get ready for summer, not only for myself but my home.

Below are just a few pictures I took at one of our local beaches here on Saturday, Pass-A-Grille...such a beautiful evening...not too hot, and very low humidity.   Hope you enjoy them.

Happy Easter.....

"LOVE, NOT NAILS HELD JESUS TO THE CROSS".

                 I wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter...

Earth Day...something important to celebrate....

Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970.  While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.  Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.


                     ADOPT THE PACE OF NATURE, HER SECRET IS PATIENCE

From the Oceans of Southern California

To the Beautiful Red Rocks of Monument Valley, Utah

To the Sweet Corn Fields of Iowa

To the Pristine Blue Grass of Horse Country in Kentucky

To the beautiful State of New York......and all the other wonderful places in between...

Be kind to our Earth, she is all we have, and we want to leave it safe and beautiful for our children, their children and beyond.  We are so fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world...and should take care of it, not just on Earth Day.



Shadows and Reflections....

What does Zen mean to you?  According to the Urban Dictionary, one definition is, "a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. Zen is a way of being. It also is a state of mind.  Zen involves dropping illusion and seeing things without distortion created by your own thoughts". 

I think that is a good way to describe it, for me anyway.  In this hectic world in which we live any way that we can find to escape sometimes, in a healthy way, is a very good thing.  We all know that our minds are very powerful and if we have a happy mind, we physically feel much better.  There are several ways that I "try" to involve the Zen lifestyle into my daily life, that may not be what others find peaceful, but for me it works.  First off, I am passionate about photography,  when I am taking photographs; I am at my most peaceful state of mind.  I love nature!  It's a must that when I come home from work, I grab a tropical iced tea or an Iced vanilla chai tea and sit outdoors with the water feature going, listening to the birds, and watching the butterflies, dragonflies and any other little critters that may stop by.  Try not to think about anything that wasn't positive that day, and just totally relax.  I had noticed quite some time ago that there were two things that really relaxed me when I was either at the beach, around a pool, or most place here in sunny Florida,  and I seem to gravitate to photograph them.  I had never put it together before, but that is beautiful shadows and reflections.  living here in Florida most of that does revolve around palm trees and the water, I have an obsession with palm trees.  There is something so peaceful and calming about both, shadows and reflections - some would say Zen like.

When I was a very young girl living in Ohio, I was at my Grandparents home one afternoon on a beautiful summer's day.  In their living-room, which was located on the second floor and there were two huge picture windows, and their property was just landscaped so beautifully, with huge trees, flowers and rock gardens methodically placed by my Grandfathers loving care.  I sat there starring at the wall, and was watching the tree's shadows reflecting slow movement on the living-room wall from the slight breeze outside.  I will never forget an older cousin said to me, "that's called silent movement".  I couldn't have been more than five years old, and I can still see and remember that day so vividly, he was much older, so I knew it had to be true.   To this day, I have no real idea if that is the correct terminology, but for me, it is.  I just remember how I was almost mesmerized by it.  Well, I guess that child still lives in me, because I love to watch "silent movement" and beautiful shadows, especially anything of the tropical nature like a palm tree, and of course, reflections, especially those seen in an ocean or a pool.  As you come out of my front doors of my home, to the left of the entrance way is a small cardboard palm, and to the left of that is a huge bamboo palm tree for which I have up lighting on the palms in the front yard.  Well, this particular light, will hit the bamboo palm and reflect over to the cardboard palm and cast a shadow on the outside wall leading in the entrance way.  Of course the shadow is much larger than the plant itself, but at night it looks like a mural.

I love looking on line at other's photographs just for ideas and techniques.  I've added several here of both the shadow and the reflection...they were found in a variety of places so I cannot identify exactly who took them.

A photo I took several months ago on Clearwater Beach, after a very long rain storm.

 

Weekend Visual Escape....Hawaiian Style...

For so many of us who have been blessed to visit the Hawaiian Islands, those are memories we carry with us each day of our lives. There is no place like it on earth. And for those very fortunate people who live there, I know they feel blessed. The second we got off the plane and walked outdoors, the fragrances of the Plumeria, and other exotic flowers just flow across you with the warm tropical breezes and you know you have arrived in paradise. Some say, "well you live in Florida, it's the same"...no way is it the same, none whatsoever. The Hawaiian people are some of the most warm wonderful and beauiful people I've ever had he pleasure of meeting. My daughter and I ran (literally) to the waters edge on Waikiki Beach and just looked at Diamond Head, not believing we were actaully there...I will never forget that moment. All while my Dad was checking all eleven of us in the hotel. My husband of course comes down and states how beautiful it was and couldn't wait to go fishing...oh how we women think differently! For all of us who have taken special trips in our lives, they mean so much to us that there aren't any words you could ever say that can express your own memories, they are special to you. That is how I feel about Hawaii, no words could ever describe every second of pure excitment of these beautiful Pacific Islands and all we did in those short ten days.  Five of them were spent right on Waikiki Beach, and five days in Lahaina on Maui, right on the water, oh yes, including the 15 hour drive we took on the Road to Hana...the whole road, we didn't turn back as we should have, we went the whole way, and saw things, I never knew were in Hawaii, beautiful and wonderful sights.

This time of the year just brings back so many of those memories, as this is when we started planning our trip.  As I've stated numerous times, I am obsessed with Hawaiian, Mid-century and Hollywood Regency design.  Today, I am posting some pictures that just remind me so much of our trip to Hawaii.  The clean lines, beautiful woods, gorgeous decor, tropical flowers - everywhere,  and the most perfect sunsets in the world.  Sit back and I hope these pictures take you for a few moments to Hawaii.

I have a fan just like this is my office at work but it is a palm tree...everyone loves it, and it really works well in the Florida heat.