Showing posts with label Trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trees. Show all posts

Monday, August 31, 2015

Brain Break & Vegan MoFo 2015 PREP!

I took these photos/videos last week and had not gotten around to post them until now.

The purpose of these are that we all need a little 'brain break' every once and a while.

Sometimes I will eat my lunch in a nearby park or just sit there for a few moments to gather my thoughts.

Question of the Day: What do you do on your 'Brain Breaks"?  Comment below.

I figured this was a great time to post this because TOMORROW is the first day of Vegan MoFo!  YAY!  I can't wait!  Will you be participating in Vegan MoFo?  If so...let me know your URL if you haven't already!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Photography & Art - Blissful Journey


 Once again I have some catching up to to in the form of blogging. 

I've blogged about my adventures out and about - around town - and such - and I have some more to share with you.  This time around it will be a bit different, tho. 

Starting with this photo.  The only filter I used was a 'Black & White' setting after taking the photo on my iPhone.  It was taken at a local park.  This is part of Soldiers & Sailors Park in our downtown/Business District (also known as our Historical District). 

You can see the steps going up.  On both sides there are cement seating/bleachers for outside concerts (the stage is behind me).  At the top you will see a small structure - a cement gazebo.  You can sit in it.  There is also a large Sculpture to the left with soldiers as a remembrance.  Behind you can see our Main Street Buildings and Storefronts.  Of course there is a road in between this and the other side of the street.

Several weeks ago I took a walk over to our Crescent Park area of the city.  That's were our General Hospital is and other medical buildings but also a very nice walking park and water front.  This section of town is a big part of why we are listed as a Tree City USA City.  It's not really promoted much around town so I had to do some research on my own!  As you can see I took a LOT of photos that day and held off for a while to post here because I wasn't sure how to go about it.  So last week I did a collage of a few dozen photos and thought that might be best - or this post would have been a mile long!  You should be able to click on each photo to enlarge if you so choose!

Some day I will post photos of the water and ducks but for today I will stick with the trees.  This is really the first time I have concentrated on trees in that area.  There are also historical markers and structures that I will post down the road, too!

There are many things that make me happy - nature, photography, art, culture, traveling, etc. 

I thought I would take some time-out and share some of them with you.  As far as ART is concerned - if you followed my old Crafting Blog you can see see many of my past projects.  But I took a long hiatus from crafting and am trying to slowly return.  I think I am going to switch gears and focus more on Mixed Media for a while and maybe more altered projects.  I also think I will be posting them here on this blog instead of my old one since this is my main site now.

Here is one of my new projects - an Art Journaling page using mixed media.  I know it's a bit dark for my Blissful Journey site, here, but it all can't be rosy.  PLUS...I find this therapeutic so it does bring me bliss.  Almost like a before and after type thing.

"Everyone Has a Dark Side"

"Darkness Lurks Its Head.  Was It Something I Said?"

I used: Gesso, Modge Podge, Powdered Chalk, Glitter, Perfect Pearls, Tattered Angels Ink Spray, Digital Stamps, and Sharpie Craft Markers.

Because I did various layers this page took a few days of going back and forth.  In a way I keep going back to the thought of dedicating this page to those struggling with depression and alcohol and substance abuse.  I know of many and think and pray for them daily in my own way.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Earth Day, Carbon Foot Print, and Kind Life

Happy Earth Day Everyone!  I will have a few posts today!  This is my first!  I've always LOVED Earth Day and try and do something special each year.  Sometimes it's something small and others a bit bigger!  Last  year was a small year...I only decided to do a mini Herb Garden - which was later destroyed by a 'mutant' Raccoon who tore off the side of my back room to get to them!  Grrrrr!  Anyhow...this year...I'm still toying with the idea of a garden this year BUT I'm not sure - I'm still nervous I am going to screw it up!  I think at the very least I will try tomatoes since I do eat a lot of tomatoes!  PLUS...over the weekend I came across some AWESOME Heirloom Tomatoes - which are really rare to find in a grocery store here, and I don't even know of anyone locally who grows them, either, BUT I found some and bought a few small ones as they were priced by the pound.  They were gorgeous, tho!  I had one last night on a "sandwich" and a salad and it was all I could talk about for the rest of the day! 

For the past couple of years we have had a "yard leftovers" compost pile of sorts.  Nothing 'high tech' just a spot where we dump soil, wood chips/shavings that fall off trees, landscape clippings, etc into a pile at the end of our property.  Over the weekend I noticed we have 2 trees GROWING from it!  They don't look like much and our trees haven't bloomed yet - anywhere in town - but I am hoping these do!  These 'unexpected' trees are neat!  Can't wait to see what happens with them!  I will try to take pictures, soon!

I decided to go over to CarbonFootprint.com and see what my current 'footprint' was.  This is just a quick rough estimate for the past year or less but I was quite surprised!
  • Your footprint is 6.31 metric tons per year
  • The average footprint for people in United States is 20.40 metric tons
  • The average for the industrial nations is about 11 metric tons
  • The average worldwide carbon footprint is about 4 metric tons
  • The worldwide target to combat climate change is 2 metric tons
 I think by changing to a vegan diet, trying to buy more local and organic, as well as our travel and how we do it in which vehicle has something to do with it.  There were lots of options in the survey that I left blank as it didn't apply to me/us.  To offset these a few suggestions are to try a Clean Energy Portfolio (which I don't think is really possible where I live), Reforestation in Kenya (which would be a great idea for a donation!), UK Tree Planting (or any tree planting, really!), and Certified Emissions Reduction.  I will be reading up on each of these to try and educate myself a bit more!

Another great site I have been spending a lot of time on lately is Alicia Silverstone's Kind Life Site!  Check it out when you have time!  I have LOTS more to share with you but will do another post in a few hours! What are you doing for Earth Day today?