Life in the Sandbox 2010

 

Like fine wine I would say it has been a very good year.    I look forward to seeing what 2011 will bring.   I look forward to your encouragement and friendship dear bloggers.   Happy New Year.   Valerie

Yellow Roses for Touch Up Tuesday

My Dad brought me some lovely yellow roses for Christmas.  They were a welcome addition to the dining table.   This photo is SOOC.

I edited the photo in  Photoshop Elements  using a blending of soft light and then adding a texture from Shadowhouse Creations called Oil painting 1 and then using a blending of overlay at opacity 77%.  

Thanks to Chelsey at Paper Heart Camera for hosting TouchUp Tuesday.    Have a great day.   Valerie

A Christmas Proposal

How was your Christmas? Do you feel ten pounds heavier with all that good food and tasty desserts.  Oh I do.   We had a wonderful day with all the family.  My husband’s uncle missed his first Christmas with us in forty years due to a bad cold.   Our youngest son proposed to his girlfriend Christmas Eve.  We are so happy for them.   Wedding plans have not been discussed as yet.    Just had to share this good news with all my blogging friends.    Have a great week.   Valerie

A Candle Touch Up

Red and White candle SOOC

My edit today is done in Adobe Photoshop CS2 that I have had installed in my computer for several years but never learned how to use it.    Today's edit  is using Pioneer Woman’s actions of Lovely and Ethereal and Quick Edge Burn.  I like how these actions warmed up the photo.
Thank you to  Chelsey at Paper Heart Camera for the opportunity to learn new touch up techniques.    Have a wonderful Christmas.   Valerie

Tis the Week before Christmas for Mosaic Monday

 

Are you ready for the big day?  It is almost here.   So much to do.    Hope everyone has a wonderful day with your family and friends.    My Best Wishes to you all.    Join us for Mosaic Monday with Mary won’t you.    Valerie

Poinsettia Pin for Macro Friday

One week to go.  Are you feeling stressed.  We are visiting friends this evening for our annual preChristmas dinner.   It will be nice to just relax and unwind, have a laugh or two.   This will be the first Christmas that our dear friend Shirley will not be with us.   We will just drink a toast to her.

This is my poinsettia pin that I wear on my coat at Christmas time.  I thought it fitting for a macro today.    I am joining Laura at Blogging from Bolivia for Macro Friday.   Have a wonderful weekend.   Valerie

Reflection for Touch Up Tuesday

Before

After.
The bronze ball on the Christmas tree looked just great to me SOOC but for today I played in Photoscape to give it some added dimension.   Added to the photo was a reflection in which I changed the perspective, level and size and then added a warm custom colour to the reflection. I softened it with a texture from Shadowbox. 
I am joining Chelsey and friends at Touch Up Tuesday.   Have a great day.   Valerie

It’s Christmas Time for Mosaic Monday

I surprise myself sometimes and not always in a good way.    This is an attempt to create my own mosaic using Photoshop Elements 7.   Hopefully,  with more practice I will get better.    For now please join us at Mary’s for another Mosaic Monday.   Have a great week.   Valerie

Five Informative Gardening Books

 

This morning I was reading France’s post at Fairegarden on her favourite gardening books.   It was all very interesting but I don’t live in Tennessee.  I live in southern Ontario in a zone 4B with summers that can be dry and hot.   My soil here is sandy and although it is amended yearly with compost the nutrients are quickly depleted and lost through the porous soil.   Frances was inspired to make her list from a post on North Coast Gardening topic of Five Favourite Gardening Books.  So here goes for a few of some gardening books that I use.

This is my bookcase in the computer room that has only gardening books in it.   These are my go to reference books.

These are the books I want to share with you today.   If you are looking for gardening books for a gardening friend for Christmas I recommend these for a start.

To be a successful gardener you need to know your soil and how to feed your soil and why you need to feed your soil.   This is a terrific book that explains the Soil Food Web, those living organisms that live in our soil and how they break down the organic materials in the soil to make a place for plants to get nutrients to thrive.

John Valleau from Heritage Perennials put out this publication some years ago that list many great perennials, their growing conditions, watering needs, zones, sizes and shapes.   It is my go to book.  He does have a newer version but this one is well thumbed at my house.

For general how to information it is all in this book.  Generally geared to Canadian gardening needs it covers the basics on all aspects of gardening from fruits and vegetables to tree and shrubs, perennials, annuals and houseplants.   Good all round book.

This is a great books for gardeners who want to use some native plants in their gardens.  Lorraine Johnson is an expert on native plants in this area.   There are listings of 100 easy to grow natives with all their gardening needs.  You can choose just the ones that will thrive in your growing location.

Tracy DiSabato-Aust is no stranger to many of us gardeners.   I am sure that most of us have one of her books in our book shelves.   I like this one because even though she is not growing in my specific location the plants are explained in detail of where and how to grow them and how to mix them into your gardening environment.

So, that is just a peek into my bookcase.   I hope you will post about your favourite gardening books and pass the word along.    Looking forward to spring and getting back out there to my garden.   Valerie

Christmas Sparkle for Macro Friday

The Christmas tree is up and decorated.   Time is running out on all the last minute shopping and I still have a few more last minute presents to purchase.  We have had lots of snow this week and we expect some more this weekend.   I hope that you like my sparkly Christmas ornament.

I am joining Laura who is BloggingfromBolivia for Macro Friday.    Have a great weekend.  Valerie

A Snowy Morning for Touch Up Tuesday

Yesterday morning we woke up to find everything covered in deep snow.   When I went out to fill up the bird feeders I took the camera.   The Sun Man on the fence had a brand new hat on his head and a mask too.   This is the photo SOOC.

I cropped him a little as I had taken a bulls eye shot.  In Photoshop I gave him a texture.  One of my own that I made with snowflake brushes and blended it with either screen or overlay.  I forgot to write it down.    It was fun to do.   

I am joining Paper Heart Camera for Touch Up Tuesday.   Have a great day.   Valerie

At the Mill Pond

I had to see our family Doctor in nearby Richmond Hill the other day.  My foot has healed now and I can get back to normal activities.   I will have to watch where I am going.   Oh, and I have to have a bone scan too.    On my way home I decided to pass by the Mill Pond in the centre of town for a quick look to see if there was anything to photograph.   It was chilly that day but there were three white swans on the bank and some seagulls out in the middle.  There was a find skim of ice over the pond.  I quickly captured these lovely creatures and then scee-daddled back to the van.  

I am joining Mary our hostess for Mosaic Monday.   Hope you are not too stressed out with the Christmas shopping.  We decorated the Christmas tree so you will see some of the ornamentation over the coming weeks.   Have a great week.  Valerie

Buttermilk Biscuits for SOOCS

I call my self the Carb Queen and sometimes the Condiment Queen.   I love biscuits and these were easy to make and oh so good to eat with a little bit of butter and a dab of jam.   The original recipe did not call for any fruit but I added some dried cherries to the mix.

I am joining Jan for Straight Out of the Camera Sunday.   Take a photo. Don’t tinker with it. A crop is okay. Post it to your blog and then link to Jan’s.   See you there.   Have a great Sunday.   Valerie

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday at http://www.murrieta365.com/

Echeveria Macro for Macro Friday

I was given a leaf  from an Echeveria plant  in the summer by a friend. I was told to let the leaf form a callus where the leaf was taken from the parent plant. When that was done  I laid  the leaf just on the surface in a container of mostly sand.   The leaf over time grew roots and three little plantlets began to grow.  These are in a pot no bigger than three inches across.  I  have placed in the south facing window sill of my kitchen.   I hope that they survive the winter there so that I can plant them in the garden next spring.  Echeveria is a succulent come from Central and South Americca. The plant consists of fleshy leaves that form rosettes. It requires very little water and a winter temperature of 50 degrees.  

I am joining Laura at BloggingfromBolivia for Macro Friday.   Hope your week has been great and not too stressful getting ready for Christmas.   I am going to haul the Christmas tree out this weekend from  its storage place under the basement stairs.     Valerie