When I first saw this shatter, it was scattered across two lanes, generated I suspect during a late-night event where neither party called the cops. When I took this picture a day later, it was all in the gutter, glistening in the sunshine.

And, flipping through channels with less promising programming, I have learned I should worry about blood sludge. Gad, and I thought it was seasonal affective disorder or something….

Okay, KW, here ya go: a picture series from yesterday’s hike.

BTW, the image above is looking through the not-falls—the drought and general autumnal conditions mean there wasn’t enough water to make even a trickle over the outcrop….

I swear, just when you think you’ve figured out the aesthetic of the central Midwest, someone (or someones) collect a big pile of detergent containers and makes…a lovely fish!

I love that daylight comes and stays and goes here from all angles, without the limits we experience at our urban abode. I love finding low-angle shadows here and there, in the beginnings and endings of the day’s light.

Here’s the label on the 122×56 inch slab….

One lead to the next….

You see, I got to visit the place where our vanity and tub deck stone will be cut. The bonus was I got to be the opinionated client about how to lay out the pieces.

First, we picked out the stone several weeks ago, when we picked out the bathrooom tile. I think it’s called Cherokee marble, and it’s maybe even from a Georgia quarry, so even though we’re raping the landscape for our interior decorating, we’re being the building trades equivalent of “locavores.”*

Today, I met Dick-our-wonderful-contractor over at the stone place. We checked in and received our special costumes for visiting the floor. (It’s been a long time since I was in a factory….)

The lovely Sonya escorted us deep into the cutting area, where we met Stewart, who did the layout. He’s a genius. The stone has two really cool inclusions, and he helped me get one into the vanity top and one into the tub deck, and fit all the other tub deck pieces into the slab such that they will look just right. I think we’ll get a backsplash for the vanity out of it, too!

I’m just so tickled; the pieces are better than I’d hoped!

So that was the first new experience. And here’s the second. I* made a gallery of pictures from my adventure. Check it out below! (Click on one of the thumbnail pictures and you will see it larger, and then can page through the assortment.)

* Not so with the shingles, for example.

** With help from The Guru. Obviously.

Ohio barn photo turned into stitch pattern…. (Two views.)

It started here: I’m reading Brunonia Barry’s The Lace Reader. I became curious about bobbin lace, the lace Barry refers to, which I’d vaguely heard of, but didn’t know much about. I sought out Wikipedia, not surprisingly.

Then I started musing about the long-ago past, when I did a bit of bargello needlework*. Of course, there’s also a bargello page, too!

Then I started thinking, gee, it’s a natural to have a computer program optimizing needlepoint (etc.) designs.

Of course. A bit more googling, and I even found a free trial version of a program for the Mac, called Stitches. And downloaded it.

Well, I did find a bug or two, but successfully imported a picture and had it allocate colors that could be converted into threads and needlework. Wow! The program says this image is a mere fifty-five colors….

* Proof lies in the four pillows on my couch, presently covered by protective plastic sheeting….

Our house is coming back! Today The Guys reinstalled the big stained glass window and put up trim here and there. Both make a huge difference!

In August 2004, our Bot Garden was overrun with people wanting to see a huge indoor and outdoor exhibit of Chihuly glass. I thought on this auspicious day (depending on how you count days and what you find auspicious), I’d make a positive, upbeat, artsy entry to balance this morning’s rant.

So, here’s a night-time shot of a huge Chihuly handkerchief vase (or shape made with that technique).

* Lucky because today I made two posts, if nothing else!

I had my first digital still camera during the summer of 2002, and I that was when I really began to learn about photography—what little I do know, anyway.

So this picture is from six years ago today, and I believe was the first one I took that looked through the lakewater. I loved how the light and water made the refraction* patterns (if that’s what they are), and still do….

* Okay, I couldn’t help myself; the Wikipedia entry for refraction mentions a special kind of refraction that’s a special kind of a mirage called a fata morgana. No lie. I guess the name refers to the ephemeral nature of the mirage. But this is no fata morgana.

Sometimes it’s extremely invigorating to see the sun set from a different location. Lucky us, we saw a this one while rolling down the highway!

(Subtext: Yea! Escape achieved!)