Wednesday, August 31

Nasturtium.

Okay, so I went a little crazy taking photos of the nasturtium. I just can't resist that deep green and the intricate veins on the leaves. I love the flowers too, but it's the leaves that really intrigue me.

My obsession with the leaves turned into a nice little project of taking shots with a couple different instant films. I think all of the films capture the colors nicely, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would probably the PX70 shot.

Nasturtium.
[Polaroid SX-70 with expired 600 film]


[Polaroid SX-70 Alpha with TZ Edge Cut film]


[Polaroid SX-70 Alpha with PX70 film]

This shot was my first with the latest PX70 and I had no idea what to expect. As the image developed, I was stunned by the intense green that it captured. This film totally rocks.


[Polaroid SLR 680 SE with PX680 First Flush film]

Which one is your favorite?

Tuesday, August 30

Cerrillos, New Mexico

I keep telling myself that I am going to post here on a regular basis again, because it is something that I really enjoy doing. And while I am not a great writer by any means, at least when I write here, it makes me think about my words a little more and I think that's good for me. But then weeks go by and there just isn't the time.

Anywhere, here I am now and I am going to share some iPhone pictures that I took two weeks ago when I went on a little day trip to some parts outside of Santa Fe. I had hoped to stop and take lots of pictures along the way, but sometimes things don't work out quite the way we planned.

My original thought was to drive out to Madrid and hang out there. I headed out on Highway 14, also know as the Turquoise Trail. Once I reached Madrid and drove through the tiny town, I realized it wasn't really where I wanted to be. A nifty place for sure, but I wasn't feeling it. So I turned around and went to Cerrillos instead. I was rather enjoying just driving around so I wasn't sure what I really wanted to do. Then I saw signs for a turquoise mine museum/petting zoo/trading post. How could I possibly resist that attraction? I followed all the arrows and ended up at the Casa Grande Trading Post, Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum & Petting Zoo.

It's a crazy, lovely place filled with tons and tons and tons of stuff. Every kind of rock and crystal that you can imagine. Cheap turquoise trinkets. Windows lined with old bottles and insulators. A completely random selection of postcards. Dream catchers. Just everything. And that's just the Trading Post.







Beyond the second room of the trading post, there is the museum which costs two dollars to enter. It is filled with an incredible amount of someone's beloved collections and totally random junk. And by junk, I mean lovely junk, but still junk. And a lot of crazy, old antiques and more old bottles and insulators and mannequins and then more rocks and crystals. Oh and skulls and cardboard cut-outs and a ship in a bottle. It was mind-boggling and amazing. I was delighted to have stumbled upon this place.



A tribute to John Wayne and Kiefer Sutherland. (Young Guns was filmed out there, something that I don't think I knew back in the day when I *loved* that movie.)









Smokey AND a surf board. Go figure.





There was a helicopter flying overhead the whole time I was out there and as I was buying a couple of postcards, one of the owners started telling me how this time of year, there are always low flying helicopters flying around, looking for weed crops. He said, "yeah, that's how everyone makes a living out here, growing weed."

I had no idea.

On my way back to Santa Fe, I decided to drive through Galisteo just because I was enjoying driving around. There was a storm coming and the lightning was pretty awesome to see in the distance. It's so beautiful here in New Mexico and I really don't take the time to get out of Santa Fe often enough.

In Galisteo, I came to a "T" intersection and decided to go right since there was no signage to tell me which way I should go to get back to Santa Fe. Of course, almost immediately upon turning, I realized I was going the wrong way and in fact, I had no idea where I was going if I were to keep going that way. (I would have ended up hitting I-40 near Moriarty.) All I had to do was turn around, but it was a two-lane highway and there were absolutely no pull-outs for miles and miles. So I just kept driving and driving in the wrong direction. I was vaguely distressed, but not really, and it was so incredibly green out that way. I could hardly believe it. I took a lot of pictures in my head while I was driving and that was good enough for me.

I was finally able to turn around and made it back to Santa Fe without a hitch. All in all it was a pretty awesome day and I really need to do things like that more often.

Monday, August 15

Zinnias.

Zinnias.

I love it when the zinnias are in bloom. It is so nice to be able to step out into the backyard and cut fresh flowers to keep under the skylight in the kitchen. I never get tired of zinnias, they come in so many different colors, shapes and sizes. And I probably write this same thing every year!

But they really do make me happy.

And sometimes they bring hummingbirds to our backyard. Yesterday evening I spotted one while we were outside grilling and I got so excited! Hummingbirds don't visit us all that often. Or maybe I just don't sit outside enough!

Earlier in the summer.



I had to try so many different pills for my insomnia and anxiety, I started to feel like I was caught in my own valley of the dolls. It prompted me to reread my collection of Jacqueline Susann novels.

Taking pills is really not my thing, so I am happy to report that, for the most part, I am doing quite well sans any "dolls".

Friday, August 12

Arts & Crafts Show at the Santa Fe Plaza.



After a few moments of panic in the week before the craft show, every thing ended up going smoothly and we were quite pleased with our booth set up. Participating in this show was A LOT of work, and I could not have managed all the display related stuff without my wonderful husband, Will. In addition to lugging around everything in his truck and then on his hand truck, he made lovely wooden pedestals to showcase some of the bowl and coaster sets. We didn't use too much else for display purposes since my work is colorful and eye-catching enough on its own.



Both days were super hot without much cloud coverage. We were directly situated in the afternoon sun, of course, but we survived, drinking lots of water and keeping both ends of the tent open to keep a bit of a cross breeze going. I think it was close to 90 each day, not ideal for standing around in a tent! Even all the people walking around were fatigued by the hot weather. And I suspect it did not help with sales as many people couldn't bear to think about wool!



This is actually the back entrance to the tent; the front entrance faced another row of booths directly on the Plaza. It was pretty busy downtown both days and most of the time we had a pretty good flow of lookers. A lot of nice compliments about my work. (And a lot of comments about going home and making their own felted bags. It's nice to know I inspire people, but I always think it's a little odd to tell someone you are going to go home and make what they've spent some much time working on. That's a comment best left to oneself.) All in all it was a good learning experience and I am very glad that I participated in the show.

I actually have quite a bit of stock left though so please feel free to browse the Mad Orange Shop. Some things still need to be photographed so there will be more to come in the weeks ahead. I have loads of different colors of purses, bowls and coasters, so if you don't see what you need, please email me!

Monday, August 1

Handsome fellow.



Rocky is currently on my shit list because he has taken to spraying the front door at night, but nonetheless, he sure looks handsome on this film!