A little shopping adventure

I woke up this morning after sleeping a whopping 9 hours!
Since I went to bed at 2am, that means that I slept until...9, 10, 11!! 
Gosh, I haven't done that in ages.
I really must have needed the sleep.

Well, to keep my day productive, I decided to dash out the door to attend some estate sales and a few antique malls that I haven't been to in ages.

The sign above was in one of the booths.  What's up with 53% off?  Was no one paying attention to the marked down prices so they decided to shake it up?!!  Too funny.

Have you ever seen one of these?  It's an old adding machine. This particular one was the very first adding machine used by the Thompson Lumber Company, Jacksonville, FL.  I went to the living estate sale of Minnie Thompson today and found this beauty.  The colors were are so beautiful and it was worn and used.  Green and brown and black, the black and white numbers - - everything.  I just loved it.  I offered $10 for it, since it was nearly the end of the sale, but they didn't much care for that offer.  That's OK.  I took a photo :)

I found this goat sign at the antique mall.  I think I've seen it there before and I don't even know why I took a photo of it - it bothers me that the goat is so round!  I've never seen a humpy, camel like goat before.  It's kind of disturbing.  haha

This drawer is standing up on end in this shop.  I have no idea what created all those interesting shapes inside the boxes, but turned up like this it almost looks like a Willy Wonka Bookcase.  The books defy gravity! 

Right next to the Wonka bookcase I found this 4 drawer little cabinet.  I wouldn't have thought twice about it, except that it says Marshall, Michigan.  My husband's best friend lives in Marshall.  That same town.  The little cabinet was marked at $50 or $60.  It wasn't interesting enough to bring home at that price!

A friend of mine takes photos of doll heads.  I saw this and thought of her.  I took a close up of the head of this doll, but I liked this version better.  It's a little less scary. 

Carol singers forever caroling!

This mirror was already sold.  I really liked the shape of it, but the reason I took the picture was because of the colors.  I'm used to seeing white and aqua pieces, but not this gray and antique yellow.  It gave me an idea about what to paint the mirror I got a few weeks ago.  I'm going to try this and if it fails, I'll paint it white :)

I did actually spend some money today, but didn't get a chance to photograph any of it.  It'll give me something to talk about next week!

That's a Saturday in my city - well - or it could have been a Sunday!  If you'd like to see more Sundays in cities around the globe, please visit Unknown Mami.  Lots of other folks have linked up as they usually do.
Have a grand day!
Kristin

POTD - Heeere's Chip!

POTD - Heeere's Chip!

©2011 Kristin Corlett

When I bought the package of chocolate chips the other day, I was positive that I wanted to do a photo shoot with them. What I didn't realize was that I only really needed one chip. Hmmm, wonder what I can possibly do with the rest of the bag?

Enjoy!
Kristin

Missing you

I was at a little gathering at a friend's house tonight.

It was a group of the Jacksonville transplant friends, those of us who live her full time or are here for the winter. 

We are considered the regulars. 

It was about 30 minutes after our scheduled arrival time and the doorbell rang. 

My very first thought was, "Well, that's Deb!  She's always late."

It's going to take a long time for the natural reactions to stop. 

For me to not think about her when I do certain things.

Or when the regulars meet up.

Deb is my friend who passed away last month. 

We had our monthly potluck dinner last night and I could not stop wondering where she was. 

Her daughter came to the dinner with a few of her friends and Tom and I both commented later to each other how happy we were that she came to the dinner. 

It did make me miss her Mom even more though.

The photos in this series are of the paint box we found at Deb's house.

I kept wanting to use them sometime and today is the perfect day, because I am talking about her.

It's good to miss someone. 

I just wish she had moved away.

Kristin

POTD - Candy Hearts

POTD - Candy Hearts

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I knew I wanted to fill up something with the little candy hearts but I wanted something small and see through so that all of the heart colors were visible.  I don't have a lot of clear dishes, as I mostly own pottery, but as I was twirling around in my kitchen trying to think of something, I remembered these little glasses.  They are three or four inches tall and have cool patterns on them.   I was very happy to be able to use them for the candy hearts.  They were perfect!  Now I've got a great reason to keep the glasses around - photo props!  I'll have to do a photo shoot with just the glasses someday. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday Fragments

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! 

to the One Hundred Thirty Third Edition of Half Past Kissing Time's Friday Fragments!

or

Come on in y'all and listen to these little bits of fun and then run on down yonder to Mrs. 4444s place to go visit more friends and see their bits.  Well, their fragmented bits anyway.  

We always have fun on Fridays - thanks for joining me. 

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What major U.S. company's original name was National Biscuit Company?
I didn't realize I knew this little factoid, but I just blurted it out when I was asked.

Highlight the black line to reveal the answer.  (It should work!)

Nabisco

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How to make Beef Broth from Food Renegade

I quickly read through this post about Beef Broth a few days before I made some chicken stock and I have to say that I made some really great, thick chicken stock with just a little modification. I'm going to have to reread the Beef Broth post and see what more I have missed.

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Some day I will witness this in person.  For now I'll have to just gasp at the beauty.
Lavendar fields forever.

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I was discussing email addresses with A Few Clowns Short awhile back and thought of that discussion when I found this little diddy at The Oatmeal.  It made me laugh, although I have several very computer savvy friends who use yahoo.

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Valentines Day Printables (for $9.99) from Indie fixx.  All of the monies will be distributed to all of the artists included in the PDF.   It looks like a real nice collection.  I haven't decided yet if I I'm going to buy it, but I am short about three cards for my family, so it would be a great bargain for me.

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Free Printable Valentine Bunting from Kind Over Matter.
Free Printable  - fun stickers for your fruits (you supply the sticker paper) from Twig and Thistle.
Free Printable - 28 Free Valentine round up on Kind Over Matter

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I did it, I admit it.  I saw some dried spinach still clinging on my wire strainer after it had been both washed and dried and I just put it away and didn't pick off the dried bits.

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Do you know that it's nearly impossible to put eyedrops in your eyes when you're yawning?

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The photos above were taken by me and then I used the Photodroid process to turn them into retro looking Polaroid images.



Thanks so much for stopping by!
Kristin

POTD - Sea Grape

POTD - Sea Grape

©2011 Kristin Corlett

A very common tropical plant in Southern Florida is the Sea Grape.   I just learned how adaptable it is!  When the plant is right on the ocean getting pummeled with sea spray all the time, the plant will stay shrub-like with no real trunk.  When it is growing away from the salt spray, it grows as a tree.  How versatile! 

When I was walking by this tree, I was immediately drawn to the shadows on the branch sticking furthest out.  Once I saw the photo on the computer I was struck how the colors of the building were echoed in the colors of some of the leaves.  Both of these factors made for a lovely photo, I do believe.

More Sea Grape facts here.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Artwork

I purchased this print back in July of 2010.  It's from a watercolor artist who sells under the name of Jellybean on Etsy.   I just fell in love with it.  I'd been eyeing it for over a year and when there was only one left in that size, I knew my time was almost up to get it. So I did :)

Now that I had an unframed piece, it needed to be framed.  I know NOTHING about framing.  I really don't know how to match colors or pick matting.  I just know what I like when I see it and I honestly don't want to stand in a frame store and spend an hour worrying that I've made the wrong decision.

Thankfully my sister, Alison, understands what I like and she has absolutely no trouble picking colors so I sent the Apple Tree to her to frame for me.

She messaged me a few weeks later with photos and an explanation that she had purchased two mats for the print - one was the purple one above and then she had a white one to go over the top that would leave just a little border of purple.  When she looked at it, she thought the purple mat alone might be great, too.  So she asked me to choose.  Small purple border or big purple?  small or big?  double matted or single? 

Oh, the pressure!

Although a lot less pressure than if I had to pick out everything.  At least in this instance Alison liked both options, so it was win win no matter what I chose.

When she sent the photos I got the first glimpse at the gorgeous blue frame that is the exact same color as one of the little tree dots.

Obviously I decided to do all purple, single mat.  I thought it really brought out the colors of the tree more than with just the little border.

I would have never picked out the blue/purple combination if Alison wouldn't have picked it out.  I probably would have picked a black frame, because I always seem to pick black frames.  It's safe.

Alison has a few items in her Etsy shop, alisonartisan, if you'd like to stop by and take a look.  She's also been gathering photos of her mural work and some painted furniture and has them showcased on facebook - Murals by Alison.   She painted a pool house for me.  Goodness, I loved it so much.  I hated to move and leave that behind.  Photos here.

Yep, I'm totally talking about my sister :)  I've admired her art in all forms for as long as I can remember.

Have a wonderful day!
Kristin

POTD - Seashell

POTD - Seashell

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I realized that most if not all of the shells that I have gathered from the beaches in Jacksonville are all creamy white, brown and orangy colored.  Very rarely have I found a shell around here with this wonderful red in it.  Of course, I found several today, but normally, I don't see them at all!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Old Florida Motels

Yesterday I talked a little about the "resort" where I stayed this past weekend.  I could see the yesteryear charm of the place, even though I think the beds were originally purchased in the 1950s.  There's just something about these old motels that I don't ever want to lose from the Florida seaside. 

I took just a little walk around the block from my resort and I found several examples.  Some of the motels are still available as motels for tourists...

...but others I do believe are rented out like an apartment.  I thought this wall of dishes was funny.  Like little flowers facing the sun :) 

It looks like the Sun Terrace has some pretty fancy doors.  It's no longer the office entrance, as you'd have to jump over the dead Christmas Tree in order to get to it.

I loved loved loved the typography on the Birch Tower. 

I'm never really sure if the things that interest me to no end, interest my friends who stop by.  I could have taken a thousand photos of the little motels that dotted the Ft. Lauderdale area, but I got a late start out of town on Sunday and could only walk around the block before I needed to leave. 

Someday soon, I'm going to spend a day back in Daytona Beach (a much closer drive for me) and photograph the few remaining motels down there.  Next time I go back to Ft. Lauderdale, however, I'll try to make sure I leave some time for motel photography.  I'll overload you all next year with motel photos. :)

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Undersea

POTD - Undersea

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I have discovered that I need a few more backdrops. It was near the end of the day and I had to quick put together a shoot and I couldn't find a backdrop for the items I wanted to photograph. I do love the stripes, I do, I do, but I don't want to over use them.

With that said - I used the stripes with a few marbles that sort of look like they have undersea plants in them. I didn't think they looked like undersea plants until I got the lights and camera all set up. I love it when that happens.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Ft. Lauderdale 2011

My friend Steve and I have a date each year.  We meet up in Southern Florida on a Friday night and we part ways on Sunday around noon.  The last few years we have met up in South Beach, but this year the cruise he was taking was leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, so we met up there.

His flight arrived at 7:30pm and I was right on time to pick him up.   Considering I had a 6 hour drive on a Friday I was pretty surprised I arrived in the nick of time!  Actually, I had hoped to arrive early enough to check into our room, but I had car issues.

My car was in the shop and was supposed to be ready for me to pick up on Friday morning, but new issues were discovered and it wouldn't be ready, so I drove the loaner car from the dealership.

It was dark when Steve and I arrived at the hotel, but in the daylight hours, this is what the Sea Club Resort looks like.  It's not the Hilton or the Marriot, that's for sure :)  But it was about 5 steps up from the Cavalier in South Beach!   We received free parking and dollar off coupons for breakfast and for drinks in the evening.  Internet actually worked from the room, which was so great because I got to share a bunch of things with Steve. 

The Deck Restaurant, which was part of the club, was pretty good.  We ate breakfast there each morning (11:00am is considered morning, right?)   Friday night we went to dinner and then came back to The Deck for drinks.  I had water, no lemon please.  I can't remember what Steve had, but we were able to use the drink coupons :)

Two of the three times we were at the restaurant we sat in the same table.  We had a real nice pool view, don't ya think?  I took this picture with my phone.

Steve was making plans for us for the next day, so I used that opportunity when he was preoccupied, to sneak up on him and take a quick pic.   What a sweet photo of him - I love it.

Steve and I went to the beach on Saturday.  He asked me if I could take a few photos of him for his facebook profile, so we brought along a few shirts and did a little mini photo shoot.  It was fun!   I'm really not used to people photos, so we were pretty awkward and I had trouble trying to figure out where to take the shots - but we got three nice shots I think. 

When we walked down closer to the water we saw all of these blue balloon-like things all on the high tide line.  It looked like they had slimy tentacles on the bottom of them, too.  I asked a few people if they knew what they were but no one knew.

I assumed that these little fellas were sea creatures and that if I touched one I'd be in a heap of trouble.  Turns out I was probably right.  These are Portuguese Man-of-War and according to Wikipedia, "Detached tentacles and dead specimens (including those that wash up on shore) can sting just as painfully as the live creature in the water, and may remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the creature or the detachment of the tentacle."

It looked really interesting to have a whole line of blue balloons laying on the beach, but according to some news reports, hundreds of people had been stung the past few days from the unusual influx of these creatures. 

I stayed clear from them and I remained unscathed. 

One more look at the beautiful blue water.  It was cold and rainy here in Jacksonville today, so even though I was just in this beautiful weather, it seems like so long ago!  I hardly left the house it was so icky out.

Boo Hoo, right?  haha

Hope you have a great day!  More sunshiney photos tomorrow.
Kristin

POTD - Leaning Palm

POTD - Leaning Palm

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I had a wonderful trip to Ft. Lauderdale, FL this weekend.  So much so, that I thought I'd share the beauty!  Love the leaning palm tree and the leaning palm tree shadow.  It's pretty cool when the shadow looks like the real thing :)  Interesting how that happens.

Enjoy!
Kristin 

Pansy

The landscapers at our condo community planted pansies in all of the planters last week. They are just so beautiful that I thought I'd share.  Purple pansies are my favorite - but my favorite color is purple, so that's pretty much a given :)

I'm going to take a little blogging break this weekend.  I've got a road trip planned for later today and I'm picking up my car shortly.  I had to get a CV joint replaced, an oil change and new tires before I could go anywhere.  The car was doing the shimmy shimmy shake and I had a gut feeling that wasn't a good sign.

My husband is going to stay home, take care of the kitty and about 20 minutes before I come home is when he'll do the dishes - guaranteed!

See you all bright and early Monday morning!  Have a great weekend :)
Kristin

POTD - Budding Out

POTD - Budding Out

©2011 Kristin Corlett

I have lived in Jacksonville, FL for 5 years now and have never documented when the trees lose their leaves and when they start budding out...but I did this season!  It's just a little over a month from falling leaves to buds.   I was driving into a condo community and saw the flowers starting to bloom in this tree with the sun shining bright behind it.  It was just gorgeous!   So here's a little blue skies and sunshine for all those that need it :)

Enjoy!
Kristin

It's group day!

Nearly every Thursday I can be found in a room like this.  Actually, that's the exact room where I hang out.  I don't hang out there alone as this is the room where the Liver Transplant Support Group meets.  There are about 30 people who come each week, both patients and their caregivers.

But do you see this room?  It's really hard to talk together when the room is set up in rows like this.

(If you would like to learn more about organ donation, please visit the Donate Life America website - Thank you)

So within a few minutes of my arrival in the room I totally take it apart and push all the chairs to the center and the tables to the edges.  Somehow I became the unofficial room-putter-togetherer.  I think it's because I tend to come early or maybe it's because I have this little halo over my head.  If someone else arrives while I'm putting the room together then I put them to work!

Guess that dings up that halo I was just talking about!

This is the goal for the room - tables against the wall and the chairs lined up in a giant circle. Today was group day and I was out in the waiting room chatting with a post transplant family and completely lost track of time.  By the time I came into the room it was all set up.  They did a good job!

I taught them well :)

After our one hour meeting it's noon, so that means it's time for lunch!  Sometimes there's just 3 of us and other times we have 20.  I think our average is about 8.   Today we went to the 3rd. Street Diner and I had Spanikopita with a side of tzatziki sauce.   The folks in the kitchen were on their game today because everyone had great food and the Spanikopita (spinach pie) was one of the best ones I've had!  The tzatziki sauce, which is a yogurt, cucumber, garlic and dill sauce, was so good that I brought home a pint.   In March of last year I talked about tzatziki sauce in my Friday Fragments post and gave a recipe, if you're curious. 

Speaking of Friday Fragments, usually I do a FF post at this time but I'm not going to be able to visit the other participants this weekend, so I decided to hold off until next weekend.  You can still go visit Mrs. 4444 and the Friday Fragments crew for some fun though!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristin

POTD - Watercolor Cat Tails

POTD - Watercolor Cat Tails
©2011 Kristin Corlett

I drive by these cat tails nearly every day.  There isn't a real easy way to stop the car without causing a traffic problem, which is too bad.  Today I had to drop my car off at the service center so I took that opportunity to walk home so I could take pictures of the cat tails.  It was such a gloomy day and it showed in the photo so I decided to use the watercolor texture to give it a little more depth.

Enjoy!
Kristin 

My Etsy Shop

I'm plum tuckered out!

I have spent most of the day adding new items to my Etsy shop.  So far I only have nine additions, but I hope to have well over a dozen new items by the time I go to bed.


Here's some of what I listed today, but as always,  I have a banner on the left hand side of my blog where you can see some of my Etsy items.  You can click on the banner and be taken to my site, too.  Easy as pie :) 

Yum.   Pie.

Some of the photos are in frames, but the frames are not included, just a suggestion.

Toilettes Souvenirs

Wouldn't the Toilette sign look fantastic in a giant ornate gilded frame?  I used that frame as a joke, but I think it looks great!

Weathered Cross

I find that it takes me forever to list one item.  Not sure if it's because I'm just painfully slow or if I maybe have too many distractions.  I copy from another listing so I don't have to start from scratch, otherwise it would take me days to list just one item!

Great Views

It's days like this, when I spend all day doing something that I could easily hire out, that I wonder why I don't!    Maybe I could get a high school kid to get them all set up for me.  I bet it wouldn't take them but two or three hours and I could spot the edits right away. 

Cupcake Love

I could probably hire out my house cleaning, laundry and dinner making, too!  But I guess I don't do that either.  

Yellow and Black

I'd love to have a driver that would take me out and about and stop whenever I wanted to take a picture.  It would be great if the driver knew the back roads and offbeat places around here.  I try to explore but I know I'm missing a lot of really neat spots.

Dive into Florida

Thankfully some of the best things are indeed right in plain sight.


Great News!  The FedEx guy just now arrived with my newest photo shipment.  I ordered some 16 x 24 photos and they are just gorgeous!!  I ordered the Gala Apples, Chair on the Edge and the Yellow House with Sunflowers in that large size.

I hope you have a wonderful day and if you are in the midst of the snowstorm, I hope you got some photos and stay warm :)

Kristin

POTD - Mail

POTD - Mail

©2011 Kristin Corlett

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

This inscription is on the James Farley Post Office in New York City but it is not the creed or motto of the United States Postal Service.  I didn't know it wasn't their motto until I looked it up for this photo of the day.  I think the USPS is going to be really working hard today to fulfill the expectations of the snowed in population tomorrow, even though they don't have an official motto.

Good Luck and stay safe out there everyone!
Kristin

How to...Calendar Pages

The other day I showed this picture as my Photo of the Day and there was some confusion as to how this calendar was used.  I think my love of post-it notes is legendary, but this is not a Post-It Note calendar.  This is something that I make.

The spiral book is one of the larger sketch books that are almost always on sale at Borders or Barnes and Noble book stores.  I have a love of paper, too, so blank sketch books are an immediate draw!  I had had this book for a few years before I finally found a use for it.  I shouldn't have purchased it before I knew what to do with it, but now that I've made this calendar (since January of 2009) I feel a lot better about the purchase. 

I use the 2" square post-its and lay out 5 weeks, plus some spaces on the top and sides for doodles, phone numbers and the days of the week. 

The past few months I've been using rubber stamps to fill in around the post-its.  The squares are really just place holders for the calendar days. 

I just recently purchased a date stamp.  It's the kind that has the little dials on it so you can change the dates.  I thought it might make an interesting design.  It took longer than I had anticipated to fill in all the blank spaces, but I like it. 

Oh and after much searching, I finally found the post I did in 2009 about the calendar I was making that day.    I really like how the pages have evolved over the two years. 

I usually make just two months at a time, that way I can look ahead and write down events, but I don't want to make them too far ahead because I enjoy thinking about what I'm going to do next.

Have a great day and for all of you experiencing some of that snowy white stuff...Stay warm!
Kristin

POTD - Barbed Wire in the City

POTD - Barbed Wire in the City

©2011 Kristin Corlett

At the exact moment that my husband was getting the forklift stuck in sandy soil and needed a hand, I was standing behind a car, next to the dumpster, taking pictures of barbed wire.  My Dad has a scar just above his knee that's from a barbed wire fence.  In LaCrosse, Kansas they have a Barbed Wire Museum that showcases over 2000 different varieties.  Sometimes barbed wire is called barb wire or even bob wire.  I call my best friend Bob, but I don't think that bob wire is going to become a part of my speech. My husband got some help getting the forklift unstuck.  The man who owned the neighboring business came to the rescue since he couldn't find me.  :º) 

I will work for photography, but unsticking (stucking?) forklifts is not part of my job description. 
Kristin