Sunday, September 30, 2007

glass sphere


glass sphere
Originally uploaded by valcox
A quiet day here, working away, spending some time outside. Back with more to say another day or later today!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

patio table


patio table
Originally uploaded by valcox
Fred had to run to Cabella's, it's a long day drive through the Amish country. I would usually go along, but today I was busy and needed to work at home.

Years ago, before we got married, he told me I would always be able to have any animal or pet I wanted; he knew I loved animals. Any animal, except one--a cow. Today he changed his mind. He drove past a farm of miniature cows, said they were the cutest things. I reminded him we only have an acre and a half.

I looked online, found photos of these little cows (as pets) in people's house. Cute names like, "Moose", "Ladybug" and "Peanut". Hmm, well maybe!

Friday, September 28, 2007

two leaves


two leaves
Originally uploaded by valcox
The harvest festival is coming this weekend to our little town. That's always fun. Today I'll change the window boxes in the cottage, mums, pansies, pumpkins!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

grandma young


grandma
Originally uploaded by valcox
When I was visiting my mom in Vermont last month, I found this photo of her mom in the guestroom where I was staying. I remember this photo so well, and Grandma Young's house in Paradise California, with the books along the wall. Sabrina and I loved visiting her there when we were little!

I took a snapshot of the little framed photo, not really paying attention to the background. It was only later I noticed how the books in my mom's room paralleled the books in the background of her mom's photo. What I did notice was that the year it was taken. My grandmother was the same age in the photo, as I am now, 48.

I called grandma last week, she's 92, living life to the fullest and as active and sweet as ever. I told her that I hoped I was able to live a long happy life as she had. I told her she would likely live to 114! Oh no, she told me, she wasn't going to live that long, she was going to live to age 97.

97? I asked, how did she know, and why such an odd number? She told me , "Well, I had a great-grandmother, and we had a lot in common. My great-grandmother was born exactly 100 years before me. She was born in 1815, I was born in 1915. She was married in 1836 on her 21st birthday, I was married in 1936, three days before my 21st birthday. She lived to be 97 years old, so I think that's a good age. She was a very special woman, but I didn't call her great-grandma, I called her Aliza."

I love that! Here's to grandma's and great-grandma's too!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

tea bag dish


tea bag dish
Originally uploaded by valcox
We're in the season where all the windows are open, the screens are tight, the drone of the airconditioner quiet. I like it, but by mid-day, it gets warm and still inside. Today I had a relaxing break on the back patio, until two bees sent me back inside to work.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

linen


linen
Originally uploaded by valcox
I had a wonderful trip, worked long hours and got so much done. I want to rest, but have so much momentum, I'm going to keep going until I finish.

Friday, September 21, 2007

figs on purple dish


figs
Originally uploaded by valcox

These are the last of my figs, I've eaten everyone of them now, and thoroughly enjoyed each. I was reading the police report in our local paper today. This one made me laugh, (though I suppose I wouldn't be if it were my garden).


"Sept 20, THEFT--Butternut squash and approximately 10lbs of green peppers were reported stolen from a garden plot in the 1400 block of Woodside Rd. The vegetables are valued at approximately $150. The matter was reported Sept 15 at 10:20am."

I'm out of town for a few days, I'm not sure if I'll be able to update on the road, I'll try.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

self at window


self
Originally uploaded by valcox
I'm off to Albany NY in the morning. My sister and I will meet, spend 4 days holed up without distractions and finish the edit on this book. Rather than take the train, we found a halfway point by car, only 3.5 hours to Albany between us.

Mapquest says 3 hours 31 minutes for her, and 3 hours, 19 minutes for me. Though mine is an extra 34 miles, I suspect she has windy country Vermont roads ahead of her. I'm known as a very light packer, when I travel by plane. I'd rather do without, than carry heavy luggage. Not this time, I'm loading up the car, even bringing my own feather pillows.

Monday, September 17, 2007

basket of figs


basket of figs
Originally uploaded by valcox
In Pennsylvania, I'm quite certain, figs are available one day a year, possibly less. I lucked into doing my grocery shopping the right day! I bought two baskets--one destined for photography. The other devoured before I got home to unpack the groceries.

red door


red door
Originally uploaded by valcox
We're in the season between seasons.

It's in the low 60's outside, yet all the leaves are still bright green. I want it one way or the other. Give me hot days where I can shut the doors and crank the airconditioner, or those cold days when I want to bake a pie and make a fire; the leaves turning yellow, orange and purple. These odd days with all the windows open make me feel out of step, like I'm waiting for something...

Sunday, September 16, 2007

red house mural


red house mural
Originally uploaded by valcox
Enjoying a beautiful end of summer day off today. We went into New Hope, PA this morning, the weather perfect. I shouted for Fred to stop-the-car when I saw this old mural. Traffic was crazy, no where to pull over, so he just stopped in the street and he told me to jump out quick--he'd circle and find me again.

I love that about Fred, he's always willing to circle the block when I see something neat! He took longer than expected to come around. Said he was stuck behind a horse and carriage moving very slowly, hehe--only in Pennsylvania!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

old bottles


brown poison bottles
Originally uploaded by valcox
I had to go into the attic this morning. I hate going there. It's not that it's hot or small--it's neither. The weather is perfectly cool and a great time for visiting the attic. It's big, the peak of the roof must be 15' above, there is plenty of room--except for all the junk. One problem is that it has no floor, just the beams on which you must balance...one wrong step and you've made a hole in the ceiling below (don't ask me how I know this to be true).

Fred is a sentimental type. He doesn't like to throw away things that might have a memory attached. Ok, it's great he still has his tricycle when he was 4 years old, and we have Rush's tricycle when he was 4. Those are all good things to keep. The trouble comes because there is little discrimination over what goes in the attic--so you can't find the good stuff. Most of the items in the attic, should have been carried to the street one Sunday or Wednesday night for pick up the next morning. We pay for that. Olivia's party favors from a 11 year old party she went to? It's there. Rush's 'Spawn' creatures from the lagoon at a time when he was into that? It's there. Fred's old pay stubs from 1978? Yes, I know right where they are.

Could I find what I really wanted after an hours search with a flashlight, practicing my balance beam techniques so I did't need to get the repairman out to fix the ceiling below again? No.

But I did find these old poison bottles I'd collected years ago. So I fold up the drop-down stairs in the closet, and think about sorting the attic another day, a little worried that if our heirs are sorting years from now, they will just toss it all and maybe miss the treasures most special hidden within.

Friday, September 14, 2007

olivia


olivia
Originally uploaded by valcox
I was so happy to see Olivia studying this morning, during a school holiday. Last night she came home from her job at the grocery store. A job she really likes--and they like her. But between the job, her social life and honors classes, she is afraid of getting behind. I reminded her that school must come first, but I can certainly understand her pride in being so needed at a job. The dependable one. The one who finishes a task better and faster than a boss expects. We can become addicted to the praise, of being needed. Hey, I need someone to help with the dishes. Somehow that's not as important. Her junior high school year, does it get easier, or harder? I don't recall.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

looking out


looking out
Originally uploaded by valcox
She said, "let's meet halfway. You come North, I'll go South. We'll each take the train in the morning and the town where our trains cross...that will be the place. It will work. We'll take a couple days and finish the book. Just get it behind you."

Springfield, Massachusetts is that town halfway, I'll meet my sister next week.

ghost of a starfish


starfish
Originally uploaded by valcox
My mother loves pearls. She freely uses words such as nacre, lustre, iridescence...as though she were describing something much more commonplace. When I visited her last month, I was reminded of her large collection of pearls-- rounds, pear, oval, baroque.... Pearls purchased for making jewelry, or perhaps purchased for the love of collecting them, I'm not sure which.

I said, 'let's start an etsy store for you...we can list some finished jewelry, but first let's offer some of these pearls'. She delightedly agreed. So when I get back home, I start playing with the esty photo style, you know, that shallow depth of field, pretty background, single-prop style. I start collecting backdrops. First I found a wonderful Japanese paper site (http://www.paperstudio.com/), then I start collecting the props for the photos, then I get side tracked and become obsessed with the papers and props alone--and can't stop. 'Your etsy store? oh yeah....I'm on it....'

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

sail away


sail away
Originally uploaded by valcox

Somehow summer came and went and we never made it out to the lake this year. Each day led to another and the season whizzed by!

I am savoring this time from work. I haven't sat at the torch in months and I'm offering frit only to a couple stores, primarily Sabrina's site (www.valcoxfrit.com), and I'm really enjoying the change. Glass still keeps me busy, but I'm shipping fewer, yet bigger boxes of frit at a time rather than bunches of little boxes. A bit less for the cashbox, but well worth it in the time I'm spending with the kids, Fred and exploring some fun new areas in glass casting as well as photography.

I can't wait to show some new things I'm doing with glass casting and beads, but I want to get further along, as much of it is experimental and I'm pushing in some new directions, but not sailing too far adrift from my love for glass beads.

Monday, September 10, 2007

face of summer


face of summer
Originally uploaded by valcox
The last days of summer, we're taking the day off.

nectarine


nectarine
Originally uploaded by valcox
I'm back to seeking natural light from the bathroom window--too many bug bites from hanging around in the backyard.

Instead this natural-light photo spot is in the too-big master bathtub--now covered with a board and backdrops. The spot where a previous owner (sometime in the early 1980's) chose a jacuzzi with a skylight and oversize window for a bathtub. Not my style, so it's now a place to take photos, lovely windows all around. I can't believe Fred (shower person, but lover of all things neat and tidy) hasn't complained about the tripod in the bathrub.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Savannah is getting more patient with me taking her photo. As long as she doesn't know she's the subject, she'll hold still for half a second. That's all I need.

There's a Thai resturant in Lamberville NJ that Fred and I have gone to for many years. Maybe ten years. Usually on Sunday for lunch. The place is nothing fancy, just 10 tables. The owner is the waiter, his daughter who used to help waitress has long since moved. The baby sister toddler we watched grow, is now serving water and delivering the Thai tea. The tea for which we really drive the 25 miles, and order food to go with it because you can't just order tea.

We were laughing today as we left that most times we are there, there's another couple about our age who is also there, always at the same table, four feet from ours. I know what they will order. They likely know what we will order. We see them nearly everytime. Sometimes we are the only four guests, but we never say a word nor ever acknowledge that we have seen them for before, nor they us.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

painted lady


painted lady
Originally uploaded by valcox
We went to a open anquite flea market today, it's one of my favorites. Along the lake in Yardley, under the shade trees, at the old Quaker church. It's the 40th year. We've been going the last 8 years. So many antiques and collectibles we would have loved to have taken home, but we only had $22. among us, completely forgot the day. So we imagined what we would get, took stock of the wonderful things we already owned, and used the money to eat instead. The peach cobbler always my favorite part.

Friday, September 07, 2007

hornet den


hornet den
Originally uploaded by valcox
We have a new addition to our family. A nest of hornets. They aren't going anywhere. The dog knocked down the nest they had built under this bench. The bench I have to walk by very carefully now when I go in the back yard. Fred had the idea that he could spray them. Spray them with something used on car engines. Hello...these are hornets not carburators.

Anyway he sprayed, I had a fit--they are baby hornets afterall. Yes, I know they sting, but they just hatched and this is their home while they are in training. Well it sounded good enough for him, so he left them alone. It's been three weeks, and they don't appear to be going anywhere. There are 30 or 40 all hovering on the corner of this bench. I guess we'll keep them.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

red room

When did I become my mother? I think it happened this summer sometime.

red room
Originally uploaded by valcox

Now that the kids are 'young adults', they've claimed the family room as their own. They do a pretty good job of keeping it clean.
A capture through the viewfinder of my 1950 Kodak Duaflex.

nectarines on the patio


nectarines on the patio
Originally uploaded by valcox
At the end of summer, I most appreciate this 'fruit of the month gift from Fred. The family knows that any fruit delivered by mail is hands off. Even if it starts to go bad--the rule still applies!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Slippers at cottage


Slippers at cottage
Originally uploaded by valcox
Today was the day to either decide to renew my year lease on the canal cottage studio, or let it go. The two years in the cottage were a delight, but it's time to let it go. The slippers will be home this winter. Mostly I'll miss my ducks.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

pool shoes


pool shoes
Originally uploaded by valcox
Toes in the pool, too cold for wadding. Today was the kids' first day back to school. The house feels big, quiet...and clean.

garden flower through the viewfinder

Kodak Duaflex viewfinder photo, aided at dusk from my flashlight.

garden flower
Originally uploaded by valcox

Monday, September 03, 2007

pool steps

Through the viewfinder of my 1950's Kodak Duaflex. Recorded with a Nikon D70, 60mm macro lens

pool steps
Originally uploaded by valcox
.

pinecone through the viewfinder

I'm having a great time playing with this old Kodak camera. The idea is you use your expensive digital camera with the finest optices, then capture a photo of the actual viewfinder from a 1950's camera with the bubble top plastic view. The distortion, dust and scratches are all part of the fun!