Wet Weekend into Rainy Monday

Our already abbreviated weekend plans got rained on, actually poured on yesterday. Peach picking was abandoned and errands were done instead as it alternated between torrential downpour and steady drizzle. For the record, heavy rain makes an impressive racket on the metal roofs of super stores. My shoes are still drying and will hopefully be ready to wear again by next weekend. Next weekend will hopefully consist of two full days of freedom, less chores and lots of sun.

We did manage to squeeze a little bit of fun in between the rain drops and chores. We made it to our favorite farm stand and met a new pig Winston. His name suited him perfectly as he stood firm in his little barnyard braving the rain. You could almost imagine this portly pig reciting Churchill's famous words. "Never Give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in..."

That is the image that is running through my mind today as I gear up for the week ahead, too little rested and weary of the weather. Never give in.

Photo: London in the Rain from London Eye.

Kodachrome America

The 30's and 40's are a period of time I generally picture in black and white. While I know people lived their lives in color, the images I have seen from this period including family photos have all been black and white. In terms of our family photos, I think it is really not until the late fifties or early sixties that color starts to seep in. So while there are both black and white and color photos from my early childhood, all the photos of my parents as children and young adults are black & white or sepia toned.

These amazing color photos were taken by photographers working for the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information between 1939 and 1943, and provide a rare glimpse of how our country looked as it moved out of the Depression, into the war years and the era of Kodachrome.

Photos are the property of The Library of Congress. You can see more images and get details on individual photos here and here.

It's Summer and The Living Is...

I wish I could say it was easy like the George Gershwin song Summertime:

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

In our case the corn is high, but summer has lost that easy feeling. Maybe it's the new work schedule and spending days in the city away from our garden and all the nature that fits in our backyard. I grabbed this shot of a favorite barn on one of our rides and looking at it makes me wish we could spend this weekend soaking up all the good summer stuff like swimming and stopping for ice cream at our favorite stand. Sadly, it looks like this is going to be a working weekend which may be what's fueling my end of summer blues.

Inspiration for Monday

This photo from the awesome blog I Heart You made my day. Well it's still early yet. We'll see. At least it made my mini lunch break more amusing and provided some inspiration for the rest of the day. Believe!

Photo Paige from I Heart You.

From The Desk Of

I really enjoy looking at photos of other peoples work spaces whether studios, home offices, workrooms or desks. Maybe desks are my favorite. A desk is like a miniature world or landscape that hints at it's owners personality and interests. The would be detective in me loves to examine how these parcels of personal real estate are divided and what finds it's way on to their surfaces and into their surrounding environs.

The desk pictured belongs to Nikole Herriott of the blog Forty-Sixth at Grace and the online shop Herriott Grace which sells lovely handcrafted wooden pieces. If you visit either site you'll see that aesthetic revealed in this photo of her desk carries over. I particularly like the how the branch is asymetrically displayed, almost as a piece of art, and adds a sense of nature. I also like how she created extra space by building a display shelf on top of over-turned clay pots from China. You can see more of Nikole's apartment over at Design Sponge.

Adjustable Savings Plan

I'm not sure if it is the part of me that likes a little dark humor or the part that likes compartmentalized forms of organization that finds these piggy banks so appealing. Certainly it takes a certain sense of humor to think of one's 401k fitting neatly into a piggy bank. Maybe that is too close to reality these days to really be funny.

So instead let's just say, I like that you can designate what you are saving your pennies for on these "Chalk-it-to-me Piggy Banks" from Ladies and Gentlemen and easily transfer funds if you change your mind. I also like the cork mouth, but wonder if it doesn't make a little too easy to access your savings when you need subway or laundry money. I could see having a little herd of them: College Fund, Retirement, In Case of Emergency, Home Repairs, Trip to France, Remember to Have Fun and so on.

Recession Fun # 10: Pick Your Own

We missed out on berry season and while I keep meaning to get to "Pick Your Own  Peaches", I'm not sure what I would do with a big basket of them. I don't have a peach pie recipe and really prefer apple pie to be honest. So from the "Pick Your Own" options available at the moment we selected flowers and picked our own bouquet.

We've enjoyed it so much, we've done it twice already. It's great fun picking out the very best zinnias but hard not to go overboard. Sadly flowers don't sell by the pound but the stem. Still we've managed to have a lot of fun and stay in budget. Maybe best of all, was my daughter insisting I smell each color after she did. She'd grab a flower, name the color, stick her nose in and then make me do the same. In truth zinnias don't have much scent at all but that didn't stop us from smelling the colors. "Hmm, purple!"

Some Pig!

I'm hoping to get our local 4-H Fair this week and soak up some country charm. I haven't been to the fair since I was a child, so honestly I am not quiet sure what to expect. I will fingers crossed run into some little porkers as cute as the one above. I'm sure this cutey has inspired some web writing somewhere. Just look at that smile.

Photo via Rikshaw Design.

Over the Rainbow

Sometimes it's worth getting caught in a down pour. We had to pull off the road the other day because the visibility was so poor and suddenly the skies cleared and there was the most amazing rainbow. It was so expansive I wasn't able to get it all in the frame. It's been a long time since I've seen a full blown rainbow. I'm superstitious about rainbows in a good way and felt this was a sign of good things to come.We'll see.

Photo taken 07/21/10.