Inspiration

What inspires me? All sorts of things! Nature provides a constant source of inspiration. Going for a walk outside always improves my outlook on life. One of my favorite books is "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard. She has the most wonderful way with words and she loves the out of doors. (That is the only book I took to Lackland AF Base for Basic Training.) Another great source of nature inspiration when the weather doesn't cooperate it the "Planet Earth" Series from BBC. We rented it from Net Flix. The photography is amazing. I would not mind

re watching it over and over. The series is also full of good information on the condition of our planet, (without preaching.) The armor on my dress form, gets dressed up for Christmas. The hat and beads have been put away for next year, but I still have to smile every time I look up at it. Airplanes and clouds inspire me too. My Father actually took this photo of a propeller in flight. It is one of his old slides that I scanned. I love it. The photo not only shows the propeller and the clouds, looking at it makes me feel like I am part of another era. I will probably have to
have this one printed to hang on a wall. I just love it.

The moon and moonlight inspire me too. There is
a peaceful quality to moonlight, as well as an expectancy, anything might happen. This photo was taken early in the evening and I like the colors.

The photo of the stream was taken in between rain showers. It has a very different color scheme. The light sparkles on the water and some of the branches seem to glow.
Misty mornings inspire me.
The tree looks great year round. It is home to several squirrels. (Bashful Squirrels, they disappear whenever the camera comes out.)
The church is one we drive by regularly. I am not even sure what denomination it is. The other day when we drove past, the clouds parted just above the steeple, and I had my camera ready. I really like the composition of this photo and it was pure luck. I took it with my trusty digital, from inside the car with the window up while we were driving by. (Another thing I love about digital, the fact that you can easily delete anything you don't like without
printing it or even wasting film, makes me braver.) I guess you could say my camera inspires me too.

What inspires you?

Mood Improvement

This list started out as "Ten things that improve my mood as the days grow shorter." However, it grew so fast, I didn't see any point in limiting it.
1- Snuggling in on a cold morning.
2- Walks in the woods. (With camera and Hubby of course.)
3- Holiday specials on TV.
4- A good book that I have not already read by one of my favorite authors. (I recently found an Agatha Christie I had not read yet "N or M" Pure Bliss!)

5- A great book that I have read before and

loved. (Anything by Charles De Lint, Anna Mcaffery, Mercedes Lackey, Agatha Christie, Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown, and many more.)

6- Traveling and seeing new things with my family.
7- Having someone tell me I helped them to feel better.
8- A fire in the fireplace.
9- Sitting on the balcony when it is warm out.
10- Writing in my blogs and reading other peoples blogs.
11- Reading my collection of Christmas Magazines. (I only save the Christmas ones,
I have some going back into the 1980's. Even the

adds are fun.
12- Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit.
13- Rain on my metal roof at night.
14- A lovely cup of hot tea. Today it is "PG Tips" a British tea we are lucky enough to be able to obtain from the Commissary. It is shown here in an Old Russian Tea Glass with scenes commemorating the launch of Sputnik by the former Soviet Union. (Do you remember Sputnik? How about Sky Lab?)
15- Hot Chocolate.
16- The sound of our clocks chiming.
17- Christmas music. (I will start out early in the
season with it on my Ipod so I won't make the

family crazy before the day actually arrives.)
18- Candles, not the scented ones, just the lovely soft glow.
19- Baking cookies. (Need I say more?)
20- A purring cat.

I keep thinking of more things to add, like the Frankencense and Myrrh my sweet hubby will soon be burning to scent the house, or vintage buttons, or finding a dandelion to photograph in November. So even though I really do not like to be cold. I love this time of year.
What improves your mood when the days get darker?
Kat

P.S. In the new issue of Artful Blogging, (The magazine that got me started on this lovely pass time)I read about http://shabbyscraps.typepad.com/ and how her husband did not like her dress form. Several people sent photos of their dress forms and she was able to convince him. Well, my dress form holds a set of Sixteenth Century Footman's armor. I posted a photo here so she could see it.