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Lula Harp

~ one girl's journey into cooking, crafting and self discovery

Lula Harp

Tag Archives: photo101

Edges and lighting

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cherry blossoms, edges, kite, lighting, photo101, scary tree

I wish I could say there was edgy lighting.  Today for photo101 is edges.

 

it's snowing
it’s snowing
a field of snow petals
a field of snow petals
I'm stuck
I’m stuck

 

Playing catch-up, here some shots playing with lighting.  I’ve been trying to get the creepy monster tree for awhile.  While I am not satisfied with how it looks, I’m getting closer.  At 5am, this tree really looks like it’s going to reach down, swoop me up, and devour me.

just a little creepy...
just a little creepy…
it's going to eat me!!
it’s going to eat me!!

 

Cousin Milo catching some rays

Cousin Milo catching some rays

 

These cherry blossoms are right outside my front door and are an absolute delight this time of year.  There is a street light right behind the first shot.

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cherry blossoms at night

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cherry blossoms with morning light

 

May the sun be shining on you where ever you are enjoying this day!

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It’s all in your point of view

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in photography

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

lighting, lines, nature, photo101, photography, point of view, sunset, trees

Ginger spends her days sunning herself on a tightrope 25 feet in the air.  Now and then, she makes my heart stop when she jumps off her perch on the railing to the ledge.  In my mind, I can see her missing her landing and going all the way to the ground.  At this very moment, this Mourning Dove was having the same thought.

I think there's a snack waiting for me

I think there’s a snack waiting for me

I love that it is now staying light later and we can get a nice long walk in after work.  The downside is that everyone else has that same great idea and we are all jamming our cars down the neck of a soda bottle.  Not terribly efficient.

With all this rain, I keep saying to myself April showers bring May flowers.  What the hell does March rain bring other than a muddy mess?  It has the cherry blossoms in bloom and the daffodils.  Daffy-dills are my favorite.  When I was a kid, the whole front pasture was covered in daffy-dills every spring.  That is one of my favorite memories from childhood.

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I  like to look at the bones and lines of trees.  They are as much art as the painting hanging on my wall, really more so.  The lines of the tree are hints at structure and stability.  Any more than that and I am put off, just like in life.  Too much structure and I have to buck the system.  Yet I follow the same path as everyone else day after day without complaint or hesitation.

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With all the rain we’ve had, it was amazing to see this patch of desert today.  This ground was a gloppy mess just a few days ago.  Mere feet away, the pond level is still way higher than normal.

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Did you figure out what the previous day’s puzzle picture was?  Answer: The picture on the left has a small tree next to a tiny tree on a tiny island.  The picture on the right, the tiny island has been swallowed up by the rains.

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This last little collage are some of the photos I’ve taken recently that play with lighting.  With photography, as with any art, there are “rules”.  One of which is never take a photo looking right into the sun.  I love this shot of Coe with the sunbursts and glares.  When you enlarge it, you see the detail of her fur and tail.  She’s a girl on the go.

Coe is my hero.  She’s aging gracefully and has no idea that her number means anything.  I took the running pond picture just before the sunburst this afternoon and now she is sacked out getting her eight winks.  It’s my turn now.

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Sleeping Monsters

14 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in Blogging University

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

composition, construction, flooding, photo101, photography, thunderstorm, tractor

This weekend for Photo 101, we were to experiment with composition.  I also played with my aperture settings.  All of these photos are unfiltered and unedited.

 

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We had the most beautiful Sunday day and then the storms came back.  Coe is curled up under my legs hoping the thunder will stop.  Ginger Kitty is under a bed somewhere.

Hope your weekend was sunny, where ever it took you.

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it’s doggone lonely in here

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in Blogging University

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

dog friendly, Lowes, photo101, solitude

With all the rain we’ve been having, neither Coe nor I were interested in another walk where we got soaked to the bone.  So we went to our local Lowes.  Did you know they are pet friendly?  That other big hardware store used to be, but then they got up a bug up their backside.  Since the day Coe and I got asked to leave the other store, we have been dedicated to shopping at Lowes.  Good thing there are two conveniently located to me.

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Evidently the rain kept everyone at home from shopping as well.  We pretty much had the run of the joint.  Talk about solitude in the city.

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looking back at bliss

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in Blogging University

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

baking, bliss, cocktails, community service, cooking, creativity, DIY, friends, homemade, making, photo101, pizza, scones

I leave for work when it’s dark.  When I get home it’s almost dark.  Tonight it is raining so hard, we are all concerned about getting washed away.  So, going out to take pictures is not high on my priority list.

What does my bliss look like?! I really had to give this some thought.  I really had no idea until I started going back through my photo files and realized my bliss is creativity and making things.  Making drinks, making dinner, making a cake, making whipped cream, making people laugh, or making something in the community.

These photos are a stroll down the memory lane of my blog.  I giggle and smile thinking back on each one of these.  I hope you do too.

whipped cream-y goodness
whipped cream-y goodness
Experiment.
Experiment.
double happiness
double happiness
painting a mural
painting a mural
noodle bowl
noodle bowl
thyme cocktail
thyme cocktail
hey you!
hey you!
roasted asparagus
roasted asparagus
the perfect martini
the perfect martini
a ray of scones
a ray of scones
leaning tower of cheese
leaning tower of cheese
focaccia
focaccia
Enjoy time with friends.
Enjoy time with friends.
tomato soup love
tomato soup love
the leon salad
the leon salad
another perfect martini
another perfect martini
a tiki-tacular good time!
a tiki-tacular good time!
muffin magic
muffin magic
heavenly scones
heavenly scones
cinnamon swirl coffee cake
cinnamon swirl coffee cake
marinating
marinating
fresh herbs make the difference
fresh herbs make the difference
isn't she lovely
isn’t she lovely
just the right size
just the right size
Laugh at yourself.
Laugh at yourself.
fresh pasta
fresh pasta
a life raft
a life raft
israeli couscous salad
israeli couscous salad
drink up
drink up
my beloved pizza
my beloved pizza
good girl time
good girl time

 

Do tell, what does your bliss look like?

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all roads lead to… pizza

08 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in Blogging University, recipes

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

commuting, photo101, pizza, roads, spinach pesto

I’ve been trying to be so good lately.  I know after yesterday’s absinthe binder it’s hard to believe this.  But really, I’ve been having lots of smoothies, lots of fruit and veggies, and almost no refined sugar.  I don’t miss the sugar.  I enjoy the smoothies and I love fruits and veggies.  If I lived in the tropics, I’d easily be a fruitarian.

What I love, love, love is cheese.  Cheese, glorious cheese.  I’ve gone on ad nauseum here about my love for pizza, and no matter what diet I am on, it will always include pizza.  I don’t recall a lot of pizza in my childhood, but it does have a certain comfort factor about it.  I have this memory of my sister ordering the nine item price buster pizza.  I asked her about that once, years later, and she thought I was insane.

Tonight’s commute home was a bit of a bear.  I had to go a different route so I could stop and pick up the van from the shop (and it isn’t even fixed – grrrr).  All the way home, all I could think about was my happy little whole wheat pita pizza with spinach pesto I was going to have as soon as I got in.  It did not disappoint.



 

Spinach Pesto

In the bowl of your food processor, add
2-3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1/3- 1/4 cup pecans (or whatever nuts you have on hand)
Pulse a couple of times until coarsely chopped.

Fill bowl of your food processor with fresh baby spinach (about 3-4 cups)
and 1/2 bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley.

Pulse a few times to get it started and press spinach down with a spatula to get it all mixed in.
After a few pulses add a light sprinkling of salt and red pepper flakes.
Pulse a couple more times, then drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil in.
Continue to pulse until it is all chopped, combined, and looks like a smooth herbal paste.

 

Tomorrow night I may be putting this pesto on some fresh pasta or I may just have pizza again.  Tough choice.

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Toast Tuesday: Absinthe

08 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in Toast Tuesday

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

absinthe, corpse reviver #2, foaming fairy cocktail, Oregon Spirit Distillery, photo101, sunset, the sun also rises, The Year of Drinking Adventurously, victory cocktail

Over the years of touring distilleries and going to distillery events, I’ve tried a lot of absinthe. I’ve hated most of them. Early in my tasting journey, I found them all distasteful, slowly I came to recognize ones I could tolerate over ones I couldn’t.  After absinthe was allowed back in the U.S., a micro-distillery in Portland was the first to make and bottle one here, but sadly, is no longer in production.The Year of Drinking book

It was at one of these distillery events that I had my first absinthe I thought didn’t completely suck. Ok, I can see there are some nuances, but not something I just want to sit down with. That was until I visited Oregon Spirit Distillery that I thought, this is something special, and I left with my first bottle of absinthe.

I’ve driven a bottle of  Wild Card Absinthe to long route to California via Mississippi. More recently, a bottle was driven to California and then flown to me in Tennessee. The lengths we go to to get good hooch. But this bottle is well worth it.  Here’s a neat video from the Oregon Distillers website about the history of absinthe and how they make Wild Card.

I’ve lamented enough about my lack of good cocktails being readily available, so you know my plight. One of the things I’ve done to remedy this is started a monthly Happy Hour at Home with some of the ladies. I’ve also told you they lean toward the ridiculously sweet drinks. I’m trying to change that.

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It was with some trepidation that they accepted this week’s invitation for cocktails with absinthe. Be assured, they drank everything that was put in front of them. The next morning I smiled when I got the following texts:

M: being a lightweight and drunk, I forgot to say THANK YOU, LULA! Normally I’m not a absinthe lover,  but you made the drinks tasty!

R: So funny how my taste testing rating scale just kept going up with each successive drink

 

I served mini cocktails so we could all try everything and not get hammered.  I did wake up with a slight headache that was quickly cured with coffee and a dog walk.

I made (and in this order) the Foaming Fairy, the Sun Also Rises, Corpse Reviver #2, and the Victory Cocktail.  I tweaked a couple of these just a touch (foaming fairy needed a splash of simple syrup and I dialed back the absinthe in this version of CR#2).  With the simplicity of the the Victory Cocktail, I was a little surprised how much I enjoyed it.  It really gave all the flavors an opportunity to shine.  I think this may be added to my list of go-to drinks.  A 1930’s classic.  There’s a reason it has survived the test of time.

So, what did you drink this week?  Be sure to see what Meg drank.

I’m going to leave you this Tuesday with the sunset Coe and I just enjoyed.  She was really quite curious about those things swimming away as we approached the pond.

Here’s our Toast to Tuesday!

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Home amongst the daffy-dils

07 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Lula Harp in Blogging University

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

daffoldils, home, photo101, Shelby Farms Park, spring

Two years ago if someone had asked me what home looked like, I would have a very different answer. Since I moved to Memphis, I have met some wonderful people, but it doesn’t really feel like home.

For the last year, each day has started and ended with a walk in the park with my sweet Coe. No matter how bad the day is, as soon as I step into the park, it is magically washed away. Other than the copious number of photos of cocktails I’ve taken in the past year, Shelby Farms Park is where I’ve taken most of my pictures since coming to Memphis.

I took this picture this weekend; two of my most favorite things in the world, that make me feel at home, no matter where I am.

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365project about town bacon baking Blogging Blogging University books breakfast cocktails community cooking dating dinner garden girlfriends grilling just a thought Memphis photo challenge photography pizza Portland recipes restaurants Toast Tuesday Uncategorized vacation wordless wednesday words work

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A few of my favorite things

  • MAGDolls
  • New Deal Distillery
  • Pacific Pie Company
  • Shelby Farms Park
  • Take It Outside Fitness
  • The Meadow
  • The Orpheum Theatre
  • Theatre Memphis

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