Friday, October 31, 2014

Halloween is Here Bring out the Clowns!

One of my favorite holidays is here---Halloween!

On Halloween I love to decorate my house ultra spooky and dress up as a vampire to hand out candy to the kids. My Victorian in Pasadena was the perfect place to do it.


Nothing scarier than a leg hanging off the mantel!


Ghouls in the library 



That's one way to play a pump organ! 

Now that I'm living in a lodge out in the country, I won't be getting any knocks on the door with kids screaming trick or treat. Usually we have a big Halloween party every other year, but because of the move, this year is off the table. Instead, we decided to get our dose of Halloween fun at the Circus of Screams. Boy was it scary!      


This is what greeted me as I stood in line!  

 
 
This was just inside the door!



Not your usual doll collection!  

I had a blast walking through the haunted house filled with blood covered clowns and guys chancing me with chain saws. Can't think of a better way to celebrate such a spooky holiday. 


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Nature's Paint Brush

I was at a book club meeting where many of the group talked about how they have recently moved to Southern Oregon. We talked about all the things we love about our new home but one thing stood out sunsets. One of the woman commented that her phone is full of endless pictures of the amazing sunsets she's seen. I of course had to show off my latest amazing sunset picture taken while at my neighbor's house which has an unobstructed view of the Rouge Valley. 


I have to say that the beauty of the sunsets in Southern Oregon took me by surprise. I have a friend who lives in New Mexico which is known for it's breathtaking sunsets. Whenever I visit her, I always comment on how gorgeous the sunsets are and of course I have to take lots of pictures. 


One of my favorite New Mexico sunsets is the one I saw at the Balloon Festival
There's something about sunsets that begs me to try and capture their beauty. Maybe it's my artistic side. I get so excited when I see a particularly nice sunset it can turn an ordinary day into something really special. I've been posting a lot of my sunset pictures on Facebook and many of my friends have asked what photo filters I use. What kind of editing do I use in Photoshop to make the sunsets looks so awesome. They have a hard time believing that I've done nothing. Mother nature gets all the credit. She welds an awesome paint brush. 


Sometimes the colors are so striking they don't seem real.



A spring pastel sunset.


A pretty sunset can make a winters day look like spring is just around the corner.


I have endless pictures of sunsets on my phone and I love scrolling through my camera roll so I can enjoy them over and over. There's something so inspiring about beautiful colors and patterns high up in the sky. They always give my creativity a big push. All I can say is Mother Nature rocks!