This summer was VERY busy–went to so many great places, we ate so much yummy food and saw so many people we love.
There were also things that I didn’t do this summer–like write any blog posts! Gasp!
My poor little Pork Chop Tuesday has limped along thanks to a couple of popular pins on Pinterest.
I have had the cloud of “gotta blog” hanging over me since May.
Another one of the things I didn’t do this summer was attend the Arkansas Women Bloggers blog conference. As I read through everyone’s conference recaps and chased them on Twitter and Periscope I wished that I could have gone. Money was a little different this summer. Big vacation+First child off to college+Purchase of an additional vehicle…I decided adding a conference was not the thing to do. I came across one of my fellow blogger’s post about the conference. She spoke about keeping the most important thing the most important thing. What an inspiration! Here I was all worried about the fact that I had not paid my blog any attention all summer and sad that I didn’t go to the blog conference. All along one of the biggest take-aways from the conference was what I was living! I spent wonderful, quality time with family this summer–keeping the most important thing the most important thing!
I’m trying to pick up blogging again. Boy it is rough. I’ve forgotten how to edit photos. I’m rusty at the keyboard. I am too embarrassed to tell you how long it has taken me to put this post together.
So, there you have it, summer in a nutshell. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I’ll be relearning Photoshop and WordPress. I only have 1762 more pictures from our Europe trip to edit!
Well, here we are at the beginning of 2015. The time when many bloggers roll the highlight reel from 2014. (Much like the paper your teachers used to make you write every year on the first day back from summer vacation.)
Okay, I’ll play along. WordPress is so nice to send all the “best of” stats at the end of the year.
Most of the posts that were popular this year were not even from this year. I guess that is a good thing.
#1-Christmas Party Food is a post from 2011. It features a Snowman Cheese Ball, a Christmas broccoli appetizer, and a Turkey Cranberry Ring.
#3-Banana Pudding from 2013. If you haven’t tried this yet, put it on your things-to-do list for 2015!
#4-Apple Slaw (2011) Ironically, this was a dish that my crew was not super wild about. I guess the pictures grabbed some attention. Hey, that is why I tried it!
#5-DIY Placemats (2013) I love this craft tutorial. I have used this method several times. I have some candy corn fabric I plan to try at some point.
So, those were the overall top five posts here at Pork Chop Tuesday.
Curious about 2014?
The busiest day around here was the day I posted my Project 180 photography project. It was so gratifying to work on something for so long and see it to a successful completion. Please go check it out. I really enjoyed it!
I did a series of posts about my trip to P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm. It was a lot of fun with lots of opportunities for photography practice. You can check out the series below. I think my favorite was the Rose Garden.
Most of the folks who visit Pork Chop Tuesday are from Pinterest or Facebook-along with folks who are subscribers.
To all of you, I say…
Thank you for visiting my little corner of the internet.
Subscribing to Pork Chop Tuesday is easy. Click the home button at the top of the page or here. Go over to the right. You will see a box with “Email Subscription” on it. Just click on the “sign me up” button!
You can also follow along on social media. Sometimes I post things there that don’t get on the blog. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are the social media outlets I use.
Thanks for all the comments and support in 2014. I hope to hear from you in 2015.
We are often so busy in our daily routines that we miss the beauty around us. It seems there is just no time to be still and observe.
Sometimes, however, we are forced to be still and observe–like in the school pick-up line.
As I would sit and wait for the bell to ring, I started noticing things around me. One day there would be interesting cloud formations. On another day there might be a tractor plowing the nearby field. Sometimes a crop duster, en route to spray a field, would soar over the rows of cars. I always wished for a camera on those days. Then I got an idea for a project.
The project was to take a picture of the field across from the school-from the same spot-every day of the school year.
I would remember my project idea around October every year. By then it was too late to start. Well, last summer I made my idea into a plan!
Just before school started I went over to the school and scoped out where to place my camera and such. I was so excited to finally be going through with my project. I even had my husband take my picture!
Originally, the project was going to be called Project 360. I was going to take a picture in the morning and in the afternoon. I quickly decided Project 180 would do just fine. Besides, there was homework to do after school!
Here are a couple of things I learned from my long-term project:
•Plan. I had the idea for a long time. It wasn’t until I actually made a plan that there was follow-through.
•Be flexible. The field I photographed was not the field I had originally planned on shooting. I had done the planning for my shot in the afternoon. When I took my first picture I realized I didn’t like the way the shadows fell in the morning. I moved down to the end of the parking lot to find a different view.
•Use a tripod. I had a mono-pod (Photo says tripod but it was really a mono-pod.) It worked okay. There was a nice crack in the curb for me to plant the base every day.
I had to line up my view finders on a tree in the distance to try to get the same view every day. Some days I just had to guess! A tripod would have provided more stability on windy days as well.
•Always carry business cards with your blog address on them. I can’t tell you how many times I would get stopped at the football games, the grocery store, the parking lot, etc. with people asking me what in the world I was doing. Friends would send me emails. Acquaintances and perfect strangers would drive by just to inquire. If I had a nickel for every time…I wish I had at least given them a card.
•Upload your pictures daily. This I did do, thank goodness! Being an amateur photographer, I took several pictures each day. I would come home and immediately upload my 12-30 photos. I had nice little file for each day. Then I would go through and pick the best one. The best one was considered “best” compared to the previous day. I was mainly looking to see if the photos were aligned. These photos were labeled according to their day and went into a “Chosen Ones” folder. BE SURE PHOTOS ARE UPLOADED BEFORE DELETING THEM FROM YOUR CAMERA!
•Involve others. My husband, a photographer, was very excited about my first photography project. The kids…well, the jury is still out on their excitement. Poor Katie had to ride to school every day with the camera. She “affectionately” called it Cami. Then there was the day I almost shoved her out of the car so I could get to my place in time to capture the crop duster in the perfect spot. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the shot, but my child did make it to school safely.
•Love the subject. I was afraid I would get bored taking the same picture for 180 days! It really was fun. It was like I was seeing a different field every day.
This project gave the change of seasons a whole new perspective. I suppose standing in 14˚F weather will make you look at ANYTHING differently. Yes, I stood in the same spot in the pouring rain, the 35 mph wind, the frigid cold and the beautiful sunshine–180 days!
I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did.
A big THANK YOU to my husband, Chip, for putting the video together for me and encouraging me all along the way!
Now, I present to you my photography project–Project 180…
I was pleased with how some of my pictures turned out from the Moss Mountain tour Mom and I took. You can read about the tour here.
Since Mother’s Day was the following Sunday, I decided to make Mom some notecards from my photos.
I should use “I” loosely. Actually my sweet hubby did most of the work. I did take the pictures! I did some of the layout, too. And the cutting–I did the cutting!
Check out the back. That was my idea.
Cellophane wrapping was my idea, too.
Everything looks better in a cellophane bag!
I was pleased with the way the cards looked in the little bags with envelopes. Mom loved the cards, especially since there was nothing like it in the gift shop.
Surely you have some photos worthy of becoming a gift. Start printing! Just don’t forget your cellophane bag.
Hey, look! It's me! Yes, this is the face of Pork Chop Tuesday. My real name is Peggy. I am a wife and mother of two. I hope you enjoy the recipes and adventures shared here on this little blog. Click this picture to learn a little more about me.
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