Month: May 2016

What Just Happened? New Adventures!

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Wow! Still pinching myself and trying to figure out what just happened. Almost seems like a Thelma and Louise moment of decision-making! But with a better outcome!

We have a new grandchild – our first. Our daughter lives about 6o miles from our current residence. Not a horrible distance, but enough to make visits something that have to be coordinated. No pop ins either way and no “can you just run over for 15 minutes and help me out” types of things.

Leaving from a visit about two weeks ago as we were driving out of the neighborhood, I spotted a house and just casually pointed it out to my husband and said that I really liked that house and could see myself living there if it was possible. Just mostly dreaming and in a way story telling in my head. I had no idea what the house looked like on the inside etc.

The next week I went to spend a few nights to help my daughter out while her husband had to be out of town. A 3 week old and new mom need extra hands. We were chatting about how it would be nice to be closer for helping out over the hour plus drive. As we were chatting – we heard activity outside. A FOR SALE sign was going up on the house I had admired! We quickly brought it up online. I had been watching the housing in the area for more than 18 months and new styles, looks etc. I had started watching when my daughter was looking for her home and never stopped the search updates. Over that time I really never saw anything that said MOVE NOW. Some things that were like dream places and way too big, too expensive, and too much upkeep for us in this stage of life, or too small, too old, too many projects that we just don’t want to do anymore. BUT-  this one was different. It actually looked like it was meeting all the dreamy checklist items I created in my mind that I thought would be impossible to ever come up.

Next – my husband is not a change lover like I am. He puts up with my change addiction, but does have some comfort boundaries.

I showed him the house online and reminded him of our previous conversation before it was for sale. He said – let’s look at it. WOW! Not expected.

Then things just get faster and more connected.

We made a showing appointment for a Wednesday. We took our daughter with us and we toured. It spoke to both of us as soon as we entered. Some of the customized features of the home were things we have done in our homes or have wanted to do. The finishes were not a downgrade from our current residence and several are actually upgrades. Some of the perks one thinks they should have after working hard for many years. Touring we noticed that most of the color pallette in this home were the exact same colors I have chosen over the last 2 years in our current home as updates. We got to the mechanical room of the house and found it has radiant heat and a boiler. My Dad was a great believer in radiant heat and we had learned a lot from him on what to look for, what was good etc. in a system. We couldn’t find anything that wasn’t pleasing or comfortable.

We went home and had some conversation. Should we move from the area we have known for almost 60 years of life? What would it be like moving to a rural town? But we would be closer to family. Very close to our new grandchild and 40 miles closer to our oldest daughter as well. We know our current residence we love -but taking care of 8 acres and a large home is getting to be not what we want to spend our time doing. This new place would still have things to do, but at a scale that is more enjoyable and not task mastering.

We decided to make an offer on Thursday. Did the research came in with a lower offer than asking price, but still fair for all as we saw it.

16 hours later we received news the offer was accepted in we were now in a legal contract to purchase! Closing will be within 30-45 days!

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OMG!!! What just happened? Usually we take painstaking steps or research and revisiting and reflection to make a decision. It takes me weeks and samples to choose a paint color!

But this all seems right. If it doesn’t work – we can move again.

We don’t have jobs anymore to tie us down and work around. We have not made the “snow bird” life choice of 6 months somewhere else each year. We can still commute to see friends etc. when we want and that will become the planning and scheduling instead of planning and scheduling family. It just all makes sense. And too many coincidences and signs – too many to list here now that say this is going to be good for us and our next adventure.

Nothing we are going to do can’t be changed again.

We only have this one time to be part of our grandson’s development. He has already changed so much in his first month – we don’t have years to make this decision. We have to act in the present to make a difference in the future.

So many things we thought we would do leisurely like clearing out belongings – getting the current residence “spiffy” and ready for selling. Now all that gets moved up and fast paced! We do have the advantage of some pacing as we have a closing date on the new home and the current one is not even for sale yet – so some transition time. But still a lot faster than ever imagined.

BUT IT FEELS RIGHT!

Here are the realtor pics of the new home with the current owners stuff – so things will change.

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ALBUM of REALTOR PICS

and here is our current home – someone looking to move – let’s make a deal!

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So – to my #ds106 friends and collaborators – I will be popping in and out for a few months. I won’t totally be gone – I don’t have that in me – I am #4life. Trying to think of it as my summer break. By the end of August we should be settled and set up again. I will be in the background watching and listening and supporting – not gone until then. Not sure if I can go that long without a GIF or video or design creation!

I see several hours ahead with my iPad blasting #ds106radio tunes as I am packing, cleaning, etc.

Also in my mind trying to figure out how to capture and create the story of the beginning of the adventure to put together once we are set up again.

And the awesome part is the online world doesn’t have to get packed or moved – just wifi! One less thing to think about. LOL!

#4Life

Dailys – Getting in the Groove

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The daily create may be enough for this summer – maybe it will grow into some projects with others. And there is the summer sessions at UMW to follow and interact with as well.

So I am trying to stay in the groove and make sure I do at least 3 daily creates each week. I think that was also my New Year resolution, but I never hold myself to those anyways since they are usually announced with the partying of NY Eve. 🙂

I am sure I will be doing some video and family story projects this summer. The plus of doing ds106 as well is learning new things to apply to creating those family stories. I have the site up and have added for birthdays etc. My original plan was to do the history – parents, grandparents etc. Much of that is lost and only in artifacts that I have to go over. While very interesting, that history is short-lived with my own kids. Once they get the 100,000 foot view that is enough. I finally figured out it is personal memories and connections that make one want more detail.

Foe example – I found a cassette tape of my sister and grandma having a conversation. It was a school project it sounds like. I remember very well my grandma’s laugh and that was good to hear even with the old tape and lots of noise. The part that didn’t register was her voice. I didn’t remember it the way I was hearing it. Now I am not sure if that is good or bad. But the laugh was very good to hear.

As Alan Levine aka – @cogdog – posted in his blog – capturing memories while we can  is what to do. I missed getting my own parents. A few snips on some old video, but not much. But those 5 seconds here and there is gold to me and bring back so many memories in my mind.

So the direction I am now taking is capturing the memories we are making and not reporting the history. Those who are present now will have them to recall and relive moments and share with their immediate others as they grow older. I guess you could say it is capturing the present as it becomes history not an archival dig. There will be some looking back further, but more likely in the overview and 100,000 foot point of view to add context to today.

What does that have to do with daily creates? Well, each time I do one it improves my skills, makes me think of things differently, reminds me of someone or something. It also shows me how others looked at the prompt and what they created. When doing that I see my content in new ways to present, save, capture and enjoy.

So here are this week’s – and I hope to keep up the pace.

TDC 1592 – A stretch for sure – writing!

tdc1592

 

TDC 1593 – Hoping for some summer collaborations!

 

TDC1595 = The Socks story that just won’t quit!

#TDC1595

TDC 1596 – I found some footage of this flying squirrel. I was actually thinking Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle, but liked this one instead. It was kinda scary as the 31 second video was political and has the squirrel flying into the twin towers as a terrorist. The dialog was not in English either – so not sure what it was saying. Hoping using it for a positive spin is better. I used the YouTube GIF plugin – deleted frames to make the file size smaller and added the text layer.

http://konarheim.tumblr.com/post/144754571945/dailycreate-ds106-tdc1596-squirrel-tricks

tdc1592 – John Johnston Poetry

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tdc1592

Only for @johnjohnston!

You would think that being a part of ds106 would mean improving on your writing  – it is still my most difficult area to create within. But for this daily I pushed myself and while it may not be poetry extraordinaire – it does come from the heart.

Thanks John-  you bring much to many.

Image from John Johnston Flickr photostream.

Story Toaster – What Pops Up?

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Daily Create #1583

http://konarheim.tumblr.com/post/144124736065/you-never-know-what-story-will-pop-up

This is a fun one – I missed it the last time it came up. And with trying to get back into daily creates- it was one to try.

Even though the traditional sections have wound down and summer is still in question about any organized activity the #ds106 community is active and keeps going #4life. It doesn’t need semesters or direction, it bubbles from individual self direction of connection and collaboration – and story building. Always taking an idea and building on it to give back to the original creator or group. I kinda think of it a Amish Friendship Bread – once you have the starter it keeps growing!!

Stories of socks and hedgehogs and the dailies are circulating. @NanaLou is on the way back to the trailer in Bovine and calling out to Sophos, Ron, and the other family to begin to plan for the Burgeron106  summer retreat. @mdvfunes post that has many talking and remembering it is about the story and freedom – not pre-determined checklists. So this daily seemed just right to continue to build upon the threads.

I decided to do a GIF – well, just because I like doing GIFs, and toast popping up seemed it had to move. I used the selfie, a sock, and a hedgehog as the burnt images. You NEVER know what story will pop up in ds106! And you just jump in and continue a thread. If some of the original creators saw something different – they will jump back in and try to re-define and build in a different direction – that is how it grows and gets better and finds new life.

I finally made a mask layer in PS!!! Not sure how the heck I did it – but I did and it worked!!! YEAH!! Now to see if I can do it again. All I did was go to Layer – Make Mask and it joined two layers that stayed in place and allowed the toast to pop up between. I still need to figure out what and how…. For the burnt images I used B&W and decreased opacity. For the sock and hedgehog I used a filter of charcoal and colored pencil and then B&W followed by diminishing opacity. I also choose the animated toaster on purpose – to remind me this is fun work and creative work. It is meaningful and has purpose and definitely takes serious commitment – but it is to feed the soul and create connections – not build walls or boundaries – keep smiling! Keep creating! Keep your mind open to others ideas. And if something is not for you – just let it go by and get on on the next bus – it comes around again with new tires and plenty of open seats.

and of course once you start a daily and it gets longer you have to quit – but even with stopping and calling it done – I now see how I would want a frame between of no toast between slices and some lines to clean up…..always something to tweak!

So keep using the ds106 toaster! Stories pop up just like that!

 

Fairy Gardens to DS106 Hedgehog?

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Sam Checking out the Fairies. :-)

Sam checking out my Fairy bowl

It is Mother’s Day 2016 in the USA. When my girls were young they would send me off to the garden center to look at flowers and buy myself a hanging pot for the front entrance of the house. They knew I could take hours looking for that one hanging plant and enjoyed it.

Now that they are grown women and on their own – and one celebrating her own first Mother’s day this year – there really was no reason to go off on my own and savor the plants. I can do that on any given day now.

This year I decided to create some Fairy Garden pots for the deck. Last summer I had visions of creating video tours of Fairy Gardens for the Bovine County Fairy Tale Festival. I could see GIFs and tours along with story narration. Things turned out differently. I spent more time on Goldilocks and the 3 Bears as well as other activities and the Prisioner106 creations filled in as well. Looking back I am not sure how I got so much done!

Yippee!

The Fairy Garden theme stuck with me. I don’t think I will go crazy with it – but wanted just a touch. I had found some figurines at a garden store sale in March and have had them tucked away. With the weather warming, and plant sales a few more supplies. I also had sea shells and gravel, some old Christmas village ceramics that I don’t use anymore for the holiday and found objects. Today was the day to put it together. A beautiful sunny day to be on the deck and play.

It also gave me a chance of some new subject to work on with photography. I am now shooting RAW and developing in Light Room. I get totally confused by ISO, FStop, and shutter speed. Light Room is also a challenge as I try to decide photo organization. I am getting closer – but with LR, Photos, GooglePhotos, and external drives – downloads, camera shots, phone shots – Yikes! It is till a beast to tame.

The day and construction reminded me of having a doll house and creating the story  and scene in your head. Play is really a good thing. We should encourage our children to play and the adults too.

Found a nice place to sit

 

So enter my fairy world – Leave me your story of who they are and what they are doing….

and somehow ds106 enters again—-there is something with hedgehogs – not sure what the story is – but they show up now and again and cause some conversation…kinda like socks….you don’t need to know the original story – just jump on and weave the next chapter…. I see @mdvfunes drawing hedge hogs and @annycow tweeting about them and even @mburtis in this snuggle with one…has to be stories here somewhere!

so here are my hedgehogs – appropriately Mom and little one for today. 🙂

A rich day to be in the garden

See more pictures in my Flickr Album.

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