Our four-legged friends...

I've been loving some of the posts from the Anthropoligist, of  Anthropologie , lately about staff and their dogs, pet adoptions and events. I am an Anthro fanatic! Their company is very creative and yet, very in tune with their communities.
The photos, the artists and the statements they make are all very real, yet fascinating. They write and blog of things we all relate to on an every-day basis. They are artists reaching out, as I reach into my wallet, of course.
Animals almost always have a play in what Anthro markets, and they do it in a unique and original way, with the art of whimsy.
I too like to support my local "mom and pop" "brick and mortar" shops, but this is one company that does get my attention, and, of course, at times, my Visa.
I don't work for them, although, I'd love to. But that wouldn't work, my check wouldn't make it past the door!
I suppose what I do like is that this company, shares a love for animals. I realize other businesses also embrace pet adoptions, bring your pet to work day, etc... It's growing, it's getting there. Being kind to our planet, means being kind and loving towards our animals too. It's important that businesses share in this idea and pass it on.
I realize that not everyone has the same love for dogs, or cats, but I always find it a bit odd if they don't. How could you not love the eyes, the fur?! (I too am all for short haired dogs and cats though!) How could you not find a "pal" in a four-legged friend? They're amazing. They're therapy! They have unique personalities.
As a child, I grew up always having a pet - mostly dogs. We had a cat stage and a "Farm" stage too...But dogs have always been my "buddies." My husband too has grown up with that "love" for pets, and we teach our daughter to love our "gang" of 4 dogs (and 2 cockatoos). Hey, the more love you give, the more you get... Hug your dog (or cat) today, and every day! :)

and from my friends at Etsy...

Boxer - HaveCameraWillTravel

Tea Party- MissKym

ArtbyAfton

Bumble Bee - Puppysbreathe

Dog Hat - Beantownhandmade

(as the proud owner of a  Boston, how could you just not love this?!)

also from Beantown

eringarrisondesign

autumnraincreations

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

Once again,  photos have it! As does Dr. Seuss! Oh the Places you'll go - a favorite in our home... And in photos.......

Photo challenge! get outdoors with your camer and take (at least!) one photo a day. Study it. Edit it. Enjoy it.

have fun!

Some favorites for today - from Etsy, of course! :)


Dome - avecjasmine



Korean Mountain Temple gangawesson



Rolling in Ocean Waves - Silverhorse Photography


Butterfly's Lunch - Rossella


Summer Memories - Barbargordon



Paris Collection by LittleBrownPen



Fine Art, Switzerland - Johnbragg



Indian Summer - Raceytay



No Checker Cab - JMDunitzStudios


Path - JKPhotography



Ferris Wheel Days of Summer - Rossella 

Farm Days...

When I was younger, I was fortunate to live on a farm for a few years. We had horses and a few other farm animals; accompanied by a few dogs and cats (bats too - but they weren't really cute or cuddly). 

Every day we would wake up to the smell of hay, grass, and all things green. Our horses would neigh and I'd feed them, let them out for a quick run, and get off to school. I rode them in the afternoons when school was over, life was good.

Our farm was on a tiny dirt road, no one even knew we were there. Our little home was OLD, probably built in the mid 1800s, it still had an ice house on the porch, a well outside and a stone wall basement. The floors were big planks of beautiful wood and the rooms were tiny, but cozy. Nothing was straight - the floors, the ceilings, the steps - all off, and a bit crooked, but we loved our home's character! The quiet there was heaven. Of course, at the time, for a teenager, quiet, sadly, wasn't always appreciated.

Then, it was off to college (zero quiet there!). Eventually, my mom sold our little farm on the dirt road (and the horses were sold too) and she joined the ranks of townhouse owners. 

From time to time, I think of our little farm, it's still there, fixed up and looking very pretty. The barns are still there, and horses live there too. It's one of the few places that has a dirt road too - still! 

My husband has always been enchanted with farms as well. He didn't have the fortune of living on one as I did, but, a few years ago, he recalled a farm he went to, as a child, for pumpkin picking. Ends up this farm happens to be the same one that my mom brought us to as kids to go pumpkin picking too! I do wonder, at times,  if we were ever in that big old pumpkin field at the same time as 6, 7 or 8 year olds???

Today, we bring our three-year-old daughter to that same farm, Alstede Farms. We adore it! It's much larger than the little farm I lived on as a teenager. But it has so many of the characteristics of my little farm. There are horses and ponies and some beautiful scents of hay!

Our daughter goes on wagon and pony rides and climbs hay bales and tunnels. She loves petting and feeding the goats, cows, pigs and donkeys. My husband pulls a metal wagon through the fruit and vegetable fields as we pick fresh apples, peaches, berries, pumpkins and veggies. For a man who would never think of meditating, this is it. This IS his meditating. He's clear as a bell and the happiest person I know when he wanders the grounds of Alstede.

Alstede Farms recently held an annual pig roast. We attended the event just last night and I think we're still "on a high"! Seeing our favorite place on a crisp (almost) autumn night, riding a hay wagon, watching a bonfire and eating fresh farm foods was the PERFECT family date - best we've ever had. We will certainly be making this an annual event!

Of course, next weekend we'll be back, we need more apples and pumpkins are looking good too. Plus, I'm due to make a few more trays of eggplant parmigiana :) And my husband needs his meditating time (aka - walking through the fields)

And one of these days, who knows, maybe we'll find a little farm of our own , on a tiny dirt road, to call home too.

Random Thoughts...

Today's post is just a few photos that come to mind ....

  

A Picture is Worth...

From as early as I can recall, I always had a camera in my hand. I was six, seven, eight? Not really sure... I never thought much of it, I just had a camera, and some film. I was assigned the duty of "family historian," early on - without it ever being actually put into words - I took pictures of my family and our outings. I remember having a funny shaped camera, looked a bit long, like 1/2 a shoe box! Or something like it. My parents would drive up to the tiny little "huts" in the middle of the parking lots near the grocery store, we'd leave our film in an envelope and hope for the best. Days later, drive back to the little hut again, and , viola', there were our family photos.
There were shots of our dogs, who looked more like little dots and specks in a big grassy, green yard. I had lots of shot of my dogs' faces, a few paws, even my own feet when I was bored! There was that 8th Wonder of the World series I took when our parents drove us all over the East Coast in search of the "biggest rock." And then there were those great shots of a deer we saw at the park, or a rabbit, only, you sort of had to look REAL close to find them.
As a mom, and wife, I now ADORE taking photos of my family even more so. My three year old could keep me busy ALL day. Well, her,  my love of my newest camera and my Iphone camera and  could keep me busy all day :)
Technology has done a lot. I don't have to go to those tiny, little huts any more and drop off funny looking rolls of film. Instead, I can print them in my house! That idea would have never occurred to me at six or seven years of age. Even my brother developed his own film in make-shift dark rooms - he took some amazing photos years ago. But that was as close as I would have ever imagined to printing photos in my own home!

I still own some of those photos I took as a child - I love to look at them and giggle. They're kept in a shoe box, oddly enough, for safe keeping. 

Living in the past isn't something I do, nor do I encourage, but photos tend to force us to look back. And, for as much as I live for the "now" and strive to always be "present," my love for photos does tend to take me down memory lane from time to time.

I've learned so many things from my photos and my love of photography. But mostly, I've learned to appreciate that was then, and this is now. 

Below is a collection of my own photos (current day) and others that I've stumbled across...

                                                  My daughter, the tree-hugger

A view of NYC from my dashboard...

she always knows how to make me laugh!

Just turned 1, and such a face!

Daddy and his little girl at the farm

our sheep friend...

our other "baby"...

 Photo Finds from Etsy:

                                BowWow Beds

                          

                    JavaJane Designs
                     

                                KevanAponte 
                      
                     Raceytay
                         

                              RossellaJayne
                               

        
                                       AliciaBock