Shad tree blossoms along my street.

Blogging is a strange thing. I started this blog for friends and family to keep up with all we were doing after our move from Colorado to New Jersey six years ago. Most of those people still read even if they don’t comment.

Somehow I started reading other people’s blogs and picked up some of their readers along the way by commenting on their blogs and being listed in their blog rolls.

Many people found me through knitting and when I used to be a frequent visitor to the Knitters Review Forums. Gosh, I haven’t been back there in ages! But I haven’t really been knitting either. Not sure what happened. Maybe it’s the lack of classes offered at local knitting shops? Anyway, I am getting off track.

So many of the people I used to follow have now stopped blogging and I miss them. The thing today seems to be Facebook and I just can’t make myself use it. So I still blog.

I’ve lost some people along the way and that’s been a little hurtful.

Like neighbor Luke who is now a senior in high school and has better things to do than keep up with my blog which he once read from start to finish.

Like Becky. She emailed me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago and I’m still not sure exactly why. She didn’t mention my blog being private or wanting to be a member. When I said something to her about it she just casually said she didn’t have time and didn’t know if she was going to register or not. Hmmm… Okay. It was odd, I must admit.

Like Jane. I miss Jane. Not sure why she never registered.

Like Reya. Ditto Jane above. Both readers from the beginning but not any longer.

Shad blossom close-up.

Then just the other day I got a request from someone to become a member of the blog that I never knew was reading. I sent them the info for logging in and they immediately became a member.

I also have a reader in Chile (who actually sent me a few photos of the city where she lives), one in Budapest, and a handful in the U.K. To think that these people somehow care about my little life in New Jersey!

I have readers I have never met, yet they know me probably better than most people do. That’s a strange thought, isn’t it? That’s one of the reasons I went private, because I do put so much of what is me out there. What you read is me and not some person sitting in front of a computer making stuff up. I don’t try to be anybody else or adopt their style of blogging. I have my own unique style, or at least I like to think so, of which photography plays a big part.

My sister said something the other day to me about how she was sorry she didn’t comment but she just isn’t in to flowers. Sorry sis, but I am! And it’s okay if you aren’t particularly interested in what I happen to be blogging about on any given day. It’s interesting to me, so I blog about it. Or photograph it.

I express myself through photography. My camera is therapy. I may not be the best photographer in the world, but I make do. I even have three photos published now! Unfortunately I didn’t get paid for any of them but I did get credited.

The first was a mushroom photo that was published in a book called “100 Cool Mushrooms” by Micael Kuo and Andy Methven (page 72 if you ever come across it), and the other two were just recently used in a case study that was done by Vision Research (Rick’s company) on Hawk (hummingbird) Moths. In both cases I didn’t pursue getting photos published, it just happened.

I kind of got off track, sorry. I was just typing and thinking and that’s how all that information you probably didn’t want or need to know spilled out onto the page.

So, with that I’ll close for now. Thanks for reading—each and every one of you.

Do you watch this popular show? I am addicted, I must admit. I find the variety and styles of wedding gowns available now to be very interesting. Back when I got married (the first time) there wasn’t that much choice. Most of the gowns had sleeves and hardly any of them were strapless. Today they all seem to be strapless and hardly any of them have sleeves. You can choose between traditional ball gown, fit & flare, mermaid, A-line, or trumpet. Did I leave anything out?

I still have the photo album of my first wedding. I’m not quite sure why I never tossed it but I didn’t and still haven’t. I guess even though it didn’t end well it was part of my life. I was married to the boy/man for almost seven years.

I even saved the clipping from the Bridal magazine of my dress. In 1973 I said YES to this dress: (the one on the left)

Yikes. What was I thinking? I guess at the time I liked it but it sure wouldn’t be my choice now. All that heavy lace!

I’ve added two more photos of the dress (with me wearing it) so you can see it better.

Here is my dad walking me down the aisle. I look scared, don’t I? I should have been, after all I was getting married at 18! But I must admit, my dad looks dashingly handsome!

And in this closer view you can see the lace. While pretty (I guess) it’s too heavy for the chiffon (or whatever the material was) on the bottom. At least I think so. And that overpowering veil! Ugh! And to think it was the only dress I tried on! I don’t remember how much the dress cost back in 1973, but probably not more than $300? A far cry from the brides today that go in with a $2,000 budget, and that’s the low end.

But back then there wasn’t so much emphasis on getting the right dress. You bought a gown and got married. No big sit-down dinner at the reception: just nibbles, cake, and champagne to toast with. You had to have the special knife to cut the cake with and maybe a cake topper. Most receptions took place in the church hall. Mine did.

Now I’ve heard that in addition to a sit-down-multi-course dinner (which of course is not taking place in the church hall) you’re expected to provide cocktails and snacks before the dinner. Then after the dinner there is something called an “afterglow.” (To me, “afterglow” was what the party after prom was called that my mom did not want to allow me to go to). The “afterglow” is more food. And more drinks. Usually at a different spot than the reception. Some couples even provide breakfast for those out of town guests that are staying in a hotel plus a goodie bag for their room. Enough already!

Your bridal shower was usually held in your home by your mom and not in a “venue.” Bachelor and Bachelorette parties might have been just the guys getting together for a beer——and the girls? Well, I wouldn’t know since I never had a Bachelorette party. Now it’s common to have “destination” Bachelor/Bachelorette parties. You have to go somewhere.

Then you have the popular “destination” weddings. I have a friend who has been invited to a destination wedding. The bride and groom are not even sticking around for a honeymoon! What’s up with that? At least my friends are making a vacation out of it! It’s kind of selfish really to expect guests to fly all the way to an exotic island locale for a wedding unless it’s restricted to immediate family members and everybody can afford the cost. That gets expensive!

So, my first marriage was a largish church wedding with three bridesmaids, a flower girl and ring bearer, with said aforementioned church ex-communicating me seven years later upon my divorce.

Rick and I got married in 1981 in the downstairs of our home in front of a crackling fire in the fireplace. A minister that he grew up with married us with simple vows. I chose a simple ivory dress. Very 80’s, don’t you agree?

Jeez, my hair was so Princess Di! (or is that Farrah Fawcett I am trying to emulate?)

Rick’s parents, my parents, and two good friends who stood up for us were the only guests. My mom baked a cake and my dad decorated it. He even painted the hair on the bride and groom on the cake topper from black to blonde. I think mom made potato salad too or maybe it was macaroni salad?

31 years later and we’re still going strong.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a special kind of day on your wedding day. It’s just my personal opinion that the whole thing has gotten way out of hand as far as how elaborate and expensive they are. Weddings have become an industry instead of a ceremony.

Still, it might have been fun to have such a great choice of gown styles. And guess what? When I Googled the designer of my dress I was pretty surprised to see that they are still in business. Here is the link to Mori Lee Bridal. I didn’t see any dresses that looked like mine though ...

P.S. After doing this blog post I now know why I kept my old wedding album. Just the photos of my dear sweet parents is worth keeping it for.

Just a few more photos from my trip to Skylands last week.

This row of cherry trees never let me down!

This little guy was flitting around from blossom to blossom. Pretty, isn’t it?

Statue with golden forsythia as a backdrop.

Or if you prefer, a statue with a pink cherry as a backdrop.

Close-ups of a grape hyacinth and a pasque flower. Things look so strange when you take a really close look at them, don’t they?

My fig tree is just starting to leaf out and already has baby figs coming! Right now we are alternating its inside vs outside time because we are still having some nights that threaten to dip below the freezing mark. I don’t want to risk the new leaves or the baby figs getting nipped!

Photo taken yesterday against the backdrop of the garage door while it spent the day sunning outside. Taken again with the Lensbaby.

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There are so many different varieties of daffodils! This is the kind I have in my yard (which were here when we moved in).

They are pretty, but not the kind that most people envision about when they hear the word “daffodil.” These are:

Last Friday I decided to visit one of my favorite places, Skylands Botanical Gardens, to see what was flowering there. I found quite a few different varieties.

This one is similar to mine, but the trumpet is a different yellow. I love how the yellow spills on to the petals.

Orange sherbet!

Look how much longer the trumpet is on this variety. Pinocchio!

Love these.

This one I would call a narcissus but when I looked up the term “narcissus” it’s really just meant to encompass all varieties of the daffodil family. Yet, it has a shorter, more flared trumpet.

I decided to get up-close-and-personal with some of them. You know me: I’m a macro kind of girl. The next set of photos were taken with the Lensbaby with two macro lenses stacked on top of each other. Only one area of the flower will be in focus. I hope you find them interesting.

Daffodils are beautiful, but remember if you bring them inside put them in a vase by themselves as they are toxic to other blooms!