Picnic in the Primroses

The semester is coming to an end more and more quickly. And though I'm very eager for it to be over, and to be able concentrate all my energy on moving house and growing a baby instead of reading essays and correcting grammar, there are things I'm sure I'll miss.

The lunch breaks, for one. There's something so luxurious about having a whole hour with nothing to do but wander down onto the grass with a notebook and an apple.

This is when I've taken almost all of my favourite feet shots: next to puddles, beside curbs, in parking lots.

And I've been able to watch the Texas wildflowers bloom in their stages-- the bluebonnets are now being replaced by these sweet little evening primroses.

And, of course, I've been free to just write. Though I can write at home, too, I find that the ideas I have when I'm scribbling away messily, simply leaning against my knee, are free and creative in a way that my more-focused at-home-thoughts never quite achieve.

So, I'm making the most of my last two weeks of work, and soaking up the sun, sky, and striped sandals while I can.

Robin's Egg Blue

Here are a few more from my 64 colour project. I just love this shade, and was so pleased to find a rusty tin building in the perfect colour!

I'm finding it's a lot harder than it seems to match crayons to colours. There have been about six colours I thought I'd got covered, but when I compare them to my little swatches, they're not quite right! It's a great challenge, though, and should keep me scavenging for a long time!

Sixty-Four Colours

I've got a fun new photo project to share with you! It involves weekly challenges, and a big box of colours:

The idea is that every week, you focus on one colour, and go out searching for it. You try to match the crayon colour as closely as possible to something in the "real world". This week we did carnation pink:

And, in an effort to catch up with previous weeks, I also hunted down some yellow greens:

It's another wonderful way of making yourself notice the little things in your daily life. I'm actually quite excited about going to work this morning, as I can't wait to see if there are any colours that match the crayons I'm catching up on!

If you're inspired, and want to join in, it's really quite simple! All you need is a Flickr account (free!) and this link: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1354234@N22/pool/

Hopefully, I'll be showing you my new yellow, peach, periwinkle, and robin's egg blue photos soon!

Rambles with Red

"Colour has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it.

I know that it has hold of me forever... Colour and I are one."

-Paul Klee

Let Your Flag Fly

"I found I could say things with colour and shapes

that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for."

-Georgia O'Keeffe

Rainbow Belly

You know when you're standing in line for something. Let's say, you're at the swimming pool, in line to jump off the 50 foot diving board. There's six people in front of you, and you feel good: you're talking to the person next to you, laughing, and feeling the sun on your back. It smells like chlorine and melting ice lollies. Someone jumps. You all shuffle forwards. More people jump, you keep shuffling, and then suddenly, the person in front of you is climbing onto the diving board. Your heart sinks. You haven't been paying enough attention: how did the other people do it? Did they swan-dive, or cannonball? Did they make big splashes? Did their swimming costumes fall off? Did they make it back to the surface safely, and swim to the edge, and have happy lives ever afterwards?

It's suddenly hit me that I'm next in line to jump at the baby pool. I'm the "pregnantest" person I know. How did that happen? When did I switch from the person asking all the questions to the one telling my friends how cold milk helps reduce heart-burn, or recommending baby books?

Anyway, here is a little rainbow of belly shots from the last few weeks!

There's nothing like a bright T-shirt to make a cumbersome belly a little bit more bearable, I'm finding!

Treading Softly

Perhaps it's all of the gorgeous Polaroids I've been seeing lately, but something in me is leaning towards softness and light in my photos this week, rather than contrast and shadows.

It's sinking in, I suppose, that not everything needs to be bold and bright to be noticed or beautiful. That's something I've always struggled with a bit, being rather quiet and soft-spoken by nature, and it feels really lovely to capture some quiet moments on camera.

Rats in Ikea

What a wonderful day we had yesterday... a day trip up to 'the mothership', i.e. Ikea. We started off with a big plate of meatballs, and then made the five mile hike around the rest of the store! Big successes: baby crib bought, baby mattress bought, spare bed --that really seems comfortable-- bought, stripy pillowcases bought, and much fun had with a stuffed rat.

Rats in Ikea, originally uploaded by RedRedCompletelyRed.

And now it feels like we're really having a baby! Because Ikea, really, is only somewhere I get to go when big life changes are happening... we made the drive to the one in Phoenix two years ago when we got married and lived in Arizona, and now we've driven over to Austin to get set up for the new stage of life. And it might seem a little silly, but I feel it's sort of our family tradition. I grew up in a house right out of an Ikea catalogue, and so even though my family live a long way away, this is one of the very everyday ways I feel closer to them... sitting on our Ektorp sofa, putting books away on Billy bookcase, setting drinks on the Lack tables, and, soon, assembling the Expedit shelves and Gulliver crib for little Tilly!

Shadow Love

I recently convinced Justin to partake in a little of the daily photography, and we got a lovely shot of us together, holding hands.

Then, never content, I thought we'd try a (slightly cheesy) kissing shot, too. I aimed the camera, and started clicking.

Of course, at that moment, the sun must have gone behind a cloud, as the shadows we captured went from faint to fainter to just a photo of our driveway! Justin had had enough by that point, so I let him escape... happy that we got one shot of the two of us, at least!

Happy Easter!

Yes, the Easter bunny has been very kind to me this year.

All the mini Creme Eggs I can eat.

We can't wait to have a little girl to hide them for next year!

The One With the Braxton Thingies

So, today, I think I had my first contraction. A Braxton-Hicks contraction, I think they call it (and if my Friends knowledge is anything to go by!) And, just like some of my previous pregnancy milestones, (i.e. being sick, having my leg fall asleep for no reason, forgetting what I'm talking about mid-sentence), it happened at work!

Since work seems to set the stage for quite a bit of my pregnancy, I figured I'd take a photo to remember it by:

As I was looking around for a photo op, I saw that someone had left a little message there on the filing cabinet. And though it was probably put there by one of my coworkers as a jab at all the students we see who still can't conjugate the 'to be' verb, I like it. I like to read it as if there is no mistake, as if it is saying that the word 'I' is epic. Which it is, isn't it? 'I' means all of you, the good bits and bad bits, the bits you don't tell others and the bits you don't even know yourself. 'I' is all the thoughts, all the cells, all the memories contained in you, all the joy and the hopes and the infinite brain-neuron-connections. And that seems pretty epic. I think we should all be proud to be epic!

Shadow Monsters

As you might have noticed, I've really been enjoying photographing shadows recently. At first, it was a nice way for me to be able to document my growing bump myself (as Justin's been on his trip for two weeks, and even when he's here, he's not the most willing photographer!), but I'm finding it's also a great way to play around and take on different identities!

And I've also been putting together a little gallery of some of my favourite shadow beasties, taken by other people, called "Some Monsters". Stop by and check it out!