Shadow play...

 The window in my new studio office faces west...

... and as the late afternoon/early evening sun streams in, it creates beautiful shadows.

In this case, the beautiful vintage parakeet lamp that Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage helped me find casts beautiful shadows on the wall.

The sun moves so quickly that the shadows fade away very quickly.

The rooter that hangs in this window with the sun streaming behind it...

... casts its own fleeting shadows...

... on the wall and door of the studio.

The bedroom is on the other side of the house...

... so it's the morning sun that creates window pane shadows on the sheer curtains in this room.

We are expecting gray skies and rain, so there will be no shadows for several days. Wishing you all a beautiful week, whether it is filled with sunny skies or gentle spring rains.

I'm joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday this week.

Donna

The winter sun casting shadows...

Hubby and I were just sitting in the living room watching Property Brothers on HGTV when I glanced toward this corner of our little living room.

If there's one thing I love about the winter sun, which sits so low in the sky, it's the beautiful mid-afternoon shadows cast across the house; in this instance, the pie safe.

(We've decided to keep the ''Christmas' living room arrangement, which means there's a lot more room for Mr. J's doggy bed where the Christmas tree once stood!)

The glass knobs on the pie safe act like prisms, reflecting the sun across the door panels...

... and the sun really accentuates the wreath appliques.

(I'm so glad I was in the right place(s) at the right time(s) to find these two darling white kitties! I just love them. They look so whimsical sitting on the floor below the bay window!)

It looks like someone else is enjoying the winter sunlight on his comfy bed!

Hoping you all had a lovely weekend.

I'm joining Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for Favorite Thing Saturday

and Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.
 

Stop by and share something you love, have tweaked, or want to share!

Donna

Spring + Sunlight = Happy!

The warm spring sun was shining through the window the other morning and I had to grab my camera!

This time of year is so exciting when you live in a region known for harsh winters 

 (although I have to admit that here in New England, we had a pretty easy time of it this year!)

I set up this spring vignette on a little table that sits in the dining area of our small split entry, using things from other areas of the house.

The birds flanking the nest were 'borrowed' from the mantel.

They're such a pretty 'mottled' shade of robins egg blue (a favorite of mine).

I know they're not robins, but they are guarding the three pale blue eggs in the nest until Mrs. Robin returns.

The nest was originally purchased as an ornament several years ago 
(nests in Christmas trees are considered good luck).
I like to keep it in the house year-round.

I love the quote on this frame, "Humor is mankind's greatest blessing," by Mark Twain. The girls were hamming it up one Christmas morning, trying on their new cloche hats, complete with tags hanging down and stuffing still inside the hats to helped keep their shape.
(It seemed an appropriate photo for this particular frame!)

One of my favorite lampshades with a very spring-like pattern.

The sun was shining through the "faux" plant in this cherub planter.

And now the sun has gone behind some clouds, but that doesn't change the fact that
SPRING has arrived here in New England!

Pop over to Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home to visit everyone else participating this week.

Have a beautiful Easter weekend, everyone!

Donna

Early Morning Shadows, Baby, and PicMonkey

The sun was shining in the bedroom window the other morning, casting the most beautiful shadows across the bed (and Baby).

 I love this photo of Baby sitting on the nightstand at the foot of the bed. I thought it would be a perfect photo to "play" with. Claudia posted a great tutorial of PicMonkey the other day and it looked like so much fun that I had to give it a go.

 I absolutely love the results! I softened the image, darkened the edges, and framed it. I may have to get a real frame for this photo!

Here's another photo with the sun creating beautiful shadows.

And here's the same photo using HDR, darkened edges, rounded corners, and again a frame.

By now Baby had moved to the bed, totally enjoying the warm sun shining through the window.

And here's the same photo after adding Yester-Color, darkening the edges (again), and using the Polaroid frame with text. I think I'm totally addicted to PicMonkey now!

Would you just look at how beat up the finish is on our poor bedroom furniture? We've had this set since 1989 and my nightstand has been the springboard to the bed for all of the beautiful kitties we've owned since then (it's a VERY high bed). Clearly their claws have done a number over the years. It's a good thing I'm into old, rustic, and distressed!

Clearly Baby doesn't seem to be concerned about the marks she and her predecessors have left on the nightstand. She knows some of those marks are also from puppy paws over the years, trying to see which kitties are snoozing in the bed.

Baby looks lost in though in this photo. I do hope she's not feeling bad about the furniture after all. Don't worry about it, Baby. I'm not.

A final photo of the gorgeous shadows on the bed... Happy (almost) spring, everyone!

I'm linking up to Cindy's (My Romantic Home) Show & Tell Friday. Be sure to pop over!

Donna

Are you an early bird? Or a night owl?

If you're an early bird at our house, this is the view through the DR window.


The early morning sun casts tree shadows across the front of our little shed.

"I'll tell you how the sun rose a ribbon at a time." (Emily Dickinson)

But if you're a night owl, this is the view, created by the back porch light casting shadows of the hummingbird feeder, bird bath, and fuschia across the shed.

"The very shadows seem to listen."

(Anna Katharine Green)

Day or night, how I love shadows!

Please visit Cindy, My Romantic Home, for all kinds of Show and Tell Friday fun!

Donna

A heavenly day, sunny and DRY...

Hooray! The muggies have left! The air is crisp and clean rather than feeling like it weighs a ton!


When I walked around the corner of the kitchen this morning, the shadows in the family room caught me off guard. The sun was streaming in, a soft breeze was blowing the trees, and their shadows were dancing all around the room as they swayed to and fro outside. Unfortunately, none of that beautiful movement was captured in my still photos.


Same shot, different camera/light setting... And can you guess what I did as soon as I took these photos? I turned off the air conditioning and threw open the windows! Heavenly!!!!

Pink shadows...

The morning sun cast beautiful pink shadows on the family room shade the other morning...


... and knowing how shadows (and rainbows) can disappear in an instant, I ran to get my camera so I could share them with you.

The shadows are being cast by this little architectural piece propped against the window (Thank goodness the view no longer looks like this January photo [although it's not out of the realm of possibility since early April snowstorms are pretty common here in New England!])

The other shadows are being cast by the diamond pane pattern of the windows...

For more posts featuring the luscious color pink, be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see her Pink Saturday post and to visit all the other pink loving bloggers participating today!

Donna

Afternoon shadows....

The late afternoon shadows are arriving earlier and earlier as the end of August approaches... This afternoon, the contrast of light and dark was so vivid, I couldn't resist snapping some photos of the sun's handiwork....


Not only are the outdoor wreaths silhouetted on the front doors, but the cutwork of the Battenburg valances is so defined at this time of the day...


A lace valance that hangs in the living room window casts its shadow on the floor above the silhouette of the rocking chair...


The lace trim of the window shades, a silverware wind chime, and even the glass knob on the jelly cupboard cast shadows in the dining room...

The late afternoon is such a lovely time of day but, oh, how I wish the days were getting longer rather than shorter!!

Donna (who is not looking forward to winter!!)