Lavender Farm

I've been spending the past couple weekends on the cape, at Jennifer's house in Dennis. I saw some really amazing things this past weekend, one of them being this incredible lavender farm. So this couple (along with their very attractive son) run a farm where they grow nothing but lavender. They also have a shop. I didn't take any pictures of the inside, but I did get some treats for my far-away besties. Hopefully I'll get them sent to you before you all get back.

Along the path to the fields is a faerie garden. Unfortunately, I was mostly taking pictures with my film camera, and somehow forgot to snap a shot of their beautiful castle home with the digital, but here is the entrance. The sign says: Please stay on the path- and use the bench for sitting. Also, remember, faeries prefer gifts from nature, such as nuts or flowers, so no coins necessary. Thanks!

As you can see, some people didn't listen to the sign.

A little faerie door. :)

The lavender won't turn purple for a few more weeks. Hopefully I'll have a chance to get back there when it does. But it already smells soooooo good!

There were also lots and lots of little wildflowers growing everywhere.

This is an old schoolhouse bench with the desk attached to the back (the person behind you would use the desk that was attached to your chair). We used to have one in my parents' house, but I have no idea where it is.

The rusty old wagon they used for moving plants around.

You could purchase entire lavender plants. Maybe next time.

Just a rusty wind chime that I thought looked nice. :)

Lavender in hanging plants, not for sale, just to look pretty.

When you get real close, you can sorta see the purple coming in.

Why'd you fill my sorrows, with the words you borrowed...

...why'd you sing with me at all?

I feel like it's the end of an era. I think this weekend was exactly what I needed to get some closure. Throughout the course of the past several days, I realized- I spent every minute of my time worrying about how to make someone else happy. Not to mention, not a single door was held for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying letting go is going to be easy. I've got tears in my ears as we speak. But I do finally believe that it's time. My grand delusions of a potential happily ever after have faded. The cloud I thought I was on has opened up. Who wants clouds in their sky, anyway? The bottom line is simply what everyone has been telling me all along- I deserve better. And I will have better.

Love you and miss you all.

these butterflies deep between my heart and stomach tell me I'm alive

The sun is playing tricks on me this morning. I'm sitting in our living room, staring out at the brightly illuminated trees and grass, working on my child development homework, with this insatiable yearning to be lying on the beach in a swimsuit. This time last year, Bette and I were gearing up for Nantucket, and thrilled that we had at least a few weeks left to wear cute skirts and shoes out in the city. This time two years ago, I WAS lying on a beach in a swimsuit on the island. But why, why is it only 44 degrees out there right now? I want to go frolic with the children, and take pictures, and roll around in the grass! But alas, here I sit inside, with my nose in a book, trying to drown out the shrieks and quarrels of children who have been cooped up inside for far too long.

All I ask is that it gets just a little bit warmer by the end of the week. As many of you may already know, I have a visitor coming to town on Wednesday. Wednesday. That's in two days. The butterflies currently residing in my stomach have HUGE wings. I have a lot of epically romantic events planned for the weekend. Go big or go home, right?

I'm floating right now. On a cloud of pure excitement. I miss all my far-away loves, and I wish you were here to catch me when it starts raining and my cloud disappears, as I'm sure is likely to happen. But, even knowing that it may not last, you can't say you wouldn't jump at the chance to ride on a cloud. Right?

Princess Eleanor

Annapolis/DC/Twins' 1st Birthday

Spent some time with Lauren and her little one, Beaumont.

And here's my Princess. :)

Kathryn Burchill Demangone at her 1st birthday party!

Briggs Wilson Demangone at his 1st birthday party!

Also, I shaved my legs at a Park-n-Ride while waiting for someone to pick me up. You know me, never wasting a free moment. :)

Roses are Green

Or at least her tongue is. I love this girl so hard, I just had to share this one.

Black and White Update

So as most of you know, I've been taking a Black and White photography class. It's going considerably well so far. I love every step of the process. Fun/attractive photo lab guys have definitely enhanced the experience. Also, I apologize for my lack of rotatedness. You're just going to have to tilt your head to the left (and cough).

This first series of 4 photos is a comic strip made up of photograms. Very fun project. I have to give some credit to Trip for letting me use some of his legos.

This next photo is the very first one I ever printed. It was quite a feat, actually, considering my first roll of film got fogged.

A night of insomnia lead me to baking some cookies at 3am, so I decided to take some pictures of them.

The next two shots were for a project we had to do with shooting motion. The first one is my friend Colleen. I tried to use a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion. The second one is a random little girl on the playground who I creepily took pictures of. I used a panning technique to put the girl in focus while capturing the motion of her swing by blurring the area behind her.

And last, but certainly not least, are a few shots I took at the butterfly garden. We all know how I feel about butterflies. Check out the colored digital images of these on my Facebook if you're interested.