Scattered Thoughts . . .

Another one of our annual excursions crept up on us again this past weekend and we found ourselves in southern Vermont for a train show. Throughout the year, we attend various events around the northeast. Every fall, we attend a train show in southern Vermont. This particular train show is so small that it isn't even the main purpose of this annual weekend getaway. It is a good reason to get out of town but it takes up so little of our time that it is hard to call it a train show weekend! What I can say about this annual excursion is that we enjoy traveling through the fall foliage, visiting other restaurants, visiting stores we don't get to normally visit and it's nice to simply get out of the house for a bit.  My health keeps me close to home almost every day so it is nice to get out from under this roof every now and then... really nice. We actually try to get out of the house for a few hours every weekend but it rarely works out... between things needing to get

...other than sharing very similar palettes. I shot each of these three photos a number of years ago. Two of them were actually shot with very old point-and-shoot cameras before I started buying used (but better quality) digital SLR cameras. I can see the flaws with these photos but I'm a perfectionist and most people probably can't see them. I thought these old photos were worth revisiting. I've never had any of these three photos printed but I think the first photo (the colorful springtime image) would make a nice print.   I shot the spring photo while out on a walk about five years ago almost to the day... it was May 6th, 2011... I can tell you it doesn't look anything like this out there this May! The lack of a normal winter and having continuous unseasonably warm weather has taken its toll, I do believe. I definitely prefer the bright, sometimes pastely colors of springtime over autumn foliage and this photo is a good example of springtime color...  Th

I've spent some time painting the doll townhouse the past few days. What I've been envisioning in my mind has been taking form in real life... and now, in color! I'm really liking this paint scheme and I think it favors the Georgetown Townhouse style I was envisioning.  The traditional yellow walls with a nice (but non-traditional) stucco texture... the clean lines of white trim... contrasting black window shutters... and a welcoming red front entry door... this is all coming together very nicely and is very reminiscent of the traditional Georgetown style. I'm actually getting excited as this homemade dollhouse comes together. The yellow exterior paint has been a major problem though... I think I now have about six or seven coats of yellow paint on this dollhouse due to some errors in choosing the correct shade of yellow. The first shade of yellow I chose was a bit dull. The second shade of yellow I chose was so bright that it had a bit of a fluorescent tint