Friday Morning Chit-Chat

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How are you? What’s new?

When I was thinking about my post this morning, I sort of imagine that we’re old friends gathered around a big table drinking coffee. So if you want to go grab a cuppa and join me, I’ll pull up a chair for ya.

So garden-wise, my dahlias are still going strong! The one in my photo above is called ‘Coral Mystery’ and I am crazy in love with the color of it. This particular plant got a slow start because I didn’t get it staked early enough and it broke off near the bottom of the stem. But now I think it’s making up for lost time which is so awesome.

This variety below is called ‘Jabberbox’ and it has been a total workhorse this summer.

Also in the garden, the butterflies seem to love the zinnias and the salvia. One day I came home from work and there were literally dozens of Painted Lady butterflies flitting around! It almost brought tears to my eyes it was so beautiful.

And I’m glad I still have butterflies, because I think we’ve seen the last of the hummingbirds for the year.

By now most of them are well on their way to Central America where they will spend the winter months. These little creatures have been a major source of happiness for me for the past few months and I am will miss watching their antics in the mornings as I drink my coffee. But the good news is that hummingbirds remember where the feeders are so I will ready for them next year.

On the home front, Tripp and I are now not only irrigation specialists (we finally found the cause of the leak in the sprinkler system that was causing a leak in the basement!), but we also got a crash course in HVAC operation when we discovered that the reason our AC unit kept blowing hot air was because of a bad circuit breaker. Which was WAAAYYYYY less expensive than the new AC unit we thought we were going to have to buy. Pretty much feel like we’re winning at life about now!

Let’s see…what else can I tell you…

Oh! Yes! Last night we went to see Bryan Adams at the Hard Rock here in town! And it was such an awesome concert! He is a great performer and I say my heart out to ‘Cuts Like a Knife’ and ‘Summer of 69’. These songs are part of the soundtrack to my teenage years and remind me of driving around in my little red Pinto with the window down and singing at the top of my lungs. Super fun times!

Another fun thing I did recently was host my very first, in-person photography workshop. Three lovely friends came and we spend that afternoon talking about the fundamentals of exposure.

It was an awesome experience getting to share my love of photography with these ladies and it makes me happy to know that they went home with some practical experience in shooting in different kinds of light. Also, a big thank you to my friend Jennifer for capturing these moments for me.

  

Also on the teaching front, I’m super excited to share that I have a new Lightroom class with Big Picture Classes!

Let your photos tell the story! In this follow-up to Lightroom for Memory Keepers, Kelly Ishmael dives deeper into Adobe Lightroom, offering tips and tricks for utilizing the Develop module to create tone, mood, and emotion in your photos. Learn different post-processing techniques for creating a light and bright effect, dark and moody edit, vintage style, and more! Through this class, gain confidence in your editing skills while developing an editing style that’s unique to you! 

Did you know that you can take this class (as well as my other classes) for free? BPC offers a FREE, two week trial membership which includes free, unlimited access to their complete library of classes, member-only groups, and top notch customer support. There are lots of great scrapbooking, card-making, and art classes available as well.

So I think that about wraps it up on my end. I’d love to know what you’ve been up to! What’s making you happy right now?

As always, the fact that you come here to visit me or invite me into your inbox is such a honor and a privilege. I’m so grateful for my teeny corner of the inter webs and I am so grateful for being able to share it all with you.

Love, Kelly