A hot and humid late sunday afternoon, the weather turned dreary.  Hail began to hit the house, rain pooling up on the deck.  We were in the heart of a thunderstorm.  Getting used to scary weather here in middle Tennessee.  Tornado, floods, we get it all.  Soon after it began it knocked the power out and we were content to watch and listen.  The storm let up after a while we walked out to cool off and survey the damage.  Mostly downed tree limbs and leaves, dirt strewn about.  And there we saw it, a double rainbow.  I was tough to get the right camera setting with such a neutral and dark gray sky all around.  I managed and it was nice to see, the rain began again slowly coming down just as rough as it was before.  Inside again with the lights out and temperature heating up.  we lounged around and were planning to go to bed early and watch a dvd on our laptop computer.  Power back on, got the house in order and stayed up for another couple hours with our energy level kicking up a notch.

Who watches the food truck shows on tv?  We do!  Yes, we are big fans of the variations, ingenuity and fun this group has.  Nashville had their first ever food truck festival.  8-10 trucks all one location and let the people come on down.  People, people, people…everywhere.  Very popular.  Kids, parents, teens, foodies, snobs, grandparents they were all there.  There were some kinks to be worked out but it was generally fun.

Afterwards we had a drink at a pub nearby and walked around the factory in franklin.  Turns out its a great place to take pictures.

An amazing birthday weekend.  Heather and I began by tearing out some shrubs and weeds with plans to redo a garden and reclaim some yard. Completion is around the corner and as far as i know, the hard part out of the way.  We completely exhausted ourselves with 2+ hours of this manual labor.  Thinking it was well worth it (it was) and that we were in our 20s again (we aren’t) headed out for an evening on the town.  My favorite mexican place is in East Nasty (east nashville)  called Rose Pepper.  The house margarita is worth attending for alone.  Dinner came and went we had a little too much time to kill and decided heading home was the only option and the main reason – a nap.  And did we ever crash.  A quick power nap and back out to see our show…

Background on the show.  heather and I are planning a dyi wedding and were going through some music to play at certain times.  One tune she played was a local nashville band who was going to be back in town for a show.  well after watching their videos and listening and listening to their songs we decided we would get tickets.  glad we did, greatest show i have been to in a long long time.  they were wrapping up a 60+ venue tour and they kicked it off – fire and dynamite!    here are some images from the show – i think everyone should look at their spouse the way these 2 do.

thank you drew holcomb and the neighbors…we will definitely know what you look like if we see you in an airport (you better break out your instruments and play for us).

Day of my birthday celebration.  on our way to my favorite mexican place, rose pepper!  later than evening and my next (soon) post will be the show we went to…drew holcomb and the neighbors.

I am so excited to start an actual herb garden…and from seed.  We do not have a back yard and been dying to get one for 2 reasons.  One, the dog and two to have a garden and space.  So, yes thats 3 reasons.  Saw a pinterest post about a garden in a rain gutter, it takes it up off the ground and when you lack space there are all kinds of areas to put this.  fence, siding, balcony.  love watching these youtube videos on how to grow.  We will keep you posted on the progress but think we are off to a great start.  Again, so much fun.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  many are enjoying fabulous weather.  we were very busy but managed to squeeze in some fun.  up early to get some fog and morning shots.  green was the theme but always find some way to get blue (my favorite color) in…

I’m looking for a forever home if you want me to come home with you!

Also, my submission for Lens Pro To Go’s 52 week photo challenge.  theme – LOOKING UP

Snow again in middle Tennessee.  Not a bad thing at all but it was the wet and rainy type of snow falling when i decided to interrupt my morning of relaxing and head on down to the tracks.  Somewhere down the line I may look into a protective sleeve for the camera.  This time I used a ziplock bag which isnt the greatest way to shoot and only somewhat protects the camera/lens.  This particular stretch of track did not make it through our floods a couple years back.  One of the first things getting repaired.  Multiple dump trucks down the street, back and forth day after day.  No railroads, no supplies, no life as you and I know it.

Most of the images i tuned down the saturation and made them monochrome with only a hint of color.  I accidentally applied adjustments from another image to one of the railroad ones and it was highly saturated and really stood out to me…so i kept it in tact.

love the weekend…who doesnt!  also got our first significant snowfall of the year.  yes, significant for TN is not very much at all but its fun.  brought my camera along with me to grab some morning coffee.  grabbed an image i have been thinking about for a while.  i drive by this location everyday.  its an empty lot with the mailbox still sitting out on the street.  there is no longer a home, dont know if there ever was but there is a small cemetery.  like the perspective of the cemetery having a mailbox.  dont think too much mail comes to this address.

the other thing i am so excited about with these images is they are shot in RAW.  learning about this in photoshop class and should have been shooting this way from the beginning.  workflow is key and my productivity is increasing – BIG TIME!

iheart faces – holiday bokeh!

love the inspiration of these challenges coupled with my favorite time of year!   GO CHRISTMAS.

50, f/1.8