Wednesday, 30 March: Day 19 of Project 365

Tonight, before taking us out to his favourite bar, my uncle turned on the awesome Budweiser sign above our fireplace. I would also like to point out the Border Collie Christmas tree angel on the mantelpiece to the right of the sign.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Tuesday, 29 March: Day 18 of Project 365

Tuesday was a beautiful afternoon, so I decided to go for a walk through Charlotte's Southend, and I ended up walking for a while down the sidewalk that runs along the light rail tracks. Charlotte's light rail, called Lynx, has been running since 2007 and currently only has one line, but hopefully the system will soon expand.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Monday, 28 March: Day 17 of Project 365

Picture of the day, taken at work Monday night.

Photo taken with my Samsung Rogue Phone

Sunday, 27 March: Day 16 of Project 365

Today was another damp, surprisingly cold day! I went in to work at the restaurant all morning and most of the afternoon, so I was able to stay busy and ignore the weather. Upon arriving home, I realised that the overcast day was perfect for photographing outside, and I eventually ended up taking pictures of the nick-knacks in my car.

My friend brought this feather all the way back from Ireland, and I turned it into a mini-mobile to hang from my rearview mirror, along with a snail shell I found in England, a cat bell, a crystal, a former earring, and a skeleton key of unknown origin. I think it all suits my 25 year old Toyota Tercel quite nicely.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Saturday, 26 March: Day 15 of Project 365

Saturday was mostly a relaxing rainy day at home, with nothing too far out of the ordinary. My uncle was feeling better, so he and I attempted to repair our broken refrigerator for what I think was the fourth time. It might be time to move on if this repair didn't work. Sheba, our Border Collie mix, tried to help - too bad she doesn't have opposable thumbs!

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Pulling Teeth - Friday, 25 March: Day 14 of Project 365

Today, poor Uncle S had to have a molar pulled. The molar had cracked a couple years ago when some guy bashed up his face, and because my uncle didn't get it taken care of, the tooth eventually died. He was oblivious to this until a week ago, when half the molar fell out. Since the tooth was already dead, there was no pain, so it took a while for me to convince Uncle S to go to the dentist, but he did, and today was tooth-pulling day. Now I just have to keep an eye on him for 24 hours, make sure he follows the Post-operative Instructions, and figure out what I can make for dinner...something tells me steak wouldn't be a good choice tonight.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Thursday, 24 March: Day 13 of Project 365

Thursday afternoon was lovely and warm out, so I spent some time in the backyard with my family's little dogs, Sheba and Little Man. Little was being quite cooperative, so I was able to get a few good photos of him. I love the photos in the book Dogs by Tim Flach & would like to be able to take pet photos as good as those! Do any of you have tricks you use for photographing pets, particularly dogs?

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

I also took the opportunity to do a little spring cleaning, and set up a nice yoga/napping spot in the space I cleared by my window. Don't be fooled by that couch; it's nowhere near as comfy for napping as it looks.
Now doesn't that look inviting?

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Wednesday, 23 March: Day 12 of Project 365

One of my bookshelves. I love to read and have more books than I have room for! There's no such thing as too many books, right? I also love elephants, so the elephant book-ends from my mother are perfect for my room.   : )

What things do you like to collect? What do you like to photograph?

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Tuesday, 22 March: Day 11 of Project 365

This evening I visited my grandparents, and got some unexpected, but very much appreciated, kitty-loving from their cat, Tiggy. She is about sixteen years old, and rarely makes much of an appearance these days, especially when my grandparents' dog, Ryan, is around. Tiggy is convinced that Ryan would still like to chase her all over the house, and thus tries to avoid his attempts at making friends.

Here is Tiggy, lounging in the middle of the livingroom floor, soaking up all my attention. She's so sweet, and has the quietest purr I've ever heard.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

On a side note, this is the third cat-related post I've made so far. I wonder how many there will be by the time the year is over?

Monday, 21 March: Day 10 of Project 365

I wonder what game these two are playing? Or perhaps they are having a serious conversation. Whatever it is looks very intense; good thing they have Winnie-the-Pooh nearby for some light reading. Just a quick glimpse at some of the odds and ends hanging around our house.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Sunday, 20 March: Day 9 of Project 365

The following picture is one I took around 1:00 in the morning, towards the end of the Spring Equinox/Supermoon party we went to Saturday night. I like the hazy, dreamy view of Uptown Charlotte behind the fire pit and the beer pong table.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Bonus image! I'm also posting my tasty sandwich from this afternoon, showcased on a President Lincoln/Gettysburg plate. We have quite a few odd plates like this.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Saturday, 19 March: Day 8 of Project 365!

Saturday marked an entire week of commitment to my Project 365, plus it was officially the last night of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and it was a Supermoon, which was certainly cause for celebration!!! As luck would have it, a friend's neighbours were already having a party in their Uptown Charlotte backyard, so my mom, my step-dad, and I went to the party with a couple friends. It was a great party set-up with a fire pit, a patio tent, a keg of Killian's, bourbon, whiskey, brownies made with Irish Cream & Irish Whiskey, and a group of really cool people!

Here's one of my favourite shots from that night:

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Friday, 18 March: Day 7 of Project 365

Meet Mr. Fish,  my uncle's Beta fish who lives in a coffee pot in our kitchen. He really likes the fourth warning on his home: "Do NOT use on any rangetop or hot plate."  Mr. Fish says he also likes the fifth one, which is, "Do not hold over people." Yeah, he doesn't enjoy being heated or held up in the air.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Thursday, 17 March: Day 6 of Project 365

Some of what I saw while walking through a historic Dilworth neighbourhood in Charlotte. It was such a beautiful day Thursday that I decided to take a walk after work.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Wednesday, 16 March: Day 5 of Project 365

This little good luck cat is called Maneki Neko, which means "Beckoning Cat" in Japanese. Also known as welcoming cats and fortune cats, they are traditionally placed near the entrances to dwellings and businesses to welcome visitors. This one resides on top of my dresser at the entrance to my room.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Tuesday, 15 March: Day 4 of Project 365

A close-up of my bedside table, taken Tuesday morning. I like close-ups of small everyday objects.

Monday, 14 March: Day 3 of Project 365

This is my little basil plant that I bought this weekend. He hasn't been properly planted yet & still doesn't have a name, but I'll take care of that soon. For now he seems to be pretty happy living in a coffee cup next to the sink.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Sunday, 13 March: Day 2 of Project 365

Close-up of the ham-veggie-frittata dinner I threw together for my uncle and me on Sunday night. Taken prior to adding the egg mix...

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

We had a ham that needed to get eaten before it went bad, and since I'm not a particularly big fan of ham I decided to scour my recipe books for ideas that would actually involve vegetables. I eventually found inspiration in The Silver Spoon, which calls itself the "bible of Italian cooking," and in Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. The Silver Spoon has five whole pages of frittata recipes, and Essentials of Italian Cooking has a recipe for "Sautéed Early Peas with Olive Oil and Prosciutto, Florentine Style," which also sounded tasty. Since we also had some eggs that were about to go bad, I thought I would combine the two ideas.

At the grocery store I picked up some frozen baby peas, fresh organic broccolini, some mushrooms, and a live basil plant. Back at home I let the peas thaw while I cut the ham slices into little squares, chopped the broccolini, chopped some fresh basil, and prepared my egg mixture. For the egg mixture I added four medium eggs to a bowl, whisked in a little milk, added a bit of salt & pepper, sprinkled in a couple teaspoons oregano, then let it sit.

Next I got out a pan, added some butter, and let that melt. Once it had melted I put the ham in and accidentally dumped in waaaay more peas than I had intended. I went ahead and tossed in the broccolini, basil, and about a tablespoon of minced garlic, then set about chopping a little more ham and added two more eggs and a tad more milk to the egg mix.

After adding the extra ham and some mushrooms into the pan, I stirred it all around to make sure the ham and veggie mix was nicely coated in butter, then let it cook with a lid on for about five minutes on medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the five minutes were up and everything was looking tasty, this mix was ready for its first close-up!

Photo shoot over, I poured the egg mix over the ham and veg and stirred it to get an even distribution, then sprinkled grated parmesan cheese on top. I was hoping to end up with a frittata-like product that I would be able to flip, so I let it cook without touching it too much until it seemed like things were pretty solid. In the end, this creation didn't want to be flipped so it ended up looking more like scrambled eggs, but it was still super tasty! My uncle had two large helpings, and there was enough left over for my lunch the next day.

Saturday, 12 March: Project 365 Begins

Day 1 of my Project 365. I took this photo of my mother's cat Celeste Saturday night while I was babysitting my little sister. Celeste was very good company, and happily snuggled with me on the couch.

Photo taken with my Traveler XS 40 digital camera.

Time for a New Challenge!

I've been dabbling in photography for about four or five years now. After taking a photography class back in 2008, I was inspired to become more serious about my photography. I've finally been convinced to start a blog where I can share my work and receive comments, ideas, critiques, and other feedback. I'd also like to share the work of photographers and artists who inspire me, and would love to hear about other artists, methods, techniques, etc. from my readers.

Recently, I decided to do a Project 365, in which I will take at least one photograph each day for a year. Since I am starting this blog, I am challenging myself to post one photo for each day on the blog. My goal is that by taking at least one photo a day I will become a better photographer, and it will both push me to seek new ways of looking at everyday subjects, and push me to seek new subjects. Sometimes I might have a theme of the week or theme of the month to focus on to further challenge myself and get outside my comfort zone. It will be an interesting journey and I am excited to see where the year takes me!

I began photographing for my Project 365 on Saturday, and soon I will post the photos from the last several days. Thanks for joining me on this journey, please buckle your seatbelts and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times!