Category: The Friday Photo

The small print

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo celebrating art, spontaneity, and community
August 16, 2013
Our friends Leslie and Marni invited us to spend the weekend at the beach. They rented a condo that is designed for people with allergies. Perfumes and artificial fragrances are prohibited.

I discovered the face sunscreen I already had includes this warning:

“Protect this product from excessive heat and direct sun”.

20130816-084522.jpg

Fortunately the forecast calls for rain.

Art competition!

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo celebrating art, spontaneity, and community
August 9, 2013

AC

Some people think environmentalists abhor the use of electricity.
Here’s photographic proof that we don’t.

This HVAC unit is outside the window next to my desk.
Due to the duct work, my office is the coolest room in the house, so when I
am working I can turn the temp up and run it less often (saving energy, as environmentalist are prone to do).

However, I can’t stand looking outside and seeing it. And I don’t want to put up blinds or curtains, which in the end will reduce the natural light where I need it (bonus-I don’t have to turn the light on during the day usually).

I called our heating and cooling guy, and Mel said he’s never had anyone ask if it is OK to paint their AC unit. As long as I keep the fan clear of paint, he said I can paint it.

So, friends and readers of Rural and Progressive, got an idea for a design (or best techniques if in fact you have done this too). I am not much for drawing or painting, but I am hopeful someone will have a simple idea that I can manage or build on. Let me know in the comments section here any other way we are connected if you have a design idea.

 

 

No static at all (to quote Steely Dan)

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo celebrating art, spontaneity, and community
August 2, 2013

radio 1

We live in an old country farm house. There aren’t any columns in Classical style, or a sweeping view from a gated driveway. We bought the house 26 years ago, rewired and replumbed it, and moved in while we continued to renovate. The old lightning rods are still up on the tin roof, as well as a flattened Prince Albert can that covers a hole in a wood ceiling we uncovered.

We’ve never succeeded in having a radio in the kitchen. 26 years. Sometimes we listened to A Prairie Home Companion or All Things Considered blaring from a stereo in the den (that equipment gave up not long after our daughters could reach the buttons and dials).

In a last-ditch effort I tried the radio in today’s photo. It isn’t new and it has no iPod auxiliary jac. It works without static in just one of the kitchen outlets. I could only get public radio and a station in Louisville (Georgia) that carries the Braves.

Those two stations were as clear as a bell as long as the power cord is in a jumble.

We’ve waited years for something as simple as a radio in the kitchen. We’ll have to overlook the fact we are giving up precious counter space because the kitchen is small. Fortunately we could make enough room for the entire Braves lineup against the Rockies and the production staff at NPR.

Don’t underestimate a dirt road

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo celebrating art, spontaneity, and community

20130726-073307.jpg
My friends John and Paula Swint, and neighbors, by country folks definition, have more organic green beans than they can eat or want to can for the winter. I arrived to get the fresh picked beans they offered and got to hear a teen brother and sister duo perform a song they were rehearsing with John for church this Sunday.

The dirt road in today’s photo may be just another dirt road to most people. For me, and many others in rural communities, dirt roads take us to fresh food that is gladly shared and a peek at young talent encouraged by parents and neighbors.

Last year, this year

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
July 5, 2013
July 5, 2013

The photo on the left is all that remained of the Ogeechee River last fall.
The photo on the right is the same view taken late yesterday.  

 

Both oars in the water

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
May 31, 2013

Ogeechee River upstream, our family farm is on the left bank
Ogeechee River upstream, our family farm is on the left bank

Late last summer my friend Jenny Craigie Riffe gave me a kayak she no longer uses and my adventures as a beginner paddler began. I missed the Georgia River Network (GRN) 12 in 2012 Challenge to paddle 12 rivers in Georgia, but this year I have decided to do last year’s challenge (this is not the first time I have been late to the starting line).

Last weekend we got out on the Ogeechee and Oconee Rivers, in addition to the lake at Hamburg State Park. We saw carp bedding down in a shallow cove, along with longnose gar, on the Oconee where Putnam and Hancock Counties meet on Hwy 16. We also learned that anyone and everyone can get out on a noisy, gasoline smelling jet ski by late in the morning on a Saturday holiday weekend.

Oconee River at Wallace Dam
Oconee River at Wallace Dam

The Savannah and Ocmulgee are at the top of our list now, plus the Augusta canal. This year GRN’s challenge is to get 13 people out to paddle who wouldn’t have been out on one of Georgia’s rivers or streams. Since I convinced my husband to buy a boat so we could paddle together. I think my work is done for the 2013 challenge. Two down, ten to go.

Making pink lemonade

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
May 24, 2013

photo

I have fallen in love with batik fabrics this spring. I love the
bright pink in this photo but the pattern I chose was an absolute disappointment.
I got a skirt out of my efforts but decided I would never be really happy with it.
Last night I cut the bottom part off, sewed a casing, and made it work for my granddaughter. Her favorite doll will also have a skirt to match soon. And remnants may appear on some of my upcycled goods.

And for me? I ordered the same fabric online and it arrived yesterday. I will
use a tried and true pattern for the second iteration of  a summer skirt.

 

Visual aids

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
April 12, 2013
photo (84)

I needed a good visual aid for an idea I wanted
to share with my county commissioners about
expanding glass recycling. I think it worked.

Spring Break Edventure

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
April 5, 2013

photo by McKinsey Cummings-Thompson
photo by McKinsey Cummings-Thompson

I took Tuesday off and spent it with my grandchildren at
Edventure in Columbia. The entire museum is hands on, climb, touch, learn.
It is hard to beat a water exhibit complete with a dam, shoals, and a waterfall.

Rural and Progressive

Disclaimer: Rural and Progressive is a self-published website. Any contributions supporting the research, web platform, or other work required for the owner and any invited guest contributors, is not tax deductible. Rural and Progressive is not operating as a nonprofit entity.