Lots of Hop-enings!

We've been pretty busy the last few weeks! On July 12, we adopted a new bunny into our household.
Meet Molly, an adorable dwarf lionhead (we think) that was abandoned at a pet store across the state - left in a box without food or water. The rabbit rescue group that I donate to, 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue, sent out an alert about this adorable little girl. The pet store took the stance that the bunny would be free to a good home. One member of the rescue was worried that Molly wouldn't go to a proper home with the title "free" attached to her. So Rob and I decided to give Molly a home. She's a very good little lady, and after a week of being with us, has already started to fill out on hay and veggies (she came to us SO skinny!). Lola (our lop) felt a bit threatened at first, but given that the girls live in different houses, that seems to have helped. Their interactions throughout the week have improved. Lola no longer tries to charge the gate seperating her from Molly's home (Lola is litterbox trained and allowed out in the house). Molly is still working on her litterbox training but shows no interest in coming out of her house as of yet. We have a vet appointment set up for her next Tuesday. I suspect she is healthy in spite of how she was abandoned, but I do want a vet to confirm that she is a she and that she is spayed (I think she is, but I'd rather have a pro check!)

In the photography world, I'm knee-deep back in nature photography.

This photo reminds me of a painting that used to hang in my grandfather's house. The painting, sadly, is long gone, but in it was a photo of a girl in a daisy field, staring up at the sky. I tried to recreate that experience of the girl in the daisy field. I titled it "Dreaming."

We also have our first and only art show of the 2009 season this weekend. We decided to cut back this year given the economy. This show has been pretty good to us in the past, so we're hoping that it proves to be a positive one for us this year as well! I've been busy working on gathering our best work together to bring with us to the weekend event (along with creating new photo pendants for sale as well).

What have you been doing?

Menu Love

A while back I was asked to photograph Fusion's napoleons and peanut butter torte. The reason? We were providing that dessert to Illiano's restaurant and the owner wanted photos to add to his menu. This past week, the owner dropped off two of their own desserts- a cannoli and a tiramasu - for me to photograph as well for the menu.

Below is the pastry ensemble that will be on the menu.

Delicious! :)

Getting Settled

We moved, and we're still unpacking lots of boxes, but all in all, it feels great to have a place that we can finally call ours. Even Lola is getting used to her new "digs" (see her at left enjoying the sun spot early one morning).

I've dived into gardening head first. The property was void of any landscaping whatsoever, except for four potted plants on top of stone in the front of the house. I've been better about digging up the yard then unpacking inside the house!

So far, I've planted four garden beds, two with just annuals for a quick pop of color. I've planted perennials such as wisteria, honeysuckle, clematis, roses, rhododendron (to hopefully one day hide the neighbor's ugly fence), coreopsis and poppies (as you can see at right). A lilac bush that was a housewarming present anchors one corner of the yard. I have the hummingbird feeder out, but I've gone two weeks without seeing any activity (I guess I can't blame him-- this property never offered anything so maybe I've lost him for the season). I now have a bird bath, and I already had a good amount of rabbit statuary that found it's way outside. As you know, nature plays a big role in my photography, so surrounding myself with the flowers I adore makes perfect sense to me.

Lola is adjusting well- she takes morning romps up and down the hallway and seems to enjoy exploring the room she and I share. I have a great desk from IKEA that closes up so all wires are concealed (and bunny-proof that way).

There are some flaws we're finding with the house -- leaking dishwasher, for one -- but overall these things are minor. The feeling of pulling into my own driveway and not having to hike to the third floor with bags of groceries is very awesome, indeed.

Excuse our absense...

I haven't been able to get on and write as much as I had hoped to this month. The move is keeping us busy! We are set to close on Wednesday and then we can start moving boxes and unpacking in the new place!

Our Movin' On Up Sale is still in effect at our etsy shop!

We'll be back soon! :)

We're on Facebook! And a new give away!

McGuinness Photography has launched a Facebook page, which you can visit here!

To celebrate this launch, we're having a give away! Oh yeah! :)

When you sign up to become a Facebook fan, you will be automatically entered to win this dragonfly 5x7 photo at left!

(If you are already a fan, you are already entered for a chance to win.)

Deadline is May 18! Good luck! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

To all moms -- with human, fur, feathered or finned kiddos -- Happy Mother's Day! :)

We'll be heading to Rob's grandmother's house today. (She is the only grandparent we have on either side of our family. )

Today is a bittersweet day for me, since it will be the fourth Mother's Day without my mom. I'm in a better place now when it comes to that -- now I find her in the flowers I photograph and the pastries I bake. My wish to everyone who has lost a mom - may you also find comfort in this day.

Packing boxes is the pits

So... we're still waiting.

I've started trying to pack up all our belongs for our inevitable move at the end of the month. But, we're still waiting for the paperwork to be finalized so we can set up a permanent closing date. The waiting around for all the boxes on the forms to be checked off is really frustrating to me, since I'm the type of gal that wants to get it done and over with.

So I'm trying to be good and keep myself busy (you know, when I'm not working at the bakery). Of the highlights:

• I discovered Space Bags, in which you fill up with garments, blankets, etc., and then use a vacuum to suck out the air and shrink in size. What is left is a little brick of your compressed items. It was pretty cool the first time, but one of the bags keeps growing and absorbing air. Oh well. Can't win them all I suppose.
• We have officially bought 40 small boxes and 15 medium boxes. I've also accumulated any box the bakery no longer needs (and were previous homes to eggs, milk, chocolate chips, etc.). About 15 percent of all boxes are actually filled with items right now.

I have a couple of items too that I may freecycle... I'd have to look into that. One of my friends told me to hold on to everything and have a tag sale, but I'm not too interested in bringing items I don't want or need anymore with me to the new house. At the same time, it would be nice to get a dollar or two for them. Any ideas?