Happy Holidays 2008

A White Christmas!

This is going out the sliding glass door looking out the back of our property.


The patio furniture. The snow is two inches above the arm rests on the chairs.


The raccoons finally came out last night. I haven't seen them for about five days.


The latest measurement - 18 inches! This is the most snow we've ever had up here!


This beautiful three-point buck dropped by for a nibble this morning.

The owl came back tonight!

I've been watching for this little guy since the other night when I first saw him. Tonight we came in from the snow and there he was sitting on one of the bird feeders. I was so happy to see him, but I needed to cook dinner and when I came back from doing the dinner dishes, he was still out there!

Snow update - Sunday, December 21, 2008

Black Capped Chickadee Prints

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

These are not the most interesting photos, but they do show the progression of our first major snowfall of the year up until about 2 p.m. today. At last measure we had about 8 inches. It's snowing again now, but it's too dark for making images and it's getting pretty cold as the meteorologist predicted. We're supposed get down to16 degrees tonight.

(Graphic courtesy of king5.com)

A new visitor tonight...

I was working in my office tonight and I must admit, I have this knack for knowing when something in my yard shouldn't be there. It can be almost completely dark, but if one shadow is out of place, or something shouldn't be out there, I can tell. (OK, not fair, I was asleep when the bear came to visit...)

Well, I looked up at what we call "the bird condo" that Paul built a few years back and I saw something up there, but it was so dark I couldn't make it out. Paul was in the living room with his headset on listening to music on his computer, so I im'd him to "Drop whatever you're doing and come in here quickly and quietly."

Paul came in and I had my flashlight on it, but neither Paul, or I couldn't tell what it was as it's head was turned away from us and then I asked Paul to grab the granddaddy of flashlights while I grabbed my camera.

It wasn't until I was looking through a 200mm lens, I saw what it was--An owl! This was exciting, because we've seen a lot of different birds and wildlife in our yard (just last night we saw a five point buck saunter past my office window about midnight,) but we've never seen an owl on our property.

Thanksgiving 2008

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful holiday season.

Music by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Our House

Savory Meatloaf, Veggie Salad and Cranberry Cake

Everyone knows by now that I don't eat anything with sugar or white flour and lately I've come up with a couple of tasty recipes I thought I'd share. The veggie salad recipe is a variation of a recipe my daughter served last time we were visiting.

Meatloaf:

1 pound of hamburger
1 pound of sugar free mild Italian Sausage (which I can only find at Whole Foods)
Handful of green olives with pimentos (sliced)

You can add about a 1/8 or 1/4 cup of the glaze mixture too (optional)

Glaze:
Chili powder (about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup)
Smuckers Sugar Free Jam (1/4 cup)
Tomato Paste (1 small can)

Put all the meatloaf in a loaf pan and coat the top with the glaze
Cook the meatloaf at 350 for 1 hour


Veggie Salad:
2 small zucchini
1-2 cucumbers
Red onion (optional)
Tomatoes
Roasted Tomatoes (Davini from Whole Foods-Optional)
Pitted Calamata Olives
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Orange Pepper
1 small herbed goat cheese (room temp. for crumbling on top of salad)
2 T (good) Olive Oil
2 T Balsamic Vinegar

Crumble the goat cheese on top, mix and serve


Cranberry Cake:
1 cup Flaxseed meal
1/2 cup Splenda
1 cup Almond flour (Trader Joe's)
Cinnamon to taste
1 cup Wheat Bran
1/4 cup Psyllium Husks (Trader Joe's)
Raw Whole Cranberries (as many as you like)
Raw Whole Walnuts (as many as you like)
3/4 cup No sugar added applesauce

Mix everything in a large bowl by folding the applesauce with the dry ingredients and the cranberries and walnuts. It will remain crumbly and then place in loaf pan and press it into the load pan with a plastic spatula.

Sprinkle a mixture of Splenda and Cinnamon on top and bake.

Bake 350 for 1 hour.

And yes, I do realize that my Cranberry Cake looks like meatloaf--LOL! I made that cranberry cake recipe myself by trial and error--it's excellent!

The Motley Crew

Paul and I went to visit my mom and Dave the other day and due to the excellent training they've both put into their dogs (ala Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer) and common sense training they've always imposed, I was able to capture this photo with ease.



From left to right:
Mona, Zoe, Paya and Libby

The many faces of Miss E.

Music by The Beatles
Let it Be

Last night, this little star in the making performed in her school's auditorium. She blew me away. She played the piano while singing, "Let it Be."

These lyrics are timeless, but mean so much at a time when so many are struggling right now and I was overwhelmed; she did a fantastic job!

E- you have my admiration, love and support always, so I put together a slideshow covering what I'm confident will be your path to stardom...

Don't forget me when you make it to Broadway!

Mr. D: SHOOT, SWOOSH and JUMP!

Tonight Paul and I (and the rest of the family) came out to support our nephew and his basketball team. What a great group of boys. Although they didn't win, they played like champs and more importantly; they played as a team.



Music by Dire Straits
Walk of Life

A little bakin' goin' on...

I made sugar free peanut butter cookies--courtesy of Paula Deen.

They are a yummy option for those who don't eat white flour or sugar.

Enjoy!



Peanut Butter Cookies, sugar-free, from Paula Deen

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe courtesy Paula Deen Show: Paula's Home Cooking Easy Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes Yield: 18 cookies

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 1/3 cups baking sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda)
1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup sugar replacement, the egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar replacement to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar replacement. Cool slightly before removing from pan.

DIY Halloween Backdrop

My Uncle made this cool Halloween backdrop in his garage. He made it to take some photographs of his granddaughter. I saw this and thought it was genius! He actually took leaves from his yard and taped them to some brown butcher paper and then hung the paper on a rolling garment rack he purchased at Lowes.

I loved it so much I couldn't leave without asking my uncle to take a photograph of Paul and I. Great work Uncle Bob! I know a lot of time and love went into making this backdrop--it's fantastic!

I love these kids!

Shadow Play

I had a great time shooting little Mr. J., Miss M. and Mr D. this past Wednesday. It was an unusually warm day for late October and we soaked up every last minute of light.

Thanks kids, it was fun!

The "beautiful" Baby Naavah

Last night was the baby naming for the beautiful Baby S. Jack and Alison did so well up at the podium sharing their love for their beautiful daughter and each other.

It was a joyous evening and I was so happy to see people I haven't seen in years as well as the new people I met.

It was a real honor to be present for such a special occassion.

Music by Elton John

Blessed

A big family dinner this past week...

I was a pretty busy evening for me, but I managed to get a few photos to document this special night. We've never hosted this many at our home before! I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

The older kids enjoyed the youngest member of the family, Baby S.

Thanks everyone for coming over!

Our weekend in Independence, OR

Paul and I went to Independence, OR recently to visit our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. We had a wonderful time!

We were on the go. They were celebrating the Hops festival, so there was a lot to do in this small town. On Friday night there was a ghost walk through the town where the owners and employees of the establishments shared ghost stories and strange occurrences they've experienced in their businesses and buildings.

The following day we woke up at the crack of dawn and went to the local airstrip to watch hot air balloons take off and then we went into town that afternoon to walk through the festival.

After a little break, we all got in the car and headed off to a place that our daughter had planned to take us (she kept it a closely guarded secret.) It was called Wings of Wonder, a butterfly lab and exhibit.

We toured the facility, which was led by the owner (a very passionate and knowledgeable man) on the entire life span of moths and butterflies. The grounds were beautiful and we took a few minutes to utilize the gorgeous backdrop for some photos.

Later that night we went into town to watch a fireworks display and then on Sunday, we went to the park, had a picnic and nice walk from one end of the park to another.

Thanks J & J and little Miss O!

Holiday Photo Sessions

I have a few sessions left for the 2008 holiday season Please contact me if you're interested in booking a session. You can find the pricing details here.

Please feel free to e-mail me at juliabrownphotography@comcast.net if you have any questions.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Just for fun...

I was playing around with pencil drawings and found just the right photo for this technique... I love the lines and textures and how the two people are facing away from my camera looking out at the ocean.

Baby S.

This adorable one was really fun to photograph. Both she and her mom are so calming and beautiful together, it was a real joy of a session!

Beautiful afternoon in Medina

Medina is just such a beautiful part of Bellevue and where I conduct many holiday photo sessions. I find it to be quite tranquil and free from all the hustle and bustle of some of the other local parks.

Paul and I were out location scouting yesterday when we ran into old friend who works for the City of Medina and he gave us a few suggestions for new locations in the area. We checked them out and I'm looking forward to the Christmas card season sessions I have coming up.

Here's a little storyboard I put together. Paul really is a good support helping me scout new locations and then (reluctantly) sitting for me, so I can showcase new designs.

(Thanks KEK for sharing some new areas with us!)

Delicious dinner!

Last night Paul and I went to my brother and sister-in-law's house for dinner. Jack and Cindy made a delicious meal with such ease. We had these wonderful shrimp kabobs, "right off the barby" and some scallops with a delectable mustard sauce--de-liscious!
We had a great time visiting and got to catch up on their summer happenings and the kids accomplishments.

D is learning the sax, M won a Pyramid trophy for swimming and little J is cute as a button. I find myself wanting to squish him up and kiss those cheeks!

After dinner the kids were anxious to share some of their favorite You Tube videos, and then I shared one of my favorites--the story about the reuniting of Christian the lion. I thought I was the only one caught up and teary by the story and cheesy music--not so. Look at the kids, they did too.

Click below for link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7VkiL_PW6U&feature=related

Thanks for a great night!

The bobcat came by for a visit this morning!

What a surprise!!

Paul and I were just talking this morning about (who knows what) I got so excited, I forgot what we were talking about, because I looked up and saw a bobcat walking by my office window! We haven't seen a bobcat on our property since June 2007. This one looked so thin...

I frantically repeated, "Bobcat! Bobcat!"

Paul jumped up and went into the indoor hot tub room where he was peeking through the blinds. I walked in there and he whispered, "Grab your camera!"

I went for my 70-200 f/2.8 L IS lens and ran back in the room where Paul was watching. The neighbor across the street was doing some construction work and since the bobcat saw us and heard the noise across the street and they are so skittish by nature, it just looked right at me shooting away through the window--which coincidentally, Paul just cleaned yesterday.

Friends from the Netherlands

Last Sunday my friend Susanne and her two kids E and P came over for a visit.

We spent the day together catching up and Suus helped setup Skype on my laptop, so we can actually see each other more than every three-years!

P.S. We miss you Dwighty!!! XOXO

Look at these two; they're adorable and their English was impressive too!

Ocean road trip

Paul and I had a chance to get away for a night this past week before his nerve block scheduled for tomorrow and his surgery next week. It was a wonderful time for us...

Thank you Deborah and Ken!


















(Photo courtesy of Deborah R.)

Dog day afternoon...

As many of you know, I am passionate about nature and wildlife and am blessed to live where I do, because I've seen it all (except the bear) I never actually saw the bear, but I saw his prints on my office window and we eventually found our mangled bird feeder in the neighbor's yard.

Yesterday, "the twins" (rabbits) as we refer to around here were just hanging out. It was as though they thought they were safe in their cubbies, safe from coyotes, but they were just sleeping and hanging out in front of my office in the open. I caught them mid-yawns, just enjoying the warm day.

The squirrel looked like he needed a nap and I was lucky to have caught their unusual mannerisms.