Azaleas In Bloom

The azaleas are blooming on North Poplar Street in Paris, Tennessee ...

just in case you didn't notice. 

Fishing

If you aren't out fishing right now ...

maybe you should be.

New Release

Black Cat On A Blue Floor

Our Cat, Murphy, continues to be the subject of many of my photographs.  He hasn't always been quite so willing  to have his photo made.   Maybe as he's gotten older, he's gotten slower.  Murphy is about 18 years old.  Let's see.  In Cat years that would be .....

Happy Easter!

In honor of the Easter Bunny  .... some of my favorite bunnies.

Anne's Rabbit

... just loves purple Homestead Verbena

Flopsy and Mopsy live in my backyard. 

Spring, when the Phlox blooms is their favorite time of year.

I found this little bunny hiding out at Homestead Gardens last year.

Apparently he really loves Petunias.

This is my very favorite.  Our granddaughter, Addie with Flopsy and Mopsy.

All of these images were snapshots taken with an inexpensive little point and

shoot camera and then enhanced a little bit by me in Photoshop.

Hope you have a Happy Easter!!

Nice Catch!

I've posted so many photos of pretty posies lately ... I just wanted to remind folks that one of the main reasons folks move here is because of the fishing.  Fishing is one of the main things that makes Paris Landing so wonderful.

This is my cousin Andy "Butch"  Bolding of Paris Landing

Nice Catch!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny is alive and well and has been spotted in Paris Landing.

Hope you have a Happy Easter!!

Once Upon A Time ... Photo Restoration

Original Photograph

Once upon a time ...


     There was a beautiful woman who got all dressed up in a beautiful dress to go to a military ball with her Prince Charming.  A photograph was made and put away into a photo album so that sometime down the road she and her children and her grandchildren could all look at it and see the beautiful dress and know what a special night it had been.


     Unfortunately, the photograph was placed in one of those albums with the sticky pages and plastic page covers ... which eventually turn yellow and will not let go of your photographs.



The original photograph was only about 2 inches wide, pretty small.  It was sent to me to see if I could make it a little bigger.  So this is what I did.

Restored photo

I cleaned it up, dropped the old background and put in a new one more appropriate for such a regal lady.   And then ....

Color Tinting

I color tinted it. 

I love this restoration. If you need to have an old photo restored please email me for details.

State Park Art Display

I went to Paris Landing State Park this morning to put up a display of my artwork.

I think it's wonderful that they let local artist display their talent like this.

As I was leaving I couldn't help but notice ...

 ... the beautiful Pansies just outside the front door.

And then because it was such a beautiful morning

I drove on over and went through the picnic area.

I love the lake when it looks like this.

Have a beautiful day!

Wisteria & Kittys

If you aren't into flowers or the wonders of Spring, you may need to take a detour for a few weeks from this blog. Here at Paris Landing we are having one of the most beautiful Springs!  All the flowers and blooming trees are perfect this year and I just can't help my self.  It's just too pretty to ignore.

So any way, I was visiting my friend Cindy Rice the other day and she mentioned she had a pretty Wisteria bush and didn't I need a photo of some Wisteria.  Well, I'm always game for a neat photograph and I had seen some Wisteria around here, a small bush here and there, but nothing that just begged to be photographed.  She kept telling me what a pretty Wisteria bush it was so I thought, why not?

Well .......

My goodness! 

I love it!!!  And then - along came this sweet little creature!

Hello kitty, kitty!

And of course while I was there I had to look around for other neat things.

Like this lizard attached to a Kentucky Lake rock with their house number, and ..

... these pretty little stepping stones.

Well ... hello again!  Apparently the Wisteria also makes a great jungle gym for the kitty.

Back to interesting things.

A bird house in a bird bath.  How convenient!

One of the most interesting potting/storage??? sheds I've ever seen.

There may be a painting here.

Let's see now, why was I here?

Oh yes.

The Wisteria!

Bye, bye!  Hope you enjoyed your visit.

Wisteria

Photographed on the property of Terry & Cindy Rice at Paris Landing

A Boat Full of Tulips

This landscape has to be a Paris Landing original.  A real boat full of Tulips!

I've been trying to get this photograph for about four Springs now.  I was always too early, too late, or the weather wouldn't cooperate.  Here's another view.

Bill Carpenter on Lakehill Beach Estates Road deserves a Green Thumb Award for these perfect tulips and for the idea of using an old boat for a raised flower bed.

Thank you Bill for brightening up our neigborhood and for putting up with that crazy photographer you keep seeing in your front yard.

Sweetvalley In the Spring

My little brother John owns a cabin in the prettiest little valley.

It's rightly named - Sweetvalley.

He rents it out to fishermen, hunters, nature lovers, honey mooners and all sorts of folks looking for a quiet, private little place to spend a weekend on Kentucky Lake.  You can check it out here.

His gardner, my sister Anne, has a green thumb and .... a thing for pansies,

and more pansies,

and more pansies,

and even pansies in a tree stump.  Actually, I really think this is a pretty creative way to cover up a stump.  What do you think?

Spring???

Everyone is asking, "Is Spring here to stay?"  Just because the Forsythia is blooming ....

.. and the Redbuds are blooming ...

.. and the frogs are ...  well, the frogs just are.  

It doesn't mean that Spring is here to stay.  But we sure hope so!

Blue Birds, Photography and a Dog Named George

The Friends of Tennessee Wildlife Refuge are hosting a Refuge Discovery Series program dedicated to Blue Birds. You can get the details here.

I want to say a special thank you to Kate Young for loaning us this beautiful photo of a Blue Bird.

A few months ago I saw a link to a photograph of a beautiful Border Collie name George.  I clicked on the link to Chronicles of a Country Girl and I've been hooked ever since.  It's about a lady named Kate who lives on a hill in Maryland with her husband, their dog - George and a cat.  Kate says she's an "amateur" photographer.  I think she doesn't give herself enough credit.  Kate doesn't just take photographs of birds ... she creates fine art.  You can visit her website above or her gift shop  and judge for yourselves.

Spring????

I am still having technical difficulties.  Well ... not exactly.  I know what the problem is.  I just haven't had the time to reload all the photos that are missing form my website.
But ... in the meantime ... I think Spring may have sprung!   At least for the time being.  And here's the proof.

"Cotton in March????" you say.  No.  It's a Bradford Pear Tree.  I love, love, love these trees.
They are one of the first things to bloom around here and we have lots of them in Paris Landing.

Kind of takes your breath away doesn't it.

Winter may be back next week, but in the meantime ...

Happy Spring!!

Sitting Rocks

Way down there at the bottom of the hill are some sandstone rocks.

They've been there as long as I can remember, but perhaps they used to be a little larger.  We always called them the "Sitting Rocks" for obvious reasons.  They were a perfect place to sit.

This is my Grandma Ruby Hailey Heavrin sitting on one of the rocks

around 1965. I took this photo of her and then she took one of me.

Here's another one she took of me standing on more of the rocks closer to the bank.

Everytime I see these rocks I think of my Grandma and the beautiful fall day we took these photos.  The rocks have become a sort of special place for my family.  

A place we continue to sit at and ponder and take photos.

Who would have thought a few Kentucky Lake rocks could evoke such nostalgia.

Technical Difficulties

Okay!  So I was remodeling my website and managed to delete a couple of hundred images from the other pages in this website.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  If you scroll down the right side of this page you will see a directory to some of the pages in my art galleries.  In the mean time - if you need me I can be reached by email at leeowenby39@gmail.com

Thanks for being a fan!

The Big Fish

 Mr. Cook at Sinclair's Fishmarket, holds a 60lb blue cat he caught today.

Bull Durham

Remember Bull Durham's Restaurant??

Snapped this photo of an old Bull Durham menu the other day over at T.F. Rice & Co. (which will open soon). 

Look close and you will see  ...   All the Fish You Can Eat  (for just) $2.25!  It included a salad, onion rings, french fries, Cole slaw, northern beans and hush puppies. What a bargain!

I started eating here when I was just a little girl coming to the Lake to visit my grandparents.  Years later I embarrassed my fiance and myself by demonstrating exactly how much I could eat when the menu said "All You Can Eat."  It was always an amazing meal.  It wasn't unusual for folks from Memphis to drive up for the day just to eat at Bull Durham's.  It was a Paris Landing landmark.

I don't remember what year it closed.  The restaurant burned and never re-opened.  It's one of my favorite Lake memories.

Why Can't I Get Any Work Done?????

It's Murphy.  Since we got Maggie, our new puppy - Murphy has been very demanding.  And since the dog can't get up on my desk, Murphy thinks when I'm sitting at it - he deserves my undivided attention.  If I put him down on the floor, he gets right back up here.  Then he wants to sit in the desk chair with me.  He crawls up behind me and wedges himself between my back and the back of the chair.  And when I get up, he just takes over the whole chair.  Urrghhhhh!!!!!