Mistakes Can Be Beautiful

  Most folks do not like to admit to mistakes.  I have no problem with it.  If I do something wrong or the outcome is not perfect,  I will happily say it was my fault.  I figure that mistakes are just learning experiences so looking at it as a lesson learned can make all the difference in the world.  So what?  I goofed.  I admit it.  I will attempt a "redo" and hopefully things will have better results.  There are those who see this as a weakness.  Their way of coping is to blame others or to hide the evidence.  Nope..not me.  

  In photography, there are a lot of opportunities for mistakes but sometimes not many chances for a retake.  This is especially true when photographing nature.  The bird will fly away, the otter will dive beneath the waters or the clouds will shift and the chance for the perfect picture goes with them.  Still, it is better to have tried than to give up and think it is useless to attempt.   The other day gave me the chance to admit a mistake but to find a bit of beauty in that mistake.  I was out trying to photograph the sunrise but there was a misting rain that kept putting water droplets on the camera lens.  At first, I was a bit dismayed that my pictures would all have weird reflections but, then, I gave up trying to dry the lens between shots.  This, my friends, was a mistake as each photo after that had odd little "rainbows" or irises dotted on it.  Nary a pretty sunrise photograph was taken.

  
  Once I had the opportunity to review the pictures that I took, I realized that not keeping the camera lens clean was not a good idea.  Irises everywhere!  However!  Through that mistake came the one chance to have a creation that cannot be replicated if I tried.  My mistake of a wet lens turned into an unusually interesting photograph.  Definitely, it will never win any awards nor will it be lauded as "art" but I find it quite lovely.  It is a good day when a mistake actually makes you smile.  This one does.  I call it a happy accident.

Planning Ahead....Accidentally!

Today was spent decorating the dining room for Christmas. The Thanksgiving Tree was undecorated and redecorated as a Christmas Tree, the china cabinet was given the addition of a few ornaments and the stairs received updated garland and big bows at the newel posts. The transformed room now looks quite festive and I can mark another thing off of my list of many things. I have to do things in between times of working on gourds and other projects so the decorating is taking a mite longer than I had hoped. Hubby is off doing our Christmas shopping as best he can while fully not knowing what to get anyone, so thank goodness that Son does not mind lending a hand with the decorating occasionally. Without his help, this just would not be finished before Christmas Eve!

But back to the decorating of the stairway. I had picked up two large rolls of beautiful, dark red, Christmas ribbon several weeks ago. I grabbed it simply because it caught my eye and had the added bonus of being on sale! I love sales! I had no idea just where in the house I would use the ribbon but I just had to have it. Usually, I use red plaid ribbon throughout the house as a decorating accent...this was definitely not red plaid! After purchasing the ribbon, I went on a splurge of painting. The trim in the dining room..along with the stair rails..was painted a deep red. I cannot even tell you the true color of the paint as it was one that I made by mixing several colors together. Being happy with what came about by this mixing, I painted everything in sight. Today when decorating, I pulled out the plaid ribbons as usual.....AACCKK!...that was horrible! The reds clashed! What a nasty looking mess that was! I pondered the situation..what was I to do? Then I remembered the two large spools of ribbon that I had purchased! I pulled these out and a happy coincidence occurred! The colors were a perfect match! Now I ask you...what are the odds that these two...purchased ribbon and randomly mixed paint...would be an exact match??? I was elated! Son, while hanging the bows, mentioned that this was called "planning ahead...accidentally!" He has a knack for turning a phrase so it fits a situation. I like this phrase, though...."planning ahead..accidentally!" I find that it fits a lot of the situations that I get myself into on a regular basis!

The stair rail is decorated as is the dining room...now if I can only find the time to get the rest of the house ready for the holidays! I am working nigh on 'round the clock to finish all the projects at hand. I want to stop here soon and "do" Christmas! I really should listen to Son when he tells me to not take orders for gourds after November 1st. The pressure to complete these late orders starts to take its toll after a while. Where are those elves when I need them!