Tag:

the little things

lunch – a photo series

by Kaylah Stroup September 23, 2021

Taking full advantage of the end of summer, I headed to Lowe’s to check out their clearance perennials. I scored a handful of plants that don’t look so great today but will be beautiful again come spring. I also found a small pal to bring home, a praying mantis!

I placed him in my garden and got to work planting my clearance scores. Afterwards, I ran into the house, grabbed my macro lens and set out to get a few glamour shots. What I captured might just be my favorite photo series of insects that I’ve ever shot.

Shot with a Canon 7D mark ii and a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup March 26, 2020

▴ spotting all three animals laying in one ray of sunshine & then capturing it on film

▴ painting my toe nails for the first time in… five years(!?) and feeling like I have brand new adorable feet

polish is ‘Jawbreaker‘ by Palate Polish

▴ this prism that looks like I’m holding a little piece of magic

bonus – it makes a really cool ‘filter’ for your photos if you hold it up to your camera lens while shooting.

▴ getting film developed & reliving past trips

▴ this demon kitten

▴ this hilarious Frank Reynolds bumper sticker because everyone needs an egg for this trying time

▴ neighborhood aliens, babies, and animals – as always

more photos of my recent finds here

▴ mail from my niece (who I miss dearly because I’ve gotten used to seeing her at least once a week for the past year!)

▴ shadows from my swiss cheese plant

▴ being interrupted while playing video games to give pets

A short list of more positive things I’ve enjoyed on the internet lately –

What’s making you smile today? xoxo

10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup February 17, 2020

▴ my valentine’s day flowers matching my silly new vase.

▴ “Aunt Kaylah, I have something for you!”

▴ making something silly just for the fun of it.

▴ this plant I rescued from my parent’s house that is now flowering (the flower opened the day after my mom’s birthday!!! cue the tears.)

▴ Sunday walks with my whole family which sometimes leads to jumping rope with a giant vine outside of a tiny old cemetery.

▴ experimenting with night photography (& getting the results I wanted even though I haven’t practiced in who knows how long!)

▴ this teeny tiny beach find turned planter.

▴ this view of Ellie Mae being a ham, which I assume is the same one my mom sees.

▴ this shrimp *ahem* kitten.

▴ tiny critters that are still invading my neighborhood! I spot a new one nearly every single walk.

Other good things on my mind: ▴ getting new plants in the mail! ▴ sled riding with my family ▴ getting a surprise visit from my best friend ▴ checking out a new doughnut spot & falling instantly in love ▴ the sun finally making an appearance ▴ shipping orders to places far far away ▴ learning a second language (y’all Duolingo is fun!)

What’s making you smile today?
xoxo

PS. Can’t recommend this gratitude journal enough!

10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup October 2, 2019

Finding little creatures around my neighborhood. For a while it’s just been dinosaurs and other animals but recently there was an alien invasion!

Bending down to pick up a kind of boring piece of clear beach glass only to spot what is easily the nicest red piece I’ve ever seen.

Family time. Working on the bus, dump digging, and metal detecting at abandoned houses. I feel so close to my people right now and its the best.

Even more exciting than plastic aliens – real ones!! More photos of this little model here.

My favorite idiot and his unconditional love.

Mushroom season!

Bikes, pals & friendly strangers. This is from the end of August (Critical Mass is the last Friday of the month) but I can’t not share. I really enjoy this video. Nights like this one make me never wanna leave the city.

This determined plant that went from not being watered in months, to just some leaves with roots to two healthy plants (and this is the small one! Those leaves on the right yielded two pots worth of plant!)

Watching cicadas emerge! I’ve got a play by play here!

Tiny kitties, giant bean bag. Will I ever be that cozy? Probably not.

Other nice things; ▴ this GIF from what feels like a million years ago ▴ when Spotify makes you a “time capsule” playlist and it’s full of bangers you can sing along to while you burn the midnight oil ▴ seeing my favorite band twice in one week ▴ fresh baked pumpkin muffins ▴ when you forget about a food you like to make and when you make it again its better than ever (sausage gravy & biscuits!) ▴ this recent dumb and dumber inspired purchase ▴ this photo of Professor ▴ decorating the apartment for Halloween (today’s agenda!) ▴ tiny turtles! ▴

What’s making you smile today?
xoxo

PS. Can’t recommend this gratitude journal enough!

10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup May 20, 2019

Convincing others to beach comb with me! Took my sister-in-law ninety-eight years to finally get up here and now she wants to come every week! YES!

All the tiny treasures from the lake.

This plant, still!

This weirdo. Yes, he absolutely got in there himself.

Hitting the four leaf clover jackpot.

Then finding a second four leaf clover jackpot with my nieces and nephew a couple days later!

Mother’s Day Flowers from my dad. “But Dad, I’m not a mom!” “You’re Klaus’s mom!”

Finally, finally, fiiiinally getting into video. Even if it feels wildly overwhelming right now, its fun to have something new to learn.

New string lights that make my whole office feel new. Lighting is everything, y’all.

This toad princess!

Other good things; Sunshine & warm weather ▴ random texts from my teenage niece (I just desperately want to be ‘the cool aunt’, okay?) ▴ getting in the habit of baking cookies every week for my family ▴ talking about all the fun trips we’ll take in the bus ▴ cool mornings with the windows open ▴ Klaus playing in the mud!! ▴ Professor playing with a donut! ▴ being less than a month away from being back in my favorite place in the world ▴ the fact that Jeff & I will be celebrating one year of marriage in 20 days

What’s making you smile today?
xoxo

PS. Can’t recommend this gratitude journal enough!

that time I grew some beetles…

by Kaylah Stroup April 22, 2019

The woods surrounding my parent’s property are covered in birdhouses my dad built and hung. He has a snake camera that he uses to peek inside. Often we take walks just going birdhouse to birdhouse checking to see what, if anything, is living inside.

Last summer on one of these walks, we found a fallen birdhouse. It was wet and rotting. When he picked it up we realized there were a handful of big fat white grubs munching on the decaying material. In true dad form, he asked if I wanted them (because what daughter doesn’t want some!) I said ‘heck yes!’, we gathered some of the surrounding dirt and popped it all in an old screw box he had laying around the garage.

I brought that box home, misted it regularly and gave them fresh dirt as often as they needed. (They went through a surprising amount of dirt/rotting log, leaving massive poop pellets in its place!) After a bit of time passed, nearly all of my grubs had made themselves cozy little cocoons. They looked just like clumps of dirt.

They’d been hanging out in their cocoons for what felt like forever. I’d just about given up on them. I’d gone from checking on them quite frequently with great enthusiasm to barely ever looking in the box because I knew nothing had changed.

Until last week! It finally happened!

I opened the box and right on top was a big fat healthy June Bug! I couldn’t have been more excited if I tried. There’s something so satisfying about being able to witness nature do its thang like that.

Right now I have two hatched beetles and another three cocoons left PLUS a handful of juicy looking grubs. I’ve got my fingers crossed for more beetles to hatch soon.

One of the grown beetles burrowing into the dirt.

I’ll keep ya updated if anything else exciting happens! 😉

10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup March 19, 2019

This excellent vinyl decal which I absolutely had to buy after seeing a car on the road with it. (Find it here. Also, please tell your dog I said hi!)

Finding a swing under a bridge (+ making it out and back without getting wet!)

Weekend mornings at our coffee spot. There’s just a real nice feeling when the person behind the counter already knows your order.

Fun shadows.

Tiny dinosaurs invading the neighborhood.

Growing a tiny tree in the house! (More on my avocado propagation adventures here.)

Squid who as soon as I squat down to take her photo ALWAYS hops up to come get pet.

Icy Lake Erie.

This creep and his most prized possession.

Sending pretty mail out into the world. For the record, spending a tiny bit more to order fancy bubble mailers is totally worth it.

Other good things on my mind: ▴ all the sunshine we’ve been having in Ohio ▴ deciding what I want to do for my 30th birthday in 2020 & starting both a qapital and digit goal for it ▴ when coffee made at home turns out juuuust right ▴ Professor burrowing under the blankets ▴ Shrill (available to watch on Hulu!) Oh gosh, I loved the book but wow I looooved the show ▴ A lifetime of kitten cuddles ▴ getting my cuticles back in order after winter wreaked havoc on them ▴ I was a pizza commercial last month!!! (This was way out of my comfort zone but also so so so much fun. I can’t wait to see the finished product!) ▴ clean sheets and a fluffy new pillow ▴ making & actually keeping exercise goals ▴ the fact its almost warm enough to be out on my bike all the time

What’s making you smile today?
xoxo

PS. Can’t recommend this gratitude journal enough!

scenes from frozen Lake Erie

by Kaylah Stroup January 29, 2019

It’s basically never too cold to keep me away from Lake Erie.

frozen lake erie

found on the beach

Except maybe tomorrow when the temperature is supposed to be a whopping one degree. I think I’ll just stay home and drink coffee, cozied up under a blanket in my office instead.
xoxo

the little things

by Kaylah Stroup December 18, 2018

Sometimes you wake up at 5:15 AM, far before the winter sun rises, just so you can poke around abandoned buildings an hour away from home with your pals.

Maybe you don’t stay long because hunters are nearby and you don’t want to accidently get shot or because it’s a small town and you can tell people are watching.

But it’s worth it, even when you spend more time in the car than out taking photos.