Personal | biscuit's space | The blog of photographer Katherine Carver

Sep 23

Around Here: September

Happy Fall! It is officially fall, and we are not sure how this happened so quickly! We are welcoming fall with open arms, one of our favorite seasons. Below are some items that have occurred around here in September!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project — an image at a time. I received some positive feedback earlier this month on the body of work completed thus far, which I am very pleased about!

-we celebrated the 12 year anniversary of our first date!

-we celebrated three years in our home that we built — we are not sure where the time has gone, but it has flown by ever too quickly!

-we are experiencing a lot of transition and change in this season.

-we saw Bruce Springsteen earlier this month in D.C.

-we took another trip to the Eastern Shore for crabs and shrimp with Victory!

-we took a trip to Delaware over Labor Day weekend and had a great time together!

-we received and hung Victory’s Audrey Hepburn inspired portrait, which we have titled, “Princess Victory,” which now hangs next to Biscuit’s painting.

-we finally got our rugs cleaned, and all of our “spring and summer cleaning” is almost completed — just a little delayed!

-enjoying evening walks together with Victory in her Hound About, especially since it is cooler outside!

-enjoying time on our decks together during the evenings, watching the sun set.

-opening the windows and letting the fresh, crisp air into our home!

-burning fall candles in our home and we also hung our fall door wreaths!

-getting ready for Victory’s birthday in a few weeks — this will be her third birthday celebration with us since her adoption!

-ordered and received Victory’s Halloween costume for this year — she is going to be adorable in her costume. You can view last year’s costume here; 2014’s costume here; and 2013’s costume here! We are excited to head back to the pumpkin patch with Victory! (Victory is shown below from our visit last year to the pumpkin patch!)

-Doug has already begun crafting ideas for his pumpkin this year!

-started working on this year’s Pawliday card!

-finished reading Present Over Perfect, a good read!

-began watching the first season of The Americans, a really good series — I know that we are a little late to the party!

-enjoying the second season of the Magic Lessons Podcast, with a lot of good content and lessons.

-still using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Friday!

Sep 7

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The Changing Seasons

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” —George Santayana

Labor Day weekend marks the beginning of a change of the seasons as summer comes to a close. We could even feel the change coming in the air. As such, we took full advantage of the nice weather this past long weekend doing some fun summer outings, including seeing a Bruce Springsteen concert in D.C. and taking Victory on multiple walks in her Hound About, which she loves! We also took Victory to Harbor East for pizza at one of our favorite pizza spots; we took her to the Eastern Shore for crabs and shrimp; and we took her to Delaware! We also spent some time at our pool prior to it closing for the summer where we were able to catch up on reading and much needed rest.

Just like the changes of seasons, our own seasons are constantly changing, too. Life is filled with moments of happiness and long stretches of contemplation, and the key is to stay present through it all, even during the long stretches that sometimes feel long and difficult to endure. We are currently adjusting to a new routine as I accepted a new position, a positive change for us. However, poor little Victory’s schedule has been off kilter the past few weeks, but we are all getting acclimated to a new routine; and, thankfully, things will get more on track and closer to our ‘normal’ routine starting next week.

We are looking forward to the fall and welcome the change of season. We look forward to celebrating our two anniversaries (the anniversary of our first date and our wedding anniversary); celebrating Victory’s birthday; taking trips to the pumpkin patch and orchard; celebrating Halloween; enjoying Doug carving his yearly pumpkin; lighting fall scented candles; and welcoming cooler temperatures, to name a few!

Happy Wednesday!

Aug 26

Painting: Victory’s Portrait

We finally had Victory’s portrait painted, which is painted in the same vein as her brother, Biscuit’s painting, shown below. They soon will be hung side by side in our dinning room!

For Victory, since she is a little refined beauty, we decided to have an Audrey Hepburn inspired painting. Below are some images, from around the web, that I put together to create a small inspiration board for the painting featuring the clothing, tiara, necklace, colors, etc.

Next, we found two images of Victory to base the painting off of, shown below.

Next, the images were cropped similar to Biscuit’s painting and then situated next to Biscuit’s painting to see which image of Victory would work better. We chose the image of Victory with the brick wall in the background, while incorporating her furs from the image in front of the Christmas tree, as we felt this image aesthetically worked better with Biscuit’s painting.

After creating an inspiration board and the selecting the two images of Victory, shown above, we commissioned Mary Medrano to paint Victory’s portrait. She also painted Biscuit’s portrait, shown below, in 2011, soon after we rescued our sweet dear Biscuit.

With this visual information, Mary created a preliminary sketch of Victory, which the painting was based on, while keeping in mind our vision for the portrait. The sketch is shown below.

Below is the final portrait of Victory, which we are very pleased with! Mary was great to work with, and we corresponded during the entire process over email, and she let us see her progress every step of the way, which allowed us to provide feedback along the way, which we enjoyed. As you can see, we also made sure to incorporate Victory’s name in her tiara, as Biscuit’s name appeared just below his handkerchief.

Finally, shown below, is how the paintings will soon be hung in our home — Victory and Biscuit will soon be hung, side by side, in our dinning room! Since moving into our new home nearly three years ago, we saved a spot on the wall for Victory’s portrait. Our loves, Biscuit and Victory, will forever proudly be displayed in our home!

Have a wonderful weekend! It has been a really busy week for us and we are going to soak up some time at our pool this weekend!

Aug 19

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Photographs: Vacationing at Lake Michigan

We vacationed at Lake Michigan recently, and I finally had time to finish culling and editing the images from our vacation, our third vacation with our dear, Victory! You can view the snapshot of our vacation here, which I posted upon our return from Lake Michigan! (You can also view our vacation last year with Victory to Quebec City here; and you can view our vacation two years ago with Victory to Montreal, Quebec here.)

Our family, along with our furry family members, rented a house for a week within a short walk to the lake! Fortunately, we only had one day of rain during our vacation! We got to spend a week with my parents, my sister, and our little nephew, Liam! Doug and I went for morning walks together along the lake, and we even ended up crossing over into Indiana on our walks! We did not pack the Hound About for this trip, so Victory did not come with us on the long walks, especially since it was very warm outside. Victory did well on our trip and she loved the beach and she got along well with her ‘Uncle Nick!’ and her ‘cousin’ Liam!

Doug enjoys good bourbon, so we went to the Journeyman Distillery and took a tour with my sister and brother-in-law. Doug has built quite the collection of different types of bourbon! We also ate several times at the Distillery’s restaurant, the Staymaker. The food was very good, and bourbon was incorporated in every menu item! We also took a day trip to Notre Dame, and the dogs did really well on campus. We did not even have to get out our Ergo for Victory during this trip!

My Dad and Doug made it to the Casino where Doug doubled his money while playing blackjack, while my Mom, sister, and I did some clothes shopping in Michigan City.

We also played lots of Dominos. Doug is officially the reigning Domino winner. Nobody can seem beat him!

We really enjoyed our time at the beach and the lake. Doug and I went swimming in the lake quite a bit. The water was very beautiful, clear, and clean! It was a little rocky walking into the lake, but there was plenty of sand when we walked out a bit into the lake. I even found several heart-shaped stones on the beach! We had planned to take Victory in the lake with her life jacket on, but we decided not to this time. Doug was scared Victory would get too scared. (Doug is an over protective Daddy to Victory!) Victory dipped her little white paws in the water, though, shown below, similar to her first time at the beach while we vacationed in Quebec. Liam also dipped is feet, for the first time, into the lake, too!

Most of all, we are grateful for our time away together. We enjoyed spending time together; getting away; having a change of scenery; and having days where we had no plans and were able to take each day as it came. Even after 14 hours in the car on the ride home, Victory still spotted her exit to her house, and she loved coming home and going into her garage, like always!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! We are soaking up the last several weekends relaxing at our pool, while it is still open!

Aug 16

Around Here: August

We have been enjoying the last months of summer! It has been very hot this summer, and it is hard to believe that summer will be coming to an end in several weeks. However, we are looking forward to fall, one of our favorite seasons. Below are some items that have occurred around here in August!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project — this December is my target finish date after nearly four years of consistent work!

-we took a vacation to Lake Michigan! (More photos to come this week!)

-we celebrated our birthdays and we had a fun birthday weekend together!

-we took another trip to the Eastern Shore for crabs and shrimp with Victory!

-I accepted a new position, which I am excited about starting!

-Victory’s Audrey Hepburn inspired portrait is almost finished and we love it! I can’t wait to share it!

-finished my new website.

-tried acupuncture for the second time.

-we pretty much finished our spring/summer cleaning — we have a couple of closets left remaining to clean out!

-enjoying the final weeks at our neighborhood pool, relaxing and reading!

-enjoying evening walks with Victory in her Hound About, when it is not too hot to walk outside!

-enjoying evening runs to TCBY for frozen yogurt with Victory — her favorite is the peanut butter frozen yogurt! I had a TCBY yogurt birthday cake made for Doug’s birthday, and he loved it!

-enjoying time on our decks together on cooler evenings, watching the sun set.

-burning summer scented candles in our home!

-my friend introduced me to singing bowls, which are neat.

-began watching The Night Of, a really good series.

-watched Miracles from Heaven, a really good movie.

-enjoying the second season of the Magic Lessons Podcast, with a lot of good content and lessons.

-began reading The Alchemist — a good read so far.

-still using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Tuesday!

Aug 12

Happy Birthday, Doug!

We are kicking off our birthday weekend today in celebration of Doug’s birthday with a trip to the Eastern Shore!

Happy Birthday, Doug! I cannot believe another year has flown by and that we have known each other just shy of twelve years next month. I cannot imagine sharing my life with anyone else. You are my best friend. You are my rock. You are my confidant. I cannot imagine getting through the past several months without you. You keep me balanced and grounded with your steadfast patience. You are one of the most kind, giving, thoughtful, and generous people I have ever met. You are truly remarkable. Words cannot express how fortunate I am to be sharing my life with you — and I am certain Victory feels the same way as exemplified by the love she showers you with every day! We love you always! Happy Birthday!

Also, Victory, pictured below, did some online birthday shopping for her Daddy and Mama!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Aug 10

Planning a Birthday Theme for your Furry Family Member

It is our birthday week! Doug’s birthday and my birthday are right next to each other! We always celebrated Biscuit’s birthday during our birthday week as well! So, this got me thinking about Victory’s birthday in October. She will be five-years-old, we think, as she is a rescue. You can view Victory’s first birthday celebration with us here where she turned three-years-old; and you can view Victory’s second birthday celebration with us here where she turned four-years-old. I like to plan, when I can, and I think we are going to have a light pink and gold themed birthday for Victory this year. It is fitting with her golden colored fur coat! We have fun documenting Victory’s birthday each year, and it will be fun to look back through the years and see her physical changes. Growing up, my Mom had our portraits taken around our birthday each year through college — so I am continuing this tradition with our fur girl, Victory!

Here are some birthday ideas to celebrate Victory’s fifth birthday! We cannot believe that she will be with us three years on October 12, her adoption date, which we made her birthday! The time really has gone by too quickly! All items, shown below, can be purchased through Oh Happy Day!

Below Victory is pictured on her third birthday — a rainbow themed birthday; and she is also pictured on her fourth birthday — a pink themed birthday. These are the two birthdays, so far, that we have celebrated since rescuing Victory!

Aug 8

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Happy Birthday, Biscuit

Today is Biscuit’s birthday. He would have been thirteen-years-old presuming his age was accurate when we rescued him. However, it is very likely he was older. We made August 8th Biscuit’s birthday as it was the day Biscuit was rescued off the streets in North Carolina where he was then taken to the Sheltie Haven Sheltie Rescue, Inc. We rescued Biscuit from this rescue organization on January 7, 2011.

We celebrated Biscuit’s birthday in Nova Scotia during the summers of 2011 and 2012; and in 2013, we spent our last vacation together in Manchester, Vermont. We had a wonderful time together. Doug and I have many wonderful memories of our summer vacations together with Biscuit. We know that Biscuit is always with us in spirit.

Whenever I see a rainbow, I think of Biscuit. We have seen several rainbows, including a double rainbow, this spring and summer, and, each time, we immediately thought of Biscuit.

Below is one of my favorite images of Biscuit and Doug taken on the beach in Hubbards, Nova Scotia.

Biscuit, we hope that you have a wonderful birthday! We hope that you are running on the beach with your sheltie furs blowing in the wind — a lovely and lasting image and memory that I will always cherish! You are always and forever in our hearts, our sweet dear Biscuit. Thank you for the many, everlasting gifts you gave to us. We love you and miss you very much. Happy Birthday!

Aug 2

Snapshot: Lake Michigan Vacation

We are back from Lake Michigan! We are getting back into the swing of things from being gone! It was a long car ride, nearly 14 hours. Fortunately, Doug did most of the driving for us! Victory was a trooper in the car and she did really well on vacation.

We were really fortunate that we had nice weather and temperatures during our vacation! Today’s post is a sneak peek, as I have not finished editing the images from our trip. If you follow along on Instagram, I shared a few images from our vacation during our vacation!

Our family rented a house for a week within a short walk to the lake! Doug and I went for morning walks together along the lake, and we even ended up crossing over into Indiana! Victory loved the beach and she got along well with her ‘Uncle Nick!’

Doug enjoys good bourbon, so we went to the Journeyman Distillery and took a tour. We also ate several times at the Distillery’s restaurant, the Staymaker. The food was very good, and bourbon was incorporated in every menu item! We also took a trip to Notre Dame, and the dogs did really well on campus. Victory has now toured Penn State; Princeton; and now Notre Dame! She is weighing her college options!

My Dad and Doug made it to the Casino where Doug doubled his money while playing blackjack, while my Mom, sister, and I did some shopping in Michigan City. My nephew, Liam, got some cute new fall clothing!

Most of all, we enjoyed our time at the beach and the lake. Doug and I went swimming in the lake quite a bit. The water was very clear and clean! We had planned to take Victory in the lake, but we decided not to this time. She did dip her little paws in the water, though, similar to her first time at the beach while we vacationed in Quebec.

We also played lots of Dominos. Doug is officially the reigning Domino winner. Nobody can beat him!

Even after 14 hours in the car on the ride home, Victory still spotted her exit to her house. She was exhausted, and she actually slept some in the car on the ride home, which is a first, but she still managed to recognize her exit to her house and to the garage — one of her all time favorite activities — returning home via the garage! She was so excited to be home in familiar surroundings!

Enjoy the snapshot of photos from our vacation below! Once I finish editing the images from our vacation, I will put a proper blog post together to share in the next week or two, I hope. Stay tuned.

Jul 22

Gone Fishing…

We are headed to Lake Michigan with our fur girl, Victory, for a vacation! It has been an unexpectedly chaotic spring and summer for us, so it will be nice to have a breather. The blog will be back with regular content in early August.

Meanwhile, if you are in a blog-reading mood, you are warmly invited to visit the archives — the links are shown below.

Dog Related posts

Dog Rescue posts

‘Dog-Centric’ Artists Interviews

For Artists posts

Photography posts

Personal posts

Victory Related posts

Tips for planning and vacationing with your furry family member

Additionally, if you are interested, here are some links to some of our previous vacations — Nova Scotia, 2011; Nova Scotia, 2012; Vermont, 2013; Vermont and Québec, 2014; and Vermont and Québec City, 2015.