biscuit's space | The blog of photographer Katherine Carver

Oct 31

Happy Halloween from our Dinosaurs!

Happy Halloween! Halloween is one of our favorite times of the year! We love the fall season! This is Alex’s sixth Halloween! Victory is a dinosaur this year for Halloween along with her little sister, Alex, shown below! Victory (along with Alex) was a rainbow last year; peacock two years ago; Crayola red crayon three years ago; Super Woman four years ago; a unicorn five years ago; Wonder Woman six years ago; a fifties girl seven years ago; a lioness eight years ago; a butterfly nine years ago; and a ladybug for her first Halloween, ten years ago. And Alex had a wonderful Halloween celebration and parade at school today! We hope you have a safe Halloween tonight!

Here is Doug and Alex’s pumpkin, which they worked diligently on this year, shown below! Alex picked a spooky design to carve this year, but Doug did most all of the magical pumpkin work!

Additionally, here are links to other pumpkins carved by Doug: last year; two years ago; three years ago; four years ago; five years ago; six years ago; seven years ago; eight years ago; nine years ago; ten years ago; and eleven years ago!

Here is a short video of the lit pumpkin that Doug carved for us this year! He did a great job, as always!

Further, here is a look back at Victory and Alex over the years on Halloween!

Oct 11

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15 Years In

15 years of marriage. 19 years together, almost two decades together. 5 years of parenting a little human together. 10 years of loving and taking care of our fur girl, Victory, together. You are my favorite human being. You are always by my side, and supportive through everything. You are the greatest gift of my life, and each day spent with you is truly a gift. I look forward to many, many more years together, knowing that we can get through anything together. Most of all, you are an incredible Daddy to our girls! We are all so incredibly blessed and grateful for you. Happy fifteenth wedding anniversary!

And, we recently celebrated this milestone, along with celebrating Victory being with us for 10 years, (tomorrow is the day we adopted Victory 10 years ago from the Michigan Sheltie Rescue), and Alex’s love of horses, in Lexington, Kentucky. It was a really fun time, and the city is very dog friendly, so Victory was able to go with us on most of our outings together, and Victory went nose-to-nose with a Clydesdale horse!

Oct 5

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Victory: Animal Blessing

It is almost Victory’s birthday, it is difficult to believe we have had our beloved fur girl for nearly 10 years! She brings so much joy to our lives. We are immensely grateful she is a part our our little family. We have a fun birthday celebration planned for our precious Victory next week! October 12 is the day we adopted her from the Michigan Sheltie Rescue, and that is the day we made her birthday!

We recently attended the Blessing of the Animals at Alex’s school. We first attended this event last year, and it was really fun to witness Victory receive another blessing. Victory did well, and I am certain she knew that this event was all about her! She took the most adorable photograph, shown below, with the Spirit Bear, and then received her blessing while the Spirit Bear held our fur girl! And, we were given a certificate to take home with Victory’s blessing. It was a fun time together!

Sep 29

Get Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable

Happy Friday! I love this passage from Lisa Congdon about being comfortable while feeling uncomfortable, especially during those times you are embarking on something new! I feel like this very often!

Nearly every day, at various moments, we feel uncomfortable. There is no way of avoiding it. Someone says something that makes us feel insecure. We have an awkward interaction with a friend. We fail to achieve something that feels important to us. When we feel discomfort, we naturally want to make it go away. Sometimes we do that by distracting ourselves with food or alcohol or scrolling through our phones. Sometimes we do that by putting on a smiling face, stuffing our feelings down, and pretending that everything is okay. Sometimes we become defensive. But when we ignore discomfort, we ultimately only gain anxiety and obsessive thoughts and we lose out on learning and growth. Conversely, when we sit with the struggle, enter darkness, and get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable — and we ask, “Why am I feeling this way right now?” and “How can I work through it in a way that is kind and gentle to myself and others?” — we are able to see patterns in our behavior or choices that are holding us back or causing us pain. And when we see these patterns clearly instead of ignoring them, we have the opportunity to work on and change them. Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable. It’s what leads us to the light.”

Sep 21

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We Are Back!

It is almost officially autumn, our favorite time of year! I am back to the blog after taking off part of the spring and the summer, which I had not initially planned on, but it was nice really enjoy our summer together!

Alex finished up pre-K, in June, which she greatly enjoyed. Alex participated in camps this summer, which she also enjoyed! During this spring we did strawberry picking together, which we all loved! We celebrated Father’s Day together! Alex, Victory, and I went to Mackinac Island with my parents, and we we had a great time together staying on the island together, even little Victory loved it! We spent some time with my parents in Michigan as well. Alex had some of her friends over for child-friendly fireworks for the Fourth of July, which she loved; and we made our annual trip to Pennsylvania to procure the fireworks, which Doug always spearheads! Alex continued her horse riding lessons, and we are changing stables, this fall, and we look forward to Alex learning even more, and possibly doing competitions! We celebrated Alex’s fifth birthday with a family birthday celebration, along with a trip to Dutch Wonderland! (Alex’s favorite ride is still the Frog Hopper!) We took our annual family vacation to Rehoboth Beach, which we loved, including Victory, who loved walking on Dewey Beach every evening! Funland was also a hit this summer with Alex! My parents came to visit us just prior to school resuming. We enjoyed time at the pool, and Alex can swim freestyle all on her own now! We enjoyed dinners out together, which included Victory! We recently enjoyed the Anne Arundel County State Fair, and Alex had a great time with a friend, and she enjoyed getting her face painted! Alex enjoyed parties and play dates with her friends throughout the summer! Victory is doing well; and she has two new vets — one in Maryland and one in Michigan, and we are so happy to have these great vets! I spent the summer finishing up my manuscript for the publisher for my book and getting everything turned into the publisher in final form, which is now being copyedited! Now, I am working on the next phase of shepherding this book out into the world next fall! This summer, Doug received a promotion and he began a new leadership position at work; and Alex is now in Kindergarten, which is difficult to believe! She loves her teacher, class, and school — we are very fortunate! A snapshot from this time away from the blog is shown below!

We look forward to apple picking this fall; our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with our beloved Victory; celebrating Victory’s birthday together with a special cake this year; a trip to Lexington, Kentucky; celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary, and we just celebrated 19 years together this month, which is crazy how quickly the time goes by! And, of course, we look forward to Halloween, especially Alex! And, Alex and Victory already have their coordinating costumes ready!

Happy Fall!

Jun 8

Gone Fishing . . .

I hope that your spring is going well! The pools are open and school just let out for the summer! We have been doing a lot of swimming; and Alex has been doing horse riding lessons, which she loves. Victory is doing well, too. I feel like the days are going by way too quickly! How is the year already half over?

I am taking a break from the blog for several weeks to visit family; soak up our days together; rejuvenate; and just be. (I plan to be back here to the blog sometime next month.) I want to thank you, as always, for being here. Whether you are a recent reader or have been following the blog for awhile, I am honored you take time to read the blog. I am truly grateful.

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

Alex Related posts

Happy almost summer!

May 31

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Where is Art Derived?

This is such an interesting idea, this poem by Ha Jin, shown above. Do you agree that poetry (and all art, music, etc.) stems from grief? For sure, I believe that we can take whatever grief we cannot eliminate, and make it into a creative offering.

But if grief were no more — would we stop creating? Perhaps, in addition to grief, wonder and the numinous are other sources for creative inspiration.

I believe art and nature shows us the essence of why we are alive and (if you are spiritually inclined) the divine.

May 24

Loving: Spring 2023

Below are a few things I am loving during this spring.

1. Stokke Chair — We love the adjustable Stokke chair! Alex loves it, too, along with the comfy seat cushion!

2. Minnow Swim Suit — I love these fun swim suits from Minnow Swim — Alex has been wearing these swim suits, along with the Hanna Andersson swim suits, since she first started swimming in 2019.

3. Summersalt Swim Suits — I absolutely love these swim suits, they are very comfortable, well-made, and flattering!

4. Ranger Rick Jr. — In addition to Highlights High Five magazine, Alex really enjoys her monthly Ranger Rick Jr. magazine, especially with all of the different animals featured!

5. Kindfull Dog Treats — We recently found these new dog treats, and Victory loves them!

6. The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin — I recently started reading this book, and it is fascinating! The Creative Act is essentially a book designed to guide an artist through the creative journey. The book is 400 pages but its welcoming tone makes it an easy read. The sentences are short, as are the chapters.

“I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be,” writes Rubin.

The situations he describes will resonate with anyone who has done any kind of creative work for an extensive period. The highs and lows, the roadblocks and self-doubt, and the antenna you have to keep attuned to the universe’s signals.

He encourages experimentation and holding on to childlike wonder. He is against competition and comparison, assuring artists that their competition is only themselves while they are on the path of evolution. “Putting your best effort in at each moment, in each chapter, is all we can ever hope to accomplish,” writes Rubin.

He advises us to continuously work towards a goal, be okay without everything being perfect, and not letting the voices in our heads dissuade us from making it to the finish line. People often think they need some grand idea before they can start working when in fact, you need to sit down, start working, and while you’re working a grand idea will come to you.

You can view other things I love here!

May 19

Glimmers

How lovely is that?

So, recently, I took a walk around the neighborhood with Alex and Victory, and, let me tell you, glimmers abound. Here is a short list:

*Pushing Victory in her Hound About, while seeing her fur glistening in the sun.

*Seeing Alex balancing well on her scooter.

*Alex telling me all about the artwork she plans to make.

*Seeing beautiful flowers blooming.

*Feeling the cool, spring breeze.

*Seeing the sun start to set.

What glimmers have you seen lately?

May 10

Really Exciting News…

I have some really exciting news — my debut book will be released by the publisher during the fall of 2024, which focuses on a long-term photography project I completed employing dogs as my subject, further studying the relationship between dogs and humans. There has never been a project like mine published; and I worked tirelessly for over a decade, and I am extremely elated to have finished everything to turn into the publisher this month! It was a huge feat, to say the least! There is still much to get done, but I am so grateful to have reached this point in the journey. Importantly, this project would not exist if it were not for our sweet dear Biscuit.

Most of all, I am very excited to have the opportunity to share this work with a wider audience to raise awareness about dog rescue and to hopefully help as many dogs in need as possible. (I had previously mentioned, here on the blog, from time to time, over the years, about working on my project.) There are so many people to thank that have helped me along this journey and made this book a reality; and I have two wonderful people writing the foreword and afterword for the book. Additionally, I hope that this book can serve as inspiration to others to really go for their dream, even if it feels impossible.

This blog community is the first place where I have publicly announced this news. When I am able to share more details, I will! I will also let you know when the book is available for pre-order. Along with sharing here, I also hope to create a newsletter to bring you along on this part of the journey.

Thank you for reading!