I’ve been working on my mangy backyard diligently one day a week, every week. I seriously don’t know what the hell I’m doing. But, I know what weeds look like and I pull those out — at least I hope they’re weeds. Pull and yank, pull and yank. So far, that’s what my gardening life is all about.

I’ve been “pruning” and clearing other parts of my life, too. Pugly Pixel is one thing I’m trying to work on (I’ll share my thoughts about this in a future process post). My closet is another. I’ve purged most of the stuff from Forever 21 and Modcloth and what remains are simple pieces that are not cool, per se, but I know I’d wear them in a heartbeat. Gone are the things that I’d wear in the elusive someday.

There are 50 or so items left in my wardrobe. Please note that my old decrepit, and priceless, ’80′s band t-shirts and underwear were never in danger! Also, I know these photos don’t show much, so I’ll make it up with some outfit posts… someday. :)

More snaps of the same peonies, this time, taken with my Nikon DSLR. As you can see, I don’t own a vase and had to improvise! I’m going to buy a vase eventually, perhaps one of these or these.

More Polaroids, guys. I like these a lot better than the two that I showed you last time. Dried flowers and peonies, what’s not to like, right? I got the peonies from Trader Joe’s.

These polaroids were taken the day after I bought the peonies. I was surprised to see them mature rather quickly, especially since the flowers in the bunch I chose were just a bit larger than golf balls. They blossomed quite a bit on the ride home and by the following morning, they were in full bloom.

My family came over to visit the same weekend. As I gave them a tour of the neighborhood, my niece plucked flowers from random bushes here and there. She’s so fun and I miss her. Very, very much.

By the way, I saved a few of the fallen peony petals. The other dried flowers resting on the window sill think they’re good company. Anyway, I turned them into clip art and you can download the petals from Pugly Pixel by clicking on the peony petal wallpaper.

Check out the depth of field. SX-70 rocks!

I don’t know how to explain it, but of all the polaroids I’ve taken, this is my favorite photo by far.

The title for this post isn’t fair, I know, but for lack of imagination and a better title, there it is. When I took these photos a couple of weeks ago, I was secretly wishing that the Polaroid versions would trump the pictures that came out of my iPhone. Oh, well, that obviously didn’t happen and yes, I am disappointed, but mostly because each shot was expensive. Heck, the camera and the film cost more than my iPhone. DOH! Most of all, I blame bad composition and focus. But, all hope is not lost! Though, there is plenty of room for improvement, for sure.

Hey, have you guys heard about Susannah Conway’s upcoming SX-70 class? I’m keen on signing up for that one. I might sign up for her Photo Meditations class, too — we’ll see!

By the way, Chico LOVES our porch. He spends his days monitoring the backyard, growling at people walking by, and cats and squirrels, too. In fact, one of our backyard critters looks like that crazy squirrel-like thing from Ice Age. Chico hates him the most… with a passion.

Polarizing Filter photo ↬ Photojojo

As I mentioned last time, I bought a polarizing filter for my iPhone and I finally got the chance to take some photos with it. Notice how the filter effectively decreases many reflections. It’s just too bad the filter is slightly too small and vignettes full-frame photos captured by the native camera. Square photos (IG) are not affected. Phew. Overall, it works and I’m pretty pleased. How about you guys? Any iPhone filters you recommend?