Barb's Texture Tuesday

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to hop over to Kim Klassen's blog for Texture Tuesday only to find my blogging friend, Barb from Keeping Up With The Times as the guest host for today.  I started following Barb's blog shortly after I began blogging and always find it delightful.  She has everything from recipes, to photography, to how-to's...I especially like it when the season's change and she re-do's her home decor.  So check out Kim's "Texture Tuesday", and then Barb's "Keeping Up With The Times"...both are delightful.

And speaking of delightful....I bought another cup.  I know that just really astonishes you that I would even consider ANOTHER cup.  On my last barn huntin' trip, we stopped in Hinckley, IL where we had the best lunch at their local diner and followed up at a stop at a sweet little antique shop where I found this.  Now how could I resist this charmer?

I added Kim's "Charmed" texture, just one soft light layer which added charm to this charmer.   Now say that fast 10 times....

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever."  ~  Isak Dinesen


Until next time.....

The Week Ahead

Hope your week ahead is filled with the sweetness of cherries....

The happiness of sunflowers....

And a little path to the unknown....

Linking up to Tricia's Barn Charm...

"Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."  ~  Carl Sandburg

Until next time...

The Weeks That Were July, 2012

I began the year so good, as I do many things start but never finish, by creating a collage of my week. Now that the year is half gone, actually over half, I want to start again and maybe this time finish.  So...I begin again....

"There is no point at which you can say, Well I am successful now.  I might as well take a nap."  ~  Carrie Fisher

Until next time.....

Scavenger Hunt Sunday The July 29, 2012 Edition

Oh my gosh, this is the end of July already...next week is August which means back-to-school for so many.  But let's enjoy summer while it's still here and what better way than to go to the fair.  I gathered all of the prompts from my trip to the fair on Friday, love when I can do that.  This week the challenges are:

• Paint
• Green
• Eyelashes
• Shapes
• Clouds

PAINT....I love how they (?) paint everything so bright and colorful at the fair.  Linking up to

GREEN - These kids are ready to ride the Green Dragon...look at the excitement on their faces...!!

EYELASHES...how sweet is this face with those eyelashes!

SHAPES...Oh my, look at the shape of this ride....if I rode this, I wouldn't be in any shape to do anything for the rest of the day....!!

CLOUDS....The sky was so beautiful on Friday, practically every shot had blue skies with puffy white clouds.  My favorite kind of sky.

That's it for another week.  Stop by Ashley's blog and see other paint, green, eyelashes, shapes and clouds and have a great week ahead.  I am also linking up to Nancy's "My Sunday Best"...hop on over there too and see other's Sunday Bests.

Until next time....

Bokehliscious

Each week we have a new prompt on our Flickr group, Prompt Addicts.  This group was formed after a bunch of us took every class that Tracey Clark offered at Big Picture Classes.  Her classes were all based on a daily prompt and when they ended, we didn't want those prompts to end, thus the beginnings of the Prompt Addicts group on Flickr.  Each week, not daily, we receive a new prompt, this week it was bokeh....now as a photographer I LOVE a good bokeh, you know those tiny sparkly spots that magically appear in the background of your photo if you are lucky to catch them.  And sometimes if you just use that noggin that God gave you, you know that if you shoot a certain way, you are bound to turn up some good bokeh.

These are my "bokehliscious" images for this week....

To end my week, today I attended a wedding shower for my good friend, Joan's daughter, Lisa.  Joan has three daughters, Lisa being the youngest and the last of the three to get married.  What a beautiful afternoon, and what a cute and charming couple...couldn't resist adding their photo to my magical week...

Hope your week has been filled with magical light....!!

"Set exciting personal goals.  You will live longer."  ~  Bob Moawad

Until next time.....

A Sunny Sunflower Day

My back door is open....now that may not seem like a big deal, but what it really means is that the heat has dissipated (for now anyway) and the humidity has lowered.  And I even snuck in a nap on the back porch this afternoon.  I do believe the heat is returning by Monday, but while it's gone I am relishing in the freshness of an open door with breezes blowing.

This morning, prior to Catherine picking me up to go sunflower hunting and to check out the DuPage County Fair, I sat on the backporch, enjoying my coffee....

About 7:45 AM Catherine and I headed down to Wilmington, IL to find the sunflower fields.  Never knew these existed around here, but after driving awhile (actually a long while) we found them.  Unfortunately they were behind a locked NO TRESPASSING fence and many of them were pretty droopy, which I am sure was due to the lack of rain and all the heat.  We did the best we could behind the fence snapping away and marveling at the fact that there really is a field of sunflowers right here in Illinois.

Heading back, the sky began to clear (it had looked like rain earlier) and off we went to the fair.  Great day to go, not too crowded and seniors (which I am) got in FREE.  There are definitely some advantages to being old...the ticket lady actually asked to see my driver's license which is always a day brightener.  Shortly after arriving I spotted this little girl with her sunflower hat on.  I asked her Mom if I could take her picture and she said..."sure"...what a charmer.

If I had my life to live over again, I just might want to become a child photographer.  I so enjoy capturing the naturalness of children.  It was a good day, filled with sunshine and sunflowers.  More pics of the fair later...rides and food and pigs and cows and goats and chickens...fun day.  Thus the nap on the back porch, I was exhausted.  Hope your day was filled with sunshine....

"Friends feed each other's spirits and dreams and hopes; they feed each other with the things a soul needs to live."  ~  Glen Harrington-Hall


Please hop on over to my collaborative blog, Focusing on Life, and read my post on "other ways to express your love."

Linking up to

 

Until next time....

A New Day

Every dawn brings unlimited possibilities, 

challenges,

hope.

Don't be bound by yesterday.

Look ahead - with optimism

Create your future afresh...

Linking to Deb's This or That Thursday and Nancy's A Rural Thursday.

"Fill your life with as many moments and experiences of joy and passion as you humanly can.  Start with one experience and build on it."  ~  Marcia Wieder

Until next time....

Too Much Squawking!!

As my English friends would say, "it's bloody hot", as I would say, "it's hot as hell".  I ran errands and shopped most of the day. In between stops I would glance at the temperature gauge which would show me it was either 101 or 102 outside.  I grew up in weather like this in Texas, but it was supposed to be that hot there, not here.  


Oh stop....it sure doesn't do any good to complain about it.  Just be grateful that you have an air-conditioned car to drive and an air conditioned house to live in and I am...but I have to say it just one more time....it's hot.  OK I'm done.  


Along with being hot (oh, sorry, I said it again), I am excited beyond belief.  This morning a sweet friend of mine, who follows my blog, (that makes her doubly sweet) called and asked me to be the photographer for a family reunion they are having in a couple of weeks.  About 50 people are gathering to celebrate the life of her husband's father & mother while they are both still living.  She asked me to come and shoot the celebration, both posed and candid shots.  Oh I am ecstatic...so much to think about, so much to plan for.  I am giddy.  OK, Deanna take a deep breath.  


Anyway, needed to share that.  And I am just about ready to start printing all of my postcards for Kat's postcard swap then off to the post-office to get them mailed.  Not like waiting until the last minute.  And I gotta admit the hardest thing about this swap is deciding which image(s) to use.  


Prompt Addicts (flickr group) theme this week is bokeh...here is today's entry...my Limelight Hydrangea is just coming into bloom, and I love all this pretty sun-lit bokeh in the background.

My pink hydrangeas are blooming again after the first 40+ blooms pretty much fried due to the heat, hopefully these will last a little longer, but not if we continue to have 100 + degree days. There I go again, talking about the heat.  But looking ahead, the temps are supposed to be in the 80's for the rest of the week, maybe you won't have to listen to me squawk anymore.

I have never messed around with the filters in Photoshop Elements, but I did with this...kinda of a neat look.

"As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more."  ~  Jules Renard

Until next time....

Doubly Blessed

I'ts raining, it's pouring

The old woman is snoring

She drank her tea and went fast asleep

And didn't wake up until morning

My friend, Dotti, who I share our collaborative blog with, Focusing On Life, have never met in person, but will come October when we are both attending Camp Oasis, sent me a wonderful box filled with the most delightful aromas when opened.  It was loaded with teas, all kinds, but one tin was filled with what Dotti says is the remedy for all sleep problems chamomile with lemon.  Now I have mentioned my sleep issues before, more than once unfortunately and I will welcome any and all gifts especially if it involves a good night's sleep.  So....last night prior to bed, I made myself a "cuppa" chamomile tea with lemon, smelled delightful, tasted divine, didn't even have to add sugar it was so heavenly.  Now will it help me sleep?  I didn't fall asleep immediately, I have to admit, but after my nightly "sit and rock" on the back porch I crawled back into bed and lo and behold fell fast asleep and didn't wake up until I heard the sound of rain early this morning. I have been doubly blessed this morning, a good night's sleep and rain.  Wow a twofer.  That chamomile tea is magic!! Thanks again, Dotti.

Walking out to the backyard after the rain had stopped my flowers were smiling and I could almost hear them giggling they were so happy to feel the rain and drink in the moisture.  I can give them water from the hose each day, but there is something about rain from above that gives what they need to be happy.  

The hydrangeas are blooming again.

Even the monarda which is almost spent, appreciated the rain..

And my entry for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday, outdoors is the theme...sunflowers in the summer time, love them!!

"Let the rain kiss you

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops

Let the rain sing you a lullaby"

Until next time....

The Choices We Make

When a tragedy happens like the one that occurred in Colorado last week, I begin to think about life's journey and what brings most of us to live good lives.  Not perfect and certainly not without pain, sorrow and loss but usually filled with joy and blessings.

As a young person growing up I would classify my life as happy except for the chore of babysitting my younger brother every summer because our Mom worked.  Oh could I tell you stories about those trials, but another day.  I grew up in Dallas, TX in a typical suburban neighborhood, riding bikes, swimming, playing in the woods (who would let their children play in the woods today?), hide and go seek after dark, summer camp.

And then you wonder what kind of a childhood did the gunman have?  He may have led the same kind of life I led, good parents, good schools, not rich, but not poor either.  And as we grow older, decisions are made....crossroads enter our life.  Some of us make the right decisions, chose the right paths.

We become curious about other people, places, or things and certainly other ways of life other than the familiar...

We begin to discover new friends, get new jobs, try new things.....

We begin to discover the wide world that is open to us to discover and enjoy.....

We know there are many roads that we can decide to travel on, some lead us to happiness, some are better left untraveled....

Some have twists and turns....

As I look back on the roads I have traveled, the choices I have made I do not have one regret.  Some choices may have not been ideal, but sometimes those lead to making better choices later on.  And again, I wonder what kind of choices did this young man make in his life that brought him to taking away the lives of others.  I am sad for all those that have lost loved ones, for those that have been injured, for those that will now feel unsafe wherever they go, and I am sad for the family of the gunman, their lives are forever changed and scarred by their son's choices.  I pray for them all.

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm and Rosie's Color Me Weekly

"We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not.  Our actions and states of mind matter, because we're so deeply interconnected with one another." ~  Ram Dass

Until next time.....