Did she say sky ??

OK,  I haven't been doing the blog thingy for Thursday lately.

With the theme "Sky"  and the beautiful photos I have this week, well, just have to share :

 Just a few hours after some really wild thunder storms.  I know, hard to believe, but true!

 How about a full moon to guide you home?

 Hard to decide which is prettier, the blue sky or the blue bonnets.

 Yep, God Blessed Texas and we do have clouds sometimes - - surrounded by blue of course!

And sometimes, there isn't even any wind to blow your hair-do all our of sorts.

The word is "mud" . . . . . . 

Well, you have all heard men talk about "the one that got away" usually in reference to fish.  That is what I keep encountering in my photo opportunities.

Cari was curious what I would find for the topic of the week. This time, Dave actually found it for me.  We are driving down the road, I've got myself wrapped up in a game of some sort on my phone and he tell's me - "You missed the two horses playing in the mud"  ! ! ! !  WHAT ???

That is the topic of the week - go back I say, go back !!

Of course, the horses aren't playing in the mud any longer, but one is rolling on the ground to remove the mud 

Yes, folks it is mud!  Not much mud, but it is mud and a horse. That's an added bonus.  Since I have no children here to put in the photos, I have added one cute horse!

That is honest to goodness Texas mud.   Nothing fancy, no clever editing, just plain ole mud!

On our way to St Patrick's Day . . . . 

We stopped for a bit 'o "green". 

As always, with my first impression of the topic of the week - I hated it!  So typical of me.  What in the world am I supposed to do with "green" ?

Well, by Sunday I had begun to have lots of thoughts about "green".  Green is one of my favorite colors but I have never thought about green as being a photo topic before.

OK, so I head off for a much needed walk. Did I take along the camera?  nope . . 

So, here we have picMonkey enhanced photos taken with my camera phone.

Lovely moss.  So soft, fuzzy and natural.  I just love it!  And a wonderful wild vine with a pretty red stem. Photo hint # ? something or other from was it Uncle Jim ?  Whatever and whomever, it does add a nice touch.

For St. Patrick's Day - have to add a photo of green clover!  Believe you me, I searched for a 4 leaf clover and still have never found one!  Someday, someday.

So, that was my walk and what I found along the way.  Still looking around my house I saw lots of green this week and came up with idea that I saw a certain daughter-in-law use on the topic of  "yellow" one time.  Here we have my "green" arrangement on the mantle.  All of these things except for the Starbuck's card and the mother-in-law plant are always on the mantle, not in this arrangement, but on the mantle. Sure isn't the shades of green found in my walk.

So, there we have this week's topic of  "green".

  Can't wait to see what the other folks come up with!

Happy/Joy Photo Assignment

It was a glorious day . . . .  well for the most part

Woke up to my perfect cup of coffee prepared by my personal barrista a.k.a. husband Dave.  I then got to have a nice shower, a kiss from Dave as he headed out to a CERT training day and then leisurely finish getting ready for church.

Church was wonderful. Very good sermon, singing and class today.  Truly we felt God's presence.

Since I was on my own for lunch, I decided to stop by a favorite lunch spot of mine - -

 
This counts as "happy" for me ! !

OK, then home, change clothes, spend a few minutes attaching new registration tag to car window - OMG what a task that was to get that glue off of the window! 

Since it was so gorgeous outside, I decide to take the dog, head to Mrs. Lee's Daffodil  garden and view the beautiful daffodils.   http://www.daffodilgarden.com/daffodils_home.htm

It's beautiful, free, not too terribly far off, doubt husband would really enjoy it - - so off we go, Sugar and me - -

Yup, she's one "happy" puppy riding in the car.  So excited to be going somewhere with me. 

And, it is so beautiful - - makes my heart smile to see God's creation in wonderful bloom! 

So, here we go with some photos . . .

Daffodils are such happy flowers!  And, their little blooms turn to face the sun - or so it seems to me that they do.

 

We arrived at the first parking area, and Sugar and I get out to go explore.  Look at her, she will sit and let me take her photo!

What is that?  I do not know.  A tree stump, trunk?  interesting whatever it is.

 

Look how pretty!  This could have been the last pretty photo I took - - before I discovered that my car keys were missing!  Yep, just me,Sugar, and lots of strangers out in the daffodils.  Now, you have to realize this is frightening, not panicky, but frightening.  I begin to retrace steps.  Keep calm, keep calm.  It is getting on into the late afternoon and the park locks the gate at 4 p.m. Well, some folks I had passed earlier are making their way to their cars, I mention the need to find key. They seem concerned. Not hopeful of finding them soon.  They live in Tyler - which is about 30 miles North

 West of the gardens.  Gilmer where I live is about 25 miles South East of the gardens.  This man offers to take me home! Even is willing to bring me back with extra set of keys.  What an angel of mercy!  I accept his offer, since I don't know what else to do.  I can't call anybody since I have no phone numbers in my memory and my cell phone is safely locked in my car.  When we start our trip, we make introductions.  My name is Skip and this is my wife Joy!  I kid you not - - her name is Joy!

So, I have happy/Joy photos for sure!

Yup - - Joy & Skip

@ my house

 

 

I assure them that I am grateful and won't bother them to take me back to my car.  I will have my lucky, wonderful neighbor do that.  So, we go back, retrieve car and I come on home.

I come up with the idea that with a metal detector, I can find my keys.  I secure one to borrow and plan to return to the garden on Tuesday to find my keys.  Few people are encouraging me in this idea. Not the groundskeeper, not his wife, not the gate keeper, not the folks I borrow the metal detector from.  Well, my sister and I go back to the garden and begin retracing my path.  The borrowed metal detector works about a fourth of the way and then - - battery low!!  OH NO!!  I stop on the path at about half way mark and pray to God for help in directing my path.  A new key is going to cost over $100 - - crazy !!  So, we continue on.  Not losing hope, but not overly optimistic and then . . . .

There they are!  not covered in leaves, not hidden, just there shining up at me - waiting for me to return and claim them!  Now I have the picture of  "joy"  "happy" on my face!

The daffodils are still out there, still happy and still bringing joy to all who have the opportunity to visit the garden.

Project Equals Rain here in Texas ~ ~

Well, ever since Cari told me I could do photos on any day - not just Thursday, I have had my mind set on Wednesday since that is my day off.  For the past two weeks, it has poured rain on Wednesday...or been awfully overcast and gray.  So much for Wednesday.

I have started taking my camera with me more often. Last Saturday morning, I braved the cold and got some photos of a great little gazebo/chapel thingy at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Longview, Texas.

I had so much fun playing around with that picmonkey - I can' even tell you what I did.  I can tell you it looks better than the raw photo did!

This one I think I did a focus on the cross at the top, not real sure. The whole thing looks a bit blurry to me this morning!

The structure has these windows on both ends.  I thought I would like the shot with the blue sky behind, however - when I got home and looked, this one with the trees was my favorite shot, hands down!  For some reason, I really like it.

In between rain showers yesterday I took this photo of the entrance to a medical center.  It is just very, very different and I like it.

So, there you have it.  Some others, are just hanging out in my computer, but I have started looking at the world through different eyes since we started this project.

Thanks Cari for such a good idea! 

Trees/Leaves Thursday

Well, this is my attempt to take photos of trees or leaves.  I am by no means a photographer.  I just take pictures.

Today is Wednesday and my day off.  Well, the skies were very cloudy - my camera being plugged into the computer for a week left me with a dead battery!  So.........I am left with only my phone to take photos.

My trip to and from Longview takes me past a couple of really nice trees that always catch my eye.

This is one of them -

 I do not know what happened to this tree.  It was just tall and had the large limbs at the top when we moved here a couple of years ago.  The holes in the end of the branches make me curious.  It seems to be getting new branches now.  Perhaps it will be putting out leaves soon.

My most favorite tree is at the First Presbyterian Church in Longview.  It is one fantastic tree. I truly wish I had my other camera working.  It is what it is -

 

and a close up of the wonderful blooms -

The next is in my own yard, planted in memory of my mother, who loved weeping willow trees.

and it is beginning to get leaves already -

You can see the skies decided to clear up.  I was not heading back to Longview.  My  oh my,  how the skies changed in two hours!

Thanks Cari for having me look at my world a little closer!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Theme today :  Hat or Scarf
Endless possibilities.  I chose this :

Sony DSC-W330
Focal Length: 4.7mm
1/250s
f/2.7
ISO: 80

Then I chose this one:

This one is not retouched in Picassa because my lunch time is over .

Saturday at the Homestead

Start of the day, bright and early @ 6:45 a.m.  with the great group of Godly women at BSF Leader's Meeting. We were joined by the area team today. What a great way to start the day!

After a quick trip to Kohl's for some savings, back home for a little while.

Spoke with Ken and Debra on the phone today!  Wow, actually was able to talk with both of my children on teh same day.  I am blessed!

Dave and I took Sugar for a promised outing. She loves to go and has not been with us for a long time. Today, she got to ride in the truck and we finished off our ride with a trip to Sonic. She enjoyed a partial breakfast burrito. At home, she and I promptly took our naps.

Dave did some much over due lawn work while I did some things in the house.

Now, here we are.  It has been a good day so far and expect the evening to be quiet and peaceful.

I had a blog long, long ago.  I never did much with it.

Due to the photo project my daughter-in-law has going, I thought I would start another one so that I can load my photos easier.

Today, our project was Sun Flare or Haze.  Well, we have no haze here today in East Texas, so Sun Flare was my project.  Hate to admit, I had to google Sun Flare last night to even know what a Sun Flare was!

I am not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, just like having a fun project to be a part of.

My camera is a very simple Canon Sure Shot.  I point and shoot - and hope for the best.

No editing whatsoever has been done to these photos.  Maybe on another day, but not today.

 

So, there you have it.  My first project!