Okay, dogs have NOTHING to do with it, I just felt like saying that. And I love visualizing all those dogs racing to get to the dog party in the tree:)
But seriously if you want to see something of beauty, of pureness, of loveliness, then go to my friend Kathy's blog and see the latest picture of Grady.
She makes beautiful babies, and beautiful photographs.
Isn't it a stunning photograph of a gorgeous baby?
of the owl my friend Anne found in her tree:)
Looks like an endangered species!
well, not really but in cardboard and in spirit.
I have some very special friends...friends who I have known for 25 years. We worked together at a daycare and have remained friends ever since.
Special friends.....friends that make you laugh so hard you cry. Friends you can rely on for anything. Friends you can pick up with, after years of no contact.
Although it's never been years.
So this summer, I wasn't able to be at the reunion so they brought me to the reunion anyways.
We went to a movie and then for some drinks. It must be cool in Winnipeg because everyone but me has a jacket on!
And no I don't know who that guy is!
And yes, I guess I was the life of the party:)
I mean look at me...I'm always smiling!
Here's to amazing friendships.....in person and in spirit.
I love you all,
XXXXXXXXX
Thanks for a great evening;) I'm exhausted!
Yes, it's Mr. and Mrs. Owl.....is that great or what?????
My next door neighbor has been hearing them at night. She was just telling her family about it , when she looked out the window, and there was one sitting on a tree stump.
Any excuse to buy a telephoto lens I say!!!!
And here I was worried about Max encountering skunks, now I have to worry about him being eaten by owls!
I shouldn't even joke about that:(
Indiana Jones and I will be staked out tomorrow evening on some lawn chairs hoping for another sighting:)
All I wanted was a nice photo to send to Baba.
Not possible. I can't do it.
I need help!
You know...just one of those amazing shots that all my beautiful photographer friends take.....just one.....she was actually showing him the love, believe it or not.
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far....it's been very very hot here.
photo by Kathy McCloy
to Grady McCloy, brand new beautiful son of Kathy and Otey McCloy and brother to Cooper.
It was physically, medically impossible for Kathy to get pregnant ( see sidebar).
I met Kathy when I was in SanFrancisco. She has got the most positive attitude and appreciation of life....Cooper was conceived through invitro, which is amazing as well.
Grady was a surprise to Kathy and Otey and to all the specialists and doctors and nurses.
You see, there are miracles.
Grady McCloy.
Happy Birth Day, sweet beautiful baby.
"Per scientific fact: Any two random humans on earth will vary in their genetic material by 1/1000th of 1 percent. So much hatred spewing forth out of our differences when we could be focusing on our 99.99 percent of similarities.
We all have the same basic human needs and desires; the greatest of which is the need to feel significant. We have a responsibility as parents to teach our children to respect each others' differences but more importantly, to cherish what makes us the same."
This is an exerpt from a photo essay by Laura Siebert
It's so true.....sometimes we are concentrating so hard on the differences, we tend to forget about the similarities. Too bad the people who are spending so much time and money on war couldn't switch their thinking to peace.
Laura
has made some very beautiful images with a very special and timely message.
Take a minute (you'll need more though!) and become entwined
Nathan Sawaya...he used to be a corporate lawyer in NewYork City.
Now he's doing this.
Is this amazing or what?
Is he amazing or what?
Yes, I think he's amazing:)
Thanks to my friend Jill who sent me this.
to all my beloved American Friends....can't wait til the next time I get to walk down an American sidewalk uttering, "I LOVE AMERICA", because I do:)
/swi:t/ adj. & n. adj. 1 having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar. 2 pretty, charming, endearing. 3 fond of; in love with. 4 Karen and Jamie.
n. 1 a sweet part of something; sweetness. 2 Karen and Jamie.
Karen is the sweetest person I have ever met. I mean it. Genuinely sweet. Not sappy, not artificial, but real, true, honest sweetness.
And Jamie? well, I don't know Jamie as well, but from the time I spent with him, and hearing what he said about his bride at the reception....he's pretty darn sweet as well.
Karen and Jamie's wedding cake...made by Karen and family and friends. It was an extra special cake as the recipe for the chocolate balls was from Jamie's mom, Leona, who passed away last year. It was a beautiful gesture which just shows the love of this couple and their families.
Karen and Jamie not only are sweet but they have sweet teeth! They asked every guest to submit their favorite candy on their reply cards. At the reception, the candy table had every guest's favorite sweet treat.
The thought that was put into every detail, big or small, was made for each guest to have a great time. Not only did everyone have a fantastic time, but we were surrounded by lots of laughter, great food and lots and lots of love.
Very very sweet.
having a drumset in the living room.
Life is good.
to have a lemonade stand.
My neighbor Indiana Jones donned another hat, and set up a stand and sold some ICE COLD lemonade.
It's hot outside and a cool glass is just perfect!
Have a relaxing Sunday, whatever neighborhood you're in:)
and so would the MacKenzie Brothers....
I'd love to get one of each and just stack them in my yard, and just look at their loveliness, or put them all together and water the entire yard.
OH WAIT NO...that would just encourage more slugs, and we do not want to do that.
You can find the hoses at Gardeners.Com
Happy Watering:)
just putting the finishing touches on the 5x7 framed portraits I recently did for the middle school grade eight year end.
Nothing like getting 'er done at the last minute.
I'll be up at the crack of dawn to wrap them...I hope they like them:)
DONE DONE DONE....they are done and ready to be delivered. Now I just have to cross my fingers that everyone is happy with them...
Well, actually it's wildflower Wednesday but somehow Weed Wednesday had a better ring to it.
Today is Iris in the Ditch Day as that's where I found this beautiful wild Iris growing. There are actually quite a few growing by the ditch.
And while I'm on the topic of wild flowers, it's not a flower but it's one of my favorites...it is the Tamarack tree also know as the Hackmatack. It is a deciduous conifer member of the pine family.
I've always loved the fact that it is a pine tree which loses it's needles in the fall.
But what I now really really love about it, is it's pinecones. They look like raspberries! I am not kidding. They are bright red and beautiful.
Aren't they beautiful?
I can't wait to see what I find next.
Have a great day everyone:)
I try to think of myself as a kind person. I'd like to think that I would help anyone or anything if they/it needed help.
I love nature....if I find a spider in the house, I put it outside. I let jacob have a snake, a one eared mouse and a gecko. My second favorite flower is the dandelion.
So.....so tell me.....how can I get over my detest of slugs? I cannot STAND the things.
I just counted 25...yes I said TWENTY FIVE slugs in a square foot area. Our yard is 4 and a half acres.
Please DO NOT do the math.
Can anyone out there tell me a legitimate reason why slugs are any good? I mean really.
Please someone tell me that they are like eels...that some people LOVE to eat them.
For I shall soon be rich.
For the first person who tells me a real reason for their purpose, you get a prize.
And no, it's not deep fried slugs. Or any slugs for that matter. Unless you want some;)
Well maybe...now THERE is a good idea.
This has been a non photo post due to the delicate and disgusting nature of the topic.
I hope I don't get blasted by all the slug lovers out there....
Because I have a FULL TIME JOB.
Yes, that's right....because feeding my little friends has now become a full time job.
These little guys and gals are feeding constantly.....and giving me and my other buddies lots of joy as I do the dishes Ummmm.....correction.....when I do the dishes!.....ok ok ok....IF I do the dishes!!!!!!!
Right Elvisesssssssssssssssssss?
Oh yeah, I'd say we've got a whole hunk of burning love going on here:)
It's always happy party time with the Pez'sssssssssssssss.
Happy Happy HAPPY Monday.
taught me so much about life:good and bad.
It's so easy to remember the good: the laughter-he was so so funny, the hugs, the kisses, the love. He was a snappy dresser and a classy guy.
But what I live everyday also is the so called bad, which really, is not so bad afterall.
All that hurt, the tears, the disappointments, all of that, has made me what I am today.
Through all that pain, comes compassion, comes understanding, comes forgiveness, comes good.
So today, on Father's Day, I miss my dear ole Dad.
But truly, I miss him every single day. Every single, solitary day.
So, my hope for today, is that everyone can go out and give a dad a hug.
I will give my kids an extra big hug and be so grateful for my dad, and for them too.
Happy Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads I know.
XXXXXXXXXXX
for anyone who hasn't heard....
You can now watch Coronation Street on the world wide web.
Isn't that fantastic?
I mean, Coronation Street is only one of thee best shows EVER. It is so funny, so well written, so well casted.
And right now, in this busy time of my life....being able to catch episodes on the internet is the next best thing to being in Manchester.
Going to grab a cuppa and enjoy my favorite show:)
This is for all you sweet, wonderful people who have been inquiring about my crop circle garden.
Well.......here ya go.....
The four packages of sweet peas? Never saw another single sight of them after I planted them 4 weeks ago.
The tomato plants? Shrivelled up one frosty night.
The twig fence? The strong winds of Sackville have played havoc on their purpose of standing tall and protecting the garden.....which leads to me to the realization that not only did I make a garden but I also made the world's nicest and largest litter box. Need I say more??????? You're welcome Charlie!
Ok, what else? Oh, the marigolds that I planted beside the tomatoes because that's what we gardeners are supposed to do....they didn't make it through the frost either.
To sum it up....the cat and the billion resident slugs that live on our property adore the garden.
But but but BUT....
did I ever mention that we built our house on an old sheep pasture?
This means that pockets of daisies spontaneously grow in the middle of the grass.
This means that our front yard is full of hundreds of wildflowers. (that's one of my goals-to identify them all)
This means that today the lupins are in bloom but I look forward to when the whole entire front will be awash with daisies.
This means that our property is home to many insects, bumblebees, tons of birds, voles and yes, even snakes. How do I know that? Well, one year Jacob befriended one, made it his pet and then she gave birth. We used to see deer and I have even seen a fox on the driveway.
So my crop circle is taking a little longer to get started but in the mean time, we've got our meadow to keep us happy:)
have a great weekend everyone.
Looks like my computer is in use when I'm not around!
I wonder if she's thinking about all the things she's going to do this summer.
Wonder if she's thinking about unloading the dishwasher, or watering the garden , or mowing the lawn.
Uh.....I highly doubt it.
I don't ever remember being finished school on June 6th. Yikes.
I HAVE to get this girl a list!
Edited Thanks to Chris for pointing out that I meant to say JOB when I said list. You know, job/list can mean many things.....a list of jobs.....an actual J O B, ummmmm..actual work.... it's an interesting concept for a teenager....
A job list.
As Martha would say,'it's a good thing'. :)
have a great day everyone:)
The only thing that is missing is Kermit.
Have a wonderful day everyone:)
that's what we dodged in a 1.5 minute photoshoot.
The girls were going to an Activities Banquet at their highschool.
I'm going to find myself some kind of time machine and transport myself back to highschool. But I will wear one of these sweet dresses.
Do you think that in 30 years, they will look back at these pictures and cringe at the fashions of 2008?
PS..Sprout report-nothing to report:(
Where in the world are those not so sweet peas???????
walking out my front door to this-
Happy Tuesday everyone:)
Confession time.
I've taken snaps which is great. Snapshots are great.
But I haven't picked up my camera and felt passionate.
Like I used to.
Like I want to.
'
That's just what I need to do: Take another picture with my click click click camera....
Click click click camera.
Happy Monday everyone:)
I'm allowed at least one false alarm aren't I? This urban farmer girl is not used to planting things so when I pulled on an adjacent weed.....it just happened to be attached to the so-called sprout.....
oopsie!
I guess I'm alittle excited:)
we HAVE a sprout.
Yes, it's a sprout.
It's not a weed. It's not a weed. It's not a weed.
Not it's not!
.
I planted sweet peas to grow up my twig fence and I know in my heart that it is a sweet pea.
I just know it.
So far I've planted some tomatoes (with marigolds), some parsley, some nasturtiums and some cilantro for my friend Gayle. She loves it so much I want to be able to give her bouquets of it.
Jacob's going to plant some cucumbers. We've voted the teenager to be in charge of the carrots...and we'll top it off with some swiss chard and some other herbs. That should be plenty.
Of course we have the rest of the 4 and a half acres to plant the pumpkin patch:)
It's going to be a great weekend.
I'm in the process of cleaning house...and the computer-don't know which is harder.
I put all my pictures onto an external hard drive-all 7000 of them, but a few stayed on my laptop for some reason.
Here's one from last year that I don't think I ever posted...
Off to plant today...a perfect day for it. The crop circle's looking good:)
Once upon a time there was a blue blow up pool. It was loved by all.
But when winter came, the blue blow up pool had to be cleaned and folded and stored. Unbeknownst to the owner, it was a two person job.
The owner, who was only one person, was too proud to ask for assistance so she tried to move the pool by herself. The pool somehow got moved about 6 feet. The owner got totally frustrated, screamed her head off and then left the pool where she had dragged it to.
The poor blue blow up pool stayed there for 2 years. TWO long years.
Meanwhile, the original spot now had a giant circle of nothing. The owner lovingly called it the crop circle and then closed the blind everytime she looked out the window at the pile of pool.
Fast forward to last week. The owner and a dear friend moved the pool out of the second location only to discover the most beautiful site: the most incredible patch of soil crawling with earth worms.
Ding ding ding......the bells went off and the lights went on. YES, now the owner gets why they are called crop circles....it's because people have blue blow up pools in the middle of their fields or yards, they leave them to do their secondary job (which is to make a crop circle). After 2 years, it's like magic: there is a circle of beautiful earth to grow a beautiful crop in.
And you thought you'd have to rent that movie with Mel Gibson to find out how crop circles were formed.
The owner has now since hauled in 9 bags of sheep manure, situated the compost (dear friend did that) and has built a fence to keep out Max and his girlfriends.
The owner (who would like to remain anonymous) will be posting pictures of the progress at the bottom of this blog.
PS. the owner of the crop circle is willing to rent out the BlueBlowUpPoolCropCircleMaker to anyone who is nice and kind and loves to laugh:)
Have a wonderful weekend everyone:)
that these two get along...
We sure got lucky, bringing an adult cat in to live with an adult alpha male big man dog!
It's funny though; Max the dog thinks he's a cat while Charlie the cat, acts like a dog. Don't know how that happened but it makes for alot of laughs:)
Have a great day everyone.
