We Are God's Masterpiece

This video was posted by one of my friends on Facebook. I thought many of you would enjoy it too.

Just when you thought...

... that there were no more birthdays in our family this month ;-)

A special member of our family is Frank's sister's sister-in-law, Venae. She is such a wonderful person.

We hope you have a wonderful day, Venae. Love You!

There were five family birthdays this month... I think I left out Aunt Zell. There were three anniversaries. I missed wishing my sister Zawanda and her husband Rich a happy anniversary here yesterday. I also missed wishing my nephew Aaron and his wife Hilary a happy anniversary here Monday of last week. It was their first anniversary.

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It is allergy flare up time for me. So I don't know if I will feel up to taking pictures this week. Sneezing can make it difficult to hold a camera steady :-)

Sshopping - Pictures

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No... no shopping pictures.

I actually went clothes shopping. I've managed to lose a few pounds this year and was a bit tired of baggy britches (that's a word my family uses for the word pants).

I hate shopping! Nothing ever fits right. If britches are just right in the hips then the waist is too big. If they are just right in the waist then it is too snug in the hips. The britches are always too long and I hate hemming.

If I find a nice fitting blouse the neckline is too low or the fabric too thin. I hate shopping! (said in my best Lucy (from Peanuts cartoon) voice).

I managed to find three pair of britches and one blouse. I'm still not sure about the blouse... the neckline may be a bit too scooped. I'll get Frank's opinion on it before I discard the tags.

I also got a couple of filters for the vacuum... isn't that exciting! :-) I found a few other things that were just as exciting.

I also bought new makeup. I hardly ever wear makeup. I can remember one time when Frank and I were dating he looked at me strangely and said "you're wearing makeup". I thought I had put it on all wrong. He said that I just looked different with it on. I think he only noticed the makeup because I was wearing pink lipstick. Most of the time I wore Tangee Lipstick back then, a bit more subtle than the pink shade I had worn on that date. I loved the aroma and the feel of Tangee Lipstick. They still make Tangee Lipstick.

Oops... sometimes my mind goes entirely off on a tangent :-)

I stopped by Good Will on the way home from clothes shopping. A worker was bringing out box after box of goodies to put on the shelf. Three ladies swooped around her like vultures. I could not get close to the boxes. Some of the boxes contained brand new goodies, like sunglasses. The women scooped those right up. All that wasn't scooped up were plastic travel containers and stationery. Target donates items to the store. I didn't find any goodies there today. I'll try again another time.

While I was out shopping Frank and his Dad went down to my parent's old home place and did a few things. One thing was to get eight of the neighbor's hogs back to their home. Frank said it was tempting to butcher them... they were a nice eating size. Frank brought home some pears instead. Now doesn't pear preserves or a pear cobbler sound good?

Well... on to pictures. I took these with my Sony A700 camera when I was walking around the yard a few days ago.

Our neighbors have planted lantana by our fence and its stems reach over into our yard. I don't mind at all... I don't have to take care of it, I just enjoy its beauty.

During the hot summer months several Orchard Spiders make their home in the azaleas. They are small spiders... much smaller than pictured. Their sizes are: Female body length 5.5 - 7.5 mm and the Male body length 3.5 - 4.0 mm. This one is a female.

Birthday Wish - Pictures -- Rain

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August isn't over with and neither are the birthdays. Today is Frank's sister's birthday.

Happy Birthday Nette! Love You!

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The other day when I was taking pictures for the Friday Shoot Out (see previous day's post) I took a few more pictures that didn't turn out too badly.

Mama gave me part of her Angel Trumpet plant a few years back. It doesn't grow in our yard as well as it does in her yard. It has had a lot of blossoms this year though. It is most fragrant in the early morning and in the late evening.

This little bee was on the Speedwell (Veronica spicata) blossom. I think it is a honey bee, but I have called some critters bees before and they turn out to be a bee imitator, so I will stick with little bee. :-)

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I awakened this morning just before five to the patter of rain upon the roof. It has to be raining pretty hard for me to hear the rain over the window air conditioner. Soon the rain was pouring and it poured for a least an hour with the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning. We need the rain, but it would be nice for it not to all come down at once. More rain is expected later today.

So it will be a day of piddling in the house. Perhaps I will catch up on that pile of paperwork that is on my table. Perhaps I will read the book that I bought months ago or do both.... decisions... decisions :-)

Friday Shoot Out - Incongruous

Mary over at Traveling Hammer picked the topic of for this week's assignment of Incongruous. Meaning: Out of place, ridiculous, inconsistent, contradictory. If you would like to join us or look at pictures from more participants go to Friday My Town Shoot Out .

It was a bit of a busy week so I have just around the yard shots for you. They are be a bit blurry... I took them with my heavier Sony A700 with the come-with-it lens, Sony 18-70 / 3.5 - 5.6. My arm and shoulder are getting stronger :-)

These first two pictures show how the squirrels have chewed up green pecans. This is the way most of our yard looks like right now. You would think the squirrels would eventually figure out that the pecans are green and taste acrid and awful... but no way is that going to happen. They have to keep chewing the pecans up and throwing them... perhaps spitting them out. Very ridiculous.

This picture is of the garden. Beans on the left and peas on the right. Grass growing in between rows.. very out of place, but will stay.

Down in the South we have Fire Ants, which do not belong here... very out of place. Many have suggested ways of killing them, but usually our efforts just move them to another spot in the yard.

A nearby town, Ashburn Georgia, has a Fire Ant Festival in March. That would be very contradictory. Most people would rather obliterate the fire ant instead of embrace it.

Well, it wasn't much.... maybe next time I'll do better :-)

An Expensive Stick and An Old Movie

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Frank and I looked at this monopod at our local camera store. The price on this wonder is about $150. It is a wonder though. No unscrewing of anything. Simply pull to the height you want. To release you simply use the trigger. It is very lightweight. More on this monopod in this article: Manfrotto 685B NeoTec deluxe monopod.

My Sony A700 camera weighs about 1 lb. 11 oz. (that is with battery and card) and my Sony 70-400 lens weighs about 3 lbs. 5 oz. ... about 5 lbs together. Frank has a bit of a hard time holding my camera with this lens steady, so I am sure when my arm gets backs to normal that I will have problems holding my camera with this lens steady.

I will have to think on this a bit more. Decisions... decisions!

I need to try and use the Sony A700 with my regular lenses.... it will probably help strengthen my arm.

I need not to stay up past my bedtime so I will not be too tired to go out and about and find things to photograph.

Thursday night while Frank was talking on the telephone I got caught up in an old movie, The Magnificent Ambersons. Orson Welles wrote the script for the movie and he narrated it. His voice just sucked me right in.

This was one of Orson Welles's earlier films, it is based on the 1918 novel of the same title by Booth Tarkington and stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins.

The basic plot: a spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.

Here is the beginning of the movie.

I'm sorry if Orson Welles's voice sucked you in and you can't find the movie playing somewhere. :-)

Friday Shoot Out - Interesting/Amusing Signs

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Si picked the topic of interesting and amusing signs for this week's assignment. If you would like to join us or look at pictures from more participants go to Friday My Town Shoot Out .

There really aren't any interesting or amusing signs here in Albany Georgia.

I took this picture of The Gap window while Frank and I were walking in the mall. A place to go when it is just plain too hot to exercise outside. Pocket-size cameras are handy :-) Window signs have certainly changed since I worked in retail.

If you look closely you can see me.... the chubby model in the middle. Frank vanished. He was right beside me. Years ago I looked like the female model on the left and Frank looked like the male model on the right. You don't believe me? Then you must have missed the post about our 40th wedding anniversary ;-)

These two pictures were taken with my Sony P200 pocket camera too.

A few years back I was walking around our neighborhood and a Lays truck was parked behind the motel. Looking at it made me hungry.

As I walked further around the block a neighbor was home for lunch and his delivery truck was parked on the street. I became more hungry. When I arrived home... I didn't have a chip in the house :-(

The rest of these photos were taken with my Sony f717 camera.

When the movie Wild Hogs was playing (March 14, 2007 ) at the local cinema I took a picture of the poster. Frank and I watched the movie for the first time a few days ago.

A local Compounding Solutions store sign. I took this photo for a scavenger hunt a couple of years back. The object to take a picture of for the hunt was a mortar and pestle... we don't own one.

Bug Busters in Acworth Georgia has an amusing sign on its car. There were also characters on the other side of the car and on the back window.

This sign, Danger Keep Back, at Point Park, Lookout Mt. Georgia was a bit amusing. The sign needed to be up where I was taking the picture .

This sign is not far from Adel Georgia. It encourages us to eat more goat. Y'all can eat all you want :-)

This sign is on the same road. It puts a curse upon you if you litter. There was no litter on the road.

I sometimes think about putting a sign like it in front of our home.

I hope you found something a bit interesting and perhaps amusing in today's post.

Something to Crow About

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Does a goose crow :-D

Good news! The scan was negative.... no tumors found. Frank goes back for another octreotide scan in six months.

Time for dinner and a little relaxation.

Patiently Waiting

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A few years back we were shopping at the Agri Supply store in Tifton Georgia. This dog was patiently waiting for his master.

Some of you have inquired as to how Frank and I are doing. We are waiting for the octreotide scan results. We have an appointment with the oncologist surgeon in the morning.

I am not patiently waiting as the dog was... I'm impatiently waiting. I don't know why I have so little patience. I had a lot more patience when I was younger, but I was impatient then too :-) I bit my fingernails back then. I'm trying to avoid repeating that habit.

My shoulder is healing well. I am able to use it in everyday activities... except I can't hold the big camera yet :-( It will come... I just have to be patient.

Frank and I are trying to stay cool. It is hot! The temps are in the low 90s but the heat index is around 105. The air is thick and hard to breathe.

We went to the mall yesterday afternoon and this morning to walk around in the cool. One of the regular walkers in our neighborhood was also there. I think he said he was on his sixth lap and had taken eight thousand steps. We went only two laps... maybe next time we will go for three. Maybe we'll get one of those pedometer thingies :-D

"You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience." -- Stanislaw Jerzy Lec .

Birthday Wishes

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There are a lot of birthdays in August :-)



These birthday wishes go to my sister-in-law, Linda. She is a great lady and I love her dearly. I'm so glad that she and my brother found each other.

Advice to Couples

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This is just a picture I like... don't know why I like it. Maybe the touch of color of the crepe myrtles. The upper limb holds a pair of mourning doves. The female wasn't responsive to the the male's advances. The ring-neck dove on the lower limb had been watching the pair. Perhaps it hoped to learn something about relationships.

Michelle of Chocolate and Marmalade Tea commented on my post Celebrating 40 years of Marriage: "You two seem like you are perfect for each other...and just the sweetest! What is one advice you would give to couples? I'm curious. :)"

I'm not that great of a writer and didn't exactly know how to word my answer. Soon an email arrived entitled "Burnt Biscuits". It answered the question well. It didn't contain the author's name... so I went looking. The copy I had received had been altered from the original... the original deals with burnt toast and not burnt biscuits. It is amazing how a story can change as it is passed around from email to email and to various web sites.

The article is written by Deb Billy Graham. This is all I could find out about her: Jack and Deb Graham live in Plano, Texas, where Jack is pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church and Deb is director of Ministry Resources. They have been married for over 30 years and have raised three children. She is an author of Courageous Parenting.

"When I was a little girl, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burnt toast in front of my Dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my Dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad,for burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said, "Baby I love burnt toast." Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy goodnight and I asked him if he really liked his toast burnt. He wrapped me up in his arms and said, "Debbie, your momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!" In bed that night, I thought about the scene at dinner and the kindness my Daddy showed to my Mom.

To this day, it's a cherished memory from my childhood that I'll never forget. And it's one that came to mind just recently when Jack and I sat down to eat dinner. I had arrived home late, as usual, and decided we would have breakfast food for dinner. Some things never change, I suppose! To my amazement, I found the ingredients I needed and quickly began to cook eggs,turkey, sausage and buttered toast. Thinking I had things under control, I glanced through the mail for the day. It was only a few minutes later that I remembered that I had forgotten to take the toast out of the oven! Now, had it been any other day, I would have started all over. But it was one of those days and I had just used up the last two pieces of bread. So burnt toast it was!

As I set the plate down in front of Jack, I waited for a comment about the toast. But all I got was, "Thank You!" I watched as he ate bite by bite, all the time waiting for some comment about the toast. But instead, all Jack said was, "Babe , this is great. Thanks for cooking tonight. I know you had a hard day!" As I took a bite of my charred toast that night, I thought about my Mom and Dad -- how burnt toast hadn't been a deal-breaker for them. And was quietly thankful for having a marriage where burnt toast wasn't a deal-breaker either!

You know life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. And you might be surprised to find out that Jack isn't the perfect husband! But, somehow in the past 37 years Jack and I have learned to accept the imperfections in each other. You might say that we've learned to love each other for who we really are! We share the same goals. We love the same things. And we still are best friends. We've traveled through many valleys and enjoyed many mountain tops. And yet at the same time , Jack and I must work every minute of every day to make this thing called "marriage" work!

What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults- and choosing to celebrate each other's differences- is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing and lasting marriage relationship. We could extend this to any relationship in fact as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife relationship or parent -child or friendship."

So my advice... is the same. :-)

Friday Shoot Out - Relaxation

Lena of Spirits of Lena chose Relaxation for this week's Friday Shootout. I'll try to visit those of you participating in the Shoot Out over the next few days.

I do like a good read, but lately I haven't really been up to reading, so I do Word Seek Puzzles. Wouldn't a Bob Hope film be relaxing...

Walking around our yard relaxes me. Here is an Imperial Moth that I spotted on an elephant ear plant yesterday morning.

For my birthday I got a new lens for my camera, a 70-400 mm Sony lens. My Sweetheart knows me well :-D This is the first photo with the new lens. Unfortunately my arm/shoulder isn't strong enough to take hand-held pictures with this lens on my camera yet. I took the picture from my recliner propped on a pillow that I keep in the chair. The picture is through the window which had the blinds down and open. Isn't it amazing to be able to take a picture through a slat of a blind? The picture is of a female Northern Cardinal. The picture is cropped with a little noise reduction... ISO was 800 and the camera on auto.

It is relaxing taking pictures of birds.

Frank wanted to make sure the lens was working properly and took a few more pictures. This is a baby Northern Cardinal. We are hoping that it has survived. It looks too young to have left the nest. It was preening what little feathers it had. I do find it relaxing, but at the same time exciting to look upon nature.

Evening before last Frank spotted this Luna Moth relaxing on the side of his shop. It is a beautiful moth.

Looking at flowers and smelling their aromas are relaxing. I find the colors of the Mexican Petunias relaxing.

There you have it... four pictures from me and four from Frank. I love sharing a hobby with him. It is relaxing... most of the time :-D

Feeling Better :-)

I am feeling better. Last Friday I went by the doctor's office and got a toradol injection and depo medrol injection and a prescription for a medrol pak. I still have a bit of a headache, but things are improving :-D I'll start reading blogs soon.

Frank and I didn't do anything special on our anniversary... other than being together. I did make brownies :-D

Years ago Frank and I both forgot our wedding anniversary. We lived at Ft. Sill (Lawton) Oklahoma then. We found someone to watch Sonja and David (our children) and we went to a u-pick-it farm and picked some sort of field peas that day. As we wrote the date on the packages we realized the special meaning of the day.

Frank and I enjoy being with each other no matter if we are doing something special or not. We are individuals, but yet we are one. We often think the same thing at the same time and that can be a little unnerving :-D

Speaking of crops... our okra is doing nicely.

A bloom photo from last year.



A photo of some pods I took in 2007,



I love okra... fried is best, then stewed with tomatoes and served over rice and then in any kind of soup.

I hope each of you are having a great week. I'll get around to your blogs soon... I promise!

Celebrating 40 years of Marriage :-)

YEAH!!!! I don't think either one of us thought we would be alive today to celebrate... we managed to survive our children's teen years though :-)

Frank spent his first four years of life in Alabama. He moved to Albany Georgia after his father's death. Not long after coming to Albany he brought home a nice young Marine that his mother soon fell in love with and married. They had to move away from Albany. They did return to Albany and I met Frank when he was in the sixth grade and I in the fifth grade. Of course I paid no mind to him then... he was just one of Zarone's (my brother) friends.

During our junior high school and part of our high school years we waited at the same school bus stop and sat on the same school bus and paid little mind to each other. When I was in the eleventh grade our mutual friend, Bonnie, formally introduced us. We were in a hall of the school when this happened and Frank was holding a little redhead girls's hand.

During my youth I often heard a voice (one that others could not hear.. and it was scary for me that no one else could hear this voice) that told me things... some would say it was the Holy Ghost or perhaps a Guardian Angel or I was just nuts. In my twenties the voice stopped. I tell you this because the voice spoke to me while we were standing in that hallway. It told me that I would marry this young man one day. Of course I didn't believe it.

After that day we started sitting together on the school bus. We sat there on the bus talking for a while and then later that evening I would get a phone call from Frank. After a while we started dating. Daddy was not too keen on that. Zarone had to put in a good word or two. Our first date was on a Tuesday night... a school night. My Daddy really needed a lot of convincing.

One day I'm going to look back into newspapers and find exactly what the date of this date was... I know most of you ladies remember such things. The date was a double date. We went to see The Planet of the Apes. Neither one of us like the movie to this day.

Afterward we went to the Arctic Bear, a hamburger and ice cream joint, for a hamburger and Coke. The business is now a thing of the past. The sign to the place was a big polar bear licking an ice cream cone. It was really neat looking lit up at night.

We didn't go together to Frank's senior prom... yep.. the little redhead went with him. She had moved away... those long-distance relationships don't last ;-)

We did go to my senior prom in June of 1969. Don't you just love Polaroid pictures.

After many dates Frank told me that one day I would become his wife. I agreed... I could no longer argue with the voice. I knew he was the one for me and I for him. There was no need for a proposal :-)

We got married a few weeks after my graduation from high school. Here is a scan of a photograph of a photograph. The other choice is a very beat up Polaroid picture :-)

Mama made the cake. She decorated it with red roses. The table is green Formica. The walls were paneled and we are sitting on the bench that my Daddy usually sat upon. My Daddy added the dining room to the house... the house I had lived in since I was five years old. The dining room was made up from the utility room and part of the carport. The dining room held the table, a buffet, Mama's sewing machine and a large oak desk. The table was next to the wall because there had to be a path to walk from the kitchen to the living room. The bench we are sitting upon is covering pipes. My place at the table was to the left of Daddy. I was trapped in the corner :-)

You can tell how small the (yellow) kitchen is and that is where the seven of us used to eat before the dining room was built. I was Daddy's helper in the building process... handing him nails and holding boards as he sawed them. Daddy was an Atlanta Braves fan :-)

This photo was taken last year at Capitol Reef National Park. We are now both a little thinner and trying to get more thinner :-)

Twenty years in the Army and the rest in civilian life; here we are 40 years later with two grown children. There are never going to be grandchildren, but that is okay.

We were told by many people that our marriage would never last a year. It has been nice to prove them wrong.