View from my golf cart

We’ve been having a quiet, relaxed time here in the South, along the coast, visiting with friends we’ve known since high school. They have a lovely home with a pool (swoon) and a view of the water.

Yesterday, we went golfing. Actually, the men went golfing. I only go for the fantastic lunch and to drive around in the golf cart taking pictures. It was a beautiful afternoon, although a little windy.

 

I just wanted to stop by and say hello.

 

The weather has been beautiful, including yesterday’s morning storm which we watched from the covered deck in the backyard. We’d spent the prior evening with drinks, staring up at the stars after a fantastic meal at the best sushi place around.

It was too bad my husband doesn’t like sushi. But he was outnumbered. And besides, the chef whipped up something special for him when our friend requested it.

I love our friends and we don’t get to see them nearly as much as we’d like since they moved down here years ago. W is an executive in the casino world, and although casino’s aren’t really my thing, it’s always fun when we visit.

George is loving it, too. There’s a couple of dogs at the house here and he has a huge crush on one named Bella. Unfortunately, the photos I took are rather risqué for a family blog.

* snort *

Until next time, my friends . . .

Road Trip

I’m off on a road trip to visit good friends that my husband I have known since high school. George is with us, and we’re heading south.

 

I hope to get to New Orleans, too.

Of course, I’ll be taking lots of photos along the way to share with you.

 

See you when I get back in about a week’s time ~

A list

I made a little bee mosaic for you. Can you see the whirling wings?

I did a lot of things today. See list below.




Left the house at 7 am and worked all day.

Cried during the Upper School Variety Show this afternoon. And told all the seniors I loved them. I get all emotional when I see kids I’ve known since kindergarten performing on the stage. So embarrassing.

Speaking of embarrassing, a co-worker caught me dancing at school, videoed it and has threatened to post it to Facebook. George had to give him a stern warning on his FB page.

I can never remember how to spell embarrassing and have to do spell check every time. It’s two R’s and two S’s, ding dong.

I got a pedicure at a new place. The leg massage was sort of painful.

I had another argument with my husband. This makes two in less than three days. I’m certain it’s entirely his fault, too.

Began packing for vacation.

: : :

Thrilling, isn’t it?

Orange you glad you come here every day to hear this drivel? Gotta go. More stuff to get done ~


Until tomorrow, then . . .

Party at our place

For the goldfinches, that is. My husband and I took these photos late this afternoon when the goldfinches were flocking at the feeder. It had been raining on and off all day and my husband had just filled the feeder sock.

Everyone was all a-twitter.




A few came around.




And they had a field day.




There was a little fighting, as that one bird you see at the top was so aggressive. I wonder who put him in charge?

To bring more birds around, my husband filled the feeder to the top.

And there was suddenly a line to get on board.




Looking at this picture, I decided to point out a few details.

Details like where the bluebird house is located, among other things.




Please try to contain yourselves. We’re just party animals around here. Except for the B&W, who appears to be napping.

: : :

Lots of things to do this week. We’re taking another one of our famous road trips, this time to visit friends along the Gulf Coast. We’ve decided to leave before Easter rather than the day after, so I’m now in frantic mode at all that has to get done before we leave. Egads!

Off to make a list . . .

A slingshot toy, photos, and a little joke

It’s the evening of a not-so-great Monday as I write this from my favorite chair in the living room. The writing is interspersed with tossing super chicken for George. Actually, I’m not tossing it – it’s a slingshot toy. I shoot it as far as I can, which is way across the room, and then he squeaks it all the way back to me.

Needless to say, I’m not getting a lot of writing done.

I have my priorities, though. And they involve the Black & White.




All of the photos you see here were taken Friday afternoon on the property where we live. It was gorgeous here on Friday and I remember being very happy because the weekend was here.

I made myself a cocktail. Yum ~




I loved  your comments from yesterday’s post that had to do with ironing. It seems there’s several camps as far as this chore goes  - and, in fact, most of you don’t even do it anymore. I loved ‘helping’ as a child and using the iron to press my father’s handkerchiefs, a pleasant memory.




When we moved here, the vines were beginning to overtake the house. My husband pulled them all down, but he couldn’t quite get that last one up there. I can see it when I look at this photo. And I remember.

We moved here to the manor house on the hill, where we are the caretakers, in October 2008. The house dates to 1769 and I bet there was a lot of ironing going on in these rooms over the years, don’t you?




The day was waning as I shot these images. And there aren’t many blooms on the old lilac bush this year. But what we do have is lovely. Maybe they’ll be in full bloom by Easter.




Another of my violet photos. This one looks proud of himself.




I may seem like I have a quiet grace, but if you knew me in real life, you might think differently. I’ve always wanted to be graceful and quiet, but I tell bawdy jokes and laugh a lot. I use my hands when I talk, or so I’ve heard.

There’s nothing wrong with that, though.

A joke I told yesterday goes like this:

There’s two little potatoes standing on the street corner. How do you tell which one is the prostitute?




{pause for effect}


It’s the one with “Idaho” stamped on the side.




Get it? I Da Ho.


* snort *





I’m sure my mother would be appalled.


Either that or proud ~

Today would have been her 89th birthday. And if she were alive, I do believe I would call her up and tell her that joke. And hope that she would ‘get’ it.

Thanks for coming by. It’s always a pleasure having you visit ~

Images from the weekend

How was your weekend, my friends? I was saddened to see all the reports of the terrible weather through the States, especially those struck with tornadoes.

Our weather on Saturday was wicked but I felt safe in this old manor house with its thick stone walls. So while the winds howled all afternoon and through the night and the rain beat down and the thunder boomed, we were quite cozy inside. (George was wrapped up in a little ball sitting right next to me in the spot he stays when there’s a storm).

Here’s just a sampling of photos from the weekend.




Out the breakfast nook window Saturday morning.

It had just begun to rain.





Out the master bedroom window. You can’t tell by the photo, but it’s pouring.  My husband went out to cut lettuce from the garden for me because he forgot to bring some in before the rain began in earnest.

I am so demanding.


(No, I’m not. I told him to forget it, but he insisted).




Red-tailed hawk on Sunday morning.




The dogwood tree by the house.

(The texture is from Florabella).




I love violets.


And shallow depth-of-field.








I even got some work done. On Saturday while it rained, I did my ironing in the kitchen.

My sister, Char, loves to iron and I can really understand why.




It’s the soothing repetition – the smoothing out of all the wrinkles and imperfections.

It’s an act of putting everything in order.




And when everything’s in order – it feels like life is in order.

Hope your week is off to a good beginning.


Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

April day

After rain for the past two days, today’s sunshine was a welcome respite. When I took my late-afternoon walk, I was surprised at the amount of green that’s filling in all the brown that’s been the staple of our landscape.

I can’t believe it’s already mid-April, can you?

I went outside after my walk and took the photos you see here today.




The pansies in the sun are three times this size, but this planter sits on the shady side of the house. I think the blossoms from this set of flowers are more beautiful than their sun-drenched brothers.

They’re perfect.

The architecture going on in the garden continues. My husband’s been working really hard. So far, he’s harvesting lettuce.




Just fooling around here with the focus ring.




Guess who got a new collar?




He has no idea how cool he looks.




My husband picked this out.




And finally, the lettuce that was picked from the garden today. We had a nice salad tonight, accompanied by acorn squash and macaroni & cheese with carrots.

Oh, and hey – do you see the corner cupboard in the photo above? The dark area there? That’s the corner cupboard. It spins like a lazy susan and we have three of these in the kitchen. There are two bottom corner cabinets and one top. My husband has this weird habit that I don’t care about telling you here.

He continually keeps these lazy susan cabinets open. His reasoning is that he doesn’t like opening them and closing them all the time; it’s annoying to him. So he just leaves them open, which makes it easier to get to things.

On the one hand, it drives me a little nuts. I don’t like them open.

: : :

But on the other hand, it’s just one of those weird things that someone does. I’ve  never said a word about these it. I’ve come home every day for the past couple of years and I close them. And then I close them again before I go to bed. And before I leave in the morning. And . . . you get the picture.
Ah, well. I’m sure I do a lot of strange things, too.

: : :

Thanks always for your visits. So glad you came by today.

Have a beautiful weekend ~


All photos in this post taken with the Nikon D80 and 60mm Nikkor macro lens.

Orange you glad?

That some days are better than others?

I know I am.

Yesterday was one of those not so good days. I nearly didn’t write a post last night and when I went to Sarah’s blog, I’d finally had it with the unjustness of life in general. Especially when it comes to cancer.

But today I was inspired by your comments, your prayers and your visits to see her – to show your support. I also had no idea how many sisters-in-law she has because three of them wrote me.




Today was a good day that started with my husband taking the car for an early shopping run and filling it up with gas for me. This was followed by an e-mail from a blogging friend which had good news mixed with bad, but the end result was uplifting and heartwarming.

I got my hair done at hoitytoityville after work and it looks good. And now I’m watching Survivor with my husband. During commercials, we turn on the Singing Survivor Show, which he now remembers is called American Idol. I like that he remembers this.

And then Casey came on. And his simple rendition of Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy was absolutely perfect. And it fit him to a ‘T’. I liked it more than the original, frankly.

(UPDATE: I found it on YouTube).

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy
And sad of eye
But very wise
Was he
And then one day
A magic day he came my way
And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings
This he said to me
"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"
(instrumental interlude)"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"

I love when something fits to a ‘T’, don’t you?

Love ya more than polenta,

Prayers for Sarah

Some things are just weighing heavily on my mind lately, especially after reading a blog that I’ve been visiting for several years.

Sarah at Spruce Hill is a courageous woman who has been fighting breast cancer for some time now. Her latest scan shows that it has entered her brain.

Spruce Hill Blog

She has always been such an upbeat and personable woman who loves her family, her animals, and her life on Spruce Hill.

And her talent as a photographer ain’t too shabby either.




Maybe if we all just stopped what we were doing for a moment and said one prayer for Sarah today, it would make a difference.

“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.”

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Fondly,

At times, I can accomplish much

On Saturday morning, I had a few things to do before I left to spend the weekend at my sister’s place. One of them was an early morning walk, which I accomplished. At the end of the walk, as I was going by this birdhouse, a bluebird flew out and nearly collided with me.

So I decided to get a chair and my camera with the long lens and see if I could capture the bluebird when it returned to the house.




I waited for awhile, mentally ticking off the numerous things I had planned on doing this morning before I left.

But it was such a beautiful day, and I was glad to be outside in the fresh air. I could wait until the elusive bluebird returned.




I took photos of one of the other birdhouses, further up the fenceline. I bought this one last summer for my husband when I was visiting blogging friends in Mathews County, Virginia.

I was still waiting for that bluebird to return.




My husband walked by.

I got a photo of his back just for good measure. I will add it to my collection.




A beautiful cat posed for me. This is a rarity, I will have you know.

And still, no bluebird. I went inside to get coffee in order to have something to do while I continued my vigil for that bird. The hell with the vacuuming, I told myself as I splashed in a nice dollop of half and half.

I took the coffee outside with me, sipping it while I waited for the bird to appear.

And then, through the lens, I saw my little friend.




He’s bokeh here, as I focused on the fenceline.




He sees me.




He gently drops his frisbee, and doesn’t seem quite sure what to do.

I am not saying anything at this point, only sitting there with the camera.

And then I think I giggled.




Mama! Mama mama mama mama!

I believe I began laughing at this point.




The laughing makes him run faster. Mama! I’m comin’, mama!

I luuuuurve you, mama.




I believe that one of the best things in this world is having a dog that, at the sight of you, gets so darn happy that he just wants to kiss you.

Yep. That’s the best.

Needless to say, I never did catch that bluebird Saturday morning. But I do have a bluebird photo taken by my husband in February, 2009.

Such a beautiful little bird.

Thanks for stopping by today, my friends.

At times, I can accomplish much. And then there’s all the other times . . .