Have I Said It Yet ?

I HATE MOWING

WHY does grass need mowing every weekend?
I'll be glad to see cold weather arrive just so I won't have to do this anymore .


I hope you have better things to do today than I do.


(I posted this last night before I went to bed)

Yea!!!! I woke up to rain. Which means I can't mow! Unfortunately, it also means I can't wander off looking for things to photograph or draw like I thought I might....guess I'll have to go take a nap. I've been reading the newspaper and a magazine for the past 2 hours and now I'm sleepy....Hello lazy Saturday!

Postcard Friendship Friday

Next week, I won't be here for Postcard Friendship Friday. Instead I'll be in sunny (hopefully) Gulf Shores, Alabama. Three girlfriends and I will spend 3 nights and 4 days relaxing, talking, reading, sleeping and soaking up the rays on the beach. I hope to come home feeling refreshed and happy.

I'm also hoping we find some outstanding seafood restaurants. I'm in the mood for shrimp and crab cakes.

Labor Day Weekend Coming Up!

Has the start of school always made children this overjoyed?

I have some class pictures that look just like this.

Besides new shoes and school supplies, what do you remember about the start of school each year? I remember the first grade teacher, Mrs. DeShazo, who demanded that we color in the pictures as hard as we could and there better not be any flicks of crayon sticking up on the paper anywhere. (I think she must have had a serious problem)

I remember Danny Gibbs in the second grade. He like to pretend to El Kabong me....anybody but me remember the Quick Draw MrGraw cartoons?

I forget third grade.

Fourth found me in Mrs. Down's class. She was fairly nice. Nothing amiss to report about her. My best class picture EVER was taken when I was in the fourth.

In fifth grade I got my first up close and personal taste of mortality. A boy everyone liked died in a car wreck that year.

In the sixth grade I had my first male teacher, Mr Sheetz. I drew caricatures of him and we passed them around the room. I never got caught. I drew him about a month ago, just to see if I still could.

In seventh grade, my girlfriend and I became fans of the original Star Trek television show. We even wrote our own episode of the show...Mr. Spock falls in love.

In the eight grade, I was finally one of the seniors in our elementary school. I had been looking up to them for seven years. It was about time.

What Was That You Said?

My daughter-in-law sent me this earlier in the week. EG is 8 and is homeschooled.

From EG's journal:

Started a history reading last week that discussed the conflicts between the Protestants and Catholics in the 1600’s….I began to read, then said, “oh, do you remember what a Protestant is from last year’s history?” She said, “oh wait, wait, hold on….I think I know…don’t tell me! Is it somebody who grabs another person and sleeps with them?”

Oh, my. A bit unintentionally irreverent and very funny. Had to hold it in on that one and not laugh out loud! I’ve tried to describe to them delicately over time what a prostitute is, since it comes up a lot in our scripture readings. It’s funny, this kind of mix ups with words that are slightly similar in sound is something she’s been doing since she could speak


This grandchild has been articulate since the day she started talking. When most children were just learning to say ball, she was using words like umbrella and belt buckle. She was like a little sponge. She still amazes me with her grasp of things and her imagination.

Where I Live

I live mostly in my head. I'm a dreamer, a thinker. I ponder. My mind wanders.

I joined 27 other people in committing to a shot-a-week photography blog. There will be a weekly challenge and each member will post a photo. The theme for this first week is Where I Live. As always I had more than one idea running through my head. So I'm posting this picture here and another there. Check out Lens Us Together for more pictures from where we all live. If you are interested in joining email Char from ramblins.

Birds of a Feather

After 7 years of working 12 minutes from Oak Mountain State Park, I decided last week to take my camera and go exploring over there on my lunch hour. (this was not my first time to go to the park, just the first time I thought of going during lunch)

My first stop was at the Petting/Exhibit Farm.

The only prior experience I had at this farm involved my kindergarten son, a baby pig and me with a big stinky wet spot on my shirt. So, I kept my distance from the larger animals and spent many minutes stalking Mr. Peacock.

Aren't his feathers the most heavenly color of blue?

After 10 minutes of following him around, I was surprised to see he has a Mrs.

She was proud to pose atop the fence and let me shoot away.

I think she knows this is her most photogenic side.

I drove on up the road and took more pictures which I'll save for another day. I don't know why this is the first time I've done this....but I'm sure I'll go back once the leaves begin to change.

Shape and Pattern

Postcard Friendship Friday

Hooray, Marie is back at Cpaphil Vintage Postcards and that means PFF is back!

You might remember that I recently took a week of vacation to help babysit for my granddaughters, while their parents took a 10th wedding anniversary trip. My son managed to keep the destination secret until they were at the airport. My daughter-in-law thought they were going on a getaway to Chattanooga, a nice place to visit, but a city they had seen many times before.

Instead, the Canadian Rockies were the place he had in mind. They flew into Calgary, spent the night, had Sunday Brunch in the 360 degree restaurant atop the Calgary Tower and then traveled on to Lake Moraine in Banff National Park.

Thanks guys for sending me a postcard from Calgary....you know that's just the souvenir I wanted.....(cause I asked you for it. *grin*)

See the Calgary Tower in the center of the card.

My son and daughter-in-law are natural photographers. They both have an unfailing eye for detail and beauty. I asked if I could share a few pictures from their trip with you. I think all of these were shot at Lake Moraine.

My DIL said he took the long shots.

And she took the close ups.

Don't you love the texture and pattern in this photo?

Can you believe how clear and blue the water is?

I hope you liked taking this Friday mini vacation with me. It's the reason I enjoy PFF so much....seeing the world postcard by postcard with you. Happy PFF!

Okay....I'm a Dope!

I wanted to show you what I saw earlier this week, so I stopped on my way home to shoot this video. My subjects were there just as I thought they would be. You'll notice that it is shot holding the camera the wrong way.....ONCE AGAIN! I make this mistake all the time. You think I would learn. I'm posting it anyway, because I think you might like it even though I'm a dope!

Ficus carica

Fig facts:

• native of Southwest Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean
• one of the first plants cultivated by man, pre-dating the cultivation of legumes, wheat and barley
• one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fiber
• a natural laxative
• what is referred to as the fruit is actually the flower of the tree
• the hole in the middle of the fruit is a narrow passage which allows the fig wasp to enter and pollinate the flower
• figs do not keep well and can be stored in the refrigerator for only 2 to 3 days

We had a fig tree in our backyard when I was growing up. My parents didn't plant it. Rather, it came up voluntarily right over the spot where coal, for our ancient coal furnace, had been dumped for years before we bought the home.

We lived in our old house for one winter before modern forced air heating was installed. This was due to the fact that a coal furnace must be taken care of continually or the fire will go out. It has to be stoked at night and started up again in the morning before the house gets warm...so you get the picture. After one winter of that....modern heating was installed. Shortly thereafter the fig tree sprung up.

It was a favorite of both my parents and the envy of most of our neighbors. And it faithfully produced plump, juicy figs summer after summer. But if the truth must be told, I never liked figs very much. They are too sweet for me. (see the big blob of green behind teenage me? It's our famous fig tree in its fruity glory)

My son TJ has a couple of small fig trees growing in the yard of his little rented home. He enjoys the fruit and shares it with my parents. I asked him to bring a few over so that I could photograph them. We placed them on my frosted glass cutting board and snapped away. When I uploaded the pictures to my computer I noticed the strange floating fig phenomenon.

taken in TJ's yard last spring

If I had known how good figs are for your health, I would have eaten a few more this year.