Life Is Much Too Short

Gotta sit back and enjoy the summer flowers sometimes. Of course, they must first be planted. I managed to get in some flowers this morning before the thunderstorm hit. I have to get a couple of more flower pots. Still have two flats of marigolds to plant around my vegetable garden. Gotta keep out the robo-bunnies.

ToMAto...ToMAHto..Let's call the whole thing off

Finally got my garden in today. Although, I don't think I'm quite done yet. This is a Roma tomato plant. Roma tomatoes are the kind they usually use to make spaghetti sauce. I think partially that's because they're easier to de-seed. LOL. There's a trick to removing the seeds from the tomato though before you cook it down. It's all in how it's sliced. There wasn't a good selection of anything at Lowe's today. So tomorrow I'm going to a local greenhouse (hope they're open!). Hopefully, I'll be able to grab a couple more things. So far I have zucchini, yellow squash, jalapeno peppers, basil, chives, cilantro and three different kind of tomatoes. I'm pretty close to having a salsa garden. (no, I don't put zucchini and yellow squash in my salsa...)

Excuse me. I have to go sing now that I have that song in my head. But oh, if we call the whole thing off then we must part. And oh, if we ever part then that would break my heart....

Where the wild things are

Well, this isn't exactly a WILD thing. It's some Chinese Wild Ginger from my last visit to Cheekwood.

More Roses

I really enjoyed seeing the roses at Olivet Nazerene....so hear is another shot. It probably wasn't the best time of day to take pictures. The sun was high in the sky. But I still like the picture.

my kids

Just feel like sharing a picture of my kids today.

Roses

I had a nice day today. I accompanied Jeremy and his class on a field trip today. It was a two-parter. First, we went to the planetarium at Olivet Nazerene University. There was some landscaping work happening. But there were still some beautiful rose bushes where we relaxed while waiting for our turn to see the show. This is one of those shots where I just put the camera down near the ground and aimed up. It doesn't always work really well, but I like how this shot turned out. There were wasps flying around the roses though. Just goes to show that it's difficult to appreciate beauty without having to deal with the fear of pain!

Here Come the Spirea

My spirea bushes out front are about to bloom. They're so pretty when they bloom. Love the purple flowers. If I had my choice, the front of my house would be full of purple flowers all summer. But I usually have to compromise on that and throw in a few other colors. I'll be planting some annuals this weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures!

Back to Cheekwood

Well, Monday is always a difficult day for me to capture a new shot. I really tried today-but I forgot to adjust my camera from yesterday's pool adventure. I have to say that's one of my biggest problems as a photographer. Forgetting to check the camera settings first. So, I got a whole bunch of washed out, practically white shots. Oh well. So I went back into my photos from my visit to cheekwood a couple of weeks ago. This is from a tree in the Japanese Garden. I was bad and did not get the name of the tree. But I took this shot while Lisa was taking shots of the moon and the planets. I almost posted a picture of her waving that mono-pod thingy around all over the place. One of these days, she's gonna knock me flat with that thing.

Splash!

The kids wanted to go swimming today. The water is still kind of chilly, but they really wanted to go. They spent about half an hour swimming. My guess is that with the expected temps this week, the water will be a lot warmer next weekend. I was making them splash around a lot so I could get some cool shots of the water.

Beauty is a Hazard

Sometimes it's hazardous trying to pursue and capture beauty. My efforts to get a good picture of these flowers is a good example. I mean, all I wanted to do was to get a good shot for my blog today. So, I was minding my own business, observing the flowers and maneuvering to get a good shot. Meanwhile I can hear the buzz of several bees flying around my head, just watching me. They're just waiting for me to make one wrong move so they can sting me. Silly bees. I'm used to dealing with bugs and things that spy on me on a daily basis. Can never take the pollen-crazed little buzzers for granted, that's for sure. But I usually manage to come out unscathed.

After the Rain

We just had some thunderstorms roll through. The storms left some debris on my front porch. I guess even though the tree in our front yard lost some branches and some green stuff, it will continue to grow.

My Brain Runneth Over

A lot of stuff on my mind today. But as some people say, that's always the case. Today, there's so much going on up there that it's spilling out all over the floor. Messy. Also, feeling kind of invisible even though my friends have proven to me that isn't true. Just playing with jewelry again today, thinking that I should dig through my jewelry boxes to find something I've forgotten.

The Group Shot

This is a "group" shot because Laura, Lisa, Jen and I each were able to get what I'm sure will be awesome pictures of this dragonfly. Another special gift from a great weekend.

Dark Corners

One thing that's apparent at Cheekwood is that there is life in the darkest corners of every garden.

Constant Water

This is a great reminder of how peaceful Cheekwood is as I listen to my kids upstairs running around and screaming. Can I have that day back?

small things

It's pouring rain right now, but Laura, Lisa, Jen and I visited Cheekwood this morning hoping to catch some of the Chihuly glass before the exhibit opens next week. The sun was out and the birds were singing. It was very peaceful. Luckily I was able to capture this butterfly taking a rest on a marigold. It's small things like this that will forever stay in my memory.

There's No Room at the Inn

It's been a real interesting day so far. The weather here is just scary! But it's all good. Things are quieting down...at least for now.

In the Backyard

Well, now I know it's really spring because the male goldfinches visiting my bird feeder are actually gold. They visit our backyard all year-round. But it's only in the warmer weather that they look so pretty. It was nice to see, especially on a day like today that's cold and rainy.

Ivy Silhouette

I looked it up before I published, so I sure hope I spelled silhouette correctly. This is an ivy that I brought back to life. It was pitiful and sitting there in my living room slowly withering. I transplanted it and gave it some plant food and now it's trying to commandeer my kitchen window.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day :)

Seahorse

Just wanted to share another picture from the Shedd visit yesterday. I think we saw 5 or six different kinds of seahorses. So graceful! I couldn't get good pictures of most of them. Here's a seahorse just hanging out upside down.

Visiting the Shedd

Today I am taking a break from my black and white/shades of grey theme to share some pictures from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I went there today with Gabbi's class. It's always a challenge to get good pictures there because the place is pretty dark and doesn't allow you to use a flash. Plus, with five fourth graders following me around, I didn't have time to pause and examine anything. Matter of fact, I'm pretty tired!




Even on a wet, grey and cloudy day, Chicago is still a beautiful city.

Cactus Flower in Black and White

I've been using the black and white/sepia settings on my camera for most of these pictures rather than editing it in a photo editing program. I like the results a little better.

Shades of Grey

No black and white here. Just shades of grey--with streaks of red.

More Black and White

I guess I'm feeling sort of black and white. Or maybe it's all just shades of grey.

Pearls in Black and White

Not sure this one worked out the way I planned. Will have to try again.

Kankakee River State Park

Today I dragged the kids to the Kankakee River State Park for a while. It was cool and humid and there was mud everywhere. Plus, we were bombarded by gnats. But this time of year, it's overwhelmingly green. These two photos (above and below) are actually the Rock River.



We usually go to the spot where the Kankakee and Rock Rivers join. Sometimes the river overflows its banks, like last year. But this year, the river looks a little low to me. I have some other pictures I didn't include here that show the roots of big old trees that sit right on the water's edge.



This is a spot where the kids like to go and throw rocks in the water. It's under a small wooden bridge. There's also a really big pedestrian bridge over the rock river. That bridge always freaks Jeremy out because it moves when you walk over it.



Today everything was quiet and grey on the Kankakee.

First Communion

**sigh** if I ever get them both to smile for me at the same time, well, I don't know. But it was a nice day. Everything went well. Another milestone down, a million more to go.