the name of this blog

When I started this blog (almost two years ago), I needed a name. For some reason, an old poem of mine came to mind. It has been on my mind for some time to share it. I looked it up this evening the last revision came in February 02. Poets seldom stop fiddling. I changed two words this evening. :)

Another Northern Night

My husband warns
of a frost advisory.
Dislodged from my chair,
I slide on red rubber clogs,
collect stained sheets,
and old bath towels.
Fit a careful patchwork
protection in shades
of blue, over sunflowers,
cosmos, and zinnias.

The moon,
hangs precariously
on the tip of slender bough,
a Christmas ornament
ready to slip, shatter.

Don’t fall,
shiny moon slivers
do me no good,
icy fragments
would pierce young leaves,
nip thread roots.

Numb fingers, tuck in edges
revealed by faint glow.
Finished, I fold hands
into sleeves, return to house,
pray that the cold doesn’t slip
under covers.

Perhaps the connection between the poem and my title for this blog is only in my head, but there you go. ;)

BTW the photo above is very similar to the one used in the post vulnerability. However, that one did not quite satisfy me so I tried again - different bud - so couldn't quite do what I wanted but closer. Photographers sometimes find themselves trying again too. ;)

the freight train cometh...

It has been a wonderfully relaxing week, which is good. The previous week had found my hands in very bad shape by Wednesday. So I forced myself to do very little labor with my hands on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, we went to the RenFest and so I did very little with my hands on that day, Sunday is a day of rest, Monday ended up being a prolonged visit to the vet so I did little that day, I don't remember what I did on Tuesday but I know it didn't involve my hands, on Wednesday I taught a seminar, and on Thursday we ran errands and got haircuts (did I mention that hubby was home all week?), on Friday Grace's class had a get-to-know-you-before-school picnic organized by one of the Mom's. So my hands have had more than a week of rest and as of yesterday morning were pain free. I mowed the lawn and pulled out dead veggies yesterday so now they are a bit stiff. BUT today is a day of rest again! :) It is supposed to be blisteringly hot on Labor Day (Monday) so I am not sure what we will do.


BUT...the freight train cometh. On Tuesday morning, hubby goes back to work and school starts and I will have to adjust to a new routine. I am afraid that after such a lazy week I am going to feel as if I got plowed into by a freight train. ;)



I don't know what it is but every so often when I upload photos here the focus softens up and when you have a limited focus shot like these shots are you end up feeling blurry. These do have sharp points of focus within them. :(

monster and prayers

First, I want to let you know that we have made our decision. It was not the decision I would have made personally, however, I think it was a well made decision. I shared what I felt with hubby and I did so calmly and rationally (which I can only attribute to my prayers and your prayers in my support).

Hubby was fine with my decisions, but did bring up one additional concern. After some discussion, a decision was made that should help us and ease difficult family relations.

Difficult family relations is the reason for not sharing too many details. While I do not believe the concerned parties read this blog, I have made it available to them.

I am so thankful for all the prayers while I struggled with this. The issues involved are among the most difficult for me to deal with at present and so the support was greatly appreciated and tremendously helpful. Thank you!


This mini-monster lives in my garden. I have had them in my yard before (and I've taken sharper photos of them -- however, never have I seen one with prey), I am not sure but I think it is a type of mantis.

I don't mind this little fellow. I am pretty sure he eats more bad bugs than good.

phsycedelic garden and updates

Thank you to everyone who prayed. Last night after I left my message I went outside and watched a spectacular thunderstorm and prayed. After about twenty minutes I felt calm and assured. The decision has not been made yet but this morning when I woke up I still felt calm. I know that the prayers that all of you have made between last night and this morning contributed to my sense of calm.

The decision will be made sometime today. So continue to pray for peace and a willingness to listen to God's will for all of us.

Onto other events. On Tuesday evening, (hubby took the week off since we have no vacations planned he had vacation to burn - it has been nice and relaxing) I dragged everyone to school for the open-house events for the girls - only to discover much to my chagrin and hubby's intense embarrassment that the open-house is on Thursday.


After our little schnaffu we came home and had BLT's without the L and I packed and left to go spend the night at my sister's. I had a second photos seminar at a different library for high school students. I am pleased to say that it went very well and I was complimented by some nice remarks by the gentleman who reported on the event for the local newspaper. I rather surprised by how much I enjoy giving these seminars.

While I was at the seminar, hubby let the girls sleep in their tent on the deck. It lasted a while 45 minutes. :)


On the way home from the seminar, I stopped to exchange a bag of incorrect dog food for the dog. The detour put me near my favorite thrift store where I found some lovely gifts for my mother and for my MIL. In addition, I picked up some computer games for the girls and some old photographs of children. I also picked up a gift for my husband. I found the original animated Hobbit for ninety-nine cents; the one that turned him on to Tolkein. He has always complained how terrible it is compared to the books - however, it did lead the way to the land of Middle Earth for him. So last night we had fun watching it with the girls.

Today, I am taking Light to the Dr because we've been have accidents and complaining of various aches and pains that are symptomatic of a UTI. While I feel bad for her, I hope it is a UTI because then we know what is going on and can fix it.

We are also going to take Grace to get her hair cut. We are going to try to have some more bangs trimmed in so that she has more peripheral vision and get about 4-6 inches trimmed off the ends to help with the snarls.

Tonight we will go to the open-house at school. After the open house, I will abandon my family to go to a coffee house to listen to a friend read from her book of poetry. The poetry reading is this month's book club event. Nice and easy with little reading!

As you can see, I have asters blooming. I started these by the Wintersown method this spring and they are quite phscyedelic, don't you think?

Did you notice the beautiful apricot zinnia further up the page? I love the color. When I went into the backyard to photograph it, I heard a bunch of rustling in the sunflower about two yards from me. I ignored it until I finished my photograph. When I looked up I saw a squirrel carting off a sunflower head that he had sawed off.

On Monday, I saw a squirrel digging around in my seven foot tall cherry tomatoe plant (no kidding, it is taller than the back fence - I guess good trellising really works). Soon he comes out with a green tomatoe and sits eating it while watching me. I had wondered about it as I often found half eaten tomatoes around the plant.


Ugh rodents. I still have problems with moles, I have at least two chipmunks, loads of squirrels, and of course that mouse. Ugh! I want an indoor/outdoor cat. Unfortunately, hubby and I are allergic. :(

vulnerable

Please pray for me. We have a situation to deal with and a decision to make and it is not something I deal with very well. I am praying but right now the extra prayers would be greatly appreciated. I am afraid I cannot share details but I covet your prayers.

huzzah

Hubby decided we needed to go to the Renaissance Festival this year. Before Grace was born, we went every year. The last time we went, was when Grace turned three. Light was a newborn and she stayed home with Hubby's parents. Hubby and I went with my parents and my Paternal grandfather (who wanted to add this to his list of experiences).

I didn't think we needed to go this year until it occurred to me that we have not taken any vacations this year so I guess going to the RenFest is okay.

The first stop was the petting zoo where we saw this rooster.


The only souvenirs that the girls got were some balloon creatures made by this gentleman. He made them for no charge except for his Tip Hat.



We watched the jousting.



We let the girls choose one paid for activity. Grace chose to ride this giant rocking horse. Do you see the man who operates it? He and another guy rocked this giant horse. You should have seen the size of his calves.

Light chose to ride the butterfly merry-go-round.


The girls really liked petting the snakes. They weren't so sure about this baby alligator.




I did get any photos at our favorite show. It used to be called the Dew Drop Jugglers but a change of members lead to a name change and they are now The Danger Committee (they added a knife thrower). We watched them twice and the girls wanted to see them again (all the shows are free admission).






Another favorite show of the girls was this story-telling event at the Children's Stage. It featured a baby dragon being born. The costumes were excellent and the story was cute.

on the lighter side

We took a walk today (okay, I walked and they biked). No really - I walked, and they biked and when Light got tired she walked and I drug her bike behind me with my right hand and held her sweaty little hand in my left hand.

These are the photos I took before my hands were occupied.






I've decided to change my children's aliases again. While Stinkerbell and DramaQueen fit them, it doesn't allow me to sound as loving and tender as I often feel about them. As a result, their aliases will reflect the meaning of their given names. My oldest formerly known as C or DramaQueen or DQ will now be called Grace and my youngest formerly known as K or Stinkerbell will now be called Light.

Yep those would be my children Grace and Light.

Sometimes they are Grace and Light and sometimes their job is to teach me about Grace and Light and they aren't so wonderful. But either way, their mine because God gave them for me to raise up to Him.

spiders and God

I saw this beauty in the garden today and spent probably fifteen minutes in the gusting wind to photograph him. I got three particularly good shots.

As I photographed him I pondered the ugly side of spiders and I have to admit that sometimes spiders creep me out too, even if I do find them fascinating and take an immoderate number of photographs of them.

As I got close for the last few shots, it occurred to me that one of the reasons I find spiders creepy is their focus on the task at hand and how little they care about me. They are indifferent to me.

As I thought about how disturbing it is not to even be a blip on his radar, I realized lots of people feel that way about God. They believe that we aren't even a blip on His radar. No wonder they are scared of Him. Sometimes, I think, not mattering is more frightening than being opposed to someone.

Then it occurred to me that we often act like the spider. We spin our little webs, live in our little universe intent on catching our flies, and God isn't even a blip on our radar screen. I wonder how He feels about that.

Ouch. Either way indifference is frightening.

dance recital

Last night was the girl's dance recital. First, my disclaimer. I am not into extra-curricular classes music, dance, or otherwise. It is just not my style. However, when a college student from church said she was teaching a dance class this summer and she had a mission statement: Worship God with appropriate dance moves and costumes. Learn to dance or improve technique, have fun, build friendships.

And she had a verse "Let them praise His Name with dancing." Psalm 149:3

I decided that the girls would enjoy it and I would like to support her efforts.

Last night was the recital. About mid-summer, I volunteered to photograph the dancers individually and as a class as I know that is a studio MO.

So I did. It was hectic and I have a lot to learn but it did go rather smoothly all things considered.

The woman you see above is their teacher. She is a dynamic, petite, college student, who managed to put together two dances for each class to perform at the recital. The kids only had ten classes to learn them. They did remarkably well.


The class was to teach ballet, lyrical, and jazz. The two images below were of the all ages segment at the end where she had them perform a sign language portion. As you can tell, Stinkerbell was pretty much starstruck. She woke up from her nap that afternoon complaining of a headache and she was really out of it for the entire recital.




For the ballet section the girls (who were in the same age-group class) performed Stephen Curtis Chapman's song Cinderella (guaranteed to make you weepy).

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I'm sittin' here wearin' the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It's been a long day and there's still work to do,
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited and I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says "Dad, the prom is just one week away,
And I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone.

Well, she came home today
With a ring on her hand
Just glowin' and tellin' us all they had planned
She says "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
but I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
(even one song)
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

Once again, I wish I could share the photos of the other girls - some of the photos look quite darling but...

I took over three-hundred photos and I've got loads of pictures to work-up yet.

For those who are interested, I replied to many of the comments about the mouse in the comments about the mouse.