Dogwood Blooms

For some reason this year my dogwood blooms seem so small to me.  They look mini-sized.  I think they were bigger in years past.  Maybe is was all the extra snow and coldness we had this past winter and first of spring.  I'll never know.

Crocus

I took this photo of the crocus popping up in my backyard in early March.  Instead of shooting down at it as one would normally do, I got down low and shot it from underneath.  This did two things:  1. eliminated the ugly brown mulch and 2. provided a new perspective for the viewer that they don't ordinarily see.
Why not take your camera out today and find a little bit of spring and shoot it from different angles and see things from a whole new perspective!

..photo enhanced with Velvet Cream action and Web painted borders action from The Coffee Shop Blog.

Photos from my Phone

I have been reading a friends blog for some time now, hello Katie J.  Anywho, I see her taking a lot of photos from her phone and posting them on her blog.  I realized that I hardly ever take photos with my phone and I really should start doing that more often.  I always have it handy, so why not.
So here's a post entitled "Photos from my Phone"

About a month ago, Dennis totaled his SUV (see post here).  We finally got the insurance go ahead to purchase another vehicle.  After much looking and sitting in cars, trucks and SUV's Dennis surprised me when he settled on this.  (mainly because he fit in it (which is very hard for my tall, broad man) and it gets better gas mileage than his Expedition).

Friday I was driving to the school to pick Logan up from football conditioning and had to pull over onto the side of the road to take this photo.  I love the blue skies and white Bradford Pear trees in full bloom as well as  the fence and horses. 

Last fall we lost one of the Blue Spruce trees that flanked the entry of the house.

Saturday, we pulled the remaining healthy one out and replanted it in a new bed out back.

Here's the before and after:

Sunday, my son Logan asked me if he could chop down a dead tree in the yard with an ax.  I said, sure, why not.  Here is my son...a.k.a. Paul Bunyan

With todays technology we pretty much all have camera's on our phone.  Why not move those photos from the phone to the computer, blog them, print them, scrapbook them and enjoy them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Break Vacation

We're back from a wonderful spring break vacation.  Our trip was broken up into 3 mini trips.
The first trip was to St. Augustine FL to see our friends the Simonsons.  We met them in 2003 when their son played football with ours.  We moved away to NC and shortly thereafter, they moved to St. Augustine FL.  We've seen them a few times since they moved.  It was fun spending time with them again.

We enjoyed the beach.

We took a train ride and explored the beautiful, historical city of St. Augustine

We pretended we were fountains.

We went out to dinner

We ate super expensive ice cream in a quaint little sweets shop.

Just look at the delectables 

We had fun and really enjoyed this part of our trip.
Thanks Simonson Family!  Maybe we can visit again next spring!

Irish Blessings

Some say they believe in the Luck o' the Irish.  I'm more in line to appreciate an Irish Blessing over luck.
Here are some lovely Irish Blessings I found online today.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Bless This House

Bless this house, o Lord, we pray. Make it safe by night and day. Bless these walls so firm and stout, Keeping want and trouble out. Bless the roof and chimney tall, Let thy peace lie over all. Bless the doors that they may prove Ever open to joy and love. Bless the windows shining bright, Letting in God's heavenly light. Bless the hearth a-blazing there, With smoke ascending like a prayer. Bless the people here within... Keep them pure and free from sin. Bless us all, that one day, we May be fit, O lord, to dwell with Thee.

Thank You for blessing us with a warm, cozy home Lord.

Irish Marriage Blessing

May God be with you and bless you. May you see your children's children. May you be poor in misfortunes and rich in blessings. May you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.

This is the wall in our living room where I have our family photos.  Thank you Lord for such a wonderful husband and children.

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me Christ before me Christ behind me Christ in me Christ beneath me Christ above me Christ on my right Christ on my left Christ where I lie Christ where I sit Christ where I arise Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me Christ in every eye that sees me Christ in every ear that hears me Salvation is of the Lord.

Thank you Lord for your word that guides me daily and for the freedom to worship how and where I like.

May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.




It is beginning to look like spring here in Southern Indiana.  I looked outside and saw the crocus beginning to bloom.  Spring reminds me of new beginnings.  God's mercy (his willingness to forgive us daily for our sins), are new beginnings we can have each and every day.

Today is the first day of the March Joy of Luck photography assignment.

Today's focus is on opportunity/experience/something you have/do EVERYDAY that is an unforeseen blessing in your life. 

And one more, just for fun......


May the frost never afflict your spuds.
May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms.
May the crows never pick your haystack.
If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal.

Not a Good Day

"Not a good day", that's the text message I got with this photo attached.  Last Friday, Dennis was out of town on business.  He was driving through town and a Range Rover merged into his lane.  After a few minutes the Range Rover man slammed on his brakes and nearly missed hitting the car in front of him.  HOWEVER, Dennis wasn't so lucky. If that's not bad enough, there's more.   His truck was towed to a local lot in the town he was working in and is being held there until the adjuster can come access the damage.  While in the lot someone smashed in the passenger window and stole the FACTORY RADIO!  Who wants a Ford factory radio???   Not a good day!

JOY of LOVE : day 16

Theme : Together (self portrait)

When Dennis gets home from work we typically snuggle on the couch and watch t.v.  He is in control of the remote.  We hunt for a t.v. show we both agree on (I usually agree with what he wants to watch) - then 15 minutes later he's fast asleep. (And I change the channel!)