photos that didn’t get posted.

I recently went through some pictures I had taken over past couple of months. I know for some summer is nearly over but we have had a hot dry summer and the hot will probably stay for another month or two. Sounds like heat has hit many places and as dry as we’ve had it at times, we’ve had weeks where things were lush and green as well.

Our garden did not do so great this year. In fact, it was downright poor. The tomatoes got blight. The ants kept wanting to eat everything they could get their mouths on. Last year I put up pints and pints of pickles. This year the neighbor dogs dug up one of our cucumber plants, and the surviving cucumber only produced about 5 cukes.

I started cilantro and dill from seeds and they did pretty good. However, I somehow don’t like the flavor of the homegrown cilantro. I have no idea why. Just tastes different from the bunches from the grocery store.

We are getting a good amount of jalapeno & banana peppers off our plants. Most years they will produce up until the first had frosts and one year we pulled the plant out around Christmas. Guess the ants don’t like them as well!

Lois planted soybeans and got a nice picking off of them.

We had access to lots of Vidalia onions, although most of these “lots” got sent to Faith Builders. In case you’ve never had them, Vidalia onions are very mild, “sweet” onions that can only be called Vidalias if they’re grown within certain radius of the city of Vidalia. The company (Bland Farms) that is the main grower also has onion farms in Peru. If I understand correctly the soil type is similar, also producing a “sweet” onion. They are sold in grocery stores. [Okay, after visiting their website, I see they grow them in 4 states and 5 countries other than the U.S.]

Back at the driest part of the summer there were a number of forest fires in this part of the state. The biggest one being in Okefenokee Swamp Park. It can slow burn there for a long time if there isn’t enough rain to put it out. Many days it looked like this:

And then the wind would shift and it would be clear again.

I have not seen much smoke for sometime so I’m guessing we had enough rain to take care of it.

Yes, our lawn needs some fertilizer. Because it was so dry we didn’t feed it as often as normal so it wouldn’t get “burned.”

My pet flowers aka Gerbera Daisies:

I have one plant that stayed nice and green all summer but it has yet to produce a bloom. Wow. Is this post sounding melancholy to the rest of you?

I had to run over to a friend’s house one evening to pick something up. There was a beautiful rainbow that was very low to the ground. I don’t think I’ve seen one quite like it.

 

From the perspective of an armadillo. ^

Ummm. Not sure what to say about this one. Although it’s pretty typical of southeast GA.

On to my friend’s house and her adorable kittens were playing outside but they wouldn’t let me hold them.

Seriously now, would one of these make such a nicer pet than ones who run off with your shoes, and dig up flowerbeds and gardens??!!!

I was over at my parents one evening and enjoyed the lovely evening sun. Which reveals all the bugs in the air. Can you see them?

Nonetheless this is the golden hour and I wonder why I don’t get out more during this time to shoot.

Golden Hour Magnolias.

Oh, and peaches! How can a summer be complete without fresh peaches? We were over to the peachy side of the state for my niece’s baptism. So we picked up a van load to bring back. Oh my, they were good!!!

  

Well, that’s it for now. 🙂 Hope your summer is a good one!

So last week and the first part of this had quite the wide spectrum of news reports: terrible tornadoes in the south, a Royal Wedding and the death of a long-sought-after terrorist.

Seeing the photos of the tornado aftermath is nearly unbelievable. The loss of homes pales as the loss of life is calculated. But what are that many people doing for lodging since their homes are destroyed? How are the survivors handling the trauma of what they’ve been through?

Fully believing God has control of the weather, I am not one who believes that God sends these storms to punish people. Remember Hurricane Katrina? There were a few who made such declarations. So why does He allow storms like these? I don’t profess to know. But what if through His allowing people to feel need, they would come in contact with people who portrayed Jesus with skin. What if this is another reminder that this world is not our home, that to hold tightly to anything here is futile. That there is nothing here besides souls that we can take with us? That some things just aren’t as important as we though they were.

As I was getting the order ready for the family who won the canvas on the Dream Come True giveaway, suddenly their city of Birmingham jumped out at me. I wondered if they made it through okay and was able to find their blog where Mrs. McFarland tells of their experience.

And there’s the news story coming out of our small town:

She sat at her desk, casting furtive glances at the ominous looking clouds glowering down at her from their lofty position. Having seen the videos on weather.com of the hurricane devastation in Alabama captured the night before did nothing to calm her nerves. Knowing that same weather system was the one glowering at her did not either.

Eye witness reports from over the years describe the sound of a tornado as similar to the sound of a freight train. Keeping that in mind she made a mental checklist of available hiding places should a tornado actually develop and hit their small town. She decided the desk in the back office was most likely to be safe. Only 1 window in the room, vs. 2 in each of the others.

Suddenly as if in a dream, the sound like a freight train could be heard roaring closer and closer. She ran to the door to see what exactly it looked like, having never actually seen a tornado before. And it would be necessary to identify a funnel before actually crawling under a desk. But the deafening roar (or so it seemed) came and went rather quickly.

When it was over, the only evidence of what had just happened was the steam silently rising from two silver ribbons leading south out of town.

　

The Royal Wedding I did not get to see in live. I forgot about time difference, and nearly forgot that the wedding was going to take place on Friday. As I was driving to work I heard on the news, “And the Royal couple has just left ….” and I thought. Oh, it’s over already. Duh. Ever heard of a things called time zones?

So I watched a couple of videos, and was charmed. Yes, a lot of hoopla and it gave me claustrophobia to imagine being in the middle of those huge crowds in the streets, but the groom was handsome, the bride beautiful and elegant and it was good to see something good in the news for a change.

I was young when Charles and Diana got married, although I remember it fairly well, for not having TV, and internet was on brewing in the mind of Al Gore.

Looking back over the life of the former Royal couple, the story of Diana, Charles and Camilla is still sad to me. Hopefully Princess Di’s children have learned important life lessons on how not to do relationships. I wish the new Royal couple all the best. Not that they need it or anything. 🙂

And the news breaking Sunday night about Bin Laden. I’m not even quite sure how to put my thoughts into words about this one. I imagine that was news heard around the world. I know it has an impact on a global level. However, I don’t believe it made the same waves on a spiritual level. Evil has not been eradicated. (There have been Hamans, and Herods, and Neros, and Hitlers through history. Their deaths have not ended evil on earth.) Another unsaved soul was plunged into eternity to face his Creator and for that, I can not help but being somewhat sad. I am thankful that his ability to influence is gone. To think of the waste of a life who obviously was a huge influence of a lot of people, the potential that same influence could’ve had for the good instead.

I can’t help but wonder what Rob Bell thinks of Bin Laden’s death. In case you are not familiar with him, Bell is a pastor, who believes hell is experienced on earth, instead of in eternity, and that Love Wins and in the end everyone will be saved because they cannot resist God’s love.

I enjoy reading the blogs of Jim Daly and Randy Alcorn’s, because they usually talk about current events, and their compassion for people comes through very clearly in their writing. I apologize for not linking to their blogs. Right now I’m on a slow internet connection but I may try to add them later.

So, what’s your take on the past week’s events?

Thanks to all who helped with the fundraiser for Vanya!! Adeye blogged today that a family has been found for him. More details here: http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2011/04/when-dreams-become-reality.html. I would love to hear more about how that came to be.

Have a great Easter weekend!!

be blessed

So far, you’ll wonder if it really was designed by me. Mostly because it looks so different than most I’ve designed before.

Sometime I am going to get a metal print. I know this because I have one paid for already. Now to pick the perfect image to put on it. But, metal prints are expensive and though the one I’ve pre-purchased was half-price, they still are more than I’d want to spend on a regular basis. And I doubt that I’d have customers who would want to pay those prices.

I’ve been loving the vintage sign look and think it would look awesome on metal. But metal prints yada yada yada.

What I’m really trying to say it that’s it’s time for me to go to bed since I’m getting nothing said.

Without further ado, let me show you the “new” vintage designs I came up with recently and with it I’ll show you a new way of printing/mounting that I am very excited about! And that’s much more cost effecient than metal.

That, my friends, is 24″x24″ piece of art hanging (temporarily) on my wall. Yeah, the flowers look a little washed out on here. It is a matte (think very not glare-y) print mounted on a 1/4 board. The board has is then attached to a 3/8″ backer which makes it stand out from the wall, enough to give it a 3D look.

 

I wasn’t sure how these “vintage”, very saturated prints would look but I was very tickled!! Here are a few more vintage designs, with a little more tweaking needing to be done before I get them printed.

 

 

 Here is another 24″x24″ that I got printed. I love the look on this one as well.

So, tell me what you think! I’d love to hear feedback on whether you think the designs on top are just too wild or if you have any suggestions for changes!

 

 

There is a blog I’ve been following a blog for nearly a year, about the time this family brought home their 2 babies from an orphange in Europe. They are an amazing family and I have been greatly challenged by reading Adeye’s blog. They have a heart for those in need, especially children who need a loving home.

Adeye has a big giveaway going on in conjunction with raising money toward the adoption of another special child who needs a home. You can go read more about it here: No Greater Joy Mom. I would love it if you would spread the word and contribute if you are able.

You just may recognize something there.