An Awesome View of Life

This was taken a couple of weeks ago.  Just my girls being my girls.  Mara's shadow has that look on her face like "What the heck are you two doing?"  She asks that question often of her aunties.   ha! Love all three of these ladies!

While sitting on our balcony last week in Florida, we had the privilege of watching this story unfold.  We saw a lady walking two golden retrievers along the beach when one got away from her.  This wonderful lady in the white helped out with one dog while she chased after the runaway dog.   As we watched, the runaway dog proceeded to swim out into the ocean.  Soon we realized his/her "dad" was one of the kiters and was trying to catch up with him.  When dad saw the dog he came ashore so the dog would follow.  This dog was doing some serious swimming out there in the rough ocean just to see dad. I got this one shot of the "good" dog greeting dad but unfortunately didn't get a good shot of the wayward dog bounding down the beach towards dad.   Too sweet of a story not to share.  I thought this was a better thing to do than to react to all of the idiotic political comments being posted on Facebook tonight.  So thank you to thi...

Fun day today.  The past several days have been spent getting things done before we leave for Florida.  My business is the most organized it has ever been.  This morning I cleared my custom order board and mailed out all pending orders.  Late this morning I headed for the kitchen and created some wo nderful lotions. The pretty peppermint jars contain "Peppermint Perfection", a luscious hand balm that has a heavenly peppermint scent. The "Green Stuff" is a boo-boo salve.  It works great on cuts, burns, very dry skin and it stops bug bites from itching. And the pretty lotion in the middle is "Mara's Magical Moisturizer" which I created for my granddaughter to help relieve some of her dry skin caused by eczema.  This is a new and improved version.  I am hoping this will work even better than the last batch. Not in this photo is the body wash I made.  Super rich and its wonderful smell is peppermint and sweet orange. The...

This was taken earlier this weekend while visiting my Dad at the lake. It was a hard decision which photo to use first.   The clouds in the background are what I love the most about this photo.  The trees reflected in the feeder are pretty cool too.  The hummingbird is pretty fun as well.  I guess all in all this is a pretty good photo.  (: More great weekend photos to be shared throughout the week.  Enjoy your week.  #livelifetothefullest

This is Barn Quilt attempt #2.  I like this one much better than the first one.  I wanted a brighter orange but settled for more of a coral instead.  But it is still pretty. This is today's "art" project if anyone is keeping up with me on Facebook.  It actually took most of 3 days to paint this one. As always my photo is a bit tilted.  I'm thinking I'm what is tilted.  But I'm okay with that. (:  Let me know what you think.  About the barn quilt or if you want to chime in about my tilted-ness that's okay as well. ha!

  When I was a teenager I promised myself I was going to be a hippie when I grew up.  Today, I realized I've always been one.  (: These are photos of my creative endeavor on this rainy, rainy day.  The tree branch is from my Dad's house.  I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy for dragging them home with me but I did have a bit of a plan in mind.   Below is a close-up shot of my fun suncatcher/windchime. And I already have another project started.  Hoping to find time to work on it tomorrow.

I found this "little" guy having breakfast in my back yard this morning.  ha!

This is today's creation.  I've wanted to make a Barn Quilt for a really long time.  This one is very simple with only two colors but still had its challenges.  (: But I am loving the finished creation.  Barn Quilt #2 is already in the design stages.  Just trying to figure out colors.   This quilt square is named "Sister's Choice". Now where do I hang this?  I think it might be perfect fence art.

This evening was an awesome evening of creating.  There is nothing better than the eventual success of creating something.  A few days ago I bought this wonderful 7 speed, fuchsia pink, beach cruiser bicycle.  I absolutely love her.  After pulling off all of the factory stickers she looked pretty but I knew she needed a bit more to live up to her name "Funicello".   Funicello, you ask?  I wanted a 60's movie star name and settled on Funicello.  Annette was suggested but since I have a classmate by that name, I chose not to use it for fear of showing some sort of favoritism.  ha! Okay, back to her cosmetic makeover.  I wanted her to look very beachy and wanted some fun flower decals.  I looked online for something but didn't have any luck.  So I turned to my trusty Silhouette paper cutter.  I found the exact flowers I wanted, did a bit of research and after a few misses on technique her she is all finished. A ba...

This evening was an awesome evening of creating.  There is nothing better than the eventual success of creating something.  A few days ago I bought this wonderful 7 speed, fuchsia pink, beach cruiser bicycle.  I absolutely love her.  After pulling off all of the factory stickers she looked pretty but I knew she needed a bit more to live up to her name "Funicello".   Funicello, you ask?  I wanted a 60's movie star name and settled on Funicello.  Annette was suggested but since I have a classmate by that name, I chose not to use it for fear of showing some sort of favoritism.  ha! Okay, back to her cosmetic makeover.  I wanted her to look very beachy and wanted some fun flower decals.  I looked online for something but didn't have any luck.  So I turned to my trusty Silhouette paper cutter.  I found the exact flowers I wanted, did a bit of research and after a few misses on technique her she is all finished. A ba...

Three photos of my Dad's awesome Clematis.  There are tons of buds just waiting to show there beauty as well.

This bench has been the subject of another of my photos but with fall colors instead of spring's green. But it is such a serene looking shot. The little girl child wanted to walk on a bridge (again) today.  Since the rain wasn't coming soon we just went down the street to the this quiet little place in the middle of our little city.  There were even ducks to be found swimming in the creek.   Today was a good day.  Living life to the fullest.

The other day it was 92 degrees which made for a lovely evening on the patio.  Adult beverage in hand I set my camera on the table and took photos from that angle.  Rotating it slightly after each photo. This one was my favorite and the only one that really turned out.  (: Windows and door of the back of our house.  Left to right -- kitchen window, family room window which is behind my computer desk, the sliding door and just the top of another window (blocked by the chair my feet were resting on).  The reflection of everything in the glass top of the table is pretty awesome too.

This beautiful gent sang to us all day long.   What a wonderful Mother's Day.  I spent the day with my Dad just the way I wanted to.  I even got a few short naps in while sitting in the sun.  (:

On our nature walk today we watched this family of geese swim down a rapidly moving stream. Later in our walk we saw the same family eating lunch.  My two year old granddaughter informed us that they were safe.  How does she know these things?   I love the time I get to spend with her.

Today was a perfect day to go exploring.  Mara had a blast walking on this floating bridge.  She had to stop every few feet to look at the water.  She was pretty lucky her auntie would stop and look with her. No wetland creatures were seen today.  We did hear a couple of turkeys but couldn't see where they were hiding. Oh, Mara is sporting her new skirt made by Grammy this very morning.  She loves it.  (:

This is one of my many Pinterest successes.  It is a butterfly bath.  The darling little girl child has staked a claim on it and rearranged all of the rock islands I created.  The true success will be when there butterflies sunning themselves here. I'm kind of thinking I would like to try to mosaic this yet this year.  We'll see.  I have more projects pinned on Pinterest than I have life left to get them all done. So far this spring I am spending a bit more time in my gardens.  I don't find it a relaxing thing to do but trying to learn to relax doing whatever I am currently doing.  (:  

    My sister and I spent the weekend at our Dad's and t his marvelous eagle paid us a visit twice yesterday.  It was so much fun to be this close to an eagle.  He was pretty intent on something along the lake shore.  

This little pretties are taking over our yard.  Each year the realtor who helped us buy our house sends a packet of Forget-Me-Nots.  A couple of years ago I decided to just shake the envelope of seeds in one of my flower beds.  They are now EVERYWHERE!   But they are good flowers for the little girl child to pick and tell me how much she loves them.  (:

Just pretty.  This one made me smile and that is always the best way to pick a photo to post.  Hoping everyone is having a wonderful Saturday.

The things that are seen when a person can't sleep.  And then to actually photograph what you see...   This was a bit later than midnight, maybe closer to 2 AM.  My camera was on the table in front of and facing this nearly empty bag of jelly beans.  These photos turned out much better than I expected.  

My granddaughter turned two last week and these are what she got from her us.  She LOVES playing with them.  Shouldn't every little girl have a John Deere front end loader and dump truck? She was one dirty little girl when she came in from playing today.   Now to get Bapa to build her a real sandbox. 

This isn't as creative as I wanted it to be but not everything can be as creative as you think it should be. Our granddaughter turned two last week and this is her present from her Mimi and Bapa.  Along with a few other things.  (:

While wandering at my Dad's today these bright leaves caught my eye.  I love the sunlight and shadows.   More beauty from the lake coming tomorrow.

This is one of my favorite pieces at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  Below is an explanation of what this beautiful piece is made of as well as a close up.  In the background is my most favorite piece at MIA.  Chuck Close's "Frank".  Love that painting.  If I see nothing but this I am a happy, happy person.

This is one of the things I find myself drawn to photograph.  Wood.   Maybe it is because I grew up with a father and a grandfather who were carpenters.  We never seemed to live in a "completed" house ever during my childhood.  There always seemed to be some kind of remodeling project going on.  And once the project was done we moved to a different house and a new project.  But there was always the smell of new wood.  And that is one of the best smells to be around.   Life was good.  Life is good.  Remember the simple things.

Today was an awesome day of adventures.  A short walk along Lake Bde Maka Ska (which is Dakota for white bank lake) is where I found these lake rocks.  There's not a bit of ice left on the lake so you could see the bottom clearly. The wind was so crazy I could hardly keep my camera steady.  But I did capture the colors as well as the ripples in the water. Our adventure today also took us to lunch at Pizza Luce.  And a quick trip to Minneapolis Institute of Art.  Both are always favorite things to do.

Lady Bug What a gorgeous day!  February 28th and 60 degrees.  We spent the afternoon at The Lake with my Dad.  We got to sit on the deck in the sunshine for several hours.  Two lady bugs were spotted on the railing.  I didn't realize how ugly they really are.  You can even see the bit of snow that is still on the ground.

Iced The other morning I was standing at our sliding glass door, coffee cup in hand looking at how pretty the yard looked in the early morning sunlight when I saw this little bit of frozen snow melt on the patio.  I figured if I wanted to get a photo or two I needed to do it quickly before the sun melted it. When I got out there these pretty leaves were trapped under the ice.  I love the texture of the ice.  It wasn't frozen solid it was just frozen in the thinner spots of water.

There actually two back seat drivers to this bus.  The title was intended for the little girl child peeking through the back window but then I see Joe the Bus Driver is in the back of the bus as well. Below is a better picture of our fun school bus.  Sitting behind Joe the Bus Driver is Jazzy and Eduardo (Ed).  And cute little red head is Lola.  Ed's twin brother Miguel (Miggy) must have been sick because he's not on the bus.  (:  I love playing with my little Sunshine.

This isn't exactly what I was going for but I kind of like what I ended up with - 30 shots later.  Today's inspiration was  Norah Jones' "Turn Me On" . Enjoy!  (:

Yesterday gave me a couple of hours in the city.  And if you remember I LOVE my city. (: This photo didn't happen the first time I walked past this dropped ICEE.  It was at a bus stop filled with people waiting to get on their bus that had just arrived.  When I came back past I had room to stop and walk around this photo op and pick the best angle.   While I was scoping things out a gentleman waiting for the next bus asked me "Why on earth would you want to take a photo of that?"  I told him there is art in everything and everything has a story.  He then asked me "What story does that have?"  I told him the story could be about the person who had been enjoying this ICEE on such a cold day.  It could be about their reaction to dropping it. Or about how it came to be on the ground. He wanted to know my thoughts on who the person was that dropped it.  I told him I could see some small child screaming about having dropped it. ...

There have a few times in the past few months where I have had a glimpse of something of interest to photograph.  But only in the past few days have I actually picked up my camera to take a shot.  To take a chance.   The break from the camera and from the blog were maybe not needed but creatively I was in a deep pit.  I have taken time to do many fun projects.  Some of which will be shared on a new blog which is currently being created.   So now for my first post in roughly three months.  This is the shadow of my granddaughter's sippy cup of cherry kool aid.  The green I do believe is the top of the cup.  It was just pretty so I took a bunch of shots.  This one was my favorite. These posts will be random.  Maybe.  I still have many projects in the works and in the wings.