Wormwood ~

~ Wormwood ~

(Artemisia 'Powis Castle')

Happy Memorial Day ~

Honoring our Heroes . . . men and women that fought and continue to fight to keep our freedom . . . Happy Memorial Day!

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.
                                          ~   Moina Michael

Inspired by the 1915 poem  . . . In Flanders Fields ~ by John McCrae

The History of (Decoration Day) Memorial Day

Birthday's and the Petting Zoo ~

~ More petting zoo photos ~

We had a double birthday party for two of our grandchildren at our home. Their birthday's are only a week apart, one turning two and the other turning four.  Long time friends of the family has a petting zoo and two ponies that visits little children's birthday parties on request. They are so cute. All the kids were able to sit, hold, feed and interact with chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, and baby chicks. Others were enjoying pony rides. We also had a blow-up jumpy, a trampoline, and a play structure . . . it was quite a day but I think the children enjoyed themselves. Click on the link under the photo to see more of the petting zoo if you like.

Neighborhood gathering ~

We had a neighborhood get together in our cul-de-sac. I was taking photos of our fire pit . . . I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this photo and the double exposure effect.

Sago Palm ~

The center of my Sago Palm 

Morning Glory?

I don't think this is a Morning Glory but it maybe in the Morning Glory family. At one time, I did have the little tag that comes with the plant and thought I had saved it . . . I am unable to locate it. I do remember that it did not say Morning Glory on it  and the leaves are different but the flower is very similar. This is growing along my front walk way up to my front door.

Koda ~ Let's play ~

Koda . . . waiting for me to throw the ball again . . . 

Close to home ~

Fire televised on local Fox News

This photo was taken from my front porch, on the other side of the cyclone fence is the four lane road, the only thing between my home and the fire. More photos here.

I woke up to helicopters hovering right over my home at 1:30 AM this morning. It was loud and my whole house was shaking. I got up to see what was going on but couldn't see anything (we are down in a valley and surrounded by mountains).  There is a four lane main road right behind my home and there are always very bad accidents . . . I thought maybe there was an accident and someone was being life flighted out but the helicopters kept circling for hours. Then it occurred to me that the mountain right across the street and behind me was probably on fire but I still could not see anything. I tried going back to sleep but it was just too loud and I was thinking if I should start getting things together just in case we had to leave quickly.  Finally the 4:30 AM news came on and it was indeed a fire and considered arson . . . very sad.

The helicopters were doing an amazing job of containing the fire until daylight and the firefighters were allowed in due to the rugged terrain to start their work. By the time I took the second photo, the fire was pretty much out but the helicopters were still making runs to put out several hot spots . . . two to three acres burned. This is a beautiful 6,150 acres of protected mountain and regional park area . . . we are all so very lucky . . . we have had so little rain and the vegetation and brush is very very dry. The helicopters and firefighters worked quick and hard to protect our homes and area.  We are very prone to fires here but that usually comes in October. We have lived here over 20 years, each year we deal with a major fire. We came very close to losing our home in the Cedar Fires in 2003.

In no way am I complaining . . . we are very blessed . . . my thoughts immediately turned to Joplin, MO and all who are dealing with the devastating tornado's everywhere . . . our prayers and thoughts are with you all.

Lego Snap Trap Hawk ~

My six year old grandson made this neat Lego Snap Trap Hawk for my photo of the day. The little green Lego sticking out in the front is a machine gun! Great job, sweetie.

Lacie Graduates ~ Congratulations!

~ Card from Lacie's Uncle Bob and Aunt Cassandra ~

~ Lacie's Graduation Photo Album ~

Today has been a very exciting and wonderful day . . . my daughter, Lacie, graduated from San Diego State University today . . . Congratulations, Lacie we are so very proud of you!

Lacie received her Degree Of Bachelor Of Arts ~ Applied Arts and Sciences today . . . she will be taking a summer break and then starting her Credentials in the Fall . . . it is her goal to complete her Credentials and continue on to receive her Masters.  She has worked very hard and we are very excited for her future, she would like to teach English Literature to middle school aged children.  After the graduation ceremony, we celebrated with a big breakfast at the Omelette Factory.  I took quite a few photos but it was a challenge to capture clear photos and ones that were light enough to see . . . most came out very dark and blurred . . . needless to say, I was very disappointed and realized I have a lot of learning to do when it comes to my Canon Rebel camera! Once the ceremony started, it was very dark in the arena and I was having a difficult time. I have several more photos and items to scan to add to her photo album. If you click on the link under the second photo, you are able to see a bit of her graduation. I kept any photos of the grandchildren private but they were so very proud of their mom! 

Congratulations to the Class of 2011! 

Sweet Hydrangea's ~

My Hydrangea plants are blossoming all over ~ I love how they look. 

Lego clean-up

My six year old grandson loves his Lego toys as I had shared in my post here. This photo shows only a very small portion of what he keeps here at my home and it's a lot . . . he decided to do a bit of sorting, cleaning and reorganizing so he can build bigger and better structures. I had Lego toys all over my living room floor! He has quite a collection including Harry Potter, Pirates, Dragons and many others over at his mom and dad's home. He has mentioned that when he grows up, he wants to work for Legoland as an architectural designer, he wants to build models and rides . . . watch out Legoland!

Faux apples and pears ~

These are fake apples and pears I have in a basket that sits on my counter in the kitchen. They are just for fun, decoration and color.  I have had them for years in various different bowls and jars . . . to me they look pretty good for faux fruit . . . visitors are always trying to eat them. They are pretty small, about the size of a tangerine.

Scanning photos ~

I am organizing and scanning photos . . . my Flip Pal mobile scanner has really been a great way of accomplishing this huge task. One day . . . I will hopefully have all of our family photos digitized . . . in my lifetime . . . hopefully! I only have about 10 more large photo boxes to go!

It's finally raining ~

We finally received a small amount of much needed rain today. It's supposed to get heavier and continue into tomorrow morning . . . I love this weather.

Endeavour Launches ~

I watched the Endeavour launch for it's final mission this morning. It was exciting but more exciting because I had submitted a photo of mom for NASA's Face in Space program for her birthday in March.  I am so glad lift-off went well and as scheduled today.

Unknown Orange plant ~

I have no idea what this plant is. I do know it's a succulent and it's interesting looking. 

Lego Family Tree ~

My six year old grandson loves Lego's and is amazing at what he creates with them.  He decided I needed a Lego family tree to sit on my genealogy/family history bookshelf . . . I love it and he is very aware of what Oma does!

Backyard Horny Toad ~

My grandchildren found this horny toad in our backyard yesterday. They are very rare around here these days. They want to keep it for a pet, but I told them they need to let him go . . . they are having a hard time with that!  We use to have horny toads all over around here . . . perhaps due to children or adults capturing them and turning them into pets. This guy has been named "Vincent"  and "Vinny" for short. He is really neat and very healthy . . . I want him to stay that way . . . I just need to convince the kids of that now.

My Butterfly Friend ~

~ Photo album of my time with my butterfly friend ~

I had the most amazing time with this butterfly! I have been watching this butterfly for quite a while in my backyard. She would visit me daily but I was never able to get very close . . . until today.  She landed on my fence and I started to take photos of her . . . then I would get closer and closer . . . then, she would land on my head . . . then on my right hand (which was on the camera ready to take the photo) so I held out my left hand and she flew around it for a long time . . . then, she landed and stayed there for a bit . . . we have become friends . . . it was the neatest feeling having her just sit on the edge of my fingers and that she trusted me enough to sit there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This photo was taken on May 12th, 2011 ~ due to Bloggers maintenance issues, I was unable to post on May 12th, as planned.

The Generations Project ~

The grandkids brought home some undesirable germs and I have been under the weather for a bit . . . so for the last few days, I have been catching up on watching my recorded The Generations Project episodes on the byutv channel that I have been a bit too busy to watch. This was an episode (Kerry) that was filmed in part in San Francisco and the Bay Area . . . very close to where I grew up. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge brought back some wonderful memories.

Unknown backyard weed/flower ~

Just before the grass was about to be cut yesterday, this flower/weed was spotted in the middle of our lawn in the backyard.  I have never seen this flower/weed before and we don't have any flowers remotely close to this growing in or near my yard or home.  It's the only one growing out of our lawn in the entire yard. I have no idea what the name of it is or if it's a weed or a flower. I took several shots of it before the the grass was cut and before this pretty little flower disappeared.  Maybe the wild bunnies brought it . . . you can see the bunny droppings in the lower right corner, so maybe the bunnies may have had a part in this!?! It's the only explanation I can come up with.

Roses for Mom ~

My Mother ~

~ My Mother ~

 ~ by Lacie, my daughter 

Penned in Calligraphy by, Lacie ~ 1995 ~ 1997 (completed in 1997) 

My mother lifts me up when i'm down

She helps put a smile on my face instead of a frown

My mother is very understanding

even when i'm angry and a little demanding

My mother helps me through rough times

My mother is stronger than the strongest pine

My mohter was there when no one else was

My mother does the sweetest things, just because

though at times we argue and fight

i thank God she is my mother every night

i love it when its just us two

we sit and talk about things we used to do

when i'm sick i always get a cup of tea

My mother can mend a broken heart or heal a scraped knee

My mother helps me choose the right path to take

and she didn't even get mad when some of her things

would "accidentally" break

i love my mother with all my heart

And hope to God we'll never part

i know sometimes i'm mean and disrespectful

but to her i will be forever thankful

She stands by my side even when im a little immature

i will always be there for my mother, even if there was 

no one left in this world, it wouldn't matter, we 

would still have each other . . . 

  Love ~

Lacie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My daughter, Lacie, started to write this poem for me in 1995 . . . she then put pen to paper in calligraphy and completed it in 1997 . . .when she was just 17 years old.  I was so touched when she gave this to me and have cherished it since. This framed poem has been hanging in our family hallway photo gallery since then.

Happy Mother's Day ~

Flowers for Mom and Oma . . . placed on their graveside today for Mother's Day ~
Love & miss you both ~

137th Kentucky Derby ~

In the spirit of the 137th Kentucky Derby and my Kentucky ancestors . . .  I took a photo of a 2008 commemorative 134th Kentucky Derby drinking glass given to me by my aunt  in Kentucky. In 2008, I traveled for the first time to Kentucky to meet my paternal aunt. We had no idea each other existed until I started to research my family history.  When I saw this beautiful state . . . where most of my paternal ancestors lived and died, I feel in love with Kentucky and I could fell my deep roots there.   I am also a member of the Kentucky Historical Society . . . I just received my Spring 2011 issue today . . . the two go well together.

~ Congrats Animal Kingdom on your winnings ~

Colorful Pansies ~

Johnny Jump-ups and weeds gone wild ~

Our (granddaughter and I) Johnny Jump-ups have grown out of control! At one time, I had Chamomile tea planted in with the Johnny Jump-ups, the little flowers on the Chamomile plants have been and are usually white and yellow . . . the little flowers are now purple and look similar to the same flower as the Chamomile . . . so, I don't know if the little purple flowers are weeds or if I have created a new Chamomile species! They are still very cute and now, I have some tidying up to do . . . after doing some quick research, I really think they are just weeds.

Hyacinth bean vine ~

This is some of  the last blooms of the Hyacinth bean vine for Spring.  The vine actually belongs to my neighbor but grows up, over and down on my side of the fence so I get to enjoy them too . . . I love the purple color. I have been using my little Canon PowerShot SX120is lately due to being on the go more.  So this photo was actually taken on the 2nd of May with my Canon EOS Rebel XSi . . .I forgot I had taken a series of photos with my Rebel and this photo was on that camera . .  . so here I am sharing this one today.

Tornado in a bottle ~

My six year old grandson just completed the Mad Science after-school program this week. With all of the tornadoes that have been happening through-out many of our states, his class did a hands on project, teaching the children about tornado producing-thunderstorms and what causes them. Out of 52 photos, this was the only one that came out clear enough to show the little tornado inside! The children used glitter and a salt water solution inside the little bottle and then glued the top on. It's pretty neat to watch. My grandson really enjoyed the Mad Science after-school program and was sad that it ended . . . its fun and educational at the same time . . . the teachers wear lab coats and look like scientists.  I would love to be in that class!

My hanging heart plate ~

I have a small collection of these plates hanging on my dining room wall. This is the only heart shaped plate in the collection, which is my favorite . . . the remainder are round. This was the only object that sort of called out to me for my photo of the day. No color, but it was one of those days that I struggled with finding something of interest to photograph.

Letters, notes and cards ~

I love to write letters and cards to family and friends, which I have gotten away from in the last few years.  I have had this little collection of books for many years. I use them as a reference when I am lost for words . . . make calling cards . . .  or, when I make my handmade cards . . . and, they just look pretty sitting on my antique roll top desk.