Friday, July 31, 2009

Bye Bye July

My job has kept me really busy for the last couple of days. I'm not complaining, just not having much time to blog. It's great to have the work...but this was going to be my week to catch up on things around the house. Ha. Today's blog will just be a few quick pictures. This one is my hibiscus, finally adjusted to being set outside. The blossoms are bigger and brighter than when it's inside. I would be too.

Eric's softball team had it's last regular season game last night. I brought the camera and got a couple of shots in the park. Or shots in the dark. Or something. The moon looked very cool through the trees. I think I'm getting better at shooting the moon. What do you think?

Round Lake is really low. And pretty weedy. But that didn't stop this fisherman. What a peaceful way to end the day.

Unless that big snapping turtle that we used to see there comes to say hello! Hope that there isn't a toe less fisherman out there today.
Bye Bye July, hello August...where are the days going?


Thursday, July 30, 2009

The driver, part 2

I was outside yesterday taking some pictures of the flowers in my garden. The Star Gazer Lilies are just opening up. They sure are pretty this year.

I'm not sure what this lily is called, but I love the creamy colors. Anyway, I was innocently taking pictures when a familiar vehicle caught my eye.

My Jeep! Brian had volunteered to take Billy to an appointment. It's hard to get used to seeing my Jeep pull up without Eric or I in it.

How'd things go boys? "Well, we were late so we had to drive really fast, like this!"

You What??? "Just messin' with ya mom, things went great."

This whole teen aged driving thing is going to take some getting used to. I think I'll stick to the flowers. Aren't these pretty?

Wouldn't you rather think about flowers than teen aged drivers? I thought so.



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A Reunion of Dogs

There was a little reunion at the farm about a week and a half ago. A dog reunion. See this passel of pups? They were born in the summer of 2002. Brian and Billy sure loved being covered in puppies...Billy is the one getting a little kiss. Slurp.

The pups belonged to my folks. Kelly, the dog on the left, was the mom. Rusty, sitting next to her is the dad. Penny is our dog, she isn't related by blood, but don't tell her that! And Murphy, the driver, is one of the pups.

Another one of the pups, Jones, was adopted by Eric's sister Dawn and her husband Jeremy. Dawn and Jeremy were at the cabin for the weekend and of course they brought Jones with them! A perfect time for a dog reunion. Here are Jones and Murphy all grown up...are you my brother?? Are you my brother???

They did what dogs do, they sniffed, they ran, they darted, they sniffed....

...they ran, they explored, they sniffed. Sorry about all the sniffing shots, they were so fast that I couldn't get pictures unless they slowed down enough to sniff. Sniff, sniff, who's territory is this?

We are dogs, we are happy, we are happy dogs. It's hard to know if there is someway that they can tell that they are related. You can see that the dogs are related, but they are built very differently. Jones is slender like her mom was, Murphy is a big headed brute like his dad. It sure was cute to see them together!

Eventually it was time for the reunion to come to an end. Jones had to "load 'em up", Murphy jumped up to say goodbye. Sorry about the quality of the picture, the light meter was focused on Jones...but in spite of that I thought it was so cute of Murphy and little Logan saying goodbye.

Whether they recognized each other or not, a good time was had by all....but a little something tells me that Murphy breathed a sigh of relief when the pickup with Jones inside pulled out of the driveway....

...because even if he is his brother, having to share that attention can be pretty tough on a dog. Scratch me just a little more to the left will ya? Ahhhhh......wag.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Grocery Flowers

Today was grocery shopping day. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here or not.....but I really, really do not enjoy grocery shopping. At all. The older I get, the less I like it. It's stressful. It's crowded. It's not pleasant. So to make things a little brighter I almost always stop at the flower cart in the store and pick out something cheerful.

That way, when I'm in the produce area and see a whole family munching on grapes without paying for them I can stop and smell the flowers instead of saying "hey...that's stealing!"

And when the woman on her cell phone is wandering about oblivious to her surroundings and to her unruly children, I can stop and smell the flowers instead of telling her to "hang up and pay attention or at least get out of my way!"

And when I see perishable food left sitting on shelves that aren't refrigerated so they have to be thrown out just because someone changes their mind and is too lazy to put it back, raising prices for everyone, I just stop and smell the flowers and try not to get too steamed.

But I'll admit, when the lady with the giant cart that had the plastic kiddie car attached and the children that weren't even riding in it, came barrelling down the aisle and clipped me in the ankles without even blinking or apologizing...stopping to smell the flowers couldn't do the trick.

Oh well, at least the look that I shot her didn't wilt my pretty flowers. Good thing too....because I needed them again a few times before I had my groceries bagged and got the heck out of there. Maybe I'll buy two bouquets next time. It can't hurt.


Monday, July 27, 2009

The Driver

The dog is looking out the window nervously. Eric is sitting in the passenger seat looking a little concerned.

Brian, how are you feeling? Are you nervous? He's giving me the thumbs up, but I think that he might be feeling just a tad nervous. You see, it was driver's license testing day.

He's had his permit for quite a while. He didn't push it to get his license. We didn't push him to get his license. But then he decided he was ready. So he went and did it. Now there is a relaxed happy face!
I thought about photoshopping the bugs off of the side mirror...but now I have a teenage driver that can be washing my car if he wants to drive it. There's always a bright spot. Trouble is I probably will never see my jeep again to know if there are bugs on it or not. Oye.

Hey Brian...getting your license didn't have anything to do with girls did it?

Oh mom! He's a teenage boy, most things in life have something to do with girls. I might as well get used to it.


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Catching Up

I've gotten so far behind this week. The baseball pictures and all that there is to do to get things ready for the end of the season party gets to be a little overwhelming. But now, it's done, and I'm going to catch up with a few things.

I've continued to take my photo of the day, but I haven't taken the time to upload them onto flickr or to share them with you. So here they are, the last week or so in pictures. Up above is Billy at his last baseball tournament of the year. Below is after the last game. I think that it was sinking in that the season is over.

We spent a nice day and a half with Eric's brother and wife, Chris and Shelly. They brought their daughter Hannah and one of Hannah's friends to visit from Oregon. Billy and Hannah were playing in the river.

This was taken in the evening when I realized that I had forgotten to take my picture of the day. It's the stuff I have on top of my kitchen cupboards. I keep the twinkly lights up there year round.

Dark skies in the neighborhood...it poured then cleared off in time to play the last women's regular season softball game. We have a few weeks off before the fall season starts. It's nice to have a break.

Patunia's petunias on the patio table. Maybe now that some of the ball is done we can sit out there and enjoy an evening or two.

One of two workers in my garden....the other one is concrete too.

One of the pictures from that wonderful sunset from a few nights ago.

Another wonderful sunset. Another moment when I realized very late in the day that I hadn't taken my photo of the day. After looking at baseball picture after baseball picture, taking any more pictures of anything was almost painful. Now that it's done, taking pictures should be fun again.

I loved the light this evening. I couldn't pick which photo I liked better, so you get two for one. There was something about the fading light on the fading flowers that spoke to me. Maybe because tonight I feeling like I'm fading too.

And last but not least, Molly with sunlit petunias behind her. Again, I loved the light. Morning light and evening light....

....get up early or stay up late.....it's a wonderful time to take pictures.


Saturday, July 25, 2009

A Quick Sunset

I'm still working on baseball stuff, but wanted to take a little break and share a quick sunset. Eric and Billy were off running an errand when my phone rang. It was Eric...he asked me if I had noticed the sunset. My nose was to my computer, so I hadn't.

A little peak out the window and I knew that I had to get outside to see it....pronto! I grabbed the camera and went out the door. Unfortunately there's not really a good place to see the sunset from my yard, so I headed down the road. I was hoping I didn't run into anyone since I was barefoot and not wearing make-up. It was a wonderfully warm evening.

I was half way to the frontage road when Eric and Billy pulled up. Eric gave me a ride the rest of the way and I headed up the bike path to the over pass of the freeway. Not the most beautiful place on earth...but I could see the sunset....and it was grand!

This is looking across the highway to one of the fields where Billy played baseball this summer. Here I thought I was getting away from baseball stuff when I ran smack dab into it again.

Anyway, the sunset was beautiful and I'm so glad that I got to have a glimpse of it. Thanks Eric for letting me know! I wish I had thought to grab a tripod. Next time. Or not. It was a fleeting moment....

...there wasn't time to plan....I am so happy that I didn't miss it.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

My little ball player

I am still working on baseball stuff. Today I started putting together a DVD / slide show. I am wishing that I had started last week, or last month, or something. But it's that dead line thing. Got a deadline, get it done. Last year one of the dad's mentioned that it would be cute to have pictures of the kids when they were little in the slide show. Great idea, but he mentioned just a few days before the party. So this year, the same boy is on Billy's team so I decided to run with the idea. I asked everyone to submit a few pictures of their little boys to me. Everyone did! Today I finally took the time to round up some of Billy. He's been playing ball for a long time!

This is a picture of him in "Rookie Camp". It was 10 years ago, he had just turned 4 and already had that "don't bug me I'm playin' ball" look. They were so tiny!

He was in rookie camp when he was 5 too. Brian played T-Ball that year. Here are the brothers at the end of the season.

This one was taken the same year, I love how sweet they look...and how proud Billy looks of his big brother.

2001 and he was on a T-Ball team. Things were simpler then....in so many ways.

This is 2002, I think it was machine pitch. I can't remember if it was machine pitch then coach pitch or the other way around....

...I just remember that they were really cute. Some of them didn't know which base to run to. More balls were dropped than caught. But they sure tried hard.

There are lots of rules to learn in baseball! I think that this was 2003. Before my digital camera. Before dates on the files. Before the days of taking way too many pictures.

Now this one I know is in 2004. Taken on May 22, 2004 at 10:17 a.m. I love digital. I love this guys expression.

This was the first year that I did a slide show. It's fun to look at it now....so many years later.

Like I said, life was simpler back then. I could get things done because I wasn't running the boys somewhere all the time. Today one had football, one wanted to go to the mall, there's the dropping off and picking up and getting gas and handing out cash and then there's girls. Sigh. Where'd these little guys go?

But in between the running around I am working on the slide show. The first song is a sweet Kenny Rogers song called "The Greatest". Little boy, in a baseball hat, stands in the field with his ball and bat....

The moms are going to cry...dads might too. I love when that happens. :-) But I have to get it done first! So, bye for now....