Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: fun stuff


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Cee’s flower challenge

Check out Cee’s blog where she sports a beautiful sunflower and challenges us to show everyone a flower from our own yards.

Well, you’ve seen many of the flowers in my garden, but this one is interesting.

Will be bright red soon!

Will be bright red soon!

It’s a crocosmia. The foliage is green spiky leaves perhaps 3 or more feet tall which remind me of gladiola leaves. The flowers open up one by one from one end of this bud to the other. This one happens to be bright red, but I’ve seen them in other shades of red and orange. They are stunning.

It’s a perennial so it comes up year after year, and each year there are more. I’m going to have to move some of these to another spot, so if anyone who lives near would like a few for a corner of their own garden let me know! (Click the small photo to see more detail.)

Pretty

Pretty


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Memories of black raspberries

Berries in bowl

Berries in bowl


Warm, sweet, juice running down your fingers. That’s the way I remember the black raspberries I picked behind my grandpa’s workshop on the farm years ago when I was a kid. We each got to spend a few days at grandma’s house during the summers back then. I tried to choose days when the black raspberries were ripe and if we were lucky Grandma and I had fresh berries on our cereal every morning.

Years later my sister came here for a visit and we went for a long bike ride. One of the highlights that day was coming across a huge patch of black raspberries, hundreds ripe for the picking. So we did, turning our fingers purple with memories.

This year in my own backyard, where I haven’t noticed any growing before, I found plump ripe berries today. Reaching into the thorny bushes for the perfect berry I was 12 again and back behind the workshop picking for my grandma’s breakfast.

It was sweet.

Grandpa's workshop

Grandpa’s workshop


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Yard treasures

Mr. Oriole comes for grape jelly.

Mr. Oriole comes for grape jelly.


One of the joys of being retired is time spent in my own back yard. There’s time to sit on the deck out back, watch the clouds scoot by, the light change on the birch trees, the birds coming in shifts to feed, even the grass growing. What a treat.

Ripening black raspberries.

Ripening black raspberries.


I remember the days when, while backing out of the driveway on my way to work, I noticed the early morning sun on the front of the house and felt a pang that another beautiful day at home was going to slide by without me. Now I have to keep reminding myself that I get to stay and enjoy the peace.
Gift from blue jay.

Gift from blue jay.

I constantly catch myself feeling sad that a day is ending, a weekend finished, a week gone by. It’s as if my body is automatically gearing up to go back to work after a vacation, sad that it’s ending. And then I remember that it’s not.

Roses bloom.

Roses bloom.

So if you see me smiling quietly to myself you’ll know I’m just mentally pinching myself.

And enjoying the treasures in my own yard.

Mrs. Oriole visits for a snack.

Mrs. Oriole visits for a snack.


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WordPress Photo Challenge: Door

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Family Farm Barn Door

Windows and doors…some of my favorite things to photograph.  I like this photo because it’s on the family farm, and because it shows the ingenuity of farmers who use what’s available to create hardware that works.

Look around.  What doors do you take for granted that carry memories and beauty to you?  Share them with us.  Meanwhile, you can see the entries so far at the original post.  Or see a few of my favorites (so far, it’s early, this challenge lasts until next Friday) here, here and here.    Please take a moment and look at these, they are special.

I’m sure there will be more I like as the week goes on, and I might find another door or two of my own to share.    We’ll see.

 


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It’s hard to hear the frogs when the freeway roar is so loud

Private camp site

Private camp site

Katie and I camped out last night.  In the backyard.   I know, I know, only a crazy woman and her crazy dog would choose to sleep in the damp and cold only yards from a comfy king sized bed.  Right?

Well call us crazy.

The moon was full and beckoned us out into the dark around 11:30.  We trooped through the already dewy wet grass carrying all the essentials, pillows, blankets, flashlight, phone, Katie tugging at the leash.  It was her first backyard camping adventure of the season and she knew exactly where she wanted to be.

 

I'll keep watch mama!

I’ll keep watch mama!

On her pillow in her tent guarding her yard.

I have a romantic notion about sleeping in the backyard; I like to listen to the frogs in the pond across the road.  There are at least a couple of different kinds including the bull frogs’ deep voices and I love to hear them in the evening from the deck.  Falling asleep to the frog choir always seems like such a lovely idea.

The reality, however, is that I am constantly surprised how loud the freeway is at night.  It’s a mile away but across a lake from us and I guess that magnifies the sound.  Because what I don’t notice much during the day is suddenly a deafening roar in the middle of the night.   Still, how many loud cars and trucks and motorcycles would be roaring down the freeway at 3 in the morning?

Turns out quite a few.

So many in fact that I really couldn’t hear the frogs at all.   Katie-girl and I are going to have to go on another camping adventure in a real campground very soon.  Hopefully far away from a freeway.  Before she settled in for her morning nap today she urged me to start planning.  A girl needs her outdoor time.

Don’t you know.

Morning moon hanging on

Morning moon hanging on

 


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WordPress Photo Challenge: Muse

This week’s photo challenge is to show something you photograph regularly, something that inspires you to take more photos.  To show us muse.

Pretty clouds...and a sheltie.

Pretty clouds…and a sheltie.

For me it’s often the sky.  Prior to retirement I had a window at work on the top floor and regularly posted ‘window weather’ photos taken on my phone of the clouds, rain, and sun streaming by.

Now that I’m not working I have to go a bit further to find that wide open sky.  But it’s still one of my favorite things to photograph; it changes frequently, it can be beautiful or dramatic; sometimes both.  I’m always watching the sky, early morning, midday, and late into the evening.  You never know what you’ll see.

Oh.  Yes there’s also the sheltie-girl Katie in this shot, another muse.  I have a few thousand photos of her in her many different moods.  Today, as you can see, she’s a very happy girl.  Because she loves to run, and because she knows I have treats.

You can see other interpretations of ‘muse’ at the original post.  Or if you like, check out a few of my favorites, here, here and here.

And don’t miss this one.

 

What’s your photographic muse?  You have time to show us, just post a photo on your blog and link to the original post.  I can’t wait to see!

Katie-girl.

Katie-girl.

 

 


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WordPress Photo Challenge: ROY G. BIV

Do you know what Roy G Biv is?  I didn’t.   It stands for red, orange,yellow,green, blue, indigo, and violet, the colors of the rainbow.  Yesterday I went over to my local nursery to find examples of those colors.  You can see other interpretations at the original post, or see a few of my favorite shots here, here and here.   And don’t miss this one, it’s wonderful!

 


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My turn

Katie here.

I’ve been bugging and bugging mama.  Every single day I ask her if I can tell all of you about my adventure visiting my friends Ricky and his sister Callie, but mama said I had to wait my turn.  Obviously she has forgotten that I am a princess.  Though I don’t know how cause I remind her daily.

Anyway, mama and I were taking Callie my teeter and some weave poles cause Callie is an awesome agility dog and I don’t really like to play on the teeter, so we took daddy’s truck.  That meant mama couldn’t put me in my crate in the back of the car.  So guess what?  I got to sit up front with her!

This is my daddy's truck!

This is my daddy’s truck!

My boyfriend Reilly sent my mama a seat belt and she got me a harness and I was her copilot!  I’m not so good at reading maps, so she used Garmin to find our way, but it was awesome being up front.  Mama says, though, that when we’re in the car I’m still going to be in the back seat cause it’s safer back there.  Whatever mama.

I was a good girl and didn’t bother my mama at all except when I wanted to get out and do my business.  Then I just stood up and stared at her.  She’s pretty good at reading my mind so we’d stop at the next rest stop and I’d get to sniff around a bit before we moved on our way.

Resting at a rest stop.

Resting at a rest stop.

After a long time (OK, 5 hours) we got to Ricky and Callie’s house!  Ricky and I are old friends so we weren’t that excited to see each other, but Callie was very excited to see me!  I guess she’s never seen a real life princess before.

Beautiful Callie

Beautiful Callie

I tried to be very regal, but it was totally hot that day.  Mostly I sniffed around the yard and hung out in the shade with my mom and Ricky and Callie’s mom.  I wasn’t interested in playing on the teeter or running weaves but it was fun to watch them do that!

Tandem teeter!

Tandem teeter!

And guess what else?  I figured I’d have to come clean and show my mama that I can do stairs after all.  Outside I had no problem going up and down the deck stairs, but inside I would only go down the stairs, and only if my mama was going down.  Then I’d race down so as not to be left behind, which startled mama the first time.

Handsome Ricky!

Handsome Ricky!

The next day we went for a walk in the park.  It was still so HOT that I was pretty slow, always lagging behind. My mama decided we better not go too far so we cut the walk short.  We’ve decided we will visit again sometime when the weather is cooler!

Going to the park!

Going to the park!

I had a really good time.  I think if I was around other shelties every day I’d learn to play with them.  Poor Callie really wanted me to play but I just wanted to sit near my mama.  She even offered me one of her favorite toys and I wasn’t interested.   Ricky says he understands and we just hung out together.

 

Me and Ricky near the pool.

Me and Ricky near the pool.

Mama and I left that afternoon, heading home to daddy.  It was a long drive home because weather wasn’t very good and we stopped a lot along the way.  I pretty much rested my eyes the whole way, no sleeping, but a lot of head nodding.  Toward the end I put my head down and with a big sigh fell asleep.  My mama laughed at me, but I think a princess is allowed a little nap, don’t you?

I really want to thank Ricky and Callie and their mom and dad for letting me and my mama visit them!  We had a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to another visit sometime!

Posing for the camera.

Posing for the camera.