Tom

Tom

This is my friend Tom. He called me to do some simple shots for him.

It doesn't get much simpler than this! 

Madley is remodeling our garage. Which means all the stuff that was in the garage is all over my patio and inside my house.

 

So Tom had to pose for me situated between our lovely garden and garage stuff.

Now don't misunderstand. Madley is working very hard and as fast as he can to finish our garage. So he can work on making his workbench. So he can build the new bathroom sink/cabinet for Little Indy. So he can remodel my kitchen. I expect all of this to be finished when his mother comes to visit late November. I'm not too demanding.

Tom is a good sport. He understands man stuff. See. He is a man. He likes all the stuff all over. It's like paradise to men. 400 bottles and cans of man stuff. 

WD40 type stuff.

Me...not so much. I am being patient. Really. My eye only twitches once in a while. Really. I'm o.k.

Toms wife passed away unexpectedly last year. She was an awesome lady and I miss her terribly. But Tom's doing great. He's lost some weight. He needed new photos to prove to the world he's gotten himself in shape.

He's now ready to brave the waters of socializing, networking, Facebook... 

or whatever.

Go get em Tom!

I think he needs a new football...if he wants the other boys

to play football with him.

I could be wrong, I am a girl. But someone needs to buy Tom a new football.

I hope these photos work for you Tom!

Dia Dhuit Ar Maidin!

Nature is sometimes weird. Tulips are beautiful...but their guts are weird freaks of nature. This is what attracts bees? ... Why? It must be one of those life secrets they keep.

What secrets do you keep? I don't want to know them...I just want you to think about them.

I have a few myself.

I'll tell you one secret of mine. But you are sworn to secrecy. You must pinkie swear with me you'll never tell another soul...living or deceased. Pinkie swear? Double pinkie swear? Triple Virtual Cyberspace Pinkie Swear? ...works for me.

As some of you know because you follow my blog...we are learning Irish. It's hard. I only know a few phrases and words by heart...I understand more than I can spit out. I love it. It fascinates me. I want to move to Ireland. I want the accent. I want a picture of the Loch Ness Monster. But these are no secrets.

My secret has to do with a specific Irish/Scottish phrase I love. It doesn't fit my personality at all. I would never say this in English. Ever. I may think it...in Irish... but never would I say it out loud...well...okay...

I'll admit I say this one...in Irish... all the time to my daughter and my hubby.

...in jest.

In Irish it's Póg mo Thóin
In Scottish it's Póg mo Thón


I even have a bumper sticker above my desk...see? I saw it in the Celtic shop window when we were in Seaside a few months ago and she was out of them. She can't keep them from flying off the shelves. So when we went back a couple weeks ago...we made a beeline for the shop and she had some!!!!

As Linda, my favorite Scottish bard and Celtic shop owner where I purchased the above sticker which is still in the wrapper would say..."People ask me 'Does this say 'Kiss Me I'm Irish'?"and she replies, "Aye! It's up to you to tell them where, eh?" I love her.

This is about as racy as you will ever see me get. You'll never find me in an Irish pub or gamblin' out back...but this is my well guarded secret...and if you don't approve...well...see above sticker.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program of Lindy the Mostly Boring, Irish learning, Writing, Pathological Picture Taking, Homeschooling, Wife. Nana. Mother. Wanna be racy, WEIRDO FREAK OF NATURE.

P.S. We haven't told the girls what this means...or how to pronounce it.

Slán!

Hey! It's OK Wednesday

It's okay...

...to love things in black and white.

...because depth and beauty can be found in the shades of gray.

...beauty is deeper than color.

...unless you happen to be...lettuce.

Lettuce Romaine Friends Forever.

Sunday Reflections

Taken with my iPhone cam...

Sometimes things are just what they are and nothing more.

Like when you are driving to the beach and you're sure you haven't forgotten anything and then...BAM! It hits you...

I remembered my camera...I'm a Professional Pathological Picture Taker for goodness sakes! I had my lenses and my flash...check...

Batteries...check...wait...un-check that. I FORGOT to put a battery in my camera and the 2 extra batteries are in my equipment drawer AT HOME!

I have never, ever, ever forgotten batteries. Ever.

So...I had my iPhone. 

BUT!!!! It was very windy and the sand was blowing everywhere...in my ears, my eyes, my mouth...and EVERYWHERE!

I'm so glad I had the foresight to forget my camera's battery! 

I'm so smart!

Don't you wish you had my incredible intuition?

My shoulders also thanked me for forgetting my battery. I didn't have to lug that monster all around and I felt FREE!

But iPhone photos are all I have to document the day. 

Let this be a lesson to you...

Don't be like me.

Hey! It's OK Wednesday-My Day at the Zoo

It's okay...

...to contemplate your dinner before killing and eating it.

...or to contemplate your life and dream of flying.

...to know that you are small but vicious. 

...to always eat leftovers.

 ...to adore the one you love.

 ...to take a lie down in your fur coat.

...to be ferocious and vogue at the same time.

...to wear animal prints in the summer.

...to get a little nudge from a friend when you need it.

I'd like to thank all my animal friends for posing so nicely for me yesterday. I brought them all home and we watched Dr. Doolittle and ate popcorn. Sleeping arrangements were difficult...I didn't want anyone to be eaten by another guest. I took them all home in the morning after I made waffles.

Sunday Reflections- It's HOT!

Why we have sun...

Living in the Pacific Northwest has it's benefits. For one, it's rarely hot.

But we're in one of those rare heatwaves this past couple of days and I am ready to move to Alaska.

I don't tolerate the heat...it makes me cranky. I'm not a sun worshiper so for me, that bright orb in the sky needs to serve it's purpose of keeping me from freezing on the spot and get back behind some clouds soon or I will start to cry for my mommy.

We don't have AC. Could you tell?

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be the worst of it and Tuesday we will start heading back to reasonable weather in the mid 70's...
95 - 100 degrees is not my idea of living up here. I could have stayed in CA for this.

Thankfully it cools down very nicely to 59 degrees at night and we get a respite.  I remember Arizona only getting down to 100 degrees some nights. AC is not an option there, you either have it or you die. Hey...it's a dry heat!

We have our hot day rituals...we open everything up at 5am and then around 9-10am we close it up and close the blinds and turn on the fans. It keeps it nice and cool until around 6pm when the sun bears down and tries to cook us in a steamy hot pot...then around 8-9pm we open everything back up and pray for a breeze. Two more nights of this and we will be done with the heat for the year...at least that's what I am telling myself.

Fall is just around the corner...my favorite time of year.

This sounds like a rant instead of reflections doesn't it? I had to get it off my chest.

In good news, Madley has been fixing a lot of things around the house. This makes me very happy.

Little Indy goes back to school a week from tomorrow and that means...Nana home-school starts! I have a week to finish my 2nd grade lesson plans! I'm excited. We're going to pick up our curriculum next week and organize the home-school room.

One of my dreams has been to be a teacher. I went to college, but only to be a preschool teacher which I was for many years, and this home-schooling is so much more fun..so flexible...

So "In my pajamas on the couch teaching history." flexible.
So "I'm going for a pedicure while you teach math, Madley!" flexible.
So "Let's take our sketch pads to the park and draw birds, flowers, trees, and bugs." flexible.
So "Let's go see a movie in the middle of a school day!" flexible.
So "Thanks for scratching my back while I read to you." flexible.
So "Field trip to the mall!!!" flexible. (Hey, the library is in the mall...how cool is that?)
So "Olive Garden for soup and salad lunch!" flexible.
So "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the USA." flexible.
So "Morning prayer and blessings on our lunch." flexible.

I rest my case Your Honor.



Next week we're also going to the zoo and some waterfalls we haven't seen yet.

Well dear reader, I'll be going to church soon... where I'll be cold and wearing my sweater in the AC and wishing I could bring it home with me for the evening heat where I'll be in my swim suit playing in the sprinklers with my granddaughters.

Have a great Sunday!

Friends Edition - Kristy

Have you ever noticed that once in a while during your life, a person shows up and you feel as though you have known them forever?

Well...Chilly here is one of those people in my life.

We met online through a mutual friend's Live Journal. 

They knew her in the real world.

We started chatting online.

We met in person and became fast friends...though she is much younger than me...the age difference doesn't usually get in our way. She is an old soul and I am a young soul. We met in the middle.

We've had some laughs...like when we met a "film star", probably only known in the world of Mormons, and did some model shots with him and at one point, we were upstairs and he was downstairs...he was bending over, let's just say he made plumbers proud that day. We were both too chicken to take a photo.

We are comfortable together. We can talk about almost anything. She likes to keep her toes warm under my legs. I like to see her green dot on chat everyday and know she is there.

She's the only person I text besides Madley and Little Indy.

I moved away and Chilly is the person I miss the most. She has plenty of friends, but I think...I could be wrong, but I know I'm not...that she misses me too.  

She loves to have fun and lives for musical theater and would herself be on Broadway in musicals, if only she wouldn't die from shyness. 

She carries herself tall and elegantly, 

though she is a shrinking violet inside.

She loves fiercely and would give her all to a relationship with a man...if only they weren't such boys. I have faith that someday...the perfect guy for her will come along and sweep her off her feet.

She shares my love for photography and she has an eye for capturing moments and beauty...if only she believed it herself.

I believe in her.

She makes me wish I was her age and could do my young life over again. We would travel everywhere together and open a photography studio together.  I may have joined the church earlier in my life.

Of course, I would still have Little Indy and the girls and meet and marry Madley because this part of my life doesn't need a do over. It's perfect.

Our lives were meant to take different paths and having hers in mine now, has made me all the richer. 

Good friends come in all packages and my life is like Christmas morning.

Hey! It's Okay!

It's okay...

...to be an airhead sometimes and put the milk in the cupboard and shoes in the refrigerator.

...to have a colorful past and never tell anyone about any of it.

...to sometimes be the only one in a crowd to stand up for something you truly believe in.

The last two photographs I enhanced with Paintshop Pro and Photoshop, you can click them for a larger view.

I Wanna Live on the Beach.............please?!?

Every time we visit the beach...I don't want to leave. I want to buy a shack and play my ukulele and beach comb and photograph every inch of the area for the rest of my life. These are more pictures from our last trip a couple of months ago and I am itching to get the heck outta Dodge and go back.

I love signs...

I don't know about you...but when I saw this sign in downtown Seaside, OR...I really wanted me some Roasted Gralic Spinach Tortelloni Tossed in Olive Oill.

I'm not sure who they have writing their specials on the board in the morning...but they better check to see who's been dipping into the cooking wine bright and early.

Now, I love Bob Dylan as much as the next Hippie wanna be...but what I don't understand is why our society, as a whole, can't follow the philosophy of this downtown Seaside merchant. These are my kind of hours and I think this type of attitude could bring world peace. We'd all be so laid back.

A cute young couple leaning on Lewis and Clark.

What child wouldn't love "World of Gifts" at their disposal?

Starfish that light up, line the downtown streets. It makes me so happy, I could weep!

 So now you know more reasons why I want to move to lovely Seaside, OR. Plus, I can take pictures whenever I want.

Must. Convince. Madley.

P.S. I don't know how to play the ukulele :)

Saturday...in the Park...Worldwide Photo Walk 2010

Scott Kelby started the Worldwide Photo Walk last year and this was my second year participating. Our group met near our local farmer's market so that's where my friend and I ended up hanging out and shooting while the rest of the group headed down the streets.

Here are some shots from my walk and shoot...

 Making Jambalaya or Gumbo...

 Street Musician

The End :)