Mr. Frog is Choking...

Photo 7 - September 30

Yes, that is 3 1/2 inches of rain in the rain gauge. That's how much rain has come down since Saturday, when Dale was supposed to leave. But it looks like Mr. Frog will get a reprieve, because there is sunshine in the forecast! My Snapple cap today said that weather forecasters claim that they are correct 85% of the time. Here's hoping that the weekend doesn't fall within the 15% when they're wrong, because yardwork is waiting and the weather it's a changing. Last night's windstorm deposited leaves and branches all over the yard, so I think the mulching mower is going to get a workout. I'm not quite ready to break out the rake just yet.

Flowers...one of my passions...

Photo 6 - September 29

Since Kayla has helped me pick out and plant a lot of my flowers, I try to send her pictures when they're in bloom. The first time I sent her a picture of one of the roses I had picked out and planted that had bloomed, I sent it by text, and identified it as Dick Clark, which is the name given to it by the grower who created the breed of rose. Her response was, "you're naming your roses now?" which made me laugh. She now knows that they come pre-named, and I don't name them myself. This rose is a Kordes rose called The Dark Lady. It seems my roses have gotten their second wind, and a bunch of them are reblooming. It's just sad that the growing season is so close to its end.

These pictures are of one of my clematis vines, name of which I cannot locate (shame on me). It is a clematis that blooms totally off of new growth, so in the spring I had baby robins in the dead remains from last year, and now it is in full bloom. The flowers are tiny, but the vine it totally covered with them.

Sunrise Through the Rain

Photo 5 - September 28

I've been very busy complaining about the fact that it has rained practically nonstop since Dale left. I really don't need the weather to mimic my mood...I was kind of hoping that it would pick it up a bit. And that, my friends, would require just a little bit of sunshine. But God saw fit to give me a beautiful sunrise this morning, albeit a sunrise through the clouds and the rain, but beautiful nonetheless... Thank you for another beautiful moment...

And thank you, also, for successful surgery for my nephew, Joseph, who had his broken collarbone fixed today. Recovery is imminent...and his sassy self was back as I left him at the hospital tonight. Maybe not 100% back, but well on the mend.

Photos 1, 2, 3, 4

Photo 1 - September 24

If you look all the way down the line, you can see Dale on the end. This was departure attempt #1...















Photo 2 - September 25

And this was departure attempt #2 - getting tired of playing hurry up and wait...









Photo 3 - September 26

And finally - 3rd time's a charm. The three helicopters flying off in formation as they leave for their pre-deployment training.








Photo 4 - September 27

And here is one of my very favorite subjects - whether she likes it or not... Trinka will be learning to pose for me before Dale gets back...or at least I hope she at least gets a little more cooperative.

Starting is the hardest part...

My intention of keeping this 365 blog is twofold... First off, I kind of want to document the year while Dale is deployed, partly for myself, and partly to keep him in the loop of what I did to keep myself busy while the Army did its best to keep him busy... Secondly, I want to use it to work on my camera skills...and what better way to do that then to make myself take at least one picture every day. The every day part is what scares me...that I will neglect the every day aspect of it. It is a 365, after all, which means every day...not just some of them...

So the actual 365 photography part started on Saturday, as we tried to send Dale and the rest of his flight crews off. That part - the send off part - actually continued through Sunday and Monday. Kind of a Ground Hog's Day theme...which was fine at first but ended up to just be a big tease at the end. We all knew it was just a matter of time before they would have to leave, so the back and forth started to wear on everybody.

Pictures of days 1, 2, 3 and 4 (and 5 if I'm still behind) to follow...