Blending in & Christmas gift displayed! (finally)

Photo 321 - August 9

You have to look pretty close to see the sparrows picking the seeds out of the rocks. With the dreariness of the day because of the rain, they sure blend in really well.

Putting my house back together gives me the opportunity to finally put out the Christmas gift I got from Kenn and Kayla - a Scentsy burner. It did a fine job of holding up my pile of newspapers for the past few months, but I'm very happy to have it out now. My last one met it's ending at the paws of Laura's cats, when they stayed here when she moved back from Sheboygan. I still need to see if I can get my broken piece replaced.

And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to James! Hard to believe that he's 23, since I can still remember pretty clearly when I was that age. Hope you had a wonderful day!

Companion pieces

Photo 320 - August 8

It made me smile when I was talking to Dale about where I was going to hang Sunflower Fireworks, and he was disappointed when I talked about moving it out of James' room and into Laura's room. His desk is set up in James' room, and he likes the picture enough to want it hanging in there. Earlier this week the companion pieces I ordered also arrived. So now I need to find the perfect place in James' room to hang Poppy Panorama. Everything is starting to come together - slow but sure.

New Roses & Keeping out the woodchuck...

Photo 319 - August 7

The extra rain that we've had has done wonders for my new rose bushes. I am very happy to see that a bunch of new ones are in bloom.

Over the weekend Trinka and Zeeva had a run in with the woodchuck, and Trinka actually had it pinned on its back on the ground by the mulching box. I was more afraid that it would hurt one of them, so I called the dogs off and put them in the house, and the critter wiggled under the fence and hid under the neighbor's tree. So Jeff and I decided we would try to cover up the window well and see if that kept it away. Unless it has some super special excavating capabilities, it might be blocked out for good.

My work...

Photo 318 - August 6

It was not easy to pick out a handful of my pictures to display on the wall in the living room. I'll still have some additional pictures in the bedrooms, and my grass/dewdrop macros will have their own spot in the living room, but this wall is all my stuff. Dale and Kayla gave input and suggestions, picking from pictures that I've posted on my blog. And Laura and Kayla gave me lots of suggestions when it came to the layout (James just piped in that it was "busy" which was not very helpful). I'm really happy they're all on the wall, and I'm pretty excited about how the wall turned out. I'm just afraid that I may have to rotate pictures if I come up with other ones that I like better.

50th Anniversary!

Photo 317 - August 5

Today I was privileged to be able to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pastor Robert McClelland's ordination, as he presided and preached at our service this morning. Of those 50 years, 25 of them were spent at St. John, and he presided at my and Dale's wedding, baptized and confirmed Laura, Kayla and James (and Kristin), presided at Dad's funeral, and preached at Kayla and Kenn's reaffirmation of their wedding vows. He also threatened to unbaptize Laura, Kayla and James if we didn't come back to St. John upon our return from South Dakota. He conveniently doesn't remember saying that. Needless to say, he's been a pretty integral part of our Christian life, and we offer our heartfelt congratulations to him on this milestone!

Sunflower Fireworks

Photo 316 - August 4

When I first saw this picture I fell totally in love with it. I loved the bright colors...and it was flowers - one of my absolute favorite subjects. But it was expensive. It wasn't particularly expensive as far as artwork goes, but it certainly cost more than any piece of art that I ever bought. But it was on sale, plus I had an additional coupon in my email, and Dale liked it, so I splurged. It's a big picture at 24 x 48" but it found the perfect home in James' room. I thought that I was going to have to do some rearranging, but the fit on the wall was amazing. I have two more complementing pieces coming this week and I sure hope I can find a place in the room to showcase them as well as this one.

Oklahoma!

Photo 315 - August 3

I love musicals...and Oklahoma is one of my favorites. Dale and I started going out in high school while he was a part of that Oklahoma production, and Dale and Kayla performed together a few years ago in the Port Summer Theater production of it. Tonight it was Renee and Rebecca's turn, and they did an awesome job!