Silent Sunday::Lilacs::April 29

(Cont. from "The Shootout" yesterday)

And this is the picture Matt took:

Matt has started going with me to take pics on the weekends. He really likes it, and I'm really loving having a shooting buddy.

Have a wonderful weekend!

This Moment::April 27::The Shootout

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Have a wonderful day!

This Moment::April 20

This pic is adorable. Yes, Tino is well loved :)

We all know that Amber loves Tino, but look at Michael in the background. Tino is one of Michael's favorite people :) Lately Michael has been spending a lot of time with Amber and Tino while I go to my own doctor's appts and Bill's too. They are so wonderful for helping me so much! ♥ (They even made us dinner when I had my EGD this week. So sweet!)


{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Have a wonderful day!

New FB Page & At the Lake::April 16

On Friday, I created a facebook page for my photography "stuff". The link there is:
www.facebook.com/MerrieMelodyPhotography
Please join me there by clicking on the link and "liking" my page. You will get updates, pictures, a chance at give-aways, and a head's up when there are specials going on at MerrieMelody.etsy.com

Over the weekend, Steve, the boys, and I took a drive around the lake; Matt, my 12 year old, and I took pics.

At one point, without me knowing, Matt took my pic:



I'll share one of the pics that I took there:



Today, I'm off to the cardiologist to see what is going on with my heart; I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Have a great day!

Magical, Golden Sunlight::Landscapes::April 13

Yesterday evening, I was sitting at my computer, minding my own business, (well, I was reading facebook & blogs, so I guess I was minding other people's business too, eh? ;) when all of a sudden....BAM! the lighting turned golden and I knew, whether I wanted to or not, I had to go outside to take some pictures. There is no resisting such magic.



I love those last 15 minutes or so right before the sun finally sets. It has such a enchanted, magical quality that transforms even the most boring scene into something from a fairy tale. Take a good, hard look the next time you notice it happening. You'll be glad that you did!

After the sunlight had settled back down into dusk, I thanked the Lord for giving me those few minutes at the end of the day. It refreshed and rejuvenated me more than just about anything else could have.

Have a wonderful, magical day!

At the Park::April 12

This week is Spring Break for my kiddos.

For most of it, Matt & I have enjoyed working outside in the sunshine.

Yesterday, we decided to take a break and go to the park. Emily and Matt enjoyed being there. Michael.... not so much. So, Michael and I left Emily and Matt there, while we went and ran some errands. BUT, before we left, of course I had to photodocument the trip :)



Afterward, I am happy to say, I got the lawn mowed (one of the errands was filling up the gas can) BEFORE it rained :D Ahhh. I love it when things fall into place like that.

I'd love to mow the back/side yard too, but alas, the grass is wet..... I'll have to wait 'til things dry out a bit.

Tomorrow, I'll be spending my day in The Big City. So today is technically the last day of our Spring Break vacation. My favorite part of our vacation from school? Sleeping in, hands down. Oh, and Emily is going to State in drama tomorrow, too, so today is the last day she can work on homework. Guess what we'll be doing today! Oh well, at least we can all hang out together, anyway.

Have a super terrific day today!

Life on the Farm::RIP Rooster::April 11

My poor rooster died yesterday. This is the first time I have truly mourned a rooster, but he was beautiful *and* nice: great qualities for a rooster.

I took him over to a neighbor that runs what I thought was a taxidermy but is really a tannery. I didn't want to stuff him or anything, but awhile back, a friend of mine who does his own taxidermy told me that the hackles alone on my rooster was worth over $100 (Jared remembers him saying $200). The person that I talked to at the tannery said that they couldn't use him (feathers are used for fly fishing), but that they had some friends that they could give him too. So I left him with her, happy that his feathers would be used.

After contemplating things through a rooster's death, I realized that I really should be an organ donor. I don't like things that could be used for good just going to waste.

Anyway, things have been quieter this morning without him. RIP my little feathered friend.

Garden Work (w/ pics! :)::April 10

Oh my goodness I let my flower gardens & herb garden go last summer! Yesterday, Matt & I spent most of the day outside trying to restore order: removing the grass and weeds that were covering up the little, green shoots, and trimming down the dead stalks of oregano, sage, and lavender were just a few of the jobs we did. The best part was seeing it all done:


Today, since my body is complaining about how much work I did yesterday, I think I'll stay inside more and help the kids get their essays done for school; they are on spring break, and what a better use of their time that getting late work all caught up! ;)

Have a great day! And pray for us that there won't be mutiny at my house! ;)

And I will leave you with a joke from GCFL.net:

Animal Noises

Some young children were sitting in a circle with their
teacher. She was going around in turn asking them all
questions.

"Davy, what noise does a cow make?"

"It goes 'moo.'"

"Alice, what noise does a cat make?"

"It goes 'meow.'"

"Jamie, what sound does a lamb make?"

"It goes 'baaa.'"

"Jennifer, what sound does a mouse make?"

"Errr..., it goes... 'click!'"

Received from Thomas Ellsworth.

Weekend Photography with Steve & Flower::April 9

What I do on Sunday drives (take pics):



What Steve does on Sunday drives (while I'm taking pics, he reads):



So glad that we exist so well together :)

After the drive, I went outside to do Matt's animal chores, since he wasn't feeling well.

I decided to take my little Dutch bunny, Flower (who is also my favorite rabbit, but don't tell any of the others) out of his cage and let him eat some new greens that have just popped up. The resulting pictures are adorable!



Also this weekend: My blood pressure has been cRaZy! I went to the ER on Thursday night because I feel "fluttery" in my chest and my blood pressure was super high with a low pulse. When I got there and they tested my blood pressure it was 200+/100+ with a pulse of 53. After a few hours of monitoring, but not receiving any medication, my blood pressure went down on its own to a safe level, and they released me with a holter monitor to check on my heart for the next 24 hours.

The next day was the same type of thing, and the triage nurse was encouraging me to stay when I returned the holter moniter, but I was tired and didn't feel sick or any flutterings, so I left.

The next morning, I woke up and took my blood pressure. It was fine. I facebooked a little, ate a banana, and puttered for about an hour, and then my blood pressure spiked again, I felt super weak, had a huge headache, and felt nauseated. Back to the hospital.

The ER doc did an EKG and when it came back fine pronounced it as stress related and gave me ativan. I asked him to please do the labs anyway, just to make sure (it will show heart attack markers & markers for clots). The labs came back normal.

I'm still supposed to see a cardiologist; I have an appt. in May. Until then, my plan is to go to my regular doc and have her look over the big picture and see what she thinks I should do. I'm still not sure how it is just from stress, since it comes on w/o stress happening and goes away in the most stressful of situations..... Plus, another thought is, "Reduce stress? how? There is nothing that is obvious for me to give up or get rid of." It is so frustrating.

Sorry to complain. I have realized that I have only been sharing pictures and not talking because my internal dialog isn't always happy. I hope that you'll forgive me when I talk about some things going on in my life that *aren't* happy. It is the season of life that I'm in, and apparently, my health is starting to buckle because of it. Hopefully talking about it will be therapeutic.

The weather today is sunshine and blue skies. I am aiming to take a picture of at least one square of my garden that I cultivated yesterday, and hopefully a second or third will get done today.

As for the animals on my backyard farm:
a lot of my chickens died over the winter, which isn't too worrisome, since they are just old birds and it was their time. I still have six hens (2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Black Sex Links, 1 Araucana, and 1 Delaware. I also have 2 roosters, which is one too many for 6 hens! One roo is a bantam and the other is a Black Sex Link. I have 2 free range Old English bantam hens, as well. I am thinking of putting the bantams in a separate run, letting the hens set on eggs, selling the chicks, and keeping the Black Sex Link roo in with the other 6 hens. hmmm.....

My nanny goat is off hanging out with a buck, hoping to produce a baby for the fall.

The rabbits are fine. I'm down to one female and 6 males; they are all pets at this time, since none will be bred and we quit raising meat rabbits altogether. So, they are sent "out to pasture", so to speak, for the rest of their days.

Today, my goal is to clean out the flower beds and get rid of the brown that is lingering to make room for all of the green that is pushing its way up.

I also want to trim up my herb garden; clipping some oregano that is threatening to take over the entire plot, and cutting everything back a bit, clearing out the dead to get ready for more life.

My strawberries have suffered from dandelions overtaking their bed. I'm going to need help to reclaim their space! It is simply too much work for one person to get done in a timely manner.

I still need to get some spinach planted; I am about a month later than I wanted to be. :/

Steve wants to try his hand at cabbage & broccoli. More power too him! I have never been successful with them.

I also need to find a supplier/greenhouse with zucchini that actually produce. I am going to avoid a local greenhouse, since my zucchini plants haven't produced for the past 2 years.

Anyhow, I'm off to take care of the animals for now, since Matt is still not feeling well (the animals are typically his job).

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Easter::2012

Celebrating:Jared, Karen, and Easter::April 6th

Since Steve & I have a big family to begin with, and since it is just getting bigger, we have decided to take one day a month and celebrate all of the birthdays and holiday from the month. We have named the first Tuesday of the month as the day.

This past Tuesday, we celebrated Karen's birthday (soooo late! It was in February. Getting everyone together can be hard!), Jared's birthday, and Easter.

We had our scavenger hunt (we don't do Easter baskets, just a "jack pot" that clues will lead them to), dying Easter eggs, an Easter egg hunt, dinner, and Birthday Cake. We had a great time, and it seems that the one-Tuesday-a-month theme will work.

Here are some pics:


I'm so thankful for such a great family! and again, Happy Birthday Jared & Karen! I am so glad that you both are part of our family!

And to all of you, I hope that you have a wonderful Easter.

Macro Flowers::April 5th

You know those tiny, purple flowers that just pop up on your lawn? Yep, that is what this one is: a violet.



And I'm so excited that the gopher didn't eat *all* of my crocuses! Here are a few that he missed:



As I was looking at the blurry part of the pic (of the first crocus pic), I realized that it reminded me very much of impressionistic art. (I ♥ Impressionistic art :)



Yesterday was such a great day! Blue sky, warm weather. So nice! Bring on Spring! (for good! no more snow! ;)

I hope that you have a terrific day today!