Something Old

My Father In Law gave me this camera a few weeks ago after my Mother In Law passed away.  It was one of her first camera's given to her by her Mother In Law.  The Brownie Target Six-20  was introduced in 1946 and sold for $3.50 which would have been a lot of money for a farm wife following the great depression.

My Father In Law is the handsome gentleman in the uniform on the left following his return from England after World War II.  He is posing with his Dad (my husband's Grandfather) and the picture was probably taken by my husband's Grandmother.

Here's the story of the beautiful lady on the right.  When my husband's father was leaving for the war, all his friends were taking photos of their girlfriends.  Not having a girl friend at the time, he wanted to take a photo with him too. He found this lovely lady in a magazine, took a picture of it because he thought she was pretty enough to take along so no one could call his girl friend ugly.

Yellow Roses

The Rose Beyond The Wall - A. L. Frink

Near a shady wall a rose once grew,

Budded and blossomed in God's free light,

Watered and fed by the morning dew,

Shedding it's sweetness day and night.

As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,

Slowly rising to loftier height,

It came to a crevice in the wall

Through which there shone a beam of light.

Onward it crept with added strength

With never a thought of fear or pride,

It followed the light through the crevice's length

And unfolded itself on the other side.

The light, the dew, the broadening view

Were found the same as they were before,

And it lost itself in beauties new,

Breathing it's fragrance more and more.

Shall claim of death cause us to grieve

And make our courage faint and fall?

Nay! Let us faith and hope receive--

The rose still grows beyond the wall,

Scattering fragrance far and wide

Just as it did in days of yore,

Just as it did on the other side,

Just as it will forever-more.

My Mother In Law passed away last Saturday and her funeral was held this week.  She loved yellow roses and her husband of 64 years wanted to make sure she had yellow roses.  As tough as the week has been, it was wonderful to see how a family came together during a time like this.  She would have been so proud of her children, grand-children, nieces and nephews and friends supporting her husband and each other.  She has not been well during the past couple of years and we all knew she was now free of pain and in peace.

It's time like this that make you sit back and take a look at your own life.  I did not grow up in a home like the Walton's and I do realize that someday I will have to handle the arrangements for my parents, probably on my own. It's also the time I appreciate my own husband, our children and their spouses.  No, my kids didn't grow up in the Walton's house either, but our family does have a special closeness.  Recently, I heard my daughter and her husband talking to my son and his wife and the words "But don't tell anyone yet, because we not making it public" warmed my heart to know that they're close enough to share special secrets.

Have you ever noticed that your style of processing photos on any given day, depends on your mood.  I'm not a professional photographer doing work for hire, so my "style" can change on a any given day.  Today was not an exceptionally happy day.  The photos in today's post were taken at the same greenhouse, my happy place, as yesterday's post, but processed this afternoon.

Today I had to go into my parent's home and remove some of my Dad's bedroom furniture and clothing.  He is now on the "First Available List" for a safe place for persons with Alzheimer's.  He's still in the hospital where he'll remain until a suitable place is available.  My Mom is still living at home with dementia and has not come to terms with the fact that he will not be coming home.  Moving his things with her in the house would have been tramatic for her so it was done while she was visiting at the hospital.

I must say that I felt like a bit of a thief when I was there, wondering who was watching me.

And who might be giving me the evil eye from behind their curtains.

But it seems that there's always those neighborhoods where no one really sees or cares what is going on next door.  Today I was lucky I was in this type of neighborhood.

I must say after being with my parents today and seeing how well he's doing in the hospital with proper care and how much she's failing living at home alone, I feel much better about working towards having them live together in safe, assisted living.

Pack Up Your Troubles

"Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
And smile, smile, smile"

Following this advice from an old WW1 song it's just what I did this morning.  Our camera club had an outing at Salisbury Greenhouses, which just happens to be one of my favorite places.  The worries and troubles are left at the door the minute the warm air and the scent of flowers greet you.

I had originally planned on picking a few favorite photos from the morning for today's blog and I know that a few photos should be able to tell the story.  Unfortunately, a new set of flower pots in the greenhouse stole my plans and my heart.

I also know that one photo of a subject should be enough, but I couldn't stop.  I'm not sure if it was the rustic feel to these pots or perhaps the delicate painted flowers that drew my attention, or both.  Perhaps I'm a potaholic.

And the more I photographed them the more I was drawn to them.

Sanity finally took over and I grabbed this square pot, put it on my pile of things to buy and it now sits on my kitchen table.  I'm thinking that next time I'm going past Salisbury Greenhouses, a nice pot of basil would look lovely in it.

Sometimes the cup is just empty

Sometimes your cup is half full, sometimes your cup is half empty and sometimes it's just plain empty.




Today was one of those days, just plain empty. Earlier this week, I was told at a "family" meeting at the hospital, where my Dad has been since January that he has Alzheimer's and will not be returning to his home of the past 55 years.  A little bit of a shock to actually hear the words, but not a total surprise.  To make matter's worse my Mom's dementia is worse than my Dad's.  She's now living in their home alone and placement in a facility will also be done for her.

My first reaction to the news was to find them an assisted living apartment so they could be together.  Turns out the dementia is to far progressed for either of them to live in assisted living, they will both need to be in a "safe" facility, which simply means "locked".  At least they would be taken care of, feed and safe.  So the cup is still half full.

In talking to Homecare, who is providing services to my Mom, I was advised that they would start the placement service by putting her on the list for available spaces.  Turns out this is not the same system that finds my Dad a place, as he is still under hospital care.  I thought that it would be one person, doing both their placements so that they would be in the same facility.  Well not so.  Seems it isn't a priority for a couple who has been married for over 60 years to remain together.  Thus, emptying the cup.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a new day to start with a full cup, make some phone calls and see if I can find someone who will help to keep them together.

Creating with Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate

The day started in my pyjamas thinking about the one word that would describe my year. "Create" seems to be the word, creating images with my camera, trying my hand at creating art, creating a healthy home and meals, creating family memories and the list could go on and on.

First on the list for today was creating art with a Gelli Arts, gel printing plate given to me for my birthday along with the new paints.

Today's theme would be round and here's a few round object found around the house to create textures.

After much playing, this is the print I became quite fond of.

My old scanner would not work with Windows 7, so I did a photo of it.  While in photoshop doing a little adjustments, I wondered how it would work as a texture. Opened up a couple of photos taken last week to give it a try.

I'm kind of liking the way my first creative art project turned out.  If anyone would like a copy of this texture, just let me know and I'll send you a link.

On a side note, the day has ended with me in my pyjamas.  What a great way to spend the day.

Linking with

Shooting Grosbeaks through the window.

During the winter we have a little bird feeder outside the window where we feed the Chickadees.  They've become little piggies and spill as much as they eat which has been a good thing as it has attracted a family of Pine Grosbeaks.  This afternoon they arrived for their feeding while I was near the window with a camera near by, so I did the natural thing and stated shooting.