A Kiss Good Morning

Please let me clear up one thing before I continue this post. My husband does sleep where Dixie is sleeping in the photo below. And no, we do not sleep with three dogs.
We do however sleep with two. Dixie the little cocker and Bella the little chihuahua. But when honey gets up in the morning all bets are off. Katie our lab crawls up on the bed and snuggles up close to me. She loves to put her head on my pillow. Normally I will tell them that it is not 8:00 and go back to sleep. The photo above show us sleeping.

You can see that Dixie has spotted the chewie on the table. It does not bother her that she is laying on my head. Katie can not be out done and needs to have a good look. Bella has to be the center of attention and get in between Katie and me. Once again I say "Go back to sleep, it is not 8:00 yet."

The alarm clock goes off and Katie gives me a big kiss. Time to get up Mom. What a great way to wake up in the morning. Honey is loving taking all the photos. And our day begins.

Wish Upon A Star

Marlee has always been a little star. She was born 4 weeks early, weighing 4lbs. 7 ozs and 18 inches long. My little princess was like a baby doll, her Mother was terrified. I asked myself what had I done? She moved and I jumped. We learned and grew together. Smart, beautiful,
loving, caring with a heart of gold. For the first 17 years of Marlee's life she was a dream. But some where along the path she lost her way. We thought she was young, immature. She would grow up. From the age of 18 to 26 Marlee was on a road of destruction. It was a slow road. We did not see it over night.

It slowly built into a nightmare. Her Dad and I did not know if she would live or die. As a parent we were scared. I am so thankful that my dear Honey makes the money to get our princess the best help. For the last 5 months there have been a lot of struggles, a lot of tears, angry words spoken, separation, fear, sadness, lost but learning and healing. Our whole family has grown through all of this.

As you can see through all the pictures, our old Marlee is back. There is a star in her eye. Stars have always been Marlee's favorite symbol. For once in her adult life Marlee is happy. She is still struggling with issues. Some of these things will be with her for the rest of her life. At the beginning of all of this I told her "This is truly the first day of the rest of your life." Our star is living one second, one minute, one day at a time. Each day is an accomplishment.

Hang in there baby. Keep the people who are there to help you close. Set tiny goals and pat yourself on the back when you make them. It is such a great comfort to know that you are okay and happy. I love the song below and thought of it when I thought of our star today.

Congratulations!!!!

When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires

Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do

Fate is kind

She brings to those who love

The sweet fulfillment of

Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

An item that I have always wanted is a Macro len. After attending CPR Conn. in October, I was really fired up to purchase one. Canon offered a class on macro's and how to use them. We were allowed to test shoot the 60, 100 and the 150 mm len. They also had all the different flashes that can be used with this len. I am a Canon user and have been for the last 25 years. In high school and in young adulthood I used a Pentax with numerous len. When Canon was on site with their product, I was in heaven.
On returning home, I spent time shopping on the inter-net for the best price for Canon's 100mm Macro lens. I had recently won money in Las Vegas and had saved it for the purchase of new camera equipment. I was like a kid in a candy store. My new treasure arrived and I was out the door to use it.

I hated it. I was so disappointed. I just wanted to sit down and cry. Every picture I took was out of focus. I had read reviews about the auto focus and they were suppose to be good. I purchased a mono-pod to use with no luck. At that time the lens was put away and ignored. I wanted to pretend that I did not own one. I pulled it out after Christmas to photograph some of my ornaments with little success.

Last week at dinner, the Diva's and I were talking about Macro lens. My only comment was that I hated mine. All my photos are out of focus. I commented to Debra that she hand holds hers and her photos are great. Of course I was reminded that if I would use a Nikon my pictures would be great, also. I guess I am just to hard headed to change over to the dark side. I also have to many lens and accessories to switch. To debate the pros and cons of Nikon and Canon would take another post.

The other day after a light shower, I pulled out my lens again. I wanted to photograph some of the spring flowers in my yard. Once again I had no luck. I was ready to toss my lens. I remembered something that the lady had said at CPR. She advised turning off the auto focus. "But I will focus my camera to my eyes." Oh no, I was told. When you are in focus a little green dot will flash in you camera. Pesto, this worked great. The photos above were taken with my 100mm macro lens, hand held. I was much happier with the results of this shoot.

A few things that I have learned. First is slow down and take your time. I am not in a hurry to take my photos. Normally I would take the pictures and fix anything in Photoshop. But with this lens I need to take a little time. Second, with such a shallow depth of field I need to focus on what is the most important part of my photo. Third, hold my breath and push the shutter button. It is not really a lot to do to get great photos.

What do you have to think about when taking your photos? I am not always trying to photograph my 4-legged babies. This is a learning curve for me. I love instant perfection. I do not like to wait or not have something right the first time. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please do not send the merits of Nikon, I am a Canon user.

Have a great Day!

Country Girl Give Away

Our dear friend at Country Girl is giving away one of her beautiful prints. http://http://chroniclesofacountrygirl.blogspot.com/2009/02/another-giveawaywhy-because-i-like-them.html click the link to see her great prints and enter for a chance to win.

Does this look like a happy puppy? NO! Dixie is miserable without tennis balls in her life. For about three weeks, she has been limping on her front left leg. After the first trip to the Vet and numerous X-rays, Dr. Laurie said arthritis. Let her play and get plenty of exercise. That is what she needs. The exercise is good for her. One week of that and my sweetheart got worst. Dixie could not jump on the couch and did not want to play.

Second trip to the Vet to see Dr. Mullis. He is an orthopedic specialist. Yes, she does have a little arthritis but since she is worst?? I think she has tendinitis. No exercise for two to six weeks. This is a very painful condition one that I have never had, but. It was suggested that we put Dixie in a crate and keep her on a leash outside. My little princess is not in a crate or leash but we are not playing with tennis balls. I am trying to get all of them put away. Just when I think they are all hidden in the closet she comes up with another one.

This is going to be a long two weeks. We are only on day number two. It seems that the only thing I say to Dix is no. We have our fingers crossed that she will be better soon. And that ball restriction will only last for two weeks and not six.

Have a great week!

Are We Still In Kansas?

Late yesterday afternoon was an eventful weather day in Fayette County. At around 4:45 PM the severe weather warnings started playing on TV over and over again. The weather was beautiful outside. The girls and I had just come in from outside. I had worked in the yard and played with my babies. By the time Honey came home the beautiful day was a different story. The sky was a very strange color and the warnings were coming more often. All of the sudden I heard something hitting the windows in our house at about the same time Honey said OMG come look at the size of this hail. We could not believe it. It was like baseballs hitting the pool.

When the hail storm was over, I retrieved some of these beauties from our yard. It only lasted a few minutes but this is what we got. In my 51 years, I do not think I have ever seen hail this big or the shape that it was.

I then wanted to know what is Hail? Of course it is frozen precipitation but what? Research revealed the following:

"Hail is a frozen form of precipitation generally associated with severe thunderstorms, especially those which form in advance of cold fronts. Large hail is also seen as an early indicator of an approaching tornadic storm cell, and hailstones themselves can cause significant damage to exposed structures and vehicles. There are also documented cases where people have been seriously injured or even killed as a result of a heavy hailstorm."

The size of the hail was a true indicator of tornado's in the area. And yes I do believe that this size hail could have easily killed someone. True also was that a cold front hit a warm front causing the bad weather. The tornado sirens continued to go off for some time and we had a lot of rain. Thankfully everyone I know and love was safe and sound.

What was your weather like yesterday?

Have a good one!

Diva Dinner

There is nothing better than Divas at dinner. We enjoy our drink of choice, talk, laugh and sometimes celebrate a Birthday. Of course it does not take much for us to celebrate. When the Divas are together it is a Celebration! I am so blessed to have such a great group of friends. The best reward of scrap booking is my Divas.

The little princess, that Mimi is hogging, is the littlest Diva. We have decided that not only do we meet the first Sunday of the month, but two weeks after for dinner. Little Priss changes so much in two weeks. She is now a little butterball. You should see how fast Pam, Judy and I jump when she makes a peep. Little one you will be the Queens some day. Maybe the magic wand will be fixed by then. If not you have the Divas to grant your every wish.

Have a great day girls!

All Good Things Must End!

All good thing must come to an end. My honey comes home today. He has been in Miami for the past four days. I have enjoyed 4 days of doing what ever I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. Are my PJs still on at noon or maybe more like 2:00? I have enjoyed myself. Now don't get me wrong. I have missed him dearly. I love this funny photo of my honey. There are two way to look at this. Is he my hunk of burning love or is he the devil in my life? Both can be a lot of fun. Have a safe flight home my darling. See you tonight. Love or Devil?

Smooch for You!

Enjoy a big smooch from me to you.
Happy Valentine's Day!