Just call me Orlando, the famous fisherman. I do think he was a fresh water fisher. My little love Dixie and I are in Fla. again. Work continues on our house with four contractor's scheduled to work tomorrow. But, my love here is the sun, water and any type of water sport. This was last week-end with my honey and I. He is not very patentice and has a hard time sitting still to fish. The weather was nice and it was a great day on the water.

Enjoy your week.

Daffodowndilly

DAFFODOWNDILLY HAS COME TO TOWN, IN A YELLOW PETTICOAT AND A GREEN GOWN. 2-2009

Love Bird

My husband has nick names for everyone. Love ones, friends, employees, everyone he knows has a nick name. Even our 4-legged babies. My name has always been "Love Bird". Sometimes it has been shorten to "Bird" or "Bird is the Word". Any combination of Love Bird is it.

I have been at our home in Fla. since Monday and my honey is in Atlanta. He hates to be alone. We talk many times a day. Where are you? What are you doing? Have you done this? Have you seen this person? What does the house look like? Etc. Etc. Etc. ???
This morning while looking and reading my e-mails, I came across this message from my Honey. "

"(no subject)
From:Fred Mortensen
To:chrcsmrtnsn@aol.com'
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 9:29 pm

IS THERE A LOVE BIRD OUT THERE? ANYWHERE, I LOST ONE………

Fred Mortensen, CEO
Mortensen Woodwork, Inc."

What more can I say. Love you Honey. Have a great day.

Warm and Fuzzy

I have passed this sign many times as I,we have driven to Florida. It sneaks up on me when driving alone. Of course I always see it when drivings down with my Honey. He would think I was crazy if I asked him to stop. Honey would stop but still think I was crazy.

Well after the weird snow/thunder weather we had two days ago, I was off for another drive to the sunshine state. This time I was ready. My trusty Canon 40D made the trip on the seat beside me. As I knew I was getting close I was on the look out. There it was up ahead and my car made it's way to the side of the road.

Doesn't it just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside? It is cold here in the sunshine state but the sign did the trick for me.

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!