Friday, November 30, 2012

A Rag Doll For Violet

Violet, 
will be four months old
come Christmas Day.
Peeping from the top of 
her stocking, will be this
little rag doll......

made with love .........

by her grandmother.....me.
And so it begins, now that
December is here.  
For Christians, this is one
of our most celebrated time
of  year. 
On the first Christmas,
gifts were given to Jesus
by Wise Men.  I like to think
we give in the same spirit.

Blessings for all......Dee Dee

Thursday, November 29, 2012

A Grapefruit Tree


 We moved to Florida
in the month of December.
I remember finding it
fascinating seeing the neighbors 
grapefruit tree filled with 
yellow fruit. It was our good fortune that
several of the branches spilled over into our
yard. The fruit falling to the ground
we claimed as ours. An older tree, the
grapefruits were filled with seeds, but
properly prepared, they tasted mighty good.
For many years we were blessed with
not only a visibly beautiful tree, it also offered
a lovely fragrance from the fruit blossoms. 

I took the photo seen here, three years ago.
Sadly,  this was the last time the
tree yielded healthy fruit.  .
Unfortunately our neighbor's tree is dying and
most likely will be taken down. Most of 
the leaves are gone, and the one or two fruits
the tree has yielded  are brown.
Seems like an old friend is somehow leaving us. Sigh.....

Have a sweet ole' day everyone!  Dee Dee

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Palm Tree Droppings


One of our taller palm trees
is surrounded by various
tropical plants.  Seldom do
I see the ground in that area,
and not until today did I
make this discovery.
Large pod-berry droppings
lay scattered on palm bark
making for interesting 
composition.

Here, 
I found beauty in the 
palm tree droppings, my
camera loving the 
filtered lighting
provided by the tall
Nandina plants. 
Zooming  through the leaves
using the Macro setting, provided
the lovely green in the photo.
This reminds me of a 
feeding dish for the squirrels....
provided by nature, of course.
The palm tree has two of these
large pods now.....
promising berry droppings for 
a good while to come.

I'm glad you stopped by.

Blessings.....Dee Dee
click on photos to enlarge


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Cotton Fields

Our Thanksgiving road trip
took us through Georgia.
Mile after mile we saw fields
of white cotton.  

Had me humming......
"Oh when them cotton fields
get rotten, you can pick very 
much cotton.....in them old
cotton fields back home."





While the Mister gathered a few stems
for our "homeschoolers"......
I took plenty of photos. 

Have a sweet ole' day!  Dee Dee

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Late Fall In Carolina

Nothing could've been
finer than to be in 
South Carolina.......
I took lots of photos of
our sweet  family member's garden.
They work hard for
these kind of images......
....and the garden is magical.


Pansies were thriving....love 
the colors....

The morning sunshine made for
some real pretty photos.....


We likened this small
maple tree to a 
"burning bush."

"Sweetness" was found beneath
a maple tree.....
Summer's end and 
a Coleus still drawing 
attention to itself......

And.....Roses were 
up-on-the-housetop!

Thank you  family ....
for a sweet ole' time!
Dee Dee and the Mister
*click on photos to enlarge

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

"Thanksgiving"

By Doris Lee
In this painting, 
 Ms Lee has captured 
my ideal Thanksgiving.
The kitchen's  buzzing with
ladies of the  
family busy with  meal
preparation.
Everyone is
contributing  in a 
prideful kind of way.
Favorite
dishes promise to be delicious 
and of course they are traditional.
The food  took more time 
to prepare in
those days.....a good thing, I believe.
It allowed  more time for sweet conversations
and catching up with out-of-town 
family members.
"Is the turkey almost done?"
My pumpkin pies need
to go into the oven."

This evening I'm hearing sweet
voices from the past.  They're
stored away in my heart and 
always surface during the holidays.
I'm real thankful for that and.....
for so so many other things.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Dee Dee

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

More Petunias

I liked the red Petunias 
I placed at the front entrance
to our cottage.
So much so, that I brought
home two more hanging baskets.,
and yes, the same color.


They've been hanging in 
 our garden....looking pretty .... 
maybe even a little like Christmas.
I love how the reds
and greens look together.
After Thanksgiving, 
maybe I'll plant red Poinsettias
in the large pots out by the pool.


Enjoying these life moments and 
I'm glad you stopped by.
Blessings.....Dee Dee

Monday, November 19, 2012

Snow Cool


I've titled  it "Snow Cool"
for obvious reasons.....

Have a sweet ole' day!  Dee Dee

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Oxen

Beautiful images and I'm remembering
the day that 
 I watched Amish farmers plowing the fields.

 Oxen  and men seemed content in their labor.

I'm reminded a 
commandment from God's Holy Word.
Exodus 34:2l
Six days you shall labor, but on the
seventh day thou shall rest.
The seventh day is the Sabbath...
holy to the Lord.

Have a beautiful Lord's day......Dee Dee
click on images to enlarge

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Easing Into Christmas

I love this time of year!
I'm easing into  the Christmas season
with  light reading.
My bedside table is stacked 
with a collection of Christmas time
stories, thanks to our library re-sale bookstore.
Patrons are faithful to donate like new
Christmas Books each Christmas season. 
 I'm now enjoying "Irish Stories For Christmas"........
 tales of  ordinary Irish country people
 during the holiday season.

"The Miracle of Ballybradawn"
Our tale begins in the year of our Lord l953,
climacteric span which saw the demise of Stalin,
the flight of the Shah, the inauguration of 
Eisenhower and the conquest of Everest.
Not to be outdone, Ballybradawn was to witness
its own breathtaking phenomenon shortly
before Christmas of the year in question.......

I suppose these books provide delightful
reading any time of year.

Happy thoughts!  Dee Dee

Friday, November 16, 2012

Sheep

I'm thinking about sheep today.
I purchased a bag of  freshly
sheared wool....black with
tiny bits of grey for a Christmas project.
I'll be making
small black sheep for our 
manger scene, and 
 tucking a few of the woolly guys into
Christmas gifts.
Who doesn't like sheep?

The camera liked the 
sheep at the Farmers Museum in
Cooperstown, New York.
  

So did I.

The sheep's  in the meadow and the cows
in the corn......

And oh how I wanted to be like
Mary. She had a lamb who's
fleece was white as snow. The best
part was she brought the lamb to 
school one day and made the children
laugh and play .......

and then there was a.....
Bah Bah black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.  One for
the master, one for the dame, one for the
little boy who lives down the lane......

We memorized this as children.  Little did
we know they were words of protest 
against unfair taxation on wool.
Who would have known?

Thinking good and happy thoughts!  Dee Dee
click on photos to enlarge

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Read To A Child

Selective television and
lots of books to read
expand a child's knowledge
and imagination.

I never tire when reading to
children, and  find it sometimes
amusing that I'm a little girl all
over again.

Our public library has a resale book
store that  restocks almost daily.
I go twice a week to search through
the bookshelves.

The children I buy for are ages
three, five, eight and nine.

Yesterday, I found lovely books for
all their ages.  It's amazing to watch
the older children advance in their
reading skills, their vocabulary and
their continual expanding  curiosities.

My tip for the day.....Read all books
prior to reading to a child.  Not all 
modern day books are appropriate for
young minds.  Some have subliminal
messages that are not, at first glance,
apparent. Little minds are impressionable
and easily swayed for unhealthy thoughts.
Be Aware! 
Have a beautiful day....Dee Dee

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The Old Work Horse

I saw the movie War Horse not 
 long ago.  I,  along with just about
everyone seeing the movie fell in love
with this terrific animal. 
This big boy, seen here, is a work horse,
earning his fee and hay at the 
Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown
New York.


I spent a good while this evening
with photos taken of him, 
 using  Photoshop.
He's so beautiful, don't you think?
Has a rugged look of a work 
horse and he
 reminds me of "War Horse"


The Museum has lots of visitors.
Families with children spend time 
with the animals on the farm.  I think
this guy has a pretty good life.
Gotta love that sweet ole' face......sigh...

Have a beautiful day!  Dee Dee
click on images to enlarge

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"Chicken In The Four O'Clocks"

It'd  been a long while for me, being
around  farm animals. So,
I was fascinated with seeing these pretty
white chickens.  They were wondering
around freely at the Farmers Museum
in Cooperstown New York.
  I'm certain I annoyed a few
of these  very active birds with my camera.
They were interested in nothing
 more than foraging for food, scratching
around for seeds insects and worms.
I waited for this guy to come from 
beneath the Rose bushes. 
 Surrounded by
Four O'clock flowers and Lantana,
I had the perfect composition for a
nice photo shoot. 
I still have my original photo, but
what your seeing here is 
"experimentation" and my results
having used Photoshop.  I had way too
much fun with this.

Have a sweet ole' day, everyone.  Dee Dee
click on image to enlarge

Monday, November 12, 2012

"White Bunny"

I painted this 
White Bunny
 during the fall of the year,
as I remember and
a long while back.
I'd been inspired by another
painting, one with the same
subject matter.
I found Bunny in a file, on my
exterior hard drive today.
He looked  
 a little lonely and sad.
So, I've spruced the little guy
up by using Photoshop.....
sorta like giving him a  
good dusting off.
I've brightened his eyes and
by adding  a few more whiskers, he's
looking pretty "snazzy."

Have a beautiful week, everyone.....Dee Dee



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sunset


On thoughts as the day closes......
was today well spent?

Did we add our light to the world?
Can we say, "I did my best?"
~Starrlette L. Howard

Think on this....
A land which the Lord, your God
looks after; His eyes are upon it
continually from the beginning
of the year to the end.
~Deuteronomy ll:l2 from the Holy Bible

Have a blessed Lord's day!  Dee Dee

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Petunias

I love red Petunias!
  A few
years back I placed a basket
of red Petunias in this same 
location....by the front door
of our cottage. As I recall,
it was early November.
They  lasted all through
Christmas...and well into spring.
I'm hoping for the same success
with these pretty things.
The weather is cool now and
they will get filtered sunlight
all day long......






Happy thoughts......Dee Dee
Click on images to enlarge....

Friday, November 9, 2012

Call The Midwife

I  wished I had paid more attention
when my daughter, mother of five,
told me about "Call The Midwife".....
She had nothing but high praise,
considering it her all time favorite, ever.
This past Sunday night I 
watched it to see what all the excitement
was about.
I loved it!  Sadly I was watching the
final show of the season. 
I did a little research and found I could
watch the complete season ....
all episodes on  www.pbs.org  through
December 3l, 2012
Anxious to watch, I bought  the
complete season today, on DVD,
calling it an early Christmas present.



The story is about a group of midwives, based in 
East London in the l950's.  Twenty-two year old
Jenny leaves her comfortable home to become a 
midwife in London's East End slums.
Expecting to find a hospital, she finds the clinic is a
convent.  Working alongside her fellow nurses and 
the medically trained nuns, Jenny has her eyes 
opened to the harsh living conditions.
She discovers the warm hearts and the bravery of 
the mothers.  Each one a heroine in Jenny's eyes.

I think you'll like this story, as much as I do.
It is intriguing in every way.

Have a sweet ole' day!  Dee Dee


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Discovery

During our visit to Cooperstown,
I had an opportunity to just get
out and walk.  The fall leaves were
scattered beneath my feet and the
cool breezes carried the fragrance
of wood burning fireplaces.
On this day, I discovered something
interesting, almost hidden from my view
completely.
Through the Bittersweet berries....

and the tree limbs, I could see 
something resembling a chimney.

Warn and weathered, 
I had found an
old "Ice Shack" belonging to my
grandson.
As a young teen, he would take
the shack out on a frozen lake
to fish.
I was surprised to hear that the
 pipe peeking through the roof
was attached to an
actual wood burning stove.
Imagine that....
As a usual thing, I enjoyed
taking photos for lasting 
memory.

Have a beautiful day, everyone!  Dee Dee