2013 Project 365 – Week Thirty-three

The moon man has been at it again – but I “only” included four pictures of the moon this week. He also got some other great pictures that I’m not using – you’ll have to check out his blog here to see them (go over there – you need to see the dove!).

Sunday, August 11^th

Our next door neighbor gave us this tiny little cypress tree. I think it has a way to go before it gets as big as its mom!

The moon!

Monday, August 12^th   

This was the day that I got up around 1:45 to see if I could see the Perseid Meteor Shower without any success. Dr. M got up around 4:00 & was able to get a few pictures. No meteors though :(

Pictures from the yard.

  

Tuesday, August 13^th          

Tiny little hummer!

The moon!

Wednesday, August 14^th   

I found a new sheep farm on my commute to work – score!

Critters who love our marigolds…

I asked Dr. M to take a picture of the tomato-scape he had created. When I checked out the pictures on my camera I saw this – yikes!

And here are the tomatoes.

Thursday, August 15^th   

A coworker gave me some stale popcorn to give the birds. It was so funny watching them fly to the roof next door & try to wrangle the popcorn. It would start rolling down the roof & they would go hopping after it. Hilarious!

The moon!

On his way back in from taking moon pictures Dr. M saw this little toad. We love our toads around here :)

Friday, August 16^th  

I took a day off from work just because & decided to check an item off of my 50x50 list. I visited the local fen (my list says I have to visit during each season – I’ve been there in winter, spring & summer so far). The State of the Bug – happy!

Dr. M got out his toys to play with the cairn – ha!

Saturday, August 17^th      

We used to see hot air balloons all the time where we used to live, but now it’s a novelty. I like this one – it has Ohio themes (Wright Flyer, Dayton skyline, barn).

Dr. M sneaked & took this picture of me while I was looking at the balloon.

Wondering about the pirate flag? At that time of day the sun sneaks below the canopy of our swing so he decided to put up a barrier. Made me laugh when I saw it. He always likes to get this flag out when school starts. Wonder why? Ha!

In case you can't read it - the flag says, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

The moon!

  

Go to Mamma Fran’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710.  The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

Wednesday's Words: Merrymaker! Festive! Happiness! Frolic!

I'm going to visit a friend in the hospital today. When I pulled up the directions I noticed something interesting about the neighborhood around the hospital:

Made me smile :)

Interview with the Universe

Apparently there’s some sort of meteor thing going on, so last night when I woke to up go to the bathroom I decided to head on outside to see what was what. In anticipation of the event, Dr. M had set up a citronella candle and a chair in the middle of the yard. There is a LOT of ambient light in our neighborhood so I didn’t think I would be able to see much.

So, it’s 1:45 a.m. and I trundle outside in my pajamas and sit in the damp chair (ooh – that helped calm down the hot flash!). Dr. M said that it takes 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to darkness so I was hoping to be out there for at least 30 minutes – even though it wasn’t actually all that dark. But then the neighbors came home (loudly), and I sneezed, and I kept getting distracted by the lights around me, so I lasted 15 minutes. Go me! Ha.

But oh the stars! Even though it wasn’t all that dark around me, the sky was completely clear & the more I looked, the more stars I could see. I was wishing I was awake enough to go drive out into the country because then I just know I would have been able to see ALL THE STARS.

I slip on my purple
bamboo flip-flops
and slide out the door
into a cacophony of
night music.
The cool damp is glorious –
the chair placed just so:
This is an interview
with the universe
and I am wearing
purple pajamas
that match the purple
bamboo flip-flops.
The universe asks
one question only:
“What do you see?”
“Grace,” I reply,
“and the vast open arms
of redemption.”
And the great
cricket chorus
Says, “Amen!”

Here you go, dear Bug: Perseus, about 4:30am EDST ~ Dr. M

2013 Project 365 – Week Thirty-two

What a weird week! Our pictures look pretty normal, but this week just seemed out of kilter to me. Today was nice & low-key, so maybe this next week won’t feel so odd.

Sunday, August 4^th

A friend from church rode her motorcycle on Sunday. I had to get a picture :)

The daylilies are winding down.

The flower garden Dr. M planted for me is just popping with color! This picture is not enhanced in any way!

The yarrow is still pretty with its more subdued color palette.

Goldfinch!

Monday, August 5^th   

I’ve been drinking mostly water lately. Today I added blueberries – yum!

The last daylily of summer :(

Bumble on the hanging basket.

Tuesday, August 6^th          

Tuesday was for the birds – ha! Here’s a house finch.

Juvenile robin.

Hummingbird on a wire.

Wednesday, August 7^th   

We had pictures taken for the church directory. Our appointment was at 7:10. We got home at 9:45.

The State of the Bug: Tired & annoyed!

Thursday, August 8^th   

Grackle!

Rosie.

Rainbow after the storm.

Friday, August 9^th  

I was originally going to get 15 bags of mulch for the church yard. Dr. M said he didn’t think 15 bags would fit, so I just got six. Here’s the Bugly with three bags still in it. I don’t know why he thought 12 more bags wouldn’t fit. Ha! I do NOT have good spatial orientation.

Our army of tomatoes is growing. The small ones are volunteers. The larger ones are Fourth of July tomatoes (just a tad late).

Saturday, August 10^th      

I posted this on Facebook: I used to be the Four Leaf Clover Queen (well at least the Queen of our yard) - my bible had dozens of four (& five & six) leaf clovers pressed in its pages. I finally decided to quit picking them & now I just take pictures. I have a "pet" four leaf clover in our yard. Periodically I go by & grin at it. So I had to run out & take a picture.

Another shot of the flower garden – again, this is unedited. Gorgeous!

This hummingbird came by while Dr. M was checking out our volunteer sunflower. She didn’t see anything she wanted so she went on her way.

Every time the neighbor across the street mows, his boys get out there with their mowers. It’s just about the cutest thing ever. This isn’t a great picture – I was trying to be sneaky. 

Go to Mamma Fran’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710.  The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

Gripes

Oh these minor annoyances! I have been so twisted up & frustrated & feeling dumb & put upon & rushed & had things to do & places to be & I want to sleep until Thursday & it is just all too much.

I will not list my grievances. Suffice it to say that they are both numerous & petty and not worth a square inch of your time.

I have to say that when I look at my problems out of the corner of my eye, like a stranger would, I am annoyed that they’re so very small. Like a reverse microscope. It gripes me! (Let’s add that to the list.)

And, really, here is the crux of the issue: I am pretty sure that oh, about 100% of the things that I’m complaining about are things for which I (usually prayerfully) VOLUNTEERED. (Except for vacuuming – who volunteers for that?) What do I have to say about that?

Well?




That’s what I thought – not much is what you have to say about that. So just do it! (I wonder if I can Nike Just Do It when I’m wearing Merrill sneakers?)

P.S. For anyone reading this who knows that I’m going by University Hospital in Cincinnati to take communion to someone this afternoon, the above rant does NOT include that task. It does, however, include the angst I always feel about figuring out where to park & how to find the correct room.

[From Dr. M] Here you go...a bit of SNAFU to cheer you on:

Not My Words Wednesday

To read more about John Parker, check out my post here.

2013 Project 365 – Week Thirty-one

This was a nice low-key week. Dr. M is done with summer school so he stuck close to home & our pictures reflect that. And I didn’t even get my camera out after Sunday! I’m only posting a few pictures here – go to Dr. M’s blog to see more of them.

Sunday, July 28^th

We did take a bit of a road trip after church on Sunday, so there are a lot of pictures this day. First of all, this :)

Then we drove down to Ripley, Ohio to spend a little time by the Ohio River.

The State of the Bug – happy!

On our way home we saw these things. With a Bug Household Road Trip the journey is always just as important as the destination!

We’d eaten a BIG lunch at Skyline Chili, so I just had some edamame for dinner. OK, maybe I had a LOT of edamame for dinner!

Monday, July 29^th   

It was getting toward evening & we realized we hadn’t taken a picture, so here are our first ripening tomatoes.

Tuesday, July 30^th          

Flowers out back.

Wednesday, July 31^st   

Supercilious robin.

Thursday, August 1^st    

Our flower garden is a riot!

Hummers…

Friday, August 2^nd  

Juvenile robin rocking the attitude… (or maybe he’s just confused).

More flowers out back. I can’t believe how gorgeous our hanging basket still is!

Saturday, August 3^rd     

Just to switch things up, these flowers aren’t from out back. Ha!

Finally, a very busy, tiny visitor.

Go to Mamma Fran’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. He also takes pictures with our old reliable 7 megapixel Canon Powershot A710.  The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

Riches Such as These

Last night Dr. M posted pictures from our back yard. As I was scrolling through them (go here to see for yourself) I kept thinking about how very fortunate we are to have this little house in our small town directly in the middle of our two jobs (40 miles south for me, 35 miles north for Dr. M). Yes, we spend too much on gas (maybe someone could give me a Prius for Christmas?), and our car insurance rate is higher because of the number of miles we put on the car, but being able to do work we enjoy and still be able to pay our bills makes it worth it.

I’ve been reading The Great Emergence (how Christianity is changing and why), by Phyllis Tickle. I’m only about 33% done (according to my Kindle), but I’m fascinated by all the things (& people!) in history that have been (literally) world changing: the printing press, Galileo, the automobile, Freud, Einstein, Marx – just to name a few. Each of those people rocked the core of what people believed about themselves, God, and society. It’s really interesting to me to consider that impact, sitting in my 2013 back yard hundreds of miles from where I grew up. It makes the idea of returning to some mythical golden days seem nonsensical to me. Would those be the days just before or just after Luther nailed his theses to the door?

Yesterday was the first day that I seriously thought about trying to figure out how to get my bike to the bike path for a ride. A couple of things are stopping me – we haven’t put the bike rack on the car yet, and I’m averaging less than 2 miles a day so far. Not really worth the bother to drive over there when riding in the neighborhood is fine for now. And also, there’s the delay factor: what seems like an excellent idea at 3:00 dims considerably after two more hours of work and an hour drive home. Ha!

I’m rambling around because I wanted to write a poem today. I’m letting my mind drift in the hope that it will get snagged on a creative branch & stick long enough to put some non-prosical words here (ooh – maybe it’s working – I just made up a word!). Hmmm…

Bees flowers birds
Tomatoes on the vine
A bicycle in blue
Your hand in mine

Who needs the seven seas
With riches such as these?