The Lemon Tree

My parents have had a dwarf lemon tree for over 50 years. They have kept it in a pot & moved it where ever they went through the years. They raised 5 children, and as we grew that tree was a part of our Christmas tradition. Each year it put a couple lemons out & we took turns picking them for hot lemonade on Christmas Eve. As the years rolled on & we all grew into our own lives some of us had children who continued the tradition of picking the one or two lemons each year. Christmas of 1998 my oldest daughter, Cheyenne, was the one who got to pick it. The next March, 1999, our sweet Cheyenne left us as her physical life came to an end and her spirit made its transition to an eternal life. Christmas of '99, while we were gathered around taking pictures of my niece & nephew picking the abnormally large amount of lemons it produced that year my husband suddenly said out loud "Oh my God! ...there are 9 lemons!"

Cheyenne was the 9th grandchild.   .....we felt a special warmth as she came to spend Christmas with us that year in our deep pain and grief.

Calendar Scrapbook

So I have decided a cool gift for my mother-in law would be a scrapbook calendar. It turned out to be WAY more difficult than I thought. Just picking the pictures for each month was a chore, then knowing what designs would be best while trying to get this all done by Saturday. You see, it takes me a good week to get one or two layouts done due to a hectic schedule. So WHY, oh WHY did I decide to do a priject with 12 layouts??? So far it's turning out OK. Some pages are not that great, but others are really making me happy. Here are the first 6 I've done.

November                                     

January                                           

February                                          

March                                             

April (My husband's  birthday month)

August (our daughters' birthday month)

October                                              

A Day at the Renfest...

A great moment captured from a great day! The Texas Renaissance Festival is 35 yrs old & I've been going since it opened! Now I get to show even more wonderful things to David! The use of a water pulling device was interesting to him in the workshops.

Movie Review: The Changeling

The Changeling, starring Angelia Jolie and John Malkovich, is beautifully fillmed. It is a hard-to-watch, must see movie that deals with the true story of corruption in the LA police department during the late 1920's and the resulting discovery of a serial killer. I say it is a must see only because it forces us to look at the fact that any organization is easily corruptable and our city leaders are no different. Directed by Clint Eastwood, it is quite accurate to the historical events of the Chicken Coop murders and beautiful to watch as it captures the style and feel of that era. For a look at the film, see this link for trailers: http://www.changelingmovie.net/

Samples of my Scrapbook pages

Interesting! I discovered that my work computer won't let me upload images to my blog! I guess they actually expect me to WORK! Well, now I'm home, the boy is playing his video games, and I can upload a few favorite scrapbook pages I've done recently. Enjoy!

My Scrapbook Work

I started scrapbooking when we lost our oldest daughter, Cheyenne, several years ago. It was the best source of healing for me. No one ever really recovers from the loss of a child, but we do learn to live with it and the way it changes who we are. Scrapbooking is a way that I can satisfy my creative urges,display and develop my photography, and simply visit treasured moments while archiving them for future enjoyment. I have no idea how many I've done, but many are not worth showing. I will periodically post those that I have been most pleased with and welcome your coments, questions, etc...

The truely creative mind...

Pearl S. Buck said "the truely creative mind in any field isno more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

To him...
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.

Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create---so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating."

I agree. I live on the fence of this world & am only happy working on my photographic images or my scrapbookink, and occassionally my quilts, costumes, and theatrical productions.

Now Comes the Night.

I love taking pictures. I love subjects like water, night, and most of all LIGHT! I love how light plays on things and how light speaks to me. It will never lie but it can sure can pretend :)

Candy! Candy! Candy! Oh how I love Candy!

Just learning

Blogging...what? My first experience with blogging was a very bad one. I swore I would never do it. Now here I am. Why. I have a son. I teach high school, & the evolution of technology is overwhelming at times. I just want to keep up so I can understand my son as he grows in this new world we live in. I'm feeling really vulnerable in doing this, as I keep all ly internet profiles (flicker, Facebook, etc..) private. This is my first public participation in the world of internet travel. Is it an invitation to steal my identity??? I hope not. If so I guess I have no one to blame but myself. So come with me on this journey and enjoy yourself in my company!