Christmas Moon

My memory lane leads to Central America

A year ago this week we were in Nicaragua.

There is a little piece of me still there.

Nica, I'll be back someday.

Fall arrived while I was away

I had the pleasure of doing a photo shoot down this little country road on Saturday.  

On the way home I took the time to snap some of the gorgeous fall scenery,

stopping the car in the middle of the road and jumping out to cross the ditches.

It was worth it, don't you think?

You got some 'splainin' to do, Lucy!

It seems I threw everyone off with that last post.

Translation: I'm on a runaway mine train and my plate is full.

Here's the rundown:

In the next four weeks I will be meeting 3 authors and a new grandson!

We have been preparing for the past month at work for the Library's 50th Anniversary celebration during the month of October.

Every weekend but one we will be hosting Texas authors for (2) book signings and (1) luncheon.

I have instructed Amy that the baby needs to arrive during that 'off' weekend.  We'll see how accommodating she and the baby are.

All this is taking place as we are closing out fiscal year 2012 and launching FY 2013 at the library.  I won't bore you with the myriad of details and reports that involves.

To add to this frenzy, I have chosen this time to begin officially publicizing my little blossoming photo business with a booth at the county fair and another one at a local arts & crafts fair this month.  I am happy to say that I also have an engagement shoot scheduled at the end of the month.

In the meantime, I have been busily reading books by our visiting authors, celebrating Brooklyn's first birthday, doing her first birthday shoot, and making a trip to Arkansas to see Logan and his family.  And just so I won't get lazy, I plan to squeeze in co-hosting a baby shower, a haircut, and house guests!  

Did I mention a new grandson is arriving sometime this month?

Maybe that last post makes a little more sense now.

October

Four weeks to go.

'nuff said.

Collector of Clouds

For Janice, the Collector of Clouds.

I took these for you.

Wilderness food

We had the opportunity to spend a week camping with my parents recently.  For those following along, you may recall the little run down I had with a certain sunset.  The pictures below are some I took at a more leisurely pace another day.  

Our compound

Every night after supper, we would get back together at our trailer to play cards.  I am nothing if not the perfect hostess, so naturally refreshments were served.  A couple of random choices from the refrigerator resulted in a delicious new snack combo that we enjoyed almost every night.

Cold, juicy grapes so crisp they snap in your teeth like twigs.
Chilled caramel-filled chocolate cups.

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The other day I scored another delicious batch of grapes, and  in a moment of panic discovered these little fun-sized candy bars are a pretty good substitute for the chocolate cups.

Give this sweet, tart, juicy, cold treat a try and let me know how you like it.

Baby feet, Baby seats

We were blessed with a whole week of this deliciousness:

Happy squeals of delight every morning.

Lots of smiles.  Just enough crying and fretting to know there was a baby in the house.

Sweet feet.

And of course, we thoroughly enjoyed having this little man's mama around!  For more fun from the visit see here and here. 

Along with babies comes a lot of gear.  

We have accumulated some of the standard pieces that stay at our house.  

Then Logan arrives with some of his own.  Add to that a musical chair switch of car seats. 

I looked around one morning last week and became aware of baby gear tucked in every corner of the kitchen/nook/hall and couldn't resist pulling it all together.

We were all amazed at the massive collection.

Before it was all stashed  relocated, we had a little fun.  

Thanks Brooklyn for being a good sport.

Since Brooklyn is the only girl (so far) in the male dominant grandchild brood, we have to make the most of what we have!

Make-believe come to life

If you had a dollhouse when you were a kid raise your hand.  See my hand waving in the air? I loved my dollhouse and haven't seen it for many years, but thanks to the internet I found a picture of one just like mine:

Wow, it takes me back.

My dollhouse was outfitted with furniture just like this:

Hours of fun, I tell you.  Wonder what happened to it?

Fast forward 20 years.....

Carrying it on the next generation, Bobby and I built one just like this one from a kit  for Amy for Christmas when she was about 9 years old.  It took much longer than it should have because we had to work on it at night and hide it during the day.  We finished it in time, though!

We even made some of the furniture.  I recall a little velvet bed and some carved chairs.  Then there were some odd pieces we came up with, like a miniature porcelain grand piano.  That dollhouse saw a lot of action with both girls.  I think it is packed away in a huge box in the attic.  Maybe Brooklyn will enjoy it one day.

All this nostalgia brings me around to my original intent for this post:  a website I ran across the other day with this awesome life-size dollhouse!

source

Seems the artist Heather Benning has a fascination with dollhouses too.

You must go here or here to read more about it and see more pictures.

I am completely smitten with it!

I could go on and on about how absolutely awesome I think it is, or just let the pictures say it all.

Chasing the sunset

or,

Why I need a zoom lens

While out camping this week Bobby pointed to the west and gestured for me to grab my camera.

The sun was a blazing red ball of fire falling through the trees.

As I headed toward the bank of the lake for a clear shot, the sun raced me.

 The closer I got to the clearing, the faster it sank.

The buttery ball was disappearing before my eyes.

I never got the 'money shot'.

I breathlessly stopped my pursuit as it slipped from view. 

I will be after you again, Mr Sun.  Me and my zoom lens!

Two things I am not

I am a person of many interests, passions and even a few talents.  This post will not focus on those traits, however.  Rather, I will be sharing a couple of things that I don't have a burning passion for or a great talent for:
Cooking and Food Photography.

Some people (some I even gave birth to) love to cook.  Me, I cook out of necessity and only when I have to.  I gave it my all when I had children to raise, but since we've been empty-nesters, truth be told, Bobby cooks more than I do. I can "get the job done" adequately enough, just nothing to write home about.  Eating, on the other hand, is my favorite sport!

I believe I have a budding talent for photography, especially when it comes to people (some I even gave birth to) and the occasional landscape or wildflower.  I've taken a few photos that I'm pretty proud of.  I've not had the same success rate with photographing food.  Same as my cooking, I can get the job done, but I won't be featured in Better Homes and Gardens on either count.

Yet today, I share with you in all its photogenic glory:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

It is delicious, if I do say so myself!

Follow this link for the recipe and much better pictures.

Nailed it!

 Over the weekend my girls and I had some fun with the nail polish.

We got pictures of 2 of our crazy manicures, but one got away.

Judging by young hands/old hands you can figure out who is who.

I sported my artsy nails at work today and felt quite fancy!

More of the weekend's festivities can be seen here.

Garden goodness

Seconds before I devoured this delicious vegetable dinner I snapped a picture of it.

Everything on this plate is fresh from the sandy soil of our garden in the country.

Potatoes

Corn

Cucumber 

Onion

Cayenne pepper

Yellow squash

Green beans

Tomatoes

Zucchini

I love fresh summer vegetables!  What is your favorite?