Aww Mondays

The love seat on the patio is one of Lucy’s favorite spots. She will ring her bell to go outside and one of us will open the door thinking that she is going outside to take care of business. She may get to the edge of the patio and realize it is sprinkling rain. She doesn’t like to do business in the rain so she will just hop up on the love seat and wait it out.

Just Crop It!

We have a butterfly bush in our back yard and this year it has been a very busy bush. Recently I stepped into the yard to snap a few images.

I managed to get a close-up of this beauty. I am not a butterfly expert so I have no clue what this one is called. Photographically, this in not a great image. The purple bloom of the bush is competing with the butterfly for your attention. A little more blurred background would help.

This image is SOTC (Straight Out of The Camera) and no edits have been made. It just looks like a routine snapshot. What happens if we look for a better image within the image.

Yes, this is the same image! I just cropped it very close, almost macro and then enhanced the color a little. I was fortunate the focus was good from the beginning because this photo was hand held, no tripod involved. In photographer talk this is what is called “fill the frame”. This is only one reason I love photography. There are so many creative options in the editing phase.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week at 4M is free choice week. I think I will venture into Southern Gospel. I am sure some of these artists will be new to you, because they are new to me. First up is Zane and Donna King. Scripture tells us that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. In other words our life circumstances are not an indication of our relationship with God. The good new is that God is with us when things are going great, but He is also our God in the hard times.

Mercy Me is a contemporary Christian group that has been together over 25 years. I love this new arrangement of one of their classics.

The Isaacs are one of my very favorite gospel/bluegrass groups. As this world wanders through the various phases of this Covid pandemic, it can seem like we are wandering in a wilderness that will never end. There is One who will guide us through this journey and never leave us. Here is their new release, The Wilderness.

In this troubled world there is one truth. God is faithful to His children. He keeps every one of His promises. Have a blessed week.

From the Raised Bed

Aww…some Mondays – Grand Canyon 2012

Happy Trails to You

During the past five years Bentonville, Arkansas has become the mountain bike and trail capitol of the world. People are moving here because of the multitude of hiking and biking trails at various skill levels. There seems to be something for everyone. Less than a mile from our home a wetlands park/trail has been developed to preserve the wetland area and provide a walking and bike trail for visitors. Osage Park is a series of interconnecting, hard surfaced trails near the local private airport. The park is 55 acres in size and includes a 12 acre wetlands area with beaver dam and a stocked lake suitable for kayaks. There must be over three miles of connected trails. It is really a great amenity for local residents.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week the theme at 4M is pick any decade and develop a play list from that decade. That’s a tough assignment for me. 60’s pop/rock, 70’s rock, 70’s country and 90’s country are among my favorites. I think I will focus on 70’s country for today’s installment.

Wall Mural/Senior Portrait Background?

Aww Mondays

Digging back in the archives, this is “The Big Guy” early in his tee-ball career. This fall he will begin his senior year in high school. Just another reminder of how time flies.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week is freedom of choice week at 4M. The last time we had a free choice week I featured a recent vinyl album that I had purchased, titled Trio, by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmy Lou Harris. It was released in 1987 and won a Grammy. Today I am going to feature Trio II. In 1997 these ladies released a volume II of their award winning recording and it went platinum in record time. The harmonies are as good as ever and the music shows a new variety of songs for these remarkable ladies. Have a blessed week.

Aww…some Monday

I’ve been going through some of my old image files to find images of the grand kids from days gone by. I have to admit, I love these little trips down memory lane. This is our daughter’s family in October of 2016. I’m pretty sure this is the youngest grand daughter’s first homecoming dance.

Game On!

While driving home from the local farmers market recently I passed the high school football stadium and there appeared to be some activity taking place. Since I had my camera, I puled into the parking lot to check things out. There was a kids football camp going on and the high school players were helping the adults coach the kids. There must have been a hundred youngsters in attendance.

Some of the high school players took a little time to work on their own receiving and defensive skills. This drill involves trying to defend or catch a pass thrown to the corner of the endzone. It’s hard to believe that the first game is only a few weeks away. I am looking forward to capturing some great images this year. Between surgeries and covid, that last two seasons have been busts for me.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Today is National Friendship Day. Most of us are fortunate to be able to call a handful of people our friends, I mean true friends. In honor of this day our hostess Alana has challenged the participants to develop a playlist of songs about friendship or with the word friend in the title.

My first entry came as a bit of surprise to me. The animated movie “El Dorado” featured a song from Sir Elton John. The truth in the lyrics is that True Friends Never Say Goodbye. I have a few good friends that I don’t get to see very often, but we seem to pick up right where we left off at our last meeting. I hope you have that kind of friend in your life.

My initial search in the Elton John archives was for the title song from the movie “Friends”. Sir Elton wrote the soundtrack to this modern day Romeo & Juliet story and there were several songs that I loved. The movie was a bust and the soundtrack didn’t sell well, but I still like the title track, “Friends”.

Tim McGraw recorded a song that pretty much says it all when it comes to neglecting an old friendship from days gone bye.

To be perfectly honest, the first song that popped into my head when I saw the theme was one of the hymns of the church. All of us can have a friend like no other . What a friend we have in Jesus.

Recently Zach Williams and Dolly Parton released a duet that tells us Jesus is always there when we need Him. Just look around and there was Jesus.

I will close with a more contemporary arrangement of What a Friend. The message is still the same, the best friend you will ever have in every life situation is Jesus Christ. Have a blessed week.

Aww Mondays

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week the theme at 4M is free choice. Recently I have put together a budget stereo system in the home office. I had a CD changer from days gone by. I added a receiver and a turntable that I found at a local flea market and the crowning touch, I picked up pair of Bose 301 Series 5 speakers at a local garage sale. I have been looking for a few vinyls (albums to those of us who grew up with them) for my collection. Like most of us I sold my original vinyl collection back in the day when I was no longer playing them very often. I have bought a couple of new vinyls, but the other day I stopped in a local flea market and checked out one of the vendors bins. I came across an album called Trio. The albums was released in 1987 and the trio is Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmy Lou Harris. Their harmonies and arrangements have blown me away, so I am going to share my joy with you.

First up is a pure country song that features Dolly with harmonies by Linda and Emmy Lou. They’re “Making Plans”

Next up is a song that I remember from my youth. Originally released by The Teddy Bears, the trio does this song right, To Know Him is to Love Him.

I love this next song and if you listen closely, you can hear undertones of Man of Constant Sorrow from Oh Brother Where Art Thou. The tune is Those Memories of You.

Believe me, I could post every song, but I will close with a gospel tune. Once again the harmonies are flawless on Farther Along.

I recently discovered that there is a Trio II album that was released in 1997. Yes, I am on the hunt. Have a blessed week.