Lucille
Wordless Wednesday
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Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me
Aww Monday – Before & After
Last week I posted the image above of Lucy, our American Cocker Spaniel. Not long afterward, Lucy made the trip to her groomer for a new summer look.
“Lucile” is now rockin’ her new “Summer Doo”! It’s shorter all the way around and more of a puppy cut, even though Lucy is a three-yar-old young lady. She seems to like the cooler cut for those dog days of summer.
Before & After II
Eight years ago the two older granddaughters wanted their bedroom decorated in Shabby Chic style, so Nana took the early American student desk that I had in junior high and chalk painted it, distressed it, and made a slip cover for the chair to the left of the frame. We painted the room a sunny yellow and added crisp white curtains. It looked great.
Fast forward eight years. The oldest granddaughter is now married and the middle granddaughter will soon begin her second year in college. This year she will be out of the dorm and into an apartment. She has decided to take the old student desk and a matching small chest with her, but she would prefer a more country casual style to the shabby look of previous years. So, I brought the desk home, stripped all of the paint and most of the varnish off, then painted the desk a light cool grey and put a matte finish clear acrylic on the top. I think it’s going to be a winner.
I wonder what it will look like eight years from now?
Monday’s Music Moves Me
This week at 4M is a free choice week. Since last week’s theme that required songs starting with the letter J was so much fun, I almost continued that train of thought into this week. Then I started listening to a couple of other songs on YouTube that I thought were worth bringing to the party. This will probably be a mixture of old and new artists along with some familiar and not so familiar songs. My first choice comes from two music legends, but the song my not be one that you know well and sing along whenever you hear it. I am a fan of 90’s country music. That decade gave us Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Leroy Parnell, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, and Vince Gill just to name a few. Vince Gill is a superb tenor vocalist and a legendary guitar player. The song I have selected to start this party is a duet featuring Vince and music icon James Taylor singing a song written by Sweet Baby James. Enjoy.
Another Oklahoma artist that found success in the 90’s was Toby Keith. Toby was the reincarnation of the outlaw sound that Waylon, Willie, and the boys of the 70’s made popular. “I Shoulda Been a Cowboy” is still one of my favorite country songs. A little more mellow sound is found in the tune “I Wish I Didn’t Know Now”.
The 90’s produced a multitude of bands with a country sound. The southern rock/country sound was dominated by Alabama. Country music is filled with odes to love lost and one the hits from this groups songbook that you don’t hear much these days is “Old Flame”.
I guess that I was wrong about one thing, there are no new artists or songs in this playlist. Let’s close this session with my all time favorite female country artist, Mrs. Garth Brooks, better known as Trisha Yearwood. I always thought she was the best female vocalist since Linda Ronstadt and you can hear Linda all over this song. Have a blessed week.
Wordless Wednesday
It’s a Small World
Aww…some Mondays Music Moves Me
Lucy
My wife is apparently preparing something in the kitchen and it has Lucy’s full attention. She doesn’t really beg for food, but if something falls off of the counter it will barely hit the floor before Lucy has her nose on the fallen object and checking to see if it smells good enough to eat.
Mini-Studio
Since we have all been sheltering in place for the past three months, I have been playing with a few ideas for my photography. Several weeks ago I posted images of some collectable model pick-up trucks that were from a Thomas Kincade collection that was released in the mid-80’s or early 90’s. After watching a few videos about photographing smaller objects I decided to construct a sort of mini-studio.
This image was captured using some simple props that I acquired. The gray base is a 2’x2′ piece of painted plywood and the blue background is a plastic tablecloth from Walmart clamped to a frame built out of 1/2″ PVC pipe that I bought at Lowe’s. I used an LED work light for the main light and then supplemented with on-camera flash. This was my first effort and it was hot in the garage, so I didn’t spend a great deal of time refining the techniques.
In this image I used a warmer gray base and a black background of the same painted plywood. In post processing I decided to give it a retro feel.
So…what does this state of the art mini-studio look like you ask.
No expense was spared in the corner of the garage to create these images. Of course I have to set it all up when I want to photograph something and break it all back down when we need to put the wife’s car in the garage, but it is a mini-studio on a budget and the possibilities are endless.
Monday’s Music Moves Me
It’s the first week of June and summer has come to Northwest Arkansas. As I write this post, the outside temperature in over 90 degrees and the heat index is pushing 100! It may be a long, hot summer in the Ozarks. Enough about the weather, the theme this week at 4M is songs that begin with the letter “J”. One’s first thought might be that there are no great songs that start with this tenth letter of the alphabet but then, “Jolene” pops into my head, followed by “Johnny B. Goode” and “Jail House Rock”. After considering those songs, I thought that everyone would be posting them so I would go find some music that might be new to you and me.
The first song is not new to me. It is an old country classic from the 50’s or early 60’s that my dad liked to listen to.
I was a child of the 60’s so everything from The Beach Boys to Jefferson Airplane falls into my wheelhouse of musical favorites. The 70’s brought us knit suits, stacked heel shoes for guys, and Disco. The undisputed kings of disco were the Bee Gees and that is no “Jive Talkin”.
This next song is new to me. The water tower in the background is from Blake’s hometown of Ada, Oklahoma. My great-aunt lived just north of Ada and I visited her farm many times as a youngster and an adult. Aunt Elva was my dad’s favorite aunt and an extraordinary woman. For those of us born and raised in Oklahoma, we will always consider our home state to be located “Just South of Heaven”.
Closing out the playlist this week will be a song of inspiration, and Lord knows, we could all use a little inspiration these days. People are trying to solve the worlds problems with worldly thinking and it isn’t working. The answer to solving the tension, unrest, and discord that abounds today is not more demonstrations, curfews, or national guard. The answer is found in changing the hearts of men and that happens one heart at a time. All of the pain, anger, and rebellion has to be replaced with “Jesus, Messiah”. Have a blessed week.
Wordless Wednesday
Spring Fling
Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me
Lucy
Lucy loves her humans, but there are days when we are obviously not entertaining enough for the house princess.
Memorial Day 2020
Today is Memorial Day. We are long past the days of spending hours and hours packing the camping gear and scrambling to find the perfect campsite on the lake shore. The Memorial week-end is a quiet time around our house this year. Saturday my wife and I drove about an hour to visit the grave site of her parents. It is over three hours to the place where my parents are interred, so we don’t get there very often, although we will probably make the trip a little later this year.
Our parents were members of what history has called, “The Greatest Generation”. I doubt if any generation will fully appreciate what this group of Americans accomplished. They grew up as children of the Great Depression and as young adults began to climb out of the economic dungeon and into the light of a new promise, fueled in part by the war in Europe. Then, on December 7, 1941 this generation was thrust into World War II on both fronts, engaging Nazi Germany and it’s axis powers in Europe while responding to the Japanese bombing of Peal Harbor in the Pacific. My wife’s father was stationed in Europe while my dad was in the navy and saw action in the Pacific theater. These men and women literally saved this world and built the greatest nation on the planet. As Baby Boomers, we were the direct beneficiaries of their efforts. Nearly all of them are gone now as even the youngest soldiers of that conflict would be in their 90’s now. For all of the things that the educational system says that our children need to learn, we could all still learn a great deal about how to live life from this Greatest Generation. Happy Memorial Day.
Monday’s Music Moves Me
This week the theme at 4M is songs about flowers and gardens. Well that’s a pretty broad subject. Personally I love flowers and gardens. The first song is a little difficult for me to feature. I love roses and one of the earliest songs I can remember about a rose is “Yellow Rose of Texas”, but being a native of Oklahoma it hard for us to pay much respect to Texas, even if it is deserved. There is a little football game in October that pretty much defines the OU/Texas relationship. Still, I love the song.
Okay, so I gave Texas top billing and it is a great song from my pre-adolesence, so now I have to give equal time to my home state with a much more obscure musical offering. Color is not the issue, It’s just an Oklahoma Rose.
I have to admit that one of my favorite songs about flowers or gardens comes from gospel music and many people will recognize it because this song was found in their hymnal. Some people who pray daily have a special place to go and pray. They may choose a quiet place on the patio or a special chair in the corner of a room while others may retreat to a garden to get away from the distractions of this life and spend a few precious moments alone with the God of all creation. They Come to the Garden Alone.
My final offering is a song that I post nearly every year in my Christmas Music Marathon. Selah is one of my favorite Christian groups and Rose of Bethlehem is one of my favorite songs. Stay safe, stay healthy and ave a blessed week.
Wordless Wednesday
Lucy – The House Princess
(American Cocker Spaniel)
Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me
Aww Mondays
Lucy, our house princess, has several designated places around the house to lay down and catch a nap. There is a bed by the fireplace in the living room, and another in the den. Then there are the alternate places that she has chosen for herself. There is a throw on top of the couch in the living room that allows her to see everything that happens in the back yard and there is my wife’s chair in the den that allows the guard princess to see everything that happens in the front yard. The image above is from the location by the fireplace. After a walk around the neighborhood or some frisbee fetch time in the back yard, Lucy is ready for a little down time.
Class of 2020
Saturday was supposed to be the day for commencement exercises of the graduating class of 2020. That has been postponed until July, but most families had some sort of home celebration. We had a taco bar, a few friends dropped by, and gifts for the graduate. Proud parents and grandparents were in attendance.
One traditional and special gift from Nana, a t-shirt memory quilt made from t-shirts and athletic jerseys that carry special memories. These shirts have been collected and saved for over 10 years of soccer, track, church camp, vacation bible school etc. Nana designs and pieces the quilt together then sends it to someone to do the final quilting. It is truly the gift that will keep on giving.
Monday’s Music Moves Me
This week is a free choice week so I get to pick whatever music I like to share. In this day and age of electronics, social media etc., have you noticed how many folks are still not good communicators? I mean when a friend sends you a text, you answer it and follow up with a question….no follow up answer. It’s like their phone went dead. A relative calls and invites you to dinner. Where are we going, you ask. They reply that they will call you right back with the answer….nothing. It’s like they forgot to pay their bill and service has been cut off. You call back to verify the location and no one answers. It’s enough to give one a nervous breakdown.
One thing is certain. With the demise of the landline phone looming in the not to distant future, the lack of communication won’t be the fault of the Wichita Lineman.
Maybe the answer to the lack of communication is just blowin’ in the wind.
Have a blessed week.
Wordless Wednesday
Patio Blooms
Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me!
46 Years of Awesome!
So….What’s the Secret?
Today, May 11, 2020, my wife and I celebrate our forty-sixth wedding anniversary. It has been the most exciting, rewarding, and fulfilling journey of my life. In a world where everything seems to be devalued, especially love and commitment, some might ask, how have you stayed married so long? I first penned the following words eleven years ago and I believe them to still be true today. The good Lord willing they will still be true in four years when we celebrate our 50th.
So what’s the secret to being married for thirty-five years and looking forward to celebrating number fifty one day? All I can tell you is that our marriage is centered around our faith and that the message from God’s Word is critical to the happiness that each of us enjoys.
First of all, God loves us and everything He does for us is for our benefit. He created the institution of marriage to be enjoyed by a man and a woman and to bring each of them happiness. The Bible tells us that God loved us so much that He gave His Son to die on a cross for us so that we might, through faith, have eternal live. Christ tells the husband that he is to love his wife with the same love that Christ loves the church and gave himself for that church (Ephesians 5:25). If I love my wife with that kind of love, then everything I do, I do because I love her and I want her to be happy. I want her to be pleased with this relationship. I want my Lord to be pleased with me as a man who loves his wife and realizes that his wife is a gift from God created especially for me and for my happiness.
Secondly, marriage is a partnership. Like any relationship, it takes work to maintain that relationship in peak condition. A happy marriage doesn’t “just happen”. Both of us are committed to the relationship and to each other because we love one another and it is our desire that our partner be happy in this relationship. No major decision in this relationship is made without prayer and conversation. God is not the author of confusion, therefore He will not give my wife a different answer to an issue than the one that He gives me. Again, God created the institution of marriage for our benefit, not for our demise.
Finally, I married a woman far better than I deserve. I thank my Lord and Savior for her every day. My wife is the most thoughtful, caring and giving person that I know. Proverbs 31:10-12 says, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” I have found that woman. Proverbs 31:25-30 further states, Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and teaching of kindness is on her toungue. She looks well to the ways of her houselold, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” I married such a woman.
So, back to the original question, “What’s the Secret?” The answer is, you have to give yourself to the marriage. You have to give yourself to your spouse. Whatever you have within you, you have to “Give it Away.”
Driller's Place 