Scattered Thoughts . . .

Ellie and Whitney came over to visit with Gee this Mother's Day to wish her a happy Mother's Day.  They had a really nice time together and the visit made Gee very happy, as always! They spent some time in the house while Ellie played with blocks, a basketball and a soccer ball.  The ball usage got a bit rough for playing in the house so we moved outside.   While outside, the ladies spent some time in the playhouse.   I managed to clean the gutters and set up the downspout to fill our rainbarrels while we were outside.  The downspouts were set up to divert water away from the house for the winter.  Now we have all the water collecting in our rainbarrels so we can water our gardens. Afterward, Gee and I made some nachos grande for dinner.  That was pretty good too!  

For Mother's Day, we invited Sheila's parents to join us for dinner.  Later this afternoon, Will and Sue will come by for a few drinks and we have some planning to do with them for an upcoming journey to Dayton and the National Museum of the US Air Force.  This morning, I prepared our Mother's Day dinner... my mouth is watering already! We'll be having  shish-ka-bob on the grill... it is now marinating in the refrigerator... it should be delicious! Now if we could just get the rain to stop in time for me to fire up the grill and cook dinner, I'll be a little bit happier about cooking outdoors!   (Unfortunately, I have not found the time nor energy to finish building our outdoor kitchen area which will have a roof over it... other problems keep delaying this project.)

This morning, Liza and the kids came to the house for a quick visit for Mother's Day.  Kenzie had a bouquet of flowers in her hand and she firmly and clearly stated "these are for Gee " as she held them away from me. She was so firm in her intentions that I think she might have knocked me over if I had reached for Gee's Mother's Day flowers. So, we now have a bouquet of flowers on our kitchen table and I wanted to shoot a quick photo of them to share here.  After shooting the photo and uploading it to my computer, I couldn't help but notice something rather significant... a photographer's happy mistake... The one flower which naturally caught my attention... the flower which instantly captured my undivided attention... the flower which I intentionally put in clear focus... this one flower is standing tall, standing proud... standing beautifully... as though she is standing tall over her children and grandchildren providing comfort, protection and lov

Although I have no children of my own... and, I am a guy... I bought myself a Mother's Day gift! (Admittedly, I have been called a 'mother' on occasion but that really has nothing to do with Mother's Day... I'll leave those stories for storytelling times with friends in a pub...) Yesterday, Amazon sent me an email letting me know of their Mother's Day sale on their Kindle Fire tablets. I have been closely following the price of the Fire HDX 8.9" since it was released last autumn so I always welcome news of a good sale. Not only did Amazon offer $40 off the price, but they also offered an interest-free payment plan. I couldn't resist the temptation of this pricing. I've been using the original Kindle Fire tablet for a little over a year now.  I had bought Sheila the new Kindle Fire HD 7" for Christmas a year ago and I subsequently inherited her old Kindle Fire 7".  This original Kindle Fire had served its purpose but is a bit sluggish b

I was opening the mail this morning and noticed the flowers that Whitney had brought for Sheila yesterday for Mother's Day.  I immediately realized that, even though I missed the opportunity to shoot photos yesterday while everyone was here, I could get a photo of this bouquet of flowers and post it. So, although a bit late for the blog post about Mother's Day, here is a photo of Sheila's Mother's Day flowers...  the day after Mother's Day!

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I believe Sheila had the nicest Mother's Day she has had since I have been in her life.  I'm very happy for her since there is no doubt that she certainly deserves it! What is very odd, and highly unusual, is that I did not shoot a single photo all day long to capture this great day in photos.  Rarely does an event occur without me shooting a few hundred photos!  Before everyone arrived I managed to find some time between preparing food and removing clutter in the house to prepare my photography gear for some photos.  I even had two cameras ready with different lenses for different purposes and a flash gun all set to go with freshly charged batteries and a diffuser.  The day went by so quickly and I stayed so busy all day with food prep that I never had time to pick up a camera. Adam (Sheila's son) did most of the house cleaning.  He vacuumed the entire house...  dusted everything...  and he even cleaned the bathroom.  His years as a c