Day 202: MMMMmmmm, Pie! Lots of Pie!

38 Rhubarb Pies! Is there no end to the talents of this man? He baked 38 pies, prepared by women in our church, on Friday.

These were pies that got sold today at the Farmer's Market in town, to raise money for a youth mission trip in August.

Tomorrow, I'll post a few photos from the Farmer's Market. Very few, because it poured rain while we were out there!

Day 201: Modern Companions

So happy together.

Day 200: More of Brian

Jen Wilson One Haute Momma papers; DIDshariz Template

Day 199: Dianna's Rose

About 4 years ago, Dianna planted a rose bush in our yard. It generally produces only about 5 or 6 roses each year, often just one at a time, but they're quite beautiful. And I love how much Dianna watches for the roses to appear. She's generally not that interested in the flowers in our yard. . . except for this one. Sometimes it reminds me of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and the single rose that grows in this old city lot.

And I wanted to share this writing by Maya Anjelou:


"A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own even if she never wants
to or needs to...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her
dreams wants to see her in an hour...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black
lace bra...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who
lets her cry...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone
else in her family...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a
recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a feeling of control over her destiny...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
HOW TO QUIT A JOB,
BREAK UP WITH A LOVER,
AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its
over...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't
take it personally...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year..."
Maya Anjelou

And one last note: check out the little campaign video I added to the top right. It irreverantly pokes fun at them all, and I couldn't resist it!

Day 198: Barb's Terrible Horrible Very Bad No Good Day

Some of you have asked about how my sister-in-law Barb is donig since her surgery, and I'm very happy to report that she continues to improve! I described Barb's day back in May when she came to Brian's graduation as "horrible", but something you should know about Barb is what an incredible optimist she is! Dollars-to-donuts, she'd see the positive in her being hospitalized and finding out she needed the aortic valve replacement. Me? I'd grump and whine with the best of 'em! Barb's been going to cardiac rehabilitation twice a week and gradually noting the steady, but of course, too slow, move toward improvement. This is the same sister-in-law who was on our nightmarish houseboat vacation with us last August--- when my brother hit a rock, and we had to be rescued from the boat in the dark by Mad Max. Some say Doug and I should be avoided on vacations, but I want to point out that nothing bad happened to Brian, Dianna and I this past May in Mexico!

Day 197: A Peaceful Corner in my World

Day 196: The Joy of Family

Doug and I live far away from extended family. We don't get to see our relatives very often, so when there is a chance to see them, it's quite an event for us! We think about it for months, anticipating it, and then just grieve when it's over, knowing that we aren't likely to see these loved ones again very soon.

So, when one of our kids does something like graduate from college, of course we're proud that they graduate. But secretly, and selfishly, it's really a Big Deal for us because sometimes we can coax relatives to come to where we're at! (And trust me, getting them to come to ND over the years hasn't been exactly the most compelling, luring, vacation hot-spot in the universe! Ask MaryAnn someday about the mosquito invasion that threatened to abduct her entire family.)

Anyway, MaryAnn, my sister, Bill, and their two children, Joyce and Andy, came to Brian's graduation in Missouri.

Here's another scrapbook layout of a few pictures of the visit. (Click on it to make it larger.) I'm wanting to make sure I really have some of these scrapbooking skills down in CS3, so repeated the Now We're Rockin' lesson 2 again with just a few different papers.

Day 195: Pick Me!

Hooray!!! The weather pixie is back!!!!! She was gone for a good month or so because of a fire at the server site. Now you can see how chilly it is here today for July! And we had 45 mph wind gusts.

Asman font; KPertiet Papers, pin & overlay; JSprague grunge frame & 4 square template

This is from lesson 2 of Now We're Rockin', a digiscrapping class at JessicaSprague.com. Digiscrapping is so much fun, and such a great step-by-step guide through it is through Jessica's classes.

I'm repeating my lessons in the class to learn CS3, and I'm really liking CS3! Now (other than the price!) I'm wondering why I took so long to learn it!

Does anyone work with Bridge rather than the organizer in Adobe Elements? I haven't looked at Bridge enough yet, but I'm wondering if it also has a tagging function. Anyone know?

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Day 194: Graduation and CS3

I just downloaded CS3 and am experimenting with it. It's going to take me awhile to learn all its cool features, and so I'm repeating Jessica Sprague's Now We're Rockin' digiscrapping class, watching the videos that are using CS3 rather than Elements. This is a digiscrap page using a picture from Brian's graduation.

Day 193: Summer Bounty

Doug's amazing garden! Look at all this cool stuff he's planted! We'll get to eat lots of these wonderful things over the next several months.


I know we'll have 5 different types of tomatoes, kale, lettuce, 4 different types of peppers, oregano, cilantro, carrots, radishes, leeks, basil, 3 different types of thyme, onions, chives, rosemary, and of course, zuchinni.
Unlike last year, I'm always just slightly skeptical now when he hands me something and says "taste this." Last year, after a particularly bitter morsel of something leafy, after I was done spitting it out, I asked him what it was.

"I don't know. I was hoping you'd know. It was just growing in the garden from last year, so I left it."

We're pretty sure it was a weed, so now, I wait till he tastes things first before I eat them! :) Right in the front of the bottom photo is some lavendar. . . we won't eat this, it's just pretty and smells wonderful!

And thank you for all the wonderful comments yesterday; I really, really appreciate it! Most of the time I'm kind of, well. . . . invisible!