Good Morning Peeps,

For those of you that know about the ordeal we went through with Bobbie Jo and a brain tumor 3 years ago. I thought I would show you how she looks today. She is doing well and loves her wild main of hair. If you remember she had to have her entire head shaved before the surgery.

Can't tell it quite as much here but she's lost lots of weight too. She is doing good keeping her blood sugar under control also. I'm so proud of her and how far she has come.

And this is our little girl (my granddaughter) that is growing up way too fast. These photos were taken during a warm March Saturday when we thought Spring was here. Now it has turned cold again and we even had more snow. I want to ring that groundhogs neck; or mother nature. I am soooooo ready for warmer weather.

Remember the word weaves I was talking about in my last post. The ones that I scanned and now are missing from the folder on the computer. Take a look here at the CraftyMoose blog to see one of them. I am sure Debbie will love your visit.

Have a great day,

Be Happy, Be Healthy, Be Safe,

Tess

Hello Blog Friends,

These photos were taken last week just after the big snow hit our area.

This little elf, (or gnome, or maybe he's one of Snow White's Seven Dwarfs,) seems to be hiding under this wash tub. Trying to escape the snow I think. Maybe he's one of Santa's elves watching out for good little girls and boys. I think he seen me feed the birds some bread crumbs. That counts for good, right? :)

This little guy thinks he's hiding behind those thin branches. He stayed right there for the longest time. I waited until I could wait no longer and snapped the shot. I think I like it as is.

I have no idea what is hiding under this snow drift but decided it reminded me of a sand dune. Sand dunes are in the desert, the desert makes me feel warm. Waaarrrrm!!!
Hope you are all are having a good week.

Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings and a Merry Christmas to you all~

Be Happy, Be Healthy, Be Yourself,
Tess

Doing Lots and Lots To Do!!

Hi all, I've been so busy I forgot to post here. So sorry!

I have always loved Teesha Moore's artwork and through Facebook came across her 16 page journal tutorial. I watched and then watched another and another and decided I just had to make one. Last Saturday I went looking for supplies. I finally found 90 lb paper and the pan pastels at Varney's Book Store in Aggieville. I know she said to use 140 lb. paper but it wasn't in my budget. This book store is right near Kansas State University. I'll go back for the heavier paper next time around. I made the entire journal in one setting. Oh and I did not have the type of thread she used and when I mentioned it to hubby he told me about how when he used to be a sail maker they waxed their thread with bees wax. I just happened to have a beeswax candle and so he showed me how to wax my thread. I used regular embroidery thread. It seemed to work just fine and besides it's just experimenting and just for me. So far I've painted all of my pages and have started collaging the cover. I'll take pictures later in the week, I scheduled a few days off from work to play. (I've already decided I want the 140 lb. paper for Christmas.)

I took the new camera out for a spin again today and caught these images. The weather here has been unreal, it's been way too warm for November and I am loving it.

I decided I liked the imperfect and rusted look of these silo's and the shadow of the tree that looks to be another tree but isn't.

These hay bales look like giant dirty marshmallows to me.

I also added a few more pictures to imagekind this weekend.

Hope you all had a good Sunday and will have a wonderful week ahead.

What creative activity have you been up to?

Tess

A new camera and a walk in the cemetery...

Greetings to you all this fine November evening,

Can you believe it's November all ready? I don't know about where you are but here the weather has been gorgeous these past few days. Nice enough to not have to wear a coat and that is very unusual for this time of year. I am loving it. I got out my sweaters and long sleeved items and can wear them and am comfortable, even in the wind. I hate wearing a coat. How about you?
So what have I been up to....

I bought a new camera, or I should say We bought a new camera. He reminded me it's his too. LOL! It's a Canon Powershot XS10 and I love it. I haven't begun to use all of it's features yet. On November 1st the weather was so nice after I took my granddaughter home from her sleep over with us I took the camera and headed to the cemetery to take a walk. We have 2 here in town, The Highland Cemetery and St. Mary's cemetery. There are several country cemeteries I wish to visit with camera in hand next. Here are a few of the shots I got:

I liked the carving on the stone above and the message on the one below.

I counted 5 of these Unknown markers and I didn't even walk the whole cemetery. They made me feel sad. I stopped and spoke to them. Do you ever do that?? Speak to the dead when you don't even know who they were? Thinking about it now I guess it was a bit strange but at the time if felt right. "Hi there, just passing by. Put in a good word for me up there ok." Then wipe away the leaves. "Bye now." Ok so I'm strange, who cares!! :)

I love the eery shadow of a long faded carving on this one. I thought it would make a great background for a piece of art. The date was 1887 and 1889. There was another but I couldn't read it.
I love this statue. It is in the St. Mary's cemetery and there are stone benches near her for sitting and praying or reflecting. I met a lady there and she said she likes to sit and reflect on her day each morning during her walk. I liked that.
I also stopped and took a few pictures near Homer's Pond. I put a few of the pictures on Imagekind. Including the one above and below. I love how the one below turned out. The sky was so blue and this is a tree with these things (pods) on them. So does anyone know what the name of this tree is?

I plan on taking another walk this weekend with my new camera and I've told Bobbie it's about time we have a photo shoot. So many of my blogging friends prayed for her and I told her some of you still ask about how she is. I want to show you how she is. She is doing really well and has more good days than bad. And that thick hair of hers sure has grown back. :)

So, what have you been up to?

Happy Day,

Tess

Greetings all,

I have some wonderful news to share.

Billie and Derek (a self portrait)

My lovely youngest daughter has started an account on imagekind. Billie Jo is a wonderful amateur photographer. She has been behind a camera since she was a child. I would say photography is more an obsession with her than a hobby. I've always felt she should pursue photography as a career. Billie and my son-in-law both found themselves unemployed Dec.31st, 2008 when the factory they both worked at downsized by eliminating an entire shift. My son-in-law has since gone back to school. LAst night I mentioned using her photography as a way to possibly bring in some much needed funds and she went for it.

Please do take the time to visit Billie Jo on imagekind. Leave her some comment encouragement too and maybe even make a purchase if you feel so inclined. She only has 2 photos submitted so far but I am positive with some encouragement (from other than mom) she will be adding more.

A few photos courtesy of Billie Jo:

A Kansas sunset over the lake.

View from the ferris wheel.

She loves this face.

And this one too. (They have 5 cats)

Their God daughter, Aria. (Her favorite photo subject.)

Thanks for taking a peek and have a wonderful rest of the week.

Tess

A surprise in the mail.....

This cute little card came my way from Anne Gaal of Gaal Creative. Isn't it ever so cute? What a lovely surprise to come home to after a vacation. I love Anne's blog and her cards and such. She gives very detailed instructions too. I wish you could feel the texture of the background on this card. It's raised and feels so delightful. Anne wrote such a nice note inside. Now I am thinking on a card to make for her. Oh but how will I ever make a card as lovely and professional looking as hers is and are? I'm sure though that she would love whatever I would make to send her.

Maybe an ATC instead of a card?!

Do stop by her blog and say hi.

Oh and I have to share this tidbit. When I entered her name into my search engine today to bring up her blog I did something wrong and found a wonderful surprise. Anne makes fabulous cards and she is a wonderful photographer.

You must! go by and see her photography site. That was the surprise.

I had never seen her photography site before. I so enjoy her blog I guess I just never ventured further. She photographs awesome views of nature and wildlife, with such vivid and true to life colors. I wish I could buy a print of all of them. My walls would be completely covered. LOL!

We've been having a bit of thunder and a light rain here after a scorching hot day with a 100+ heat index. The outside temp is down to 77 and tonight's low is suppose to be 74. Not much relief but much better than 90's and above. We had a booming power outage for a few seconds earlier so I guess I had better get off of here before it happens again as I am hearing yet another round of thunder.

Hug the ones you Love,

Tess

Playing with Picasa

Hello, I'm playing with my Picasa program. I got it as a free download a long time ago.

I know, I know, I should be playing with my Photo Shop Elements but Picasa is easier and I'm wanting easy right now. Just playing around, goofing off really. I took this picture back at the end of March. Leaves were just starting to produce and green on my honeysuckle bush. The birds love my honeysuckle bush all year round.I thought they needed some color so I gave it some blue (below).

See that mystery spot next to the top bird near the upper right? (above)

Now it's gone. First time I had accomplished that effect. Cool, huh!
Then I decided to give it a graduated color. (below)
Then I decided to play with the black and white focal effect. (below)

Then I thought why not try a really bright color. (below)
I noticed the birds seem to show up better with this color wash.


But what if it were starting to get dark outside? (below)

I hope you had as much fun viewing as I did altering these little feathered friends.

Happy May Day!
&
Have a great weekend,

Tess

A walk along a country road.....

The weekend was bright and beautiful and full of spring. Sunday after our annual Woodbadge Reunion Dinner was a perfect time for an early evening walk along the road leading to the turn off to Camp Brown. I love the scenery along this road and wanted to share a few unusual sights with you.

I've posted a slideshow with even more pictures on my AC site. Do take a look when you have the time.

I'm making a small jean pocket purse and I am almost ready to further embellish it. I'll post pictures when I'm finished. It's just an idea I had.

I managed to respond to both AC poetry challenges over the weekend. See them here and here.

So how was your weekend?

Hugs,

Tess

Beautiful October Days

It's so hard to believe we are in the middle of October already. Days are blending together, so much to do...too much to do. Sometimes in order to take a deep breath and slow down we have to force it upon ourselves. I did just that over this past weekend. I picked up my granddaughter and kept her overnight. We had dinner together with grandpa and she played a while with Frankie, the new kitten. She was so pleased to see Frankie was doing ok. Then we read her homework assignment. A book entirely beyond her reading level but she did pretty good sounding out the words. A nice, quiet relaxing evening.

Sunday afternoon we went through McDonald's drive-thru and then took our lunch to a picnic bench at Homer's Pond. The sun was shining and the temp was in the 70's but it was windy. The wind made for an interesting lunch to say the least. We had to keep a hand or elbow on everything. The camera I brought along with a photo shoot in mind came in handy to hold down the napkins. It was very funny and I do love seeing and hearing her laughter. After lunch we went walking on the walking trail around the pond. She had so much fun finding odd places for me to photograph her. My little 9 year old granddaughter is not afraid of dirt or climbing at all, not one bit. She's not all tomboy mind you, but not all froo-froo either.

She found this boulder and had to climb it:

Then she hid behind a tree and peeked out at me:

This log was meant for sitting on:

"Don't worry grandma, I won't fall in."

This looked like a good place to rest and give grandma another big smile:


These were growing all over and she wanted to pick one. I convinced her not to but she insisted I had to take a picture, so I took two. I plan to print them for her so she can remember how beautiful Homer's Pond is during the cold winter months that are ahead of us.

If you haven't taken a nature walk with a child yet this fall do try to. It was amazing the things she seen that I had never noticed before. Our leaves aren't changing color as nicely as I would have liked yet, but I do enjoy the green!