SUCCULENT SEDUM

Sedum growing from a strawberry jar in our garden. The plant sits out in the garden all Winter with total neglect and still comes forth with beautiful flowers.

IMPERIAL DEBONAIR

One of the oddest looking cameras in my collection is the "Imperial Debonair", A Herbert George Co. camera. It has a single plastic lens and takes 620 film which one has to respool from 120 film, (no big deal). These can be found on eBay quite inexpensively. Don't you just love the little lens shade above the lens?

Most of the photos I've taken with this camera were done before I had a film scanner and so were processed as prints in the darkroom and never digitized. The bottom photo is one of my favorites taken with the Imperial Debonair. It's not a film scan but just a scan of the small print. I need to look up some of those old negatives and scan them, someday when I have time.

CLEMATIS

We have a clematis in the middle of our garden. I used a close-up filter that I got at Christian Photo's bargain bin (a complete set of 3 for $5.00,) and got some nice blur from leaves in the foreground and some decent bokeh.

LIGHTNING BUG

Cone Flowers are out in full force. They don't get much time to be beautiful on a stand alone basis before they get eaten up by bugs and baked in the sun, but even in the bedraggled state they soon come to be in they're still pretty. I like them especially in the Winter when they wear a cap of snow on their cones.

I caught a lightning bug on this one, just biding it's time till dark so he can then do whatever it is lightning bugs do.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

It's been nearly a month since I posted anything here. The time that I interrupted posting, coincides with the time I started cutting out wood pieces for 35 birdhouse kits, that was to be one of the craft projects at our Vacation Bible School.

Once my mind wanders off in a different direction, it just kind of meanders, and until now it didn't find the fork in the road that would return it to the ol blog. What better time to get back at it than Independence Day weekend.

The top picture is the door to our local American Legion Hall and the bottom photo is a dill plant in our garden that I thought looked kind of like fireworks.

DRIVERS LICENSE

Driving test was passed and driver's license was obtained. She's even happy with her license photo.

FLASH DIFFUSER

I made a bounce flash diffuser from a plastic blue cheese container. Alice said it didn't look as silly as the one I made from a shampoo bottle with a latex glove stretched over it. She agreed to pose for me outside in the early evening when a little fill flash is just the thing you need.

The results? In a posed, relaxed, no pressure situation, it worked great. It's yet to be seen how well it performs when I actually need to fish it from the camera bag and use it.

NEW DRIVER - NEW CAR

The New Car! 2001 Ford Taurus, 151000 miles, Fine Condition.
The Girl! Sixteen, just completed sophomore year with 4.0 gpa intact and ready to get licensed.
Selmer the Key Chain Monkey! Vivid, always happy and ready for a car ride, likes to sit on drivers knee.

The complete package--Priceless!

BECKY IN PINK

Rebecca Hinshaw, not so very long ago.

CHASE AND REBECCA'S WEDDING

Bouquet tossing anticipation.


Becky with Chase and then the dance with her Dad.


Becky dancing with brother Ben and beautiful young sister Kate dancing with Chase.




My favorite! This picture speaks many words of love, caring and trust.


Aunt Marjorie


Tenny (Father of Bride), with Tom (Uncle). Tenny and the ever so beautiful Christy (Mother of Bride)


Christy with her Dad, Jerry.




Dad walks her down the aisle and then performs the service.




Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Chase Lucas.

NO APOLOGIES

From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

SCHOOL BUSES

As chaperones for High School Band road trips, we are required to ride with the students on the buses.

One would think that in all the years school buses have been in existence, bus design engineers would have come up with a seat that would be at least moderately comfortable. They haven't. They remain the most uncomfortable seats on any motorized vehicle I've ever been on.