Consider the Lilies

...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29
As I was driving Jacob to school this morning, this verse came to my mind. Actually, the song about the Lilies of the field came to my mind, then the verse. Imagine Solomon. He asked God for guidance, and he was give wisdom and wealth beyond measure. Such riches could buy anything a heart desired. Think of how beautiful his clothing must have been. Nothing but the finest for such a man. Think of all the hours men (O.K., who are we kidding here), women probably spent making his lavish garments. They must have been magnificent. But...there's always a but...But then Jesus says that even in all of those glorious robes and crowns and jewelry, Solomon was not as well dressed as the grass in the field. Think about it. Have you ever seen anything more glorious than a field of beautiful flowers? Lilies, tulips, lupine...I could go on and on. Flowers are some of my favorite things to photograph. The rich colors, textures and sheer beauty of these flowers make my heart happy. They didn't have to work, fuss, or do anything but grow in order to be beautiful. God merely spoke them into existence, and there they were. How magnificent is that?! And God created these beautiful flowers to clothe the grass! Wow! If this is what He does for the grass that we cut every week, what more is doing for us? Do we appreciate it? Do we thank Him for it? So as we are out and about during our busy day today, instead of worrying, let's stop and consider the lilies of the field and consider how much more God has done for us and pray a prayer of thanks.

Sunset

These are a few pictures of the sunset in my back yard on Monday night. I was doing dishes after dinner, and happened to look out the window. This is what I saw! I had to get outside and snap a few pictures. I'm so glad I did. We've had nothing but cold and rain since! The colors in the sky were so lovely, and sadly, they only lasted a few minutes. I'm so glad to have a camera so I can capture these beautiful moments one day, and look back on them during the dreary days. God is good, isn' He?

Springtime Birds

I am so far behind on posting here! I'll never catch up! But, since I left off with some springime bird photos, I thought I'd pick up again with some others. These were taken at the Audubon Center at Field's Pond back in March. YIKES! It has been a long time. This was a picture of the first Robin I saw this spring. I just love robins. When we lived at our "Little House" as our son Jacob called it, we had a big barn and robins made nests in the rafters. We could go out and sit and watch them. It was so scary when the babies would take their first (and last) flight out of the nest. Well, it was really more like falling out of the nest, but they always survived.

Woodpeckers are also a favorite. They look so soft and fuzzy. I've secretly always wanted to pet one. Guess it isn't a secret anymore! Well, that's today's post. I'll try and be better about posting more often. Thanks for stopping by!

Chickadee

Here are the first of my bird pictures for this week. Today's post is black capped chickadees. I just love their song and the way they bob when they fly. The chickadee is our State Bird.

A Sign of Spring!!!

Jacob, my Mom, and I were out at Field's Pond Nature Center today. We went to try out new camera equipment and to get out and enjoy the warm sunshine. The birds were chirping and flying from tree to bird feeder and back to the trees again. There were several different kinds of birds out this afternoon, including, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers and one I hadn't seen before. I'm going to look it up in my book and see if I can identify it. I plan to post my bird pics all next week. My favorite bird today was the Robin. Robins, to me, are a sign of spring, and I'm so anxious for spring these days! It's not the best photo ever, but she wouldn't come out of the tree. I guess she was nice and comfy there, and didn't want to move. Can't say that I blame her!

It's All Kim's Fault!

She's the one who had to go and mention she got this great wireless remote for her camera. Then I had to go check them out at Bangor Photo and see if I needed one. I couldn't decide if I should get the wireless, or the wired remote. They each serve a different purpose, depending on what you are trying to photograph. Of course, I could use both! I tried them out in the store, to see which one I might want to buy first, but couldn't decide. I took this photo with the wired remote. In the end, I decided to buy a roll of film for my medium format camera and think over the whole remote thing. Check out Kim's cool art blog here.

A Sign of Spring??

As some of you know, I'm getting a little anxious for Spring. The weather has been so odd lately - one day this week we had rain, snow, and freezing rain all in the same morning! Then the next day it could rain and the next thing you know, two feet of snow has melted away. Then, it could be back in the 20's again, like today! As I was driving back home from my mom's house today, I realized the river had lots of open water, and the trees weren't covered in snow and ice! I stopped to shoot a few pictures and compare them with these that I shot in the same spot in January. I think Spring may really be on it's way, slowly, but surely! Yay!!!

Fresh Ideas???

Today's post is rather comical. Cindi and I were at Wally World, doing a little shopping. I needed to get a few things for a small party I'm having at my house tomorrow night. Ralph wanted me to do a meat and cheese platter, so I went to the cheese cooler and found this "fresh idea". LOL Cindi thought it would make a great photo of the day, so I snapped this one with my cell phone. I decided to get my cheese at another deli!

This is a photo of a farm down the street from where I live. I've been looking at this tree out there on the edge of the pond for a few days and thought it would make a great photo. OK, so my photo isn't so great. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get my camera to see what my eye is seeing! I think I'm needing a wide angle lens for this, but I don't have one...YET!

Fall Photos

It was another really cold day today, so yet again, I holed up here in the toasty warm house and didn't go outside except to take Jacob to school and pick him up. These are two photos I captured this past fall. The fence photo is taken at a lookout point where you can see Mt. Katahdin. It was a little cloudy, so the mountain wasn't a good view. I saw this abandoned house along the way to the mountain, and stopped to take a pic.

Got Gas?

It was so cold outside today, only about 10 degrees, so I decided to post some old photos because I wasn't in the mood to go outside for a walk! Or to actually go outside for anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. There I admit it!

We drive by this gas pump all summer on our way to take our son to baseball practice. I've always loved it. I decided to stop one sunny day and take a few pictures of it last summer. I just love the way it looks there on the lawn.

Snowmen

Today was such a nice, warm day, Jacob and I decided to go outside and play in the snow. A friend of our family, Byron, (who is from Texas and has NEVER built a snowman before), came over and tried his hand at rolling up his first snowman. Well, snow woman, actually. We all had a blast. Jacob and I climbed up the hill a few times and slid down while Byron did some snowshoeing. Ralph, (wimp) stayed inside and walked on the treadmill. I took some great photos with my new camera, but don't know how to download them! I'll need to figure it out ASAP and edit this post.

Foxes in the Field

One day last week, my Mom, my Aunt and I were visiting in our living room, and my Aunt was looking out the window and saw two foxes. They seem to have made themselves a home in the side of the hill on the edge of our field. I've been watching them and trying to get a good picture, but since they are so far away, and my camera lense is only so big, this was the best I could do. You can click on the photos to make them larger, but the quality isn't perfect. I bought a lense doubler today, so next time they are out, I'll see if I can do better. I tried going out and walking a little closer, but they got frightened and ran away. These shots were taken out my window - just don't tell Ralph I had the window open!

Ralph and Marvin

This is a picture I pulled up for Ralph today of him and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. For those of you who don't know boxing, Marv was a big time boxer back in the day, and hubby did some boxing locally back in his day. (This is where you hear the Boss sing "Glory Days" for hubby). Ha ha! Anyway, Ralph met Marvin last year when our fence company, Allenfarm Fence Company, did some fence work for him. After the work was done, Mrs. Hagler brought out a tray of goodies for them to munch while they talked boxing. Before Ralph and crew left, Marv posed with him for a few photos.

I didn't take the photos, but whoever did used my camera! LOL

Tagged Again!

It's a good thing I have photos stored in several places, because I've been tagged, yet again! This time Kimmy tagged me! I went to another photo storage area to get this 6th folder, 6th photo. It is was taken last July at my family reunion.

For the last 80+ years, (I can't remember now, exactly how many) my family has held a reunion every July. The two ladies in the photo (Ida on the left, Angie on the right were also at the very first reunion, as little girls. The first reunion was held to celebrate their grandparents' 35th Wedding Anniversary. Every year since, we bake beans in the ground and make coffee on the grill. Each family who comes brings food to share and we eat and visit and talk family history. When everyone is done eating, we have a meeting and determine who is : Oldest, youngest, traveled the most miles to attend and we make plans and a date for next year's gathering. When all of the "business" is done, we hold a "Scotch Auction" where wrapped surprises are bid on and purchased without first knowing what is inside. It's always good for a few laughs when some of the "treasures" are discovered. Just for fun, I scanned in a copy of the photo from the very first reunion.

Since I have been tagged so often, I'll leave it up to all of you, if you want to continue with the game. Thanks for thinking of me, Kimmy! Here's how to play:

Here are the instructions:

1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.

2. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.

3. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.

4. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

Since it was such a grey, gloomy day here in Central Maine today, I thought I'd post some fun spring pictures from last year. I took these on one of my morning walks. At the end of our street is a turn-about, and one of the neighbors has a beautiful creeping phlox garden up by the street. I now call it "The Bunny Garden". This particular morning, there was about 4 or 5 of them popping and hopping all over. It was so funny! I was able to take a few pictures before they hopped away. When I got home, I found this black duck wandering in my back field. I had never seen a black duck before, and thought he was funny. I think he was looking for our neighbor's pond, but like most men, wouldn't ask for directions!

Moose Photos for Sherri!

I went into the archives to get these two moose photos for my friend, Sherri, who LOVES them! Both photos were taken during the summer of 2006. My son, Jacob, and I took his friend, Mike, to Mt. Katahdin to try and catch a glimpse of a moose. Mike had never actually seen one, and we knew just the place to take him! We not only saw one moose that day, we saw five ! Here are pictures of three of them. The two cows had been bickering back and forth, until one gave up and decided to leave. (She's the one in the watercolor photo. Next, (what we had been waiting for) the Momma brought out the calf she had been hiding in the woods. She had been protecting her baby from the other moose, but proudly put him on display for those of us watching from a rock on the other side of the stream. I just love this picture of her looking back at him to make sure he was coming along. So, the day was a success. Mike got to see not one, but three moose on the mountain, and two more on the trip home!

Bangor City Forest

I decided to go for a walk today in our City Forest/Bog Walk. The board walk is closed for the the winter, but people and pets can walk the plowed roads and enjoy being outside any time of year. I stopped by today thinking I would get some great bird shots - WRONG! Usually I see TONS of birds and wildlife on my forest walks. I guess not in the winter! I only saw two little chickadees (who, by the way, were very cute). One was even kind enough to let me take his picture, although he just couldn't stand still!

I "Landed" this Polaroid

Hubby took me to an auction recently and bid on this Polaroid Land camera for me. This was the first camera of it's kind - the first one to shoot and print. It revolutionized photography. This model was manufactured from 1948-1957. The roll type film used in it was discontinued in 1992, so I can't use the camera, but I wanted to add it to my collection anyway.

Tag, You're It!

I've been tagged Today I was tagged by the talented Suzi and Christie to take part in a fun little blog tag. Here is the instructions: 1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures. 2. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder. 3. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture. 4. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

This is a photo I took in the summer of 2007 while walking in my neighborhood. I love the "pretty in pink" lady slippers that grow in the woods amongst the pine needles that fall from the trees.


I have actually been tagged TWICE (lol) today, but I'll just play once. It was fun to do. Thanks to Cindi for helping me figure it out.

Tag, You're It!!

Lindsay The Frugal Crafter
Amy Judy's Scrappin' and Stampin'
Laura The Stamping Soldier
Jan Far North Designs
Gina K Gina K Designs
Vicki Angel Stamper

Breakfast for Dinner

Some friends gave us an LL Bean Breakfast Tote for the holidays. It was full of pancake mix and blueberry syrup. All I'm going to say is - The diet starts TOMORROW!

Sunrise

I happened to notice this pretty sunrise before taking Jacob to school this morning.

Snowy Sunday

Well, it's been snowing like crazy here all day long and since Ralph - AKA "Wreck 'em Ralph" broke my snowmobile yesterday, well, I had to find something else to do. So, Jacob and I decided it would be fun to jump in the hot tub. We had to brush 6 inches of snow off the top and shovel off the steps before we could get in, but it was worth it!