Ah....flowers....





Jan van Os- Flowers in a Terracotta Vase- 1780
Milwaukee Art Museum






I'm glad I was able to take pictures.

I love the vibrant colors. There was a chart beside this painting that listed the flowers used.








National Gallery.
I did not take this picture.

I would like to tho :o)

Fruit and Flowers in a terracotta vase.

How unusual and odd to place the heavy pineapple on top.
And just imagine how rare a pineapple was in Europe in the 1700's.


Jan van Os.

I am happy to meet you.

Your paintings are spectacular.




Encourage one another,
Donna

We have the most beautiful light-filled library in our town
Yes. It's filled with books, too.
But, you know me, I'm always looking for the light.


Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 200



I really didn't mean to take pictures of Katie.
Our library has lots of wild flowers surrounding it and that's why I brought my camera.



This is my fave.
I think.

Her ear is sticking out in honor of my sister Cindy.



Katie was fascinated with how long the title of this book was.




Playing. Learning. Practicing.

Whatever you want to call it.

Ha. Both of us.

Playing. Learning. Practicing.


I just love taking pictures. It makes me feel so alive.
It helps me see the beauty.
Yes. That's it. It helps me notice.
Pay attention.

It helps me realize how beautiful this wonderful world is.




Which makes me think of this song.

Again.

"And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last..."
~Flaming Lips

Exposure: 4
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 800


four seconds.
camera resting on a picnic table at the union
at night


Wishing you eyes to see the beauty that is to be found.


Added:

Patrick Swayze from Ghost...

"It's amazing Molly,
the love inside...
you take it with you."

And reflecting on this he said,

"the only thing you can really take with you when you die is the love you have."








Encourage one another,
Donna

We have a tradition in our family.
It goes back years.

We ALWAYS leave the Packer's games early.

We hate crowds. We get there two hours early to miss the traffic and we leave before the game ends to miss the mass exit.

But the funny thing is....we always miss the most exciting part of the games.

I swear, we have heard winning touch downs while walking back to the car at least six times.

Last night was seven.

Things weren't going real well for the Pack last night. Poor Aaron Rogers didn't have any protection so he was just being chased all over and the receivers kept dropping the ball. So when da bears had the ball with 3:00 minutes to go, there was just not a lot of hope that the Packers would magically learn to play well. We expected a 3 and out.

So we headed for the car. Which was about a 3/4 a mile away.

As we walk we can hear the loud speaker for a while. We hear the Packers get the ball. We hear that they are 3 and 1.
We walk thru the dark, car lined streets until we hear a huge roar come from the stadium.
Huge ROAR and the Packers touchdown song. (Which is "I don't want to work, I just want to bang on the drum all day."

And I scream out, "We scored!!! That's the song they play when we score."

So I am whooping it up on the dark street and Patrick and Katie are a little shocked that I am shouting :o)
A man and a woman step out of their ranch house and say, "Rogers to Jennings, fifty yard pass, Packers score!!!"

Hooray!

We didn't know we were at a winning game.
No. We did not. They didn't look too winning.

But, as usual, when our backs were turned, they pulled it off. Yay! Go Pack Go!






Seventy-five minutes till game time.




I said, "May I take a picture of your TAT?"

Yeah. I said that.



Katie and Vince.




Do other statues have glasses?



Katie received her Lambeau baptism last night.
Yep. Someone spilled beer on her.
I told her she couldn't wear her jersey to school with it smelling like beer.
She started to cry.
I promised to wash the Jersey as soon as we got home. (1:15am)
She wore it to school.

All better.




There were WAY too many bears fans at the game. It was just wrong to hear how loud they cheered!

WRONG.

I have a feeling the new Packers ticket resale (online) is helping out of towners (aka evil doers)
get tickets they otherwise would not have gotten.

I don't like it.

People from Wisconsin. If you have always wanted to go to a game, you can find tickets here:

Packer Tickets

The organization buys tickets from season ticket holders and sells them at face value for them.



What a day! What a fun day.


Encourage one another,
Donna

The deal was struck as we pulled into the driveway.

Twenty pictures.

She would give me 20 pictures.







She smiled the sweetest smile at me and said, " It takes only 17 muscles to smile."

(I think her numbers are wrong....but really....she got the concept right ;o)





I have always loved quotes.

Here is one from my high school days....

If you see someone without a smile,
give him one of yours.

Camera: Nikon D700
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 400

I love how Katie's arms and legs look in this shot.

I was using my Nikkor 17-55 2.8 lens.
I am holding the camera down by my shin.
Just lucked out to get her whole body in the frame.





Another favorite high school quote,

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

This one I was not as successful learning and applying.


*****




photo by Dean Muhtadi


We are heading up North on Sunday!
Going to a picnic with Patrick's brother Paulie and then heading to the Packer's game!

We have an extra ticket and will be able to bring Katie along! Now, Katie is not a big football fan....but it's Lambeau field and she is hoping for a big glass of pop when we get there!!!

So exciting!!! Go Packers. Beat da Bears!!!





The Packers looked GREAT during preseason. It's going to be a great season!
Super bowl, here we come!




Go Pack Go!
Donna

On Sept 11, 2001 we were living in a little cape cod in Madison. We had only been living in Madison for eight months.
Matthew we attending Edgewood high school at the time, he was beginning his junior year. His cousin Bridget stopped by every morning to pick him up for school. It was a perfect day. Bright sunny skies. Cool fresh air.

Emma and Katie and I ate breakfast and I clicked thru channels on the TV. High Society was on The Movie Channel.
I stayed on this channel and watched the lively, delightful musical.

At nine o'clock I switched to ABC to catch the beginning of Regis and Kelly but instead was hit by a horrid sight.
The television showed a tower on fire and the news people were a bit frantic. Within fifteen minutes, the second tower was hit by a plane. It was horrible. The situation changed instantly from an accident to an attack.

Sadness grew into fear.

In our little house in the middle of the Midwest, I felt afraid.

And then the first tower collapsed. It was the most awful thing I have ever seen.
To be a witness to that much pain and loss made me gasp and cry out.

I think our whole country gasped that morning.

I spent the day watching the unfolding horror with a shaky feeling inside.

That evening, I went to church.
We prayed and sang songs of love and peace.
(Our Stephanie lead the worship).

Last night as Harry Connick sang a gentle version of The Star Spangled Banner at the Steelers game, I cried again.
I cried because he wore a suit. He showed the still suffering the respect they deserve.


The most horrible day for our country brought out the best in so many citizens. It is those brave Americans I remember.

I remember the families and the firemen and the priest and the policemen and the New Yorkers and the every day heros.
I remember them because I know their suffering is a million times more than mine.

O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Yes. It does still wave.


Free and Brave.


Amen and amen.






Love one another,
Donna

When Katie has a little friend come to visit, I am in my glory.




I am in my glory because Katie is super happy and occupied and her "friend glass" gets filled up and
I am in my glory because I get to take pictures of more precious, beautiful children!



Soft blond hair and a darling smile. Sweetness personified.




Curls. My goodness. Curls and those amazing brown/hazel eyes. A color I have never seen.
Uh-mazing!



Come back soon, girls!

The childhood shows the man
As morning shows the day.
~John Milton, Paradise Regained

******


I have just one thing to say about Glee (which I watched for the first time last night)

Fix your music editing. The dubbing is so horrid I can barely watch.

I loved the rap and the final song....but seriously, I had to look away due to the terrible sound mixing.

How could they go so wrong with this?


I'm just sayin'....I would have LOVED Gold Digger if it had been done well.


****


And while we are on the topic.

How many of you were in high school choir or glee club?
Can you remember the songs you sang?


Our high school choir was huge. I was in a choir all thru junior high and high school.
We wore robes.

The only song I can remember singing was "The Impossible Dream" and I think we sang.....

"I feel pretty"

See that pretty girl in that mirror there.

what, mir ror where?

who can that attractive girl be...

who what where huh?

Okay, I am really dying to know what songs you all sang in choir, now!
Fess up. The odder the better :o)


Encourage one another,
Donna

Which of my photo paintings do you like better?

The top on with the more muted tones or the bottom one with the bright colors.

Personally I like the top one. It is centered more and while this is not the "preferred" crop,
I like it like that.



****

Let us bring everything that baffles us into His presence, holding it up before Him by faith.
In that Light, the look of things will slowly begin to change, and as we humble ourselves our eyes will be opened.

Elisabeth Elliot

Offer to God your job itself, along with your fears and misgivings about it.
Let His courage encourage you.
The day will come when the task will be finished.
Trust Him for it.

Elisabeth Elliot

"For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced;
therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed."
Isaiah 50:7





Encourage one another,
Donna

Before.....







After....




I have some appointments this morning.
Must leave this minute.

I'll be back.

M. Boo



******




I'm BAAACK....


Why are all my thoughts movie quotes?


So I just returned from the hospital and Dr. office where I was poked and prodded within an inch of my life.

At one point I said to the Doc. "It's like a treasure hunt!"

I also said, "bi-bop-sy" to amuse myself...



Best part was....there was a tv in the waiting room, which I was in for an hour. (the room, not the tv)

Regis and Kelly was on. I was content.

Did I ever tell you the story of why I love Regis Philbin so much?
I am going to make myself cry...

One month after Emma was born (20 years ago) I had a ruptured appendix. My doc was a moron and didn't figure it out for three days. I almost died. I laid in the hospital, all alone, without my baby, pumping milk and jacked up on morphine for a week.

It was a nightmare.

When the appendix was finally taken out, by a different doctor, let's call him Dr. Welby, it was black. My appendix.
It had been rotting away in there for who knows how long.

Anyway. I was a sick girl.

And I laid in my hospital room feeling sorry for myself and loney and sick.

And I watched Regis and Kathie Lee. And Regis made me laugh.

I laughed at him even with the gaping unsewn-up hole in my side.

And I love him for that.

He was with me thru my bowel obstruction a year later and he was with me this morning.

And I laughed in front of other gown wearing women.

They didn't look up from their magazines, that don't know our history. Reg and me.

He is my make-believe, television 'constant'.





*****

And here is the after picture, I promised earlier today.

Katie went to the apple orchard with Amy J in Wi and Carrie on Saturday.

With the apples Katie picked, I made a cobbler of sorts.

I don't make pies. I'm not a huge fan of crust.

But the yummy butter and brown sugary topping, I'm all over that.







Here's what I did.

Sliced about 7 apples.
Put them in a pie plate.
Isn't it pretty?

Mixed

3/4 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1 stick butter, softened

Cut in the butter.
Sprinkle on apples.
Bake at 350 for @ 30 min.


Wait until it cools to eat it so you don't burn your tongue.


I think I will have some of that right now.


Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. no worries about all of my tests...they are just a bunch of minor problems...nothing for you to worry your pretty little heads about.

Julie and Julia






Paul Child: "What is it you really like to do?"
Julia Child: "Eat"
Paul Child: "You are so good at it."
Julia Child: "Look at me, I'm growing in front of you!"

How could I not love this movie? I loved it so much. It brings tears to my eyes how this movie made me feel.

I saw myself in both of these women and I saw my husband in both of the men.

It makes me tear up.
There is something about this movie that touches me.






A life of joy and love and passion.







The most delightful cinematic sister EVER.








A struggling writer. A challenge. Love. Failure. Perseverance. Hurt. Tenderness. Joy. Success.






Julie is not the perfect person.

But who is?

When Julie turns 30 she has a dinner party for friends.
All the women wear hats. Like Julia. I loved this so much. I loved how Julie dressed like and tried to emulate Julia.

I could relate to that somehow.

And Julia. What a delightful person. So full of life and joy and enthusiasm.

That's what it takes, I tell you. Enthusiasm.

And perseverance.

And love.

and blogging.....



You don't get that message in a movie every day, now, do you?



I just can't wait until I can buy this movie and watch it over and over for years to come.

Paul: Home is wherever we are.

Julie: I was drowning and she pulled me out of the ocean.

Did I mention....


I LOVE THIS MOVIE!



Encourage one another,
Donna

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
— Maya Angelou





"people will never forget how you made them feel."

I think that is true.

*****


Remember the dreamy, glowy picture I posted of Katie a few days ago?
Quite a few of you asked how I edited it.

I have answered that question at The Pioneer Woman's photography page.

Before and After

Thanks for asking :o)



****


Happy weekend everyone!
Emma is coming home this afternoon.
Patrick and I are going to see Julie and Julia.
The weather looks glorious.
Amy J came to town last night and we had a super fun visit. I miss her so much.
Katie and Carrie are looking for some breakfast as I type.

I think I better help them.


Happy day!!!

Encourage one another,
Donna

"Outside, the September air was enticingly fragrant, yellow with pollen and rich, lemony sunlight."
— Alice Hoffman (The River King)



***

With September we have the return of all of our favorite television shows.

What show are you most excited to see again?


I am actually looking forward to Grey's Anatomy. I lost interest in this show for almost a whole year...but last year
I started liking it again.

Speaking of losing interest. I don't know if there are any All My Children watchers in this lovely group of people....
but I am so mad at the whole David Hayward storyline I am about to turn the show off until it is over.

I didn't see most of House last year....but the preview to the new season looks Ah-mazing.

Dancing with the Stars looks REALLY odd this time. But I say that every time and end up enjoying it anyway.

Bonnie Hunt's Talk Show will return next week. I have missed her. I think Bon and I would be great friends.
I like her sweet heart and funny sense of humor.

30 Rock will be great, I am sure.

So will the Green Bay Packers.

Football is a big part of our lives around here and the fact that the Pack has looked so good in preseason makes me super excited.

There are many, many more...but that is all I can think of right now.

Now, your turn.


***




I have been letting Katie sit in the front seat on the way to school this week.

She reaches over to hold my hand.

It slays me.



Encourage one another,
Donna

A story, an email, a picture, a change.




The best thing I read all summer was a story in Sports Illustrated written by Gary Smith.

It starts out like this;

A Gift From Africa

Word came down from above: Make the kid feel at home. Sure, said the clubbie ... but the clubbie always said sure. He bled Bucco black-and-gold, Pat Hagerty's superiors raved in reviews of his work as the Pirates' minor league clubhouse and equipment manager. He was master of a million chores, the guy who kept the radar guns juiced, the resin bags dry, the coaches' coffee hot, the lint out of the players' jocks and the alligators out of the pond at the team's complex in Bradenton, Fla. • But then he paused and pondered: How the hell does a white-haired 48-year-old Irish Catholic clubbie from Steubenville, Ohio, make an 18-year-old Sotho tribesman from Africa feel at home?

A boy-man named Gift

You can find the whole article on line. It's wonderful.





****


Here is an email I received on Monday.

Dear Simply Canvas Client:

Your canvas order has been gently taken through our production process and has reached a state of 99.9% perfection.
Our packing specialists have made sure your print is nestled comfortably inside the finest materials money can buy.
We said our final goodbyes on 09/01/09. You can track your canvas' adventure with this number 500000000000.
Please don't tackle the Fed Ex driver when they arrive. You can wait a few extra minutes for them to stop the truck.

Thanks again for choosing Simply Canvas. We are anticipating the day we do business with you again, so much we can't sit still!

Thank You,
The Simply Canvas Team

The folks over at Simply Canvas made me smile with that clever invoice.
I think they rock and I will try NOT to drool on the canvas when it arrives!


***



Four months ago Katie would call a boy from school to come over and play.
(They never seemed able to make it.)
She was still very innocent about the whole boy/girl thing.
We have always been careful to let our children grow up slowly.
We never teased about a boy being a boy friend. Ever.

But something happened in the last month.

On Monday as Katie and I sat in church and looked around to see who was there,
I said, "Jack's here."

And instead of her turning and looking and waving and smiling.

She faced forward and mumbled something.

And I knew.

It had happened.

Katie had stepped over into the land of the big girls.

“We've had bad luck with children; they've all grown up”
~Christopher Morley

Encourage one another,
Donna

Lately a little package of Suzy Q's keeps showing up on our kitchen counter.

It had been a long time since I had a Suzy Q so I had a little taste of one.

And I decided right then and there....that I could do better.

Yes, siree bob....I thought I could do better than Hostess.

Mine would be fresh and made with my favorite components:

Ree's Chocolate Sheet Cake and my Red Cake Frosting.

Ree's Chocolate Sheet Cake with a slight change in cooking time.

Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake
Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour 1/2 of the batter into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 15 minutes.

Frosting for Red Cake

5 Tablespoons flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook 5 T. flour and 1 cup milk over a low flame-stirring constantly- cool.
Cream 1 cup butter add 1 cup sugar and 1 t. vanilla.
Add cold flour mixture.
Beat this on high for 15 minutes.
Stop and scrap every five minutes.

It will look like whipped cream.

That's right. I used less cake to make the pieces thinner.
So I could do this;







Ready for assembly














Ta Daaaaaa!



So very yummy....




um.um.um.





and messy!


Encourage one another and enjoy!

Donna

I took this picture of Katie on the way home from school yesterday.

Inside her file folder was this poem.
A poem she will memorize this month for homeroom.




Write it on your heart

Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I thought they went together beautifully.





I'll be back this afternoon with a rockin' Suzy Q recipe.
See ya then.
Donna

I am going to comfort myself with this thought.....


I was a real space cadet in high school. Always forgetting.

"Donna, run upstairs and bring me your sister's sweater."

I would run to the top of the well worn stairs and yell down from the railing at the top,

"What did you want me to get?"




When I was a little bitty girl heading off the kindergarten I was happy go lucky for the first six years of school.
You know....the pixie-headed peanut, who stared out the window.
I was oblivious. Especially about math. New math.

2 + little box= 5

(of course I can't make a little box on the keyboard)

I clearly remember saying to my teacher with tears in my eyes,
"How am I suppose to know what goes in the box?"

Yeah. It was end of the year testing.

Have mercy. Lost little student.

"D is for dandy", said my dad with a smile.



And so. As I walk around all confused on the first day.....of Katie's school....

I am not afraid that I am getting old. I am not concerned that I have Alzheimer's. No I am not.

I have my long history with being dizzy to back me up and remind me that I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY.

Thank the Lord.

Cause I would really be starting to worry right about now.





Look at this amazing, sparkly, morning-time bokeh.

Let us observe a moment of silence.








Thank you very much.



When I backed out of the driveway this morning I saw the light hitting these wild plants. I mourned the fact that by the time I got home the light would be changed. But it was not. When I pulled in an hour later it still looked glowy and pretty so I came in the house and grabbed my camera and put my 50 mm lens on it. Set it to 1.4 and lowered the ISO to 100.

Such a pretty way to start September.



Encourage one another,
Donna