poem in your pocket day, april 30, 2015

fishmonger

i have taken scales from off
the cheeks of the moon.
i have made fins from bluejays' wings, 
i have made eyes from damsons in the shadow.
i have taken flushes from the peachlips in the sun.
from all these i have made a fish of heaven for you, 
set it swimming on a young october sky.
i sit on the bank of the stream and watch
the grasses in amazement
as they turn to ashy gold.
are the fishes from the rainbow
still beautiful to you, 
for whom they are made, 
for whom i have set them,
swimming?

poem by marsden hartley

today was poem in your pocket day.  a teacher friend gave me a poem she pulled at random from a sea of other little white folded papers.  i don't think it came to me randomly, however.  i read it and it reminded me of my father and brothers, fisherman all.  it was very beautiful to me and i carried it in my pocket today and will treasure it in my heart always.

hdygg: 50mm macro lens

to make a long story short, i asked to borrow a 50mm lens to do a senior portrait photoshoot and came home with that lens AND a 50mm macro.  a MACRO!  oh happy day!

we all know how desperately i've been wanting one of these babies to play with.  i hope sherri realizes that she's not getting it back till after zinnia season is over.

the blueberries!  oh my!  not sure when they'll be done, but it's been fun watching them grow and develop.

i have five different varieties.  loved the intense color of the buds on this one.

that's my index finger there showing you how tiny these blossoms are.

these are almost as small.  i never knew how seussical they were.  love being able to really see things with this lens.

in my yard.

love how the lens brings out the pompom quality of these.

another tiny one.

the iris up close and personal.

sweet.

i experimented taking a few regular shots and figured out i'd be better off with a regular lens for those.

and there's definitely a learning curve with the macros. 

can't wait practice again.  hopefully, this weekend.

seriously, i never saw the spider webs until i used the lens.

these grass shots are actually my favorites of this group.

i'm loving bringing out the light and color in the background of these shots.

the geometric balance of these was delightful.

pretty blues.

stunning whites.

joining with mammasuarus and "how does your garden grow?"

cocoa daisy: printable and digital cut files

the bonus printable and digital cut files for members at cocoa daisy have been so SO good lately.  i can attest to this fact in that i have actually been taking the time to print/cut them.  you all know i'm typically lazy about this.  so, yes, the fact that I've producing them so i can use the heck out of them should tell you something.  if that doesn't, then maybe this layout will.  the three white label arrows around the photos and the orange wonky circle behind the photos are all digital cut files.  the "today" circle, "happiness is" label, "date" flag, geotag, black label, and aqua arrows are all from the printable sheet.  awesome, right?!  and there's so much more! i'll be sharing the rest of the projects tonight at reveal.  it's at 8:00 eastern on the cocoa daisy forum.

in the meantime, i have a blog post up at cocoa daisy with more information about my layout here and a bonus mother's day card.  thanks for stopping by!

menu plan: fish tacos

i finally cooked something.  perhaps this will be the start of my culinary revolution.  the fish tacos turned out surprisingly good.  i was shocked.  i've never tried before and to have a winner first time out of the oven, well.  and, of course, no recipe.  simple is best, right?  i just baked the fish with butter, salt, pepper, and lime like i normally would then topped it with diced avocado and mango, fresh cilantro, an extra dash of pepper and an extra squirt of lime.  and don't forget the side of platanos fritos con queso seco.  deliciouso!

this week's menu plan:
sunday - church
monday - fish tacos
tuesday - stir fry
wednesday - church
thursday - chicken and vegetable soup
friday - leftovers
saturday - open

the little heifer approves.

#GISMoviesInMay

We're having a photo based scavenger hunt at Get It Scrapped! next month.  You're all welcome to join in!  We're using the hashtag #GISMoviesInMay on Instagram and will also be sharing our finds in the forum at Get It Scrapped!  Read more about it HERE.

bucket list

do you have a bucket list?  i wrote one down a few weeks ago and thought it was kinda interesting.

1. see the monarch butterflies overwintering in mexico
2. see a bluebonnet spring in texas
3. visit machu picchu
4. take my son to the smithsonian
5. go on a mission trip with my son
6. build a greenhouse in my backyard
7. see a painted bunting in the wild

that's all i can think of right now . . .

celebrating 60 years together

shirley and elmo aka grandma and papa aka great grandma and great grandpa had their 60th wedding anniversary on april first of this year and the family all gathered to help them celebrate.

our oldest and youngest.

the big boys took it upon themselves to hide the eggs this year.

they took their job very seriously.

little miss sunshine with her grandaddy and deanna.

found one!  (and look at that amazing muscle control in the ham hocks).

the pretty girls and little brother are ready!

i used to be so careful to zoom in on the main event.  now i almost get a bigger kick out of photographing the peanut gallery.

g was finally brave enough to let a lizard bite him, but only on the finger.  he's not into lizard earrings yet.

curly isn't either.

you CAN ride in my little red wagon!

happy trails!  :)

cocoa daisy: may sneaks!

are you ready for may?  i am!  i'm just so thrilled with the thought of warm weather every day for the next four months at least.  aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.  i love warm weather and sunshine (and rain)!

i've been having loads of fun with the may cocoa daisy kits.  so far i have three layouts, three pocket pages, and the cover for my may planner and i've barely made a dent in the goodness.

part of that is because the printable and digital cut files are so awesome this month.  they really stretch your stash and creativity.  they're free (and only available) to subscribers of either the papercrafting kit or DITL kit.  two excellent reasons to subscribe!

hope you'll join us tuesday night at 8:00 for the may reveal!  i'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the design team has created and chatting with everyone!

florida photos: buried in the sand

today has been the most productive day ever.  i mowed the front half, weeded two flower beds, organized my april photos, printed my january photos, washed/folded/put away four loads of laundry, did my grocery shopping at the mexican market and the dollar general, picked up the house (not literally), and now i blog.

it's nice to feel caught up.  you know.  not buried under a pile of to do's.

smiles for miles.

and while i was organizing my photos i found some from my last florida trip that i hadn't blogged yet.  oops!

and score!  maybe i'll hit my 30 post goal this month after all!

butt crack.

the family will enjoy seeing them at least.

and now i'm off to get caught up on my reading (guilt free)!  :)