Dan's Barns

I promised I would give credit where credit is due!  Dan took some really nice photos for my blog while he was visiting family in Missouri.  Maybe it is time he started his own photo blog!  But, then, I would be in competition with him!  I think I will just enjoy his generosity and his ever-developing photography skills!

The first barn built on his sister's property.  I loved the shape!

Corn crib, maybe?  Not on sister's property!

 I think he did a great job for me!  What do you think?  Maybe I should let him do the shooting and I will just try to think up clever captions!

Linking to Barn Charm.

More Monday Murals

 This mural, located on the side of Davis Chiropractic, is 38' long and 8' high.  It tells the story of the beginning of the caladium story in Lake Placid. "Captain" T.W.Webb was one of the first caladium growers in the 1930's.  Capt. Webb discovered these bulbs, native to the Amazon River Valley of South America, on a visit to Tampa.  He brought some of them home, put them in the ground, and some 80 years later, the sale of caladiums represents a multi-million dollar industry and the bulbs are sold around the world.

In addition to cultivating his 10 acres of caladiums, he also opened the town's first service station in 1924.  This was the only station between Sebring and West Palm Beach.  His Studebaker was one of the first cars in town.  He also sponsored Golden Gloves boxing and built a boxing ring next to the service station to give folks something fun to do or watch.  They called the events "The Thursday Night Fights".

His real love was horticulture and he was hired by the town to replant and recondition the public golf course. He served on the town council, and had the first certified Red Cross station in the area, teaching Red Cross first aid and water safety lifesaving to Highlands County residents and the Brighton Indian Reservation.

In addition to all of this - he was the town's first Boy Scout Scoutmaster!  I think it is entirely fitting that he have his very own mural!

Linking to Monday Murals.

Somebody Bigger Than You and I

This song was written in 1951 on the back of a golf card.  The writer, Johnny Lange, became very aware of the beautiful California day and began to write short phrases on his scorecard.  He said that the song wrote itself.  The title came from a favorite expression of his father.  The music was completed a few days later.


"Who made the mountain, who made the tree,

Croagh Patrick, County Mayo, Ireland

 Who made the river flow to the sea,

Stream in Wicklow Mountains, Dublin, Ireland

And who hung the moon in the starry sky?

Somebody bigger than you and I.

Who makes the flowers bloom in the spring,

Who writes the song for the robin to sing,

And who sends the rain when the earth is dry?

Somebody bigger than you and I.

He lights the way when the road is long, keeps you company.

With love to guide you, He walks beside you, just like He walks with me.

When I am weary, filled with despair,

Who gives me courage to go on from there,

Rodanthe, NC

And who gives me faith that will never die?

Piney Ridge Baptist Church, Pamplin, VA

Somebody bigger than you and I."


May you always rejoice in the big, BIG God we serve!



(If you don't know the song, here is the link to Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "Somebody Bigger Than You and I".)

Linking to Spiritual Sundays.

Donkey Days

"A single donkey is a lonely donkey.  They are herd animals and want to be with a herd."
                                                   ...Cindy Johnson

Those dang flies!

Linking to Camera Critters.

Consolation Fences

My ill-fated trip to the lavender farm also netted some pretty nice fences.  I love it when a disappointment can be turned into an adventure!  Because we didn't get to wander the farm, we had time to kill, so we went looking for barns, fences, and critters.  Definitely made lemonade out of the lemons that day - enough to last a few weeks!

I thought the entry gates were attractive - although I didn't think they went with the rest of the fence.

Linking to Friday's Fences

Sleepy Lagoon

"A sleepy lagoon, a tropical moon and two on an island

A sleepy lagoon and two hearts in tune in some lullabyland


The fireflies' gleam reflects in the stream
They sparkle and shimmer

A star from on high falls out of the sky
And slowly grows dimmer

The leaves from the trees all dance in the breeze
And float on the ripples

We're deep in a spell as nightingales tell
Of roses and dew

The memory of this moment of love
Will haunt me forever

A tropical moon,

a sleepy lagoon

And you."

Linking to Anni's Thursday Theme Song

Sisters!

Dianna, from These Days of Mine recently awarded me the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award!

I was honored to be recognized by Dianna, who is a long-time friend, and a superb blogger!  Her photos - particularly her sunrise/sunset ones - are always excellent and she was my inspiration for starting to blog in the first place.  I guess she is my mentor...don't let that scare you, Dianna!

Anyway, the "requirements" for the award are to share some interesting facts about yourself, and then to pass it along.  So, here are the facts - I will leave it up to the reader to decide if they are interesting!

1. I was a church musician - organist, pianist, choir director for more years than I care to remember!  Okay, I started playing for church when I was 12...and I retired from church music when I was 57.  I really can remember that far back!
2. I played keyboards with 2 gospel groups - and recorded 2 CDs.  The last group was a duo, and we traveled from Virginia to Ohio once to do a concert, and also played in Greensboro, NC.  We regularly traveled to Maryland to do a coffeehouse gig.  Unfortunately, there is not a lot of money in playing coffeehouses!
3. I have been featured in our local Virginian-Pilot newspaper twice - once for Father's Day in 1996 - with a photo of my dad and me, and once for Mother's Day 2 years ago - with a photo of me with the angel that hangs outside my front door.
4. Most everyone who is a regular reader will know this fact:  I raised 4 sons (one son died in 2000, just before his 29th birthday), and have 5 grandsons.  I couldn't get a girl, even if I tried to buy one (I even tried changing husbands since I heard that it is the man who determines the sex - that didn't work either!)!  But, I love the boys...all of them!
5. I am the Treasurer of my Photography club.  Last year I took 1st place in  the annual scavenger hunt photo contest.  This year, I took 2nd place in the monthly challenge "Urban Landscapes".  My photo was also selected for the city of Norfolk's Top 10 Photos contest (until they realized I had taken the Portsmouth side of the bridge instead of the Norfolk side...picky, picky!)
6. Dan and I met through Yahoo Personals in 2006 - and discovered we had not only lived within a mile of each other for many years, but that our kids had gone to school together, and the best friend of Dan's daughter had a crush on my #2 son when they were in 7th grade!
7. Finally, (did I hear a sigh of relief?), I am learning to draw and paint - oils and watercolors.  I am not sure any of my work will be worthy of hanging in a museum, but my #2 grandson asked me to paint a covered bridge for him after he saw the one I had done for myself - and he recognized it when I gave it to him!  And, my youngest was able to identify, without much thinking, the sketches I did this week of the egg and the apple on a white sheet of paper.  That works for me!

Whew!  That was a lot of thinking!  Now for the passing-it-on part!  Quite a few of the blogs I follow are award-free, which makes it even more difficult to pass these awards on.  However, I am nominating the following for several reasons.  Each of them contribute to my daily routine in such a positive way.  Some are craft-focused, some are photo-focused, and some are just a breath of fresh air!  In no particular order, they are:

Hootin' Anni

ELizardbreath Speaks

Grandma Barb's This and That

Faith, Hope and Cherry Tea

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Thanks again, Dianna!  I know this has been a wordy blog, but I wanted to do the award justice!

Barn Charm #32

This little barn - unused at this point, I think - was spotted on our trip to visit a lavender farm near Catlett, VA.  The lavender farm was closed for the season when we got there, but the trip was not entirely in vain. 

  I loved the green hatched doors, and when I got out to look a little closer (it was very close to a dirt road so I didn't have to trespass), I noticed the wooden critters in the window.

 This was the view from the back of the barn - no signs of use.

 And this was the cupola - I loved it!  The barn appears to be in good shape...just wonder why it is empty!

Linking to Barn Charm.

Monday Murals

I finally made it to Lake Placid, FL to get the rest of the murals I had missed in January.  I was able to get all of the ones I had missed with 2 exceptions:  one is over the entrance to the cafeteria in the elementary school, and since it is summer, and school is out...

The 2nd one I missed because it has been removed.  I was very upset at this, because it was eagles, and was over the drive-in window on the Bank of America.  I noticed it had been removed from the book provided by the Chamber of Commerce, but I drove by there anyway, hoping.  Nope, gone.  Sad...the original had been painted in 1994, and I don't know the reason for not refurbishing it.

There was a new mural in town - completed this year.  It is on the side of the Lake Placid Journal building and is titled: "Hometown News - Lake Placid Journal 1960".

This mural is 27' wide by 11' high.  The mural depicts a Linotype, which was often called the 8th wonder of the world, and a printing press.  There is also a newspaper carrier jumping out of the frame, and a news rack.  The artist was Monica Turner.

Here are 2 more views - more direct - that show a little more detail.

Linking to Monday Murals.

I Believe

"I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.

I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.

I believe for everyone who goes astray,
Someone will come to show the way,

I believe, I believe.

I believe above the storm a smallest prayer
Will still be heard,

I believe that someone in the great somewhere
Hears every word,

Every time I hear a newborn baby cry,

Or touch a leaf,

Or see the sky,

Then I know why, I believe."

May your belief rest always in the God we serve!

Linking to Spiritual Sundays.