Fall Five Fact Friday ~ on Saturday (AGAIN)

Yesterday was Edster's 55th birthday...(he can now order from the Seniors menu at Bob Evans)...so besides work, I was pretty tied up.



My facts today (okay, I put in one extra)...are about what my tasks are this weekend (I could have made the list a LOT longer!)...

 

This was my first attempt at doing a torn edge digitally...not bad for my first attempt...if I say so myself.

Enjoy the weekend...good snuggling weather here in Ohio.

 

PS:  Latest score...14-0, WEST VIRGINIA!!!!!

5 Fact Friday ~ On Friday!

It's that time again...and I'm actually posting it on Friday!



Well, as the summer ebbs away...and the autumn winds seems much more apparent...there's a bittersweet feeling, a touch of melancholy, in my anticipation of the season of colored leaves, the smell of apples, the glory of the mum, and the glow of spiced candles.

So today...my 5 Facts are about what is disappearing by October.

 

1.  One of my favorite things to witness in September is "whirling birdies"...a fun way to say goodbye til spring to these flying cigars.

2.  Bees, bugs, and dragonflies will no longer be found in my favorite bog.

 

3.  The blooming sunny sunflowers are now seeded heads, bowed over with frequent goldfinch visitors or headless, as the squirrels have chewed them off, scurrying off with their spoils, gleaning the seeds as they sit on the backyard fence.

4.  The butterflies are no longer frequenting my frontyard butterfly bush.

5.  I'm no longer hearing the sweet song of the brilliant Indigo Bunting.

But it is as it should be...all things are beautiful in God's time.

 

5 Fact Friday ~ on Saturday

I can't explain it...but this 5 Fact Friday creeps up on me every time!

This week, in our Beyond Layers class, Kim had us think about travel and our favorite places.  So, I want to share 5 facts about one of my favorite places because it is in my blood:  my Appalachian West Virginia roots.  My ancestry goes back to the mid-1700s in West Virginia...prior to that they were from Ulster, Ireland, having been transplanted from the lowlands of Scotland, given the name Scots-Irish.  The Scots-Irish were the backbone of the American Revolution.

 

1.  West Virginia is the love-child of America's Civil War.

2.  Outdoor advertising had its origin in Wheeling, West Virginia, about 1908, when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the wording: "Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch."

3.  The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, built prior to the Civil War, in Weston, West Virginia, is the largest hand-cut stone building in North America, and is believed to be the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin in Russia.

4.  West Virginia is the only state that lies completely within the Mountains and valleys of the Appalachian region.

and last...but in no way the least...

5.  West Virginia University's football team is ranked in the top 10 this year among NCAA college football teams.  Let's Goooooooooooooooooooooooooo...Mountaineeeeeeeeeeeeeers!

I'm grateful today for the gift of West Virginia and the place it has in my heart!

 

Gift of Goldfinches on Labor Day

Labor Day 2012...

Hot, humid, and I was working at the table in the air conditioning...lots of computer work today.  I looked out the sliding glass doors viewing the deck.  The sunflowers that were blazing just a week or so ago,  now had their heads bowed as their golden petals withered in the waning summer on its last holiday.

Rather than mourn my loss, I looked for God's gifts...the mercies we fail to see when we are forced to face change.  And with my camera and my 300mm zoom, I saw.  I saw and captured His faithfulness.  My heart repeated Jesus' words in Matthew 6:26 once again, "Look at the birds..."  (If you have read earlier posts, you know that birds hold a special place with me...)

 
These winged marvels reminded me of God's provision and care...how His timing is always perfect (never early/never late)...and how He makes all things beautiful in His time.

These sunflowers were not purposefully planted...they were volunteers from bird feeders filled until early summer.  God wastes nothing.  And uses all for our good.

I finished up  my coursework on the computer...but most of the day I was mesmerized by the gift of the Goldfinches that God sent my way.

With gratitude,

 

5 Facts Friday - Random

It is hard to believe I have not posted in a week...but it has been busy, having less personal time than usual. Forgive me?



But is is 5 Fact Friday ~ yes, from Kim and Xanthe...and here are mine...rather radom but still they were fun!



Enjoy the weekend, my friends!

With gratitude,

 

5 Facts Friday - My Roots!

Well it's Friday...and that means FIVE FACTS on Kim and Xanthe's blog.  I thought today I would write about my roots...no, no, no not my hair (At age 55 I have never colored my hair)...



No, my Ancestry roots~~~~

1.  My father grew up with chickens.  He tells a story about trying to get a chicken in the hen house...the chicken would not mind so my dad got mad and hit it with a wooden plank.  They had chicken that night for supper.



2.  My 4th great grandfather, Benoni T. Powers, was raised by Captain William Powers...but rumors abound for decades...and later comes DNA testing...and the rumor that Benoni T. Powers was really the illegitimate child of one of Henry McWhorter's sons could no longer be dismissed when DNA testing proved the rumor true.



3.  My grandmother Dora Frances Kelly's lineage flows through the McWhorter line and she married my grandfather, Coy Columbus Powers, great-great grandson of Benoni T. Powers.  So they were related but did not know it.





4.  My 5th great grandfather, Henry McWhorter, was one of the first white settlers of West Virginia.  His cabin, built in 1793, still stands near Jane Lew, Lewis County, West Virginia.



5.  My great-grandmother, Margaret Jane Gordon Kelley, shown here at age 16, did not marry until she was age 41.



So now you've met some of the fam...and I am a part of them all.  Stick around...I'll introduce you to some more of my kin in future posts!

With gratitude (for my heritage),

Five Fact Friday ~ Posted on Saturday

Well, Friday creeped up on me and so this is a little late...but it is



on Kim Klassen and Xanthe Berkeley's Refection of You blog from Behind The Scenes.

Here is my submission this week...my first attempt at making it a single composition.  The template is my personal creation, crediting paper, overlay and elements to Digital Scrapper.

 

So the five facts about me this week are:

1.  I LOVE my first cup of coffee in the morning.
2.  I relish the anticipation of the bursting open of the first sunflower of summer.
3.  I welcome birds at the feeders at my bedroom window.
4.  I get excited at the last weeks of summer and see the subtle transitions.
5.  I love photographing grunge!

All photos were taken in Akron, Ohio (3 at my home) with the exception of #5 which is at Valley Forge National Park in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

With gratitude,

 

Five Facts Friday~~~

It has been a week...my projected upcoming blog posts I had planned took me on an unexpected journey.  Stay tuned...that post will be coming up this weekend...

Soooooooooooooo...for today, I'm going to post an easy peasy ~~ five facts for Friday post ~~ as instigated (yes, instigated) by Xanthe and Kim.



1.  I have an aversion to fruit. (aversion - a strong feeling of dislike, opposition, repugnance, or antipathy)...Ever since I was a child, it has been like a texture thing...mushy, gushy, oh  no ~~ seeds...or you hit a bruised, soft spot on something that should be crisp.  Okay...I confess I did like to eat canned pear halves until 5th grade.  You remember the movie they showed in school...the boys go down to the gym...and the girls see the movie about getting their period.  Well...guess what...all those diagrams of a uterus looked like canned pear halves...and it was over for me!




And that includes things made with fruit...

 

2.  I take too many photos of old country barns...

 

but honestly can anyone really have too many barn photographs?


3.  I won the Saved by the Belt award in 1995!!!  The saved by the belt program recognizes persons whose lives were saved, or who were spared serious injury, due to their good judgment in wearing seat belts.  Ohio  Highway Patrol Troopers investigating traffic crashes recommend candidates for the award.

4.  I LOVE American history...I mean REALLY LOVE American history...

 

5.  If cake is available...stick a fork in me...I'm done!  I'm crazy about cake (unless it has fruit in it...obviously).



Not sure if you learned anything new here about me, or if you did, it was anything you wanted to know...but thanks for indulging me!  More to come in the days ahead...

With gratitude,

 

More from Behind the Scenes - Five (5) Questions!

Well, that Kim and Xanthe  continue to stretch we "grasshoppers" taking the  Behind the Scenes e-course.  So today we have five questions to answer...no right or wrong answers...  So here goes:



1. What makes you happy...in five words or less...?

Hmmm...I have to narrow it out down to five words...but seems to me there is NO limit on photos!!!!!! (woot woot!)

Answer:  Time slowed to embrace moments! 

(what moments you say?  Watch for a super video before the end of this question by Ann Voskamp)

To embrace my grandsons

 


To "Look at the birds..." Matt 6:26

 

To commune with nature



To appreciate my "Edster"...he was gone for three days and look how he laid out my pills!

 

To love up my son and daughter



To spend time with my Bible, journal, a cuppa, and my God



Time to relish in meaningful relationships



 Time to be present with all the families I serve



Time to remember those I've lost



Time to really see ...and be GRATEUL for these moments!

 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhOUaszMGvQ]

2. What talent would you most like to have?

ANSWER:  To be able to see typos before I upload to Flickr!

 

3. What words and/or phrases do you overuse?
 

4. What is your favorite book and/or movie?

ANSWER:  Really? <---see!  I think that is obvious if you've read my blog... <smile>



and movie...that's a toughie...but I'm a sucker for good indie films...can I pick two?

 
The Trip to Bountiful (Geraldine Page's last movie for which she won an Oscar as Carrie Watts)

AND


Strangers in Good Company.  Kim Klassen, this is a Canadian film!

5. If you could go anywhere in the world for a creative retreat, where would you go?

ANSWER:  For me it is more about the environment/atmosphere, than a particular place.  There would need to be the sound of natural running water outdoors;

 

Area rich with mountains, remoteness, hard to access places



The comforts of home but still rustic



Plenty of flora!

 

Plenty of wildlife!

 
So, those were not quick answers...but they were fun!  Thanks for indulging me!

With gratitude,