The Leso

Several months one of my blog posts was about Leah using her leso (pronounced lay-so) for a doorway barricade to her house in Kenya. She wanted to leave the door open, but when she did the chickens would just wander in. So she draped a leso across the bottom of the doorway, and voila, a "chicken-gate".

This afternoon she showed me the lesos she brought home. She also brought home the market basket holding the lesos. Pretty cool.

The lesos are just pieces of fabric, unfinished, meaning no hems. So the hemming will begin soon.

Out of Order

I bet you think I finally missed a day--this post should be before the previous one. But honest and true, these photos were taken on Sunday, May 17. (I did actually almost forget to make this post--but since I remembered just in time, I'm still in the running for the trophy!)

Caleb and Leah

Caleb on line "walking" into the gymnasium for graduation. (Caleb's in the middle looking straight into the camera)

Caleb on the way out after commencement.

Plan B

I had a plan A tonight. But wait, I get ahead of myself.

Many years ago, when Leah and Caleb were very young, we met a family at church. They had two girls who were a little older than my children. The hubbies were both members of the Christian Motorcyclists. We stopped attending the same church after a few years, but Cindy and I remained friends and would see each other occasionally.

She had two more children and our lives went in different directions, but we would be in contact once or twice a year, and we even managed to get together once in a while.

Last week we made plans to have dinner together tonight--and by golly, we did. We spent hours talking and catching up and enjoying each other's company. It was awesome.

My trusty point-and-shoot was not, however, in my purse where it belonged. I gave it to Leah yesterday so she could document the cleaning process of Caleb's apartment--to guarantee the refund of my very expensive deposit for his apartment at school. I felt naked, and deprived because I couldn't take a photo of my friend.

On the way home I remembered a photo of the four of us, taken years ago in which she looked great (and I didn't look as bad as usual), and determined to find it and take a photo of it to post. Sigh! Guess you know where this is going. Plan A crashed and burned--when I looked for the photo, it was nowhere to be found.

So on to Plan B--a not-very-exciting photo of Pick-Up Sticks. Remember them? What a cool game. And when I checked Leslie's blog, there was a photo of colored pencils. How ironic.

Graduation

It's Saturday night. We're in Alfred, NY. Caleb graduates tomorrow morning (Sunday). We were going to drive here on Sunday morning--graduation is at noon. I hate cutting the timing so close, so I suggested that we drive here on Sat afternoon in the RV.

It's old. It creaks. It looks soooo 60s. But.....it's really pretty comfortable (although I bet the new ones are a whole different thing), and it's an awesome way to travel.

SHE'S HOME!!!!

Today was the first hike of our hiking season. The destination was Goodluck Lake. After driving for about 45 minutes, we found the trailhead, got our gear ready, sprayed ourselves with deet-ladened bug repellent, and got going. It was a beautiful day, sunny, breezy, low humidity and clear. The guide book said the destination was almost two miles into the woods. This sign for the parking area lists Good Luck Lake as one of the destinations.

But when we crossed the road to start up the trail, that sign didn't mention anything about Good Luck Lake, so there had to be some consultation about whether we were in the right place or not. Turns out it was the correct trail head, but the sign for the lake and the registration box were about 1/2 mile into the woods.Very confusing.

This is not a mountain summit. A lot of ups and downs and wet spots. After a while, the "leader of the pack", Jane, said she thought we missed the turnoff for the trail going down to the lake. We knew we were walking parallel to the lake, but the farther we went, the more it seemed like we missed something.

We finally turned around and after about 1/2 hour we found the almost imperceptible, unmarked trail heading down toward the edge of the lake. We arrived, but because of the foliage growth and the soggy shoreline it was impossible to get any good photos of the lake. We thought that there was probably a better vantage point farther on, but we were a little constrained by time today. I had to be back in town by 4 in order to head down to the airport to meet Leah when she arrived home.

(We kept trying to calculate how far we actually walked. My estimation is about 5 miles.)

And here she is. Leah 's Home!!! Instead of going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, as she mentioned in one of her emails at the beginning of the week, she opted to go to Karen's for ice cream. So we headed to Karen's and Jessica, Brian and the kids met us there. Leah got a flurry and mozzarella sticks--probably two things she wasn't able to get in Kenya.

Car Parts or Parts of a Car

When I heard what the assignment was for today, I was pretty excited because I actually like to photograph cars, and I knew I wouldn't have to look too far and wide to find a vehicle to photograph.

So while I was at work today, I decided it was time to go out and get some shots of my car-but there was this neat truck right in front of me. hmmmm, a little more interesting. Naturally it started raining while I was at my task, but I managed to get a few shots.

Yellow Building Study #2

Several weeks ago I posted images of the yellow building that is across the street from Morette's in Schenectady. I was happy to have discovered that my point and shoot takes macro photos. This first image is one that I posted back then.

Tonight when I got to Morette's, I looked over and saw this scene. All the little buds had turned into beautiful, lush leaves. The contrast between the bright yellow and the beautiful green is really stunning.

When I entered Morette's it occurred to me that I've never taken a photo of the "cooks", so I asked permission and here you have it.

Training: 2.5 miles wearing my boots.

Which One?

Found this phone at a friend's house tonight. Which one do you like better? This sounds like something I said a few posts back--I thought I would like the bw better, but turns out I like the color one best.

P.S.--my daughter has left the Peach Corps! Her plane lands in Albany on Friday, just three days from now, at 5:07 pm. I'm psyched.

Hippies

I had lunch with a friend today at TGI Fridays. This sign was hanging on the wall. I LOVE these funky signs.

Training: 2 miles in my new boots.

Empty Glass

Sunday was the glass.

no comments necessary

Bronx Zoo

Went to the Bronx Zoo today. Weather was great: cloudy and not too hot. The zoo wasn't very crowded either, so that made it even better.

The bus was only about half full. At least half the original reservations canceled because of the "swine flu". Too bad the media has such an effect on people. They missed out on a good day.

Peak Blooms

A friend and I took a drive to FoCastle Orchard this morning. We found the apple trees in peak bloom. It was so beautiful. We knocked on the door of the house to ask permission to photograph on the property and were given carte blanche. The sky was white, so it was a little challenging, but I managed to get a few images I like.

This first one is, of course, beehives. The orchard rents them to pollinate the trees. I happily discovered that they rented them from my good friend, Mark Rulison who owns Rulison Honey here in Amsterdam. I almost managed to complete the task of photographing the hives without getting stung, but at the last minute one little critter landed on my arm and did his work. Ick, I hate bee stings, but it was worth it.

The following images are just a few that I took on the property.

This last one is a close-up of an apple blossom. They're so beautiful.

Dinner and Scrabble

I can hardly believe I have to confess this again. I thought about the Thursday assignment, "shadows", yesterday, then again this morning, then again this afternoon. But when I got home from work, I decided to accept an invitation for dinner and games at my friend's house. Once again, I completely forgot about the assignment, even though I actually had an idea for it!

So here are some images from my evening. Dinner was a scrumptious home-made stir-fry.

We had two games going: Yahtzee and Scrabble. I was in the scrabble game, so while I was waiting for my turn I grabbed a few shots of the on-going Yahtzee game.

I didn't do very well. Check out the combination of letters I had. They were that bad most of the game.

Training: 2 miles

Betty Boop

Last week when we met at Morette's for dinner before photo club, I noticed this jacket hanging on the coat rack. I thought "how cute", but the whole time we were there, no one retrieved it, and it was still there when we left.

Tonight it was the first thing I saw when I approached our table in the back. Guess no one has claimed it. Too cute!

Tonight was the Print of the Year Competition at the photo club. When I was getting ready to take a photo of some of the entries, Judy decided to clown around, and I was glad to oblige her by taking a photo of her antics.

There were over 100 entries tonight--I think it's a record. And each one was more wonderful than the last. A lot of talent in this group.

My hiking training: two miles today.

Cleaning the Attic

"I know those hiking boots are somewhere in this house". That was what I was thinking to myself when I headed up to the attic to look for my boots yesterday afternoon. When I got there I couldn't even figure out where to begin looking because of the mess that was there. I thought I would just move things around to create a little order, but two hours later the attic was half emptied!

Some went into the trash, some was headed to my daughter's house for the grandkids, and some was headed to the Goodwill. Aha! there suddenly seemed to be more oxygen in the room. What a relief.

Today I delivered the boxes and boxes and boxes filled with my unwanted items (that would turn into someone else's treasures) to the Goodwill store . That rocks! I'm so grateful for these "ministries": Goodwill, Salvation Army and Handy Ups & Downs (our local used-items store).

I have a lot more to do up there, but I got a great head-start yesterday.

By the way, I never did find those boots.

The Season Begins

Early last fall I went photographing with a friend. We were talking about hiking, and she told me that she hikes once a week all summer with some friends of hers. They begin hiking each spring, starting slowly and working up to longer/higher hikes as the season goes on.

She invited me to join them and said she'd let me know when they would get started this spring.

Tonight was the "organizational" meeting.

I'm a little apprehensive. I'm very much out of condition. The 8.1 mile Aloha Run last February (that I walked) almost did me in, and that was all street walking with only a slight incline at one point.

The goal of this little group is Mt. Marcy, one of the high peaks, by mid-August.

I'll give it a try. I'll keep you posted.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

Psalm 139:13-19

Time For A Shower

My friend's daughter is getting married at the end of the month. Today was her shower. It was a nice gathering of good friends.

This first image is of my friend and one of her grandchildren.

My friend and her 4 daughters.

Not a real cake. It's made of towels.

The Trophey Passed On Tonight

Earlier today I was sitting at my computer waiting for a phone call, when I decided to get out my point and shoot and try my hand at the macro setting again. The most handy subject was the computer keyboard. When I took the shot, I thought back to the beginnings of my "typing" experiences.

I was in jr. high school when I had my first typing class. From the very first lesson I was hooked. The keys were blank and there was a chart on the wall at the front of the room. I remember endlessly/repetitiously hitting the same keys over and over again, ad nauseum, but I loved every keystroke!

My parents saw my passion for this "activity" and they gave me my very own typewriter the following Christmas. I was in heaven.

Little did I know how that "activity" would serve me in later years. I earned quite a bit of money during my college years typing papers for those who didn't know how to type or who didn't want to.

So different from today, where every child learns to type, or keyboard, or whatever they call it these days, so they can communicate via computer. I wonder if there are any fortunate individuals left out there who can earn extra cash "typing" papers as I did? Interesting!

Moving on--our mvp group met tonight. We hung some of our work at the local library for a month-long exhibit. Very exciting, and with the variety and high quality of images that are displayed, it's really an impressive and beautiful show.

The Leader Herald printed an article about the exhibit. This is just the beginning of it and it introduces the exhibit and tells a little about our group.

We went for dinner after we finished hanging the exhibit. And the new winner of the trophey is....drumroll please.....Steve. He definitely deserves it and I know he'll enjoy displaying it in his home for the next two months. Congratulations, Steve.