Family Photo Op

Hey bloggers....Wow..three posts in the same week.  That might be a record for me!  LOL!!

We were at one of our county parks the other day for a little outing.  Unfortunately, we had so much rain the past few days the walking trails were so muddy it was impossible to use them.  Fortunately, the sun was shining and I had my camera (never leave home without it).

A little bit of editing via Picnik (I really like that program) and voila, we have a photo:

Crafty Dad, Crafty Mom, Riley,
Mr. Teenager and Little Guy

Here are a few more:

Hope you're enjoying the Autumn season.

Take care!

Trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

Hi Bloggers! Here's a quick collage I put together of our nature walk during our recent trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. I highly recommend the audio (headset) tour. Otherwise, you'll see a WHOLE bunch of stuff...but you won't know what you're looking at!

[Click on the photo for a larger (much better) version.]

More photos later.  Photos were not allowed inside the house.  But...I got several of the outside.  You'll see them soon.  Photos above are from the beautiful gardens and walking paths.  It was perfect weather for a long, long (longer-than-we-thought) walk.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

P.S. It's Father's Day....so make it a good one!

Summertime...and the livin' is easy ...

especially if you're a dragonfly.

Hope you're having a good weekend.

I'll tell you more about this photo later.

Wonderful Weekend!

Hey...hope you had a great weekend. We certainly did. Spent Friday and Saturday nights at the lake. Weather was a bit iffy, but pretty much okay. We're still dealing with bare floors in the kitchen of the park model. The estimate to have it replaced was enormously-large a bit more than we expected, so we're going to do it ourselves. (Oh boy!)

Son No. 2 went swimming while Crafty Mom and Dad sat in the sun and looked at magazines. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do. It is total relaxation for me. And the wife and I needed some of that. My wife cooked chicken over the open campfire and it was EXCELLENT. As she was tending to it, Grandma and Grandpa Cook (no relation to either of us, but two of the nicest people we've met at the lake. My kids have 'adopted' them and we call them Grandma and Grandpa) pulled into our site on their golf cart and gave us some wonderful chocolate dessert. Not sure what all was in it, but it had a yummy crust with pecans or walnuts...chocolate pudding and Cool Whip. It was g-o-o-d. Along with chicken, we had green beans, a baked potato and a very simple (I like simple) salad of Romaine lettuce hearts.

Sunday was the family celebration for Son No. 2's birthday. He turned NINE. (Holy cow, where does the time go? Famous parental question, right?) This fall we'll have a high school freshman and a fourth-grader living with us. Geez. He got lots of greenbacks which (I'm sure) he'll spend on baseball, football or basketball trading cards.

The family get-together was a hit. The weather cooperated so we spent the afternoon outside on the patio. The kids played on the swings, kicked a soccer ball around and had a great time. The grown-ups sat around and chit chatted about all the things grown-ups chit chat about. Then it was time for ice cream and cake. Son No. 2 is a big Colts fan, so the cake was white icing with blue trim and a Colts emblem on it. He loved it!

Here are few photos from the weekend:

[Click on the collage for a larger version.]

1. Rose bush that's LOADED with blooms this year.
2. A peony bush...almost all done with blooms..but still pretty enough for a photo.
3. Up close and personal: peony flower.
4. Sleepy boys on Sunday morning at the lake.
5. Crafty Mama's open-fire chicken (YUM-O).
6. Grandma Cook's chocolate dessert (also YUM-O).
7. Son No. 2 in the pool.
8. Salsa, chips and some other goodies.
9. Simple: Romaine lettuce (love that stuff).

A Perfect Peony

Peony bush in the back yard.

These are not the big, double peonies that you might be familiar with. These are a simple,single-type of flower. But simple is good. And since they only last for a few days, I thought I'd take a few shots of them. Then...I uploaded the photo to Picnik and played around with it. I'm a Premium Member so I get some spiffy extras to use.

I used the Fancy Focus tool and highlighted the three blooms. Notice how they stand out from the rest of the picture? Picnik is a fantabulous tool. And the really cool part is, the basic version is free. You can do some really great things to your photos. You can use the 'auto correction' feature, crop photos, put all kinds of frames around them, make collages, put text on them. There are digitial 'stickers' that you can put on photos to make photo greeting cards, etc., etc., I use Picnik to fix up most of the photos that I use in my Etsy shop. Go check it out! But beware: it can be addictive. OH...and you can link your Flickr photos to it too.

Oh, by the way, Son No. 1 is back from his Washington DC trip. He's pooped! Crafty Mom and I are so glad that he had a great time and returned home safely. He took TONS of pictures and I'll try to get some of them posted in the next few days. He's just like the old man: put a camera in his hand and watch out!

Dreaming of a White Memorial Day

White, white and more white!

This is a mini-collage I put together last spring of the beautiful white blooms in our front yard. With such a harsh 2008-09 winter, I'm not sure what we'll see this season. We worked in the yard yesterday and while there's lots of green, I'm not sure we'll have a repeat of last year.

Speaking of weather. Can I tell you how tired I am of temps in the 30s? Yes...it's the middle of May and the night-time temperatures have been at the freezing level with lots of frost. We've been dragging in the flower pots each night to keep them safe. Just when you think it's going to stay warm, it happens again. My wife just potted up more flowers yesterday. And (yep) they spent the night in the garage.

Not sure if we'll spend Memorial Day weekend at the lake. We were greeted by a crazy sight when we opened up the park model for the season. The brutally-cold temps over the winter seemed to have wreaked havoc on the vinyl floor. [Photos to come soon.] Let me just give you this visual: the floor looks like someone stood in the middle and took a knife to it. It's cut in pie-wedge shapes from edge to edge. After just putting $800.00 out for car repairs last week, we're not real excited about replacing the floor. But...what are you going to do? My wife and keep saying: It could always be worse.

Have a great week!

Looking forward to:

Late Spring - 2007
[Click the photo for a larger image]

Warm weather, green leaves, bright-colored flowers, spending time outside, enjoying the patio, cutting the grass. Feeling the sun on my face.

Yes. I am ready.




P.S. I found this great picture tool on the web to get individual photos merged into one. I'm using the trial version for a few days. It is SO easy to use. I had this grouping done in 2 minutes after I installed the program. So far, so good. Anyone else using this or another program?

Summer is winding down

and it's really feeling like fall. The days are certainly getting shorter. I had so much fun this summer. I stayed up late and got up early. It was wonderful. Now the seasons are changing and I feel like I need to hibernate. It's depressing. I think I'm suffering from that ....what's it called? Not enough light. I don't even know what to Google to figure out what I'm thinking about. How lame is that?

Black eyed Susans at the mailbox. They seem to take forever to bloom, but once they start....they seem to stay forever. I'm sure the mailman really appreciates them sticking out in the road. Oh well.

Up close and personal.

See...the leaves on the trees are starting to turn color.
Summer, summer, where art thou?
I want you back!

Wow! What a Week it Was ...

Some of us had to work on the 5th and 6th, so with the Fourth of July being stuck in the middle of the week, it was like having two Mondays (ugg!) and two Fridays (woo hoo!). My wife was able to take some extra time off so she and the boys (and the dog) spent the entire week at the lake.

I stayed home and puttered around the yard -- cut grass, trimmed some overgrown bushes, watered flowers, and other fun stuff. I love the fact that it stays light outside until after 9:00 p.m. It gives me time to get so much done. I hate the fact that we've crossed over into the part of summer where the days have already started to get a tad bit shorter. And once we pass the 4th of July holiday, it seems that summer zooms by and the kids are back in school before you know it.

But let's not get all depressed about that, okay? We had a ton of fun this week. And here are some photos to document that fact.

The hazy sky over the Shipshewana flea market on the 4th. It looked like it could rain any minute ... but it never did. It was perfect 'walking around' and shopping weather.


Some patriotic posies at the campsite.



Flags, flip-flops and crocs. Three summertime staples.
The boys got all decked out for the golf cart parade and
"best decorated cart" contest on Saturday afternoon.


The bike decorating contestants. The kids did a great job!

Sometimes you feel like a nut.
(The walnut tree at the entrance of the campground is FULL of these beauties.)


Or...sometimes you feel like a chocolate cupcake with tons of frosting.
(Thank you Grandma Cook for the scrumptious treats!!)


Have yarn. Will travel.
Crafty Dad crocheting a cotton dishcloth during a spare moment.


The crochet tote. With the two WIPs.
Yes, the tote needs some handles. It came home with us this weekend and is in the 'to do' pile now.

Making good progress on the dishcloth.


Hershey Girl keeping cool in the park model. It hit 96 degrees on Sunday. A scorcher for sure!

I hope you had a great holiday week!

We're busy getting ready for the road trip to the East Coast. Blog posts may be few and far between (and what is different about that?) LOL!

Lovin' the New Camera

Peony Closeup
Originally uploaded by crafty dad

Here's a shot I took early yesterday evening. I love the detail of the paper-thin petals of this peony. I am really happy with the camera. I still need to learn how to take better indoor/flash shots, but in general, this is a fantastic camera for the money.

My wife took several inside shots of the park model yesterday. I'll post those tomorrow so you can see just what our version of 'camping' is. Here's a hint: it's NOT the pitch-a-tent-and-rough-it version. :-)

Backyard Beauty

After I cut the grass last night, I was playing around with the new camera and came up with these.

[Our Patio]

[The most beautiful geraniums I've EVER seen.]

[Closer view of the geraniums.]

[Close-up shot of geranium. Click the photo for a better shot.]

Oh I love summer, the patio and our new camera. :-)

A Stroll through the Greenhouse and Garden Center

Ahhh, the sights and smells of springtime.

Last Saturday, my wife and I left the boys at home and snuck off for a few minutes to our favorite greenhouse and garden center. The guy that owns it was a classmate of our's. He started out mowing lawns and doing some basic landscape design. Now, Mark owns one of the biggest and best places in town. And..although he's our neighbor (lives right across the street from us), we don't get any favors. Nope. No discounts. No free lawn service (and I could use some of that about now!). Umm, Mark if you're reading this, I hope you didn't mind that I took these photos, and please don't take offense to my comments.

Anyhow, enjoy the sights:

[Inside one of the greenhouses.]

[A beautiful hanging pot. ]

[Pansies. An oldie but goodie.]

[Rhododendrons. Almost pretty enough to eat.]

Real Simple

More pictures from Mother's Day (using the new camera).

Here's a shot of the deck in front of the park model at the campground/lake. The hostas are really doing well. I love to see their perfectly-shaped, variegated leaves (before the bugs start gnawing on them). The boys have outgrown the little picnic table, but my wife and I can't part with it. We've been hauling it out each spring for many years and summer just wouldn't be summer without it.

With all of the colors in the kitchen sink, I had to take a quick shot. I love the new camera!


Here's another. The sectional plates were a find at WalMart. At 98 cents each, they were a no brainer. And since we couldn't decide on blue, green, yellow or coral...we bought one of each.

[Click on the image above to see the droplets of water. I really, really like the new camera!]

A close-up shot of the hosta.

And, one more!

Yep, sometimes it's the simple things.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

[Flower pot of marigolds at the lake.]
[Picture taken with new camera!!!]

Just one of our Mother's Day activity. There were many more. Stay tuned for details and pictures. I sincerely hope all the moms out there had a wonderful day. My wife had a great day with the boys.

My wife and I spent time thinking of our moms today. Both have passed away: mine almost 12 years ago, my wife's almost two years ago. We both have wonderful memories to cherish!

"Oh the weather outside is" .... really warm!

The weather has been totally un-seasonal here in northern Indiana. We took advantage of the 60 degree temps and did some more outdoor Holiday decorating. It was a also a great day for picture taking. I'm trying to learn more about my "old" digital camera. I see so many really great photos on the blogs I visit. There are some very multi-talented folks out there. And I applaud you! Here are some shots of various trees and bushes that live in our yard.







Here's my youngest son (in the yellow jacket, sitting under the fort). He's busy whittling a stick using his new Cub Scout pocket knife. Speaking of Cub Scouts: I was SO proud of him last night. We had a Pack Meeting and toward the end of snack time, one of the boys thought he'd play a little joke and knock off the Scout cap one of the other boys was wearing. Well...in doing so he caused the boy to spill his drink all over the floor and all over his shirt. Here's the cool part: My son ran to the back of the room to grab a roll of paper towel, brought it over and started mopping up the floor! I was (am) a very proud father! He had nothing to do with the incident but wanted to help. On the way home I told him how proud I was of him, to which he replied, "Well, Dad, that's what Cub Scouts do." You bet it is! Love ya buddy!

[Click on the picture for a larger image]