Another Day

A drive, a picnic, and a little walk on a gorgeous day makes for one happy family. These are the golden-tinted days that we never specifically remember individually, but rather as a collective impression of the first enjoyable weeks of summer.

And yes, that's a sleepy puppy on the car-ride home. :)

How Doth the Little Busy Bee

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour,

And gather honey all the day

From every opening flower!

~Isaac Watts

Wherein I Over-Edit Just for Fun

The results of experimenting with the new photo-editing tool, PicMonkey.

Quilts and Honeybees

Yesterday we went and picked up our bees. We've had a hive for a while, but now it is occupied!

I started a new project this afternoon. I've wanted to make a quilt for a long time, but have either failed, or never had the patience. Today I sat down and picked out the pieces from squares that my great-grandma had cut out. I trimmed them all down to the right size, and began sewing together my blocks. So far I have five out of twenty completed. It won't be a huge quilt, but I'm very excited about it!




As I begin each new block, I start to worry thinking "Oh, I shouldn't have put these colors or patterns together! They'll look awful!" Once I finish the block, however, I am always quite pleased with the result. I can't wait to see the finished project!

Black and White Sort of Day

A quiet day all to myself. A camera, a tripod, and a cute outfit. Perhaps the day was glowering from above, and the tiniest pieces of ash from a neighbor's fireplace came drifting down, imitating the subtle arrival of snow. As it was, the day was warm. Warmer than it has been in this generally warm winter.

Soft and warm chili cheese fries made a comfortable lunch, while I indulged my inner geek with a sci-fi TV show. 

Little things called out to me, leaping in delight when I bent over to take notice of their simple and often overlooked beauty. Perhaps this withered plant may have been a weed, but even weeds can be beautiful and unique.

A colored shirt, as pretty as it was, seemed out of place in a black and white sort of day. Some days are just like that. 

What I've been listening to:

A Little Fall of Rain ~ Les Miserables

What I've been reading:

Wives and Daughters ~ Elizabeth Gaskell

Ivanhoe ~ Sir Walter Scott

5 Quotes About Joy

I've been researching quotes that have to do with joy, for a special project. They are so inspiring! I thought I would share a few with my friends.

People are just as happy as they make up

their minds to be. 

Abraham Lincoln

The power of finding beauty in the humblest things

makes home happy and life lovely.

Louisa May Alcott

Many people lose the small joys in the hope

for the big happiness.  

Pearl S. Buck

I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty

that still remains.

Anne Frank

And the true realism, always and everywhere,

is that of the poets: to find out where joy resides,

and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the

joy is to miss it all. 

Robert Louis Stevenson

Quotes about Strength

We recently went to the Sequim Olympic Game Farm in Washington, where we saw lions, and tigers, and...oh, I won't go into all of that.

I took more pictures than the ones here, but these are the ones that I liked best. I chose these quotes about strength, because both of these animals, the bison and the bear, seem to have that quality in abundance. While their strength may chiefly lie in their physical abilities, we can work to become strong in many areas of our Christian walk such as prayer, controlling our tongues, serving others, and seeking to glorify the Lord in all that we do.

Is it not He who gives the bison and the bear their strength? It is fitting that we, too, should draw our strength from Him.

"Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

~Mother Theresa~

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."

~Corrie Ten Boom~

Read more about our adventure at the Olympic Game Park at Sagerats Scribbles!

I Begin to See Summer

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. ~ John Steinbeck

Summer afternoon... to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~ Henry James

A soft Sea washed around the House
A Sea of Summer Air
And rose and fell the magic Planks
That sailed without a care —
For Captain was the Butterfly
For Helmsman was the Bee
And an entire universe
For the delighted crew.

~Emily Dickinson

Capture - Nature

This week's theme is photograph something that is natural or native to your area. This can be plants, animals, people (if you have their permission!), landmarks, or anything, but it has to be a fair representative of your region. If your picture needs to be explained a little, all the better!

It's a pretty broad first category, but it should prove fun and interesting.

Here's mine.

Taken with a Canon Powershot SX 10 IS, and curves slightly edited.

I took the obvious approach and decided to go with a plant as my representation of my area. This is a native moss growing on the branch of a dead Sage Brush. This is very typical in our area, of moss growing on...just about anything! Despite that fact, we live in a very dry area.


Now, go capture and be happy!

A Snowy Photo Walk

I went on a walk today in the snow.  We live in an area that is known for it's orchards and vineyards, and I had previously seen a view of one of the orchards that captured my imagination, so I decided to attempt to capture it with my camera.

Also, I had just learned of a new technique called Auto-Bracketing that I really wanted to try out.  Unfortunately, the situation didn't call for anything so dramatic, since it was so well exposed to begin with.  Another time, perhaps.

Here are a few, choice shots from my walk:

Enjoy the season!

A Camping Trip & Three Resolutions

I went camping this last weekend with the Church, and had a blast. My cousin and I climbed up to the top of one of the rim-rocks, we checked out Lake Owyhee Dam, and we had an all around good time.

On reflection, I came back with three resolves, which are extremely interesting ones, considering I was on a camping trip.

The first one came about because one of the ladies was talking about a trip to Canada that they are going to make next summer. Instantly I was all ears and wishes, especially since they are going to good old P.E.I., a.k.a. Prince Edward Island, home of "Anne of Green Gables".  Wouldn't any Anne fan just adore going there?

So the resolve I formed there is to start saving my money. There are actually several things I need to save my money for, and it's not that I have been extremely frivolous, but I want to start saving for a traveling fund, so that when I get the opportunity, I can be ready.

The second resolve was inspired by the same person, and I was impressed with how disciplined they seemed to be. It is kind of necessary if you are going to be a teacher, I suppose, but I decided that getting a little more disciplined in my daily life wouldn't be such a bad thing. I spend too much time on one thing, and not enough time on another.

So, this resolve is to set up a flexible schedule, to appropriately balance my activities. I need to spend the proper amount of time reading, if I am going to learn more about things, and I need to spend the proper amount of time knitting if I am going to finish Christmas presents and start designing patterns! (Another post to come, perhaps. )

The final decision I made was to start reading a few less novels and start reading more books that I can truly learn from. Right now, I am semi-in-the-midst of reading a book called "Unveiling Islam", and I am learning a lot! I want to read many more books on different subjects (i.e. Homeschooling, World Religions, Missionary Stories, Practical Non-Fiction), so that I can more and more be equipped to make my own decisions about what I believe, and to defend and discuss them accurately.  I am going to start with the books I have here at home, but I am also going to purchase a critical thinking book from Rainbow Resources to help me learn how to carefully weigh both sides and choose accordingly.

So, somewhat bizarre conclusions to an outdoor adventure, but important nonetheless.

What have YOU resolved on lately? What have YOU learned lately?

Glimpses of Morning Life

This morning I went on an interesting walk.

I saw two bees, who must have had a hard day yesterday, because they were still in bed, sleeping in the center of a lovely, yellow wildflower.

Standing on either side of the road were two quail, keeping watch over their young. The ridiculous children couldn't make up their mind which side of the road they wanted to be on, or rather they couldn't decide which side offered more breakfast, or rather they couldn't decide which parent was in a better mood.

I took pictures of the sunrise, as well as several before and after, but as I waited for that glowing orb to ascend, I did have to walk around a bit, to try and keep warm.  Fall is here, and winter is coming!

On my way back to the house, I startled a quartet of birds, who flew away as though they had been interrupted from a secret tryst of some kind. Sorry, birds.

Then I entered the house to find a mother trying to escape her maternal duties, and running rampant through the house. She was quickly put outside, while the puppies she was trying to escape from commenced to growling and tussling. 

Finally, I came into my room, turned on my computer, and wrote this post.

The Speeding Trolley of Time

Excerpt from my journal, August 24, 2010

What a long day, and such an extremely long week this day was in. I think we are all a little too tired for the time to whizz by like a speeding trolley car bound for a destination we can never reach again. Time the Trolley car is headed for the past.

The sad thing is that we are too tired and impatient to take advantage of the lethargic hours as we should. Time is a one-way ride, and if you let the attractions glide by without jumping off to check them out, then they will be lost forever without even a memory to have made it's existence worth the while.

In other words, on those hot and sticky summer days when everyone is grouchy and tired, make sure to stop and smell the roses!

Thoughts of the Seasons

My sweet friend Elizabeth tagged me with this absolutely delightful tag!

In Spring, my favorite things are seeing all of the baby animals learning to walk, running, and frisking about.  I love to see new growing things, because they are such a unique color of green.  There is an air of new life about that fills me with joy.

In Summer, I love lazy days on the porch swing, whether we be reading, writing, napping, talking, or simply enjoying.  I love playing croquet in my Grandparent's yard, the cool touch of beautiful green grass, and the shrieks when the sprinklers suddenly come on.  I love hiking in the woods, and admiring the flowers and ferns.

In Autumn, with me being a sweater lover, I love having the brisk days when a sweater isn't optional, but a must.  I love the brilliant colors.  I love the cozy feeling that I get just because it is Fall.  The crunching noise that leaves make when you step on them, the rains, the puddles that come after the rains, is all some of my favorite things about Autumn.

In Winter, I love curling up in a wad of blankets, socks, pillows, and sweaters, to read a book.  I love the fresh, untouched look of newly fallen snow.  Sledding all day and coming home soaked is one of my favorite winter memories, along with sledding on an old car hood pulled by a 4 wheeler, sitting around the fireplace in a lovely, huge fort that my Uncle helped my cousins to build, and going out on Christmas morning to pick and pull a sagebrush for a Christmas Tree.

Now that I’ve told you my favorite thoughts of the seasons I challenge you to a tag. I’m going to tag four people to follow my thoughts of the seasons and have them tell me theirs.

I tag….

1. Out of the Blue

2. His Beautiful Love

3. Pen 2 Paper

4. Sagerat Scribbles

Even if you’re not one of the four bloggers chosen above, feel free to post your feelings with a link back to my blog.

Rules of the tag

1. Tag at least three people after your post.

2. Post back to the blog that tagged you.

3. Post the rules of the tag and please don’t post the things you least like about the seasons, but what you like best.

© 2009 Defective Compositions

Sweetness Is...

Sweetness is seeing your parents walk hand in hand.


Sweetness is looking at the beautiful world around you.


Sweetness is walking leisurely along in the fading sunlight.


Sweetness is forgetting that computers exist, even for a few seconds.


Sweetness is discussing blog strategies with your sister.


Sweetness is watching your 12 year old brother learn to ride his bike.


Sweetness is laughing at your other brother, for his goofy witticisms.


Sweetness is being amazed at a frog the size of your hand.


Sweetness is knowing that the Heavenly Father is with me through all other sweetnesses.


© 2009 Defective Compositions