amongst friends~ A special message

To all my 'amongst friends' friends, don't give up on me.
 I'm so sorry for me lack of time.  I will be back on track soon.

amongst friends #75

The letter F~

Yet again, it’s been a while since I received everyone’s pictures. It actually took me a few minutes to find everything. I hadn’t saved some of them from email and thought I was missing a few. Sheila we are missing you this collage, I hope things look up for your family soon.

Now, onward.  Many of you are still sticking with your photo search and sending me pictures. Thank you and I am glad you are still at it.  I will get them all into collages as soon as I am able but also want to give those who are waiting for my postings before sending more pics a minute to get one to me.

This collage is for the letter F, in case I’ve completely confused you with my tardiness.

Karen sent me her feet picture a long time back. She sent in a few photos actually but I liked this one. It was different, and after having recently returned from the beach when I received it, I longed to be right back where she was while taking this photo.

Jerri sent in a different picture but I somehow deleted it. I don’t remember ever seeing it so I am glad she was able to take something new so quickly.

This is the floor in her entryway. It’s very beautiful. So is the ceiling above it. J

Sandy also has been keeping up well. I’ve had her photo a long while. She said she’d been playing about with an idea for a project...she used chocolate foils to make a foxglove blossom.  Sandy, my daughter recently had to make a poster for a teacher and used Hershey kiss wrappers that were made of red foil for Dorothy’s ruby red slippers. Great minds think alike!

Kelly sent in a picture of one of her favorite cookbooks. I think she told me she uses it a couple times a week. I have this one; unfortunately I don’t use it enough!

Janice’s picture of Family, Faces, Fair and Fun is perfect!  Janice, you’re hot in this picture, purple is definitely your color Momma!

Debbie’s picture of Logan is darling and I can understand why it’s one of her favorite pictures.   She said, “It reminds me of a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn photo.  The mischief, the freckles, the frog.”  :)

Jenny sent in a photo of a fence in the fog.  I really like this photo. It reminds me a watercolor painting.  Jenny is another one who has been doing very well keeping up with sending in pictures. Thanks Jenny.

I was surprised Jocelyn was the only one to send in a flower photo.  I am not very knowledgeable about flowers but these are certainly lovely.

Mady sent in a cool photo and as always her commentary makes me smile. (If you caught my error when I originally posted her G descriptions- it’s all good. Her F descriptions are even better.  She said, “I've really been enjoying this alphabet game! I was able to find far more F's in this photo than I thought possible. Here goes: A fine fandango at the Farmer's Market -- found flourishing downtown -- full of farm fresh fromage, fancy finger food, and fragrant flowers. I was accompanied on this frolick by some fabulous friends. We feasted upon filling food and frequented the fantastic stands flaunting felted finery and fragrances. The finest moment was when a fetching young fellow sang one of my five favorite songs, I Will Follow You into the Dark. It was a first-rate feat of musical awesomeness. You might not have noticed, but F is my favorite letter :)

Mady, I think you are 15 years of awesomeness and I just want to mention my friend Jana, Kelly’s mom, would have LOVED you! ;)

Linda sent in a picture of Jimmy.  She said “So this is the First visit we have taken to Botanica in 2011 and we had a great time feeding the Fish. Jimmie got the biggest kick out of watching them attack the food.”

Renee’ bought this her little Frankenstein as a gift for her daughter. I’m thinking I would probably keep him, he’s cute!

My picture, like Karen’s is of feet. But aren’t they the cutest little feet you ever did see. Especially looking all surfer-like!  They belong to darling Annie who spends the mornings with me occasionally.  I love her little tiny toes and all the rest of her too!

I am still moving forward and trying to keep posting. I have all the greatest of intentions to post G pictures in the next day or two. I have most of them so if you want to submit one, please do it soon so I can get that collage up. Then we will be up for H next Sunday.  Whew!

Have a wonderful week and keep your eyes open. There are lots of wonderful pictures to be had out there!

amongst friends #74

~The Letter E

Well, I am finally getting around to the “E” collage. I sincerely appreciate all of you who just keep on clicking. That is truly the way I envisioned it to work and while I’d like to think I will eventually catch up, it’s nice to know most of you have now made this your own and you continually look for creative ideas with me hassling you. 

As you might notice there are many elephants this week. To be fair, Linda sent hers in first however Cassi and I were in Hawaii and this is the closest thing we could connect to the letter for the week. I really wanted to look for other things but I just didn’t notice them amongst the gazillion pictures my family was taking. Go figure.

Kelly sent in a picture of enchiladas her neighbor shared with her for dinner one evening. I sure wish I had a neighbor that brought me dinner.

Janice’s said she took her picture at the fair last year. She said “The sounds, the smells, the rides, all so EXCITING!

Debbie said this is one of her favorite shots of all time. Emily- She was so proud of herself for catching the ball. I told Debbie, I remember the moment as well and it truly was quite fun to be a part of. It was a great day and when I saw the picture that night, I loved it too!

Jocelyn sent in a picture of her husband, Edwin.

Sandy said she sent a picture of something a bit different- and empty bottle. And in case you’re wondering, she said “yes” she did bring it home to recycle. I loved this idea and thought it was a great reach for the theme. Excellent!

Mady says about her picture, “The photo's of an electrifying and energizing experience in Everett, an event called Acquire the Fire. Acquire the Fire is a Christ-based event that spanned the weekend. We got to experience hours of musical worship, a dramatic performance, various speakers, and at one point a car was lowered from the ceiling. There were also quite a few mentions of zombies as well as some amazing performers (at one point I was ten feet away from Jimmy Needham!) It was a very spiritually powerful experience for me; at one point, the entire arena of about 2000 people joined in singing the chorus to a song over and over again for nearly twenty minutes. That singing was one of the most powerful things I've felt in my entire life, and definitely the closest I've felt to God in ages.”

Jerri sent in a picture of her electrical box and Karen sent in a pile of Easter bunnies, both great choices for “E”.

Sheila thought of elf. She said this about her submission “I would love to live here in Keebler Elf Tree. I enjoy eating cookies and this would be a dream come true. The Keebler Elf original chip deluxe cookies are the best with chocolate in every bite. This is my type of Elf hanging out in a tree baking cookies all day. Sheila, I think you should forward this note to Keebler, you are a great spokeswoman and who knows you may end up with a free bag of cookies! 

Jenny went with Eclectic for her connection to “E”. She said, “This is my pic for E...Eclectic! It’s at a restaurant called Santa Fe Cattle Company in Troy, Alabama and they have great hamburgers! Jenny, I am sure I’d like it, especially right now, I think I need to make some lunch!

A lot of you have already sent in your “F” pictures. Thank you! I am still hoping to catch myself up. I know I’ve missed a week for sure, but go ahead and send “G” when you get this, I’ll get there.

Hope you are enjoying your spring and the opportunity to get outside to take more pictures. Have a Fun, Fantastic, Fabulous week!

Cheers!

amongst friends #73

~The Letter D

It’s been so long since I received the ‘D’ pictures I am hoping I can recall all the descriptions or at least locate them in my email folder. J

In case you were unaware, I was out of town for a week.  I spent all of last week trying to catch up which I have still not managed to do. Ha. Not that I am ever caught up anyway, so I’ll just keep moving forward. Some progress is better than none, right?

My picture for ‘D’ was kind of a nod towards my trip.  We planned on taking a lot of snorkeling gear with us and when Cali spotted us pulling it out to get it cleaned up, she decided to give it a test run diving in the bath tub.

Jerri said you’ve seen a variation of her picture before for ‘noise’ but this time it’s for ‘DD’ or ‘diaper dog’.  He wears this machine washable diaper around the house but it’s removed when he goes in and out. She said DD can also occasionally stand for ‘damn dog!’  J

Renee’ sent in the funniest picture for ‘D’ and it speaks for itself. She did say to me when sending the picture, “I bet you won’t see any duplicates of this one” and she was right!

Karen’s ‘dudes’ picture brings back memories for me.  Its special you see, because the big one is my baby brother Patrick, the one on the left is my cousin Randy, then there is my cousin John in the middle and the baby is my cousin Jarren, currently stationed in Afghanistan.  Some great looking ‘dudes’ I say!

Linda sent in the most beautiful picture of the week. I was quite taken with her ‘dragonfly’ picture.  I believe she took at the Botanical Gardens she visits often with her little man Jimmy.

Kelly sent a picture of the Farm Stores drive-through in her neighborhood that she remembers from her childhood.  She said “I used to beg my Mother to stop there for a half- gallon of ice cream.  They always had the best flavors!!

Mady always has great descriptions and this week is no different.  She said “My photo is of my dorky delight: the dashing Doctor and a diabolical Dalek. I'm a big fan of the British television series Doctor Who, and have these little Lego guys on a shelf of tea animals in my room.”

Jocelyn said her picture is ‘D’ for daughter- the light in my life.

Sandy sent in a picture of a direction sign for one of the walks at a park across town from us.  Again, I love seeing how different things are in her country as compared to ours.

Jenny’s picture is a dangerous storm coming across the field. It’s creative and I like it!

Janice often has sweet pictures and this week she does it again with a photo of her delightful daughter with dogs, Diddy and Daisy. 

Debbie sent in a gorgeous picture of a painted daisy.  Lovely picture Debbie!

So we are long past looking for ‘E’ pictures.  I am hoping I have everyone’s but if I don’t please let me know right away and I will give you a minute to get it to me.  For those of you, who have been keeping up, thank you.  Hopefully I will catch up myself one of these days. Probably not but one can hope.  I am also looking for ‘F’ pictures, which technically should have been sent by this morning.  I will keep you apprised of where we are at through posting collages so keep your eyes open.

See you soon.

amongst friends #72

Well, I am two days earlier than last week, that counts for something right? :)

I am loving this week's collage. The colors, the content, the quality and effort. Seriously, they are becoming quite unique and I feel like we all get a bit of an insight into
the lives and hearts of others through their photos. I like that.

Guess what, Justin is back! Justin, we've missed you and I hope you will be around a while.

Justin's picture is of a crosswalk. He's been riding his bike to work the past three weeks and says he crosses here, on Hillsborough Road daily, This picture makes me think of Karen's B picture last week.

Jocylyn sent in a great picture of a caterpillar. She had this to say, " I went to visit some friends at a farm in Webster and these things where everywhere by the millions, they were falling off the trees and it sounded like it was raining and it was the caterpillars falling to the ground…Gross!"  When I was a kid these things were so fun!

I happen to know Kelly has been doing massive amounts of yard and garden work. In her picture we get an idea of just how much!  That doesn't even look fun to me. That is a LOT of cypress mulch!

Karen sent in a picture of Larry's newest car purchase, a convertible.  What I wouldn't give to be rising around in that about now.

Jerri stuck to her Irish roots this week. She said, "The Claddagh, known as the Irish wedding band. The hands signify friendship, the crown loyalty and the heart love. The Irish claddagh is now used internationally as a symbol of friendship and love."

I like Janice's picture but I'm not sure if it's because I am hungry or not. Just kidding. I think it's because I am a firm believer that food brings people together and when she said this, " During a fun day skiing, we stopped to get a snack............  Chili Cheese fries?  Sure!!" about her picture, I just felt is was probably a happy day!

I like the story with Debbie's picture too.  I am a sucker for anything nostalgic. She said, "This coo-coo clock was a surprise gift from my brother who just got back from Germany.  The clock is Bavarian, purchased in Garmisch.  The gift was truly a delight as it was purchased in a place where we both learned to ski and have fond memories of."

Sheila's sent in a picture of the chapel at Marywood Center where she went camping this weekend. I really like the angles in this photo.

Joanne sent in a picture of her adorable new dog. Her name is ChuChu. Isn't she darling?

Linda took a pet picture too. I think it's her friends cat, Sassy! This is a very cute photo!

Mady get the award for most scrumptious photo and funniest description. She said, "...a photo of a classy chocolate cheesecake cupcake, composed with cutlery and a cliche concept. My friends and I went out to get coffee and pastries and hang out on the beach today (despite the 55 degree weather). We were originally gathering to tell anti-jokes -- we like to celebrate obscure holidays together, like Make Someone Feel Uncomfortable day and National Pick-up Line Day -- but we eschewed that in favor of photography, tree-climbing, and absorbing as much vitamin D as possible before the sun goes away again."  Sounds like fun! :)

My photo is of my clean kitchen table. Lately it is the only thing in the house that isn't cluttered. :)

Jenny's chime picture is nice too. I like the colors...I  just like the whole thing! Great picture Jenny!

Renee's picture of Claussen pickles is, well,  just yum!!  This reminds me of my Grandma, she LOVED pickles too! :)

And finally, Sandy's picture. I love that we learn about things in places so far away. She said "Anyway, the area where we live used to be the estate of a mansion for some nobleman. Back in the days when landscaping the grounds of estates - creating vistas and all that - were in fashion, quite a lot of Cedar of Lebanon trees were planted. It is hard to work out what the pattern was because of all the houses. One by one though these lovely ancient trees have been coming down. Some came down in the Big Storms of 1987. The one on my street had some of the large limbs break when we had the heavy snowfall in Jan 2010. Then they cut all the rest of the limbs off because of health and safety. It makes you grieve. So, here is a photo of one of the most glorious ones which is about a 10 min walk from here."

And there you go. Do you love them as much as me?  Don't you think the collages seem to be getting better ?  I just love it.

I will be out of town next week so if everyone can do me a favor and get me their pictures Saturday night or Sunday morning I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to get it posted before I leave, otherwise it will be a week late.

And now on to "D"  Have a Delightful time, don't do anything Dangerous, just Do it! :)  

amongst friends #71

The Letter B~

So, here it is another week, more problems. I won’t go into to details but suffice it to say I am working on the problem.  The good thing is, most everyone seems to stay on course now and continue looking for the weeks pictures even if I haven’t posted the collage yet. Thank you for that. 

This week we are back up to 15 players. Whoo Hoo!  Hopefully as others move towards spring they will find renewed energy and available time to start snapping pictures. I know the warmer weather and sunshine is making me want to get out and about.

There were interesting scenarios for the “B” collage this week. First, I think bulldogs must be more popular than I realized. Either that or my family just has a personal affinity for the breed.  Both Rayma and Renee’ sent in pictures of their four-legged furry friends.  Rayma said Baby Girl loves her bed. And Renee’ has a couple of these fellows. I am sure photographing them comes easy.

Kelly and Jocelyn both sent in pictures from their trip the the Plant City Strawberry festival. Their connection to be were similar but no where near the same.  I think Jocelyn was feeling a little guilty when she took her picture.  She sent this description,  “Sad but true beef is what I thought of when I looked at you.”   Food was on Kelly’s mind too and wanted to know, Would you try chocolate dipped bacon??  She said she passed on it! I say, “Chicken!” 

Sheila’s B picture is of her favorite book to read and a bonus, it’s blue!

Mady sends in some very cool pictures in my opinion and this one is no exception.  She said, “Beau, a beautiful boy bunny, balanced between blue and black books. It was a lot trickier than I expected to get him to stay still for one shot, he kept knocking books over and jumping around. But then again, he is a rabbit, so the jumping isn't so surprising!”

Karen sent in the Beatles cover. I smiled when I saw it. It just seemed to suit her.

Jerri said her picture is “Just an old fashioned billboard.”  I guess they aren’ everywhere anymore. We certainly don’t have many of them here.

Cassi Raye jumped in this week. She took her bumps picture on the way to Anchorage.

Sandy said she deliberated with several ideas but when she was working on a project she realized these buttons were just the thing for B.  I love all the color too!

I adore Janice’s picture this week.  She said “Andy will do ANYTHING for his girl.... even play Beauty Parlor.  =)  That is about the sweetest picture I’ve seen the whole week.

Jenny said “This is a picture of Frank's daughters bathroom that I recently redid and it is way out of my color comfort zone! LOL”

Kelly asked me if my picture was ‘branch’ which it technically could be. It wasn’t however what I ws thinking when I took it. I was driving along trying to recall a quote I’d read in a book long ago, that went something like- a branch in the wind must learn to bend in order not to break. I was reminding myself that I needed to remember to bend sometimes when I noticed several trees with bent limbs. So there you go! 

Debbie’s picture and description is super sweet.  She said “This is my Beautiful Breanna.  I celebrate each of my 5 children, but Breanna holds a special place.  Not only as the first born, but for her tremendous courage.  At the age of 17 she was diagnosed with Stage 2b Hodgkins while going to college.  She had multiple tumors, the largest of which was a tumor near her lungs 1/3 the size of her chest cavity.  She never once thought that having cancer was any 'big deal'.  She read Dave Barry books and laughed her way through chemo. She kept a 4.0 throughout her 6 months of chemo because she said nothing was going to get in the way of her education.  Her bravery and courage are an inspiration and something I draw strength from daily.  She has been cancer free for 7 years.”  Congratulation Breanna and Debbie, you took a beautiful picture of her!

Linda was back this week with a beautiful butterfly picture . I really love this one. She said “This is a Butterfly picture taken at Botanica our local botanical gardens I enjoy taking Jimmie there and we do a lot of photos of flowers and insects there.”  Linda I wish we had such a place. And I just wanted to mention it won’t be long before Jimmy will be submitting his own pictures!

And on that note, don’t ever hesitate to invite a friend if you think you might know someone who would like to participate.  It’s a great way to get creative, meet new folks, learn about new things and just have fun. I hope it is all those things for you too!

This week is “C” obviously. I think I already have one or two but the rest of you better get on it. By the time you are seeing this I will be looking for your “C” contributions and you will need to get started on “D”.  I will get a handle on my posting delays some day.

Have a great week. 

Christie

amongst friends #70

The Letter "A"

The Letter A

It’s the first week of our alphabet theme. What did you all think?  Did you find it easier to do or a bit harder to decide on one thing?  I personally had a bit of a hard time and because I was having yet more problems with my computer.  I had my picture ready to go on Sunday but changed it just today since I hadn’t posted it yet. There is that slight advantage in being the person making the collage. J

Did you notice we have a new player this week?  It’s my sister-in-law Vicki.  Her picture is of her Granddaughter Alexis who is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! Here she is getting her first haircut.  Can we all say…awwww!

Kelly sent in a picture of an azalea bush in her backyard that is currently in full bloom. She told me she wished it bloomed more that once a year. It’s so beautiful I can see why.

Karen mentioned having a hard time choosing what to photograph. I think she made a great choice and this picture looks fabulous!

I feel like my picture (animal) is a weak connection to the letter A but…this moose was so close!  I took the screen out of my living room window so I could lean out of it to take the picture.  If this gal had decided I was annoying, I am sure she might have got to me before I could get myself back in the window.

Cassi was very proud of her reading average a couple weeks ago. When I told her to look for an A picture, she knew right away what it would be. When she came back with this picture I laughed a little. She struggled the previous quarter with her grades (for all the wrong reasons) so she was very happy to show of this report!

Jerri’s picture of these Alize bottles makes me want to try it, just so I will have the bottle to re-purpose. It’s also the name of her dog. I am sensing there is a story hidden there somewhere, what do you all think?

Janice said “For the life of me I couldn’t find an “A” picture, I was looking everywhere, apple? No…artichoke? No…I was ready to give up when I opened my spice cabinet and there they were right before my eyes.  J

Sheila took a picture of an angel her mom gave to her.

Renee’ and Joanne had similar ideas and I thought it was quite funny. They each took pictures of people they work with.  April works with Joanne and Alex works with Renee’

Mady’s picture is full of A-ness.  She said, “It's of awesome aqua antique artifacts, I wasn't satisfied with just one thing beginning with A! Aqua is among my favorite colors, making this a pretty easy decision. This typewriter is so much fun to photograph because there's so many possibilities and it's a wonderful shade of blue, just a touch darker than the wall in my bedroom. I could go on and on about the color turquoise -- though for your readers' sakes, I'll stop here.”  Great job Mady, Be thinking “B”.

Sandy sent in a great picture this week and once again enlightens us a little about her country.  She said “I went to Guildford last week to visit my son who is in uni.  Even though it was pouring rain, I hoped to find something suitably unique to the UK to
send for an A photo.

So, I was quite pleased to discover this sculpture near the car park! It is about Alice and the White Rabbit. It was made in 1984 by Edwin Russell, local sculptor, to celebrate Guildford's connections with Lewis Carroll and shows the opening scene of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She is with her sister and has just spotted the white rabbit.

I love Debbie’s picture this week.  I rarely see a picture of a mushroom I don’t like and this is no exception. Debbie had this to say, “I was desperate for some fresh air last summer after months of rain.  I figured I'd find something worthwhile to take a picture of so I grabbed my camera and headed out into the rain.  I found so many as yet unidentified mushrooms so that became the theme for my walk in the rain.  This one is unmistakable.  The Amanita is one of the most poisonous mushrooms we have here and they are very plentiful.”   

I saved Cori’s picture for last. I was quite proud of her connection to the letter. She chose to take a picture of a medal for achievement. I have a two-part admiration, 1.) She missed the final game of this tournament that her team won. Her Dad and I have long discussed how sad this made us for her. We wondered if it made her sad too but it evident that she feels a part of the win and that makes me so happy! 2.) Achievement isn’t a word used commonly or on a daily basis. I can’t wait to see where she goes with “B”

Truthfully, I am excited to see where everyone goes. I sincerely look forward to seeing everyone else’s pictures as much I enjoy taking my own. Is it the same for you?  I hope so.

Since this is going up so late, I don’t want you to be confused. I still want “B” pictures by Sunday morning. J  I will get this computer issue fixed eventually. Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Christie

amongst friends #69

LOVE~

Well, I am in the depths of fundraising, soccer tryouts and drama, drama, drama! I’m seriously just hoping to survive the week. Come Saturday I may just collapse. Don’t try to rouse me, I may just slap you.  Just Kidding.

I really enjoyed all the pictures submitted this week. And we even have a new player this week.  Kelly O. sent in her first picture and the story she sent with it is really sweet. She said “When Danny and I were planning our wedding I asked him about the unity candle and he told me he didn't want a unity candle for just he and I. Well that shocked me needless to say. Then he said we are uniting, as a FAMILY so there should be 4 candles. That made me cry but in a good way. He loves my kids like they were his.”  Kelly, I think you are a lucky girl and so are your children!

I must say, I love, love, love Janice’s picture.  When I look at it, I smile, unknowingly, I just grin! I feel like I am part of the silliness. Don’t you?  She sent this description, “There are many things that I love.  The smell of fresh cut grass, the feel of the surf, fluffy clouds, puppy breath,,,,,  but I LOVEEEEE the sound of my hubby and daughter laughing together.”

Debbie’s [picture jumps out at me. It’s really beautiful. She said ” Love.  Simply and profoundly beautiful.”  I had to ask her what it was- a “bleeding heart” which is one of Debbie’s favorites.

Did you notice I am pictured in this collage twice?  J  I am not especially fond of either picture but Kelly’s message with the picture she sent made that one beautiful.  She said “I don't know how I would have made it through one of the most difficult days of my life without my very Best Friend!!  She has been there for me and with me just over 24 years now.  Thanks, I LOVE you!!”  I love you too Kelly, you know I do!!

My picture you may have seen but I chose to use it anyway. Every year I take thousands of photos; really I do. But I must say there are few I love more that this one photo I take every year on New Year’s. It is our first family picture of the New Year. It’s a tradition I love, that means so much to me. It’s a new beginning with all of us together.  It’s always silly and we are always laughing. I always take the picture myself, by stretching my arm as far as I can. I just love that we begin each year that way, even if it means I have to show you the view of my nostrils, year after year.  J

Sheila’s said “This ceramic pottery cheers me up when I look at it. I love the color and it reminds me that I am loved. “  Awwww! Everyone should be reminded of that, often!

Mady’s picture is interesting and unique. She said “I'm doing the 30 Hour Famine tonight with my youth group, an event where we go without food for 30 hours to raise money and awareness for hunger in impoverished countries. All the money we raise will go to World Vision -- we have a goal to feed ten children for a year! The motto of this year's Famine is "Love Hungry", hence the writing.”  Mady, what a wonderful thing you are doing. I hope it went well for you.

Justin said his picture is ofJjill and Kyle, with their son Gavin on a fun night of bowling. A lot of love is given to that little boy!  He looks adorable and tiny in the vastness of that bowling alley. Sweet stuff right there!

Sandy’s picture is really neat and I can’t say I’ve ever seen it before. She said “I debated on this one; I didn't want something too obvious. But then when I was doing something in the back garden I saw the tree behind the fence and thought mistletoe might make a good connection! Not necessarily the right time of year, but it is always green anyway.” Sandy, it turns out it was the perfect time of year. I think you went outside of the box and made a great connection to the theme.  Love it!

Jocelyn sent her picture in fairly early and I was impressed with the connection she made to the theme as well. She said her picture is “my love for Chinese art.  This painting is in my living room and is the Chinese symbol for love” I really like Chinese writing too. Very cool that it says love!

Karen sent me this message. “My love is my whole family!” And I know this to be true!  J

Jerri sent her picture and said “LOVE NATURE AND A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET!”  It is beautiful, and oh goodness, I do love the beach when the sun is going down.

Rayma had somewhat of the same idea. She said, “I love the water, blue sky and palm trees.”  Not sure why but this picture made me think of my old home in Florida. Maybe I’ve been to that spot before because I got very nostalgic when I looked at this picture. And if you know me well, then you know I LOVE the beach!

Renee’s picture looks like it could be an ad for one of the dolphin experiences. It’s a wonderful picture of her daughter. I love this one too!

Linda’s picture is cute and in fact, she had this to say, “Love to me is silly, squishable, huggable, lovable, sweet and fun and I think this sorta says it all.” 

Jenny gets the overall fun award this week.  She said “In honor of Frank...all cops LOVE donuts. “  I think I really did laugh out loud! 

So, what do you think? I think we are all very fortunate people who have an awful lot to be grateful for. So much love between us all!! 

Are you all ready for the letter A?  You better be, you only have 4 days to get it to me. On your mark, get set, GO!  See you soon!

amongst friends #68

Recycle~

With it being a short turn around, we don’t have nearly the submissions we usually do. I have heard some folks struggled with the theme also.

It came easy for me and there were quite a few things I could photograph. I often find ways to re-purpose trash in order to recycle it and keep it out of the landfill. In fact it has become habit for my children to look at most everything they throw away and question whether or not they can use it again. J I can only hope I am not creating future hoarders.

My picture is of the first magazine bowl I ever made and three others that are in different stages of creation. I try to fold entire magazines as I read them but currently the magazines are winning and I’ve got a lot of folding to do. They are quite unique and useful. I recently gave one away as a gift and she loved it!

Sandy sent in a picture of what we would likely call trashcans. I am including her entire description as I think it gives a little detail about her country and the popularity of recycling. She said “Where we live, the 'dustbin men' come round with the 'dust cart' to collect
the rubbish once week. A few years ago, they changed it to one week is
regular rubbish which goes in the green bin, and then next week is
recyclable rubbish, which goes in the blue bin. We used to have small green
boxes for recycling, but the idea was so successful, they had to do larger
bins for recycling. We collect the stuff indoors in the green boxes in
between collections. Different towns have a different colour set of bins.

This photo is of my neighbour's house because she also has the brown bin
which is for garden rubbish - like grass clippings or compostables - like
vegetable peelings. (We have a compost bin in the back garden instead. we
call it the 'Dalek' because we think it looks like a dalek.) Needless to
say, when all these bins are sitting in front of the houses it sort of
spoils the look a bit!
A lot of people have built trellises with ivy to hide them behind. We have
our green one hidden like that, but we have room behind the back fence where
we keep the blue one.

Jerri's picture reminded me of the days, when I was young, that we collected aluminum cans in order to make spending money. We always compacted them to fit more in the trash bag.

Karen sent in a picture of her recycling bin as did Jocelyn.

Jenny said she recycles by shredding then using the paper for packing material. I think it’s a pretty great plan as long as no one can get important information from it. J

Sheila took a picture of the toner-recycling box at the copy center she works in.

Kelly took a picture of the cabinet doors she is saving for me. I am convinced I will be able to make something from them and she loves me so much she is willing to hang on to them. Anyone have any ideas as to how I can re-purpose them?

Mady said she didn’t have much inspiration for this theme but so she rummaged around her recycling bin until she found this soup can from dinner. This picture looks vintage and could only be better if there was a picture of a little girl and boy on the front. J Does anyone remember them or am I showing my age?

Debbie had a great story with her picture. Here it is- “Most enjoyable recycle project ever! This is one of our moosehide drums. The drumsticks are used fish net floats and misc. sticks that we found, the drum head is moosehide from donated roadkill, the shell is downed cottonwood. We have several of these drums and they have brought us much joy. When we made the first couple of drums, we decided that we would give them to friends on the condition that they bring them to a gathering of the drums twice a year. Randomly, we started our solstice tradition. The drums bring us all together. We've used these drums in community gatherings as well. We've played at festivals, dance shows, theater productions, charities, fundraisers, and the latest gathering of our drums will be in the Kenai Performers production of Peter Pan. This recycle project has brought much joy to the entire community. They hold a special quality of bringing family/friends/community together. “

I would love to try and make a drum like that (unless of course someone wants to make me one) J We have enough hides around here to make a few. I may have to pick your brain Debbie. That is recycling at it’s finest!

So has anyone given much thought to his or her LOVE photo? I have several things in mind and am excited to make a decision. Cali even has a picture for this upcoming theme. Remember that after LOVE we will begin using the alphabet for our weekly theme, starting with the letter “A”. I’m looking forward to it. I think most often it will be easier but will take some thought ahead of time. So engage your brains because “A” is coming quickly.

Love pictures are due Sunday Morning and hopefully everyone will get back on track soon. I already have a few turned in; I think we are getting there. Here’s hoping the rest of your week is filled with love and so much more!

Cheers,

Christie

amongst friends #67

Heritage~

Attention All Amongst Friends friends- Even if you don’t read this in its entirety, please read the new guidelines for submissions. Things are changing slightly again, but hopefully it will clear things up for everyone and make it easier for me to get it posted for everyone to see.

We are going to call this week a ‘Bi’ week. I am posting Heritage here now. I will post Recycle by Thursday morning. For this week only, you have until Wednesday, to get me your Recycle pictures. Then on Sunday, you will need to send me your Love pictures. I think what has happened is that everyone waits to see the weeks collage before sending me a photo for the next week. Since it is most possible for me to write and post the pictures on Sunday I need all photos by Sunday morning in order to post it by Monday morning. So again, for only this week, I will accept all Recycle pictures until Wednesday night, and then Love pictures should be to me by that next Sunday morning. I am hoping this will clear things up for everyone and we will be back to having fun in no time! J

So, here we go with Heritage:

Linda has a lot of heritage going on in her picture. I will let her tell you about it.
“My heritage picture is of a quilt my mother made for me that I plan to down. She hand-appliquéd the sunbonnet and it was machine quilted. The Native American fan was handed own to Jimmy by his Uncle Brian, it was part of his regalia. The drum was one I bought at a pow-wow we attended with Aunt Susan (she and I are of Cherokee descent- Eastern Band) and Uncle Brian (who is Ojibwa). I love turtles and it so happens that Jimmies father is Pawnee. The small Mandela was given to Jimmie by his father and the little plaque of the native chief was given to me by an old friend. So its (the picture) is kind of a celebration of where we come from and things we will pass to or that have been passed on by loved ones.”

Jenny’s picture is very interesting to me and I wish I understood it better. All I know is that the picture is of She and Frank’s first bike. Maybe she will clear up on the inclusion of the picture.

Rayma’s story is really nice. The quilt was a gift from a client, which makes it pretty special. When I heard that the client had been working on the quilt for two years and was waiting for just the right person to give it to, that made it even more so. I know from personal experience that Rayma is a wonderful person and I am certain the quilt made it into just the right hands!

Debbie always puts thought into her descriptions and I love that. She sent in a picture of her Mom and had this to say. “We are all a reflection of the legacy our parents graciously give us, this is my definition of Heritage. Living life with kindness, compassion, and caring... this is the legacy my mom gave to me and what I strive to teach my children.” Debbie, I just want to say, it shows. J

Jocelyn’s picture is different and it’s a great representation of heritage in my opinion. She said “I took this picture Christmas of 2005. This has been a family tradition since 1985. My dad and my Grandfather built this brick oven for roasting the Christmas Eve pig. Every year for Christmas Eve my family gets together at my Moms and my Dad and Grandfather would prepare the pig and then put it in the brick oven early in the morning and watch it all day till it was ready around 6 or 7pm. My Grandfather passed away in 1997 and my Dad still keeps the tradition alive.” Jocelyn, I am a girl set on traditions; I think this one is wonderful.

Joanne sent in a picture of her Mother too; my Grandmother. While Joanne didn’t send an explanation of her own, I can say that family heritage is important to my family, on both sides and I am positive that the importance of it was passed down from those who came before us. I remember so many things about the life of my Grandma (though not nearly enough) but the fact remains, each day is a gift and one never knows when the opportunity to spend time with those you love will be taken away.

I adore this photo Sheila send in. You can tell that it is vintage and that there is a story there. She said “This picture was handed down to my Mother by her Great Aunt Flether and my Mother handed it down to me. Meet my Grand Parents Effie Lee and Joe Luke.
Both Passed away when my mother was a young girl.” Sheila, I am assuming these are your Great Grandparents at best, please tell. J

Sandy sent in a lovely photo and said, “The handkerchief was passed to me because it was my grandfather's (who died when my dad was 15). I keep it in an old Bible -1847 - that belonged to my husband's dad, who I never met.” Sandy, I’m amazed and the shape its in. It is beautiful.

Karen sent in a picture of her Mom, dressed in her finest J for St. Patrick’s Day. This too, is my Grandmother. Karen didn’t include a description either but I will tell you, I doubt I ever met a woman more proud of her Irish heritage. And it was passed down to each of her children and then to the Grandchildren. We are all extremely proud to be Irish.

Which brings me to my picture. J Enough said! J

You might also guess that Jerri and Karen and I are related as Jerri’s picture is of her son’s tattoo. I told you we were proud of our heritage, didn’t I? J

Kelly’s picture of the baby book is actually her Mother’s. I only wish I had such things. It’s a great treasure!

If I were to say who was most creative in their photo for Heritage, I would tell you my opinion was Renee’. The photo is an orangutan. When I asked her if she would explain the picture to me, she said she was walking through the zoo and read the sign stating these animals are 97% genetically the same as humans and knew it would be her picture for the week. She actually sent this to me a couple weeks early. I think heritage means something different to many and obviously there are many ways to express it. I think a lot of thought went into this idea to make this connection and it’s interesting. 2 Thumbs up for thought! J

I saved Janice’s picture for last because it brought tears to my eyes and is a beautiful reminder and tribute to her heritage. It really is a lovely picture. She said, “This picture of my hand, Valerie's hand and my Mama's hand was taken on the morning of her death. We had been praying most of the morning and just loving on her while we could.”

So, what do you think? We are missing a few folks this week and I hope you will join us again soon. This week was an emotional one for amongst friends but it was a nice reminder. At least I thought so. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember you have until Wednesday to get me your Recycle pictures, then Love by Sunday. The next week we will begin the alphabet- the letter A and work on that for a while. Well see how it goes. Have a wonderful week.

amongst friends #66

Fruit~

Did you expect everyone to have a picture of actual fruit this week or were you

wondering who would think of something different?  I think I expected there would be a few different submissions but early on I just wasn’t sure what they would be.

As the photos started trickling in, I starting thinking everyone would send in an actual fruit photo. Keep in mind; I didn’t get my own picture until late in the week.

I think Debbie beat everyone and sent her photo in first. She said, “ I think this is mengkudu and it's used medicinally.  I don't know what the English word is for the fruit.  Ugly or not, this was my son's first look at real fruit growing on a real tree taken in a friend's yard in Hawaii.”  I looked it up and it sounds quite beneficial, I will have to look for some when we are there. J

Sandy sent her photo in quite early, as usual, too. She said her favorite fruit is nectarine. She said they are out of season currently and the one in the photo is a bit dry but it was still good on toast!  I have never eaten fruit on toast and now I want to try it.

Mady sent her photo with the cutest description. Here is what she said;

 “I took this photo in our local grocery store, where the conversation was as follows:

Me: Keston, will you hold this pineapple?

Keston: Pineapples are poky! Can I hold a cucumber?

Me: No, cucumbers aren't fruit.

Keston: Can I hold an orange?

Me: Nope.

Keston (loud enough that people around us turn around and stare): SO ORANGES AREN'T FRUIT?!

 Luckily, she held the pineapple for me after that.

I have one daughter quite a bit younger than the other two and I can totally see this happening to me on any given day!

I stumbled onto my picture while having a snack. I don’t eat cereal for breakfast but occasionally I will get into the kids’ cereal and have a bowl for snacking. When I started pouring it I realized I was eating fruit loops and the light bulb came on. We always have these on hand, for eating, snacking, stringing, and any other thing we can think of, like photos. :)

Jerri’s photo came with this description:

Tangerine tree in my back yard. Oh my, we have so much sunshine; oops there is an apple, banana and a navel orange. 

When I read I wondered what in the heck she was talking about, then I noticed them. J

I wish we had some of that sunshine right now and I really wish I had a tangerine-apple-banana-orange tree!

I had to work for Karen’s picture. And yes, I now know they are considered fruit.

When I googled, is a peanut a fruit, I found this; Peanuts are loosely classified as a fruit because it is a fruit of the plant it comes from. So there you go!

Sheila’s picture caused me a double take as well. She said, “Here is a picture of stuffed fruit at Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities. The pic was taken in the Cracker Barrel in Eastonville, Fl.” They sure are cute but I think they look like onions. Still, we will call it good! J

Kelly sent in a picture of a bowl of cherries.  Life’s a bit like that…right? Don’t make it too serious…Look it up!

Jenny sent a picture of mangos and said they are her favorite.

Renee sent in Fruit of the Loom. I had to chuckle because I was talking to Kelly one day on the way into Wal-mart and she asked me if I was there to get my fruit picture…as in Fruit of the Loom. And lo and behold, someone did in fact get it!

Jocelyn’s said she’s been enjoying some Plant City strawberries. I happen to know the Plant City Strawberry festival is coming soon and I am jealous. I don’t think there was ever a year I lived in Florida that I missed it. No strawberries could be better than the ones from Plant City. Yummm!

Rayma sent a picture of a pie plate from my Grandma’s house. I wish I could see the whole thing. It looks darling!

I adore Janice’s photo, of course the kids always make me smile, and she has the perfect model.  I think I will dig out our apple peeler thingy, and see if we can make some of those.

Awww, look at Stacie’s picture…She said “Well here's my pic of my fruit bowl, which I just filled today ;) The special thing about the pic is that the bowl that its in was a wedding gift from Uncle Butch and the family...Lets say it together "awwwww"  lol, love that bowl, been with us for almost 9 yrs yay!

Stacie, I love it because it’s from family and I love it because it’s wood!! 

So we are obviously onto the next theme already. It is Heritage. After that which is technically what you should be photographing now is RECYCLE, then we will do LOVE. From there we are starting something new. HERE IT IS- We are going to do another run through the alphabet rather than themes. It will be easier for some, possibly harder for others. I am hoping it will be easier for everyone though. It is essentially open ended. Connect in any way you can to the letter of the week. We have done this once before and it is very interesting because there can and usually is such a range of photos.  Please take a minute to look at my blog under the amongst friends category http://scottchriscoricassicali.blogspot.com/search/label/amongst%

If you go back to nearly the beginning (Did you know we’ve been doing this over a year) you will see some of the collages.  Feel free to peruse to get some ideas.

I will try to catch up early this week on Heritage so if you haven’t sent me your photo, do it soon. I’d like RECYCLE by next Sunday, Monday at the latest. Sorry I am so late this week, we were out of town for several days and Cassi had a fairly serious injury (that is thankfully all better now) preceding that. Thanks for working with me. Now get me those Heritage photos and I will check in soon.

Cheers!