Hotel Providence

Last week I was in Providence, Rhode Island, attending training to become a certified teacher of the art of zentangle. Don't worry if you don't know what that is. It's really easy to understand. You can look at my other blog - The Creator's Leaf - and see for yourself. Most of the artwork posted there was drawn in the style of zentangle. 

Right now I am editing photos of the hotel and surrounding area. So, stay tuned and expect more photos soon!

Tribute and Thanks

I've been working on pictures from Alma, Georgia, lately. I received an email from a cousin telling me about a monument
I missed when I was in Georgia. Mark went back up to the hunting camp yesterday and took these pictures for me.

The people of Alma, and Bacon County, established this monument to honor the soldiers who fought in World War I, World War II,
the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and those who were prisoners of war - from the Bacon County area.

Honor and thanks to each person listed: those killed in action, those taken prisoner of war, and one medal of honor recipient.
The reverse side shows those who fought and returned home.

Those serving in the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War, including my cousin, Danny Conrad, who was in Vietnam.
Thanks for your service, Danny. I didn't know you fought in Vietnam, I guess I was too young at the time.
I'm proud of you and thank you for your sacrifice.

The back side of the monument - where many of the names are listed. All from this one county.

With our busy lifestyles, we forget to stop and remember those who fought to allow us to maintain the freedoms we have here in the United States. Thanks, Danny, for telling me about this monument. It's proper that we remember and say thanks. And it's proper for us to pray for our soldiers out there fighting right now, and for their families, and for their safety. We should say "thank you" every chance we get - so, thanks, Danny! You made a difference!

Never Forget 9/11

Ten years ago today, these United States of America came under attack.

Thousands were killed. Senselessly. Violently. Lives were changed forever.

Homes and families were changed forever.

Our safety, our security, became challenged. We came together as a country, like never before.

Stronger. Sterner. Bolder. Empowered.

God became real to many who had never really seeked His face before.

God became tangible, and we became stronger.


Ten years. Looking forward. Today we look back and remember.

Never forget.

(I took this photo today, September 11, 2011, at Hope Baptist Church, in Theressa, Florida.)

Asian Gardens Tutorial

I may have mentioned how much I love the Asian Gardens at the Lowry Park Zoo.
The gardens are superbly landscaped. They have these incredible statues everywhere.

I really like the way they look and appreciate the atmosphere they bring to the gardens,
but I really thought the photos should look more 'ancient', so to speak.
So, I played around with editing and came up with these.


I always edit in photoshop, results as seen in the first photo. Then, I ran the Pioneer Woman's Action Set #2
Heartland action, followed by MCPActions' Frosted Memories - Faded Edges, Low Res action. These are the results.


I really love the way these turned out!




I think the statues look ancient. Like something you'd see in a history book!


That is totally the look I was going for. Super easy!

American Soldier

Since September 11, 2001, my email signature has had an added line requesting prayer for our great military. I grew up in the military, my dad was career U. S. Navy. I know first-hand what it means to be the ones left-behind when my dad left for yet another sea-duty assignment. We were blessed to have had one wonderful tour of duty in Newfoundland, Canada, that lasted many years and we were able to live - together - as a family for quite some time.

That's not always the case when you are a military family. This morning as I checked my facebook page, I saw that a friend had posted the above video with a "happy Valentine's Day" message for her husband. No doubt Mike is overseas - again. I've watched this family for several years, as Mike goes, and comes home, and goes again. I can't even tell you how much time I've spent in prayer for this family. They are such a blessing to me. Not that we spend any real time together, for truly we mostly speak online, but I appreciate so much the sacrifice Celeste and her children have made, do make, on a daily basis so that my family and I can live, and excell, in freedom.

So. Today. Please lift a prayer for our service men and women overseas. Please lift a prayer for our civilian men and women who are overseas working alongside our military so that you and I can live where we do, and live as we do.

Please enjoy Toby Keith's American Soldier. (And if you're anything like me - get your tissues ready before you watch.) May God truly bless and protect our great military!

Hoggetown Medieval Faire, 2011

My children and I have always loved going to the medieval faire as it rolls through town each year. Personally, I love all the costumes and pageantry, but I really enjoy seeing all the people that come to the faire in costume. For some, it's a magical day.

Once we got inside, we were drawn to the beat of the music, four men and one woman beating away on drums and playing a bagpipe, as if their lives depended on it. They had drawn a large crowd - the pounding of the drums was almost hypnotic as it pulled us in.

There were a lot of interesting characters throughout the park. I found it funny that even though they were dressed in period costumes, many of them also wore sunglasses - haha!

I was also amazed at how many of them didn't have all their teeth!

There were also beautiful ladies on horseback. Isn't the horse beautiful as well? Just needs a slight trim on those bangs. Poor baby!

Wandering minstrels . . .

. . . including this one. Her music was beautiful!

And she very kindly posed for me :) so I was happy! There were only about a couple hundred photographers there, so I was pleased!


I totally took this photo for Phil and Devin - the two best jugglers I know! Actually, I took about 6 pictures, but people kept walking in front of my camera, so I just gave up. Sorry, guys!

This was your basic gypsy lady. One who didn't want her face in the picture.

And then a couple peddlar/gypsies that didn't mind having their picture taken. (Actually, I loved her horse! Where can I get one? No feeding, no mucking, no brushing, no worming, you get the idea.)

I love me a good dragon story! So of course I was drawn to these wonderful dragons!

I liked the way they were holding things in their hands.

And there were lots of beautiful things to look at, enjoy, and buy if you wanted to.

I loved these little oil bottles. Just didn't have a need for one. Too bad.

And let me just tell you, Kali has had a few of these over the years!

The Hoggetown Medieval Faire will be held again next weekend. So, if you haven't been yet, you should go! It's definitely worth the trip and the time!

A Civil War Photo Shoot

A couple months ago, Kali and I were traveling up north for a tournament. Probably NCFCA Nationals in Virginia, not sure. Anyway, I don't travel well. I get tired and sleepy after a couple hours unless someone is awake in the car talking with me.

On this particular trip Kali had been taking a nap, leaving me to drive and drive and drive. I started having problems staying awake, so at the next exit - I zipped off the interstate . . .

. . . with absolutely no idea where we were. The first place I saw was this cemetary, so I pulled in. Any port in the storm - so to speak. Kali woke up and asked me what we were doing. I told her we were going to do a photo shoot. She said, "where? In this cemetary?" To which I replied, "Of course!" So. Welcome to our cemetary-photo-shoot-in-a-location that couldn't be named, because I had no earthly idea where we were.

We saw a lot of plots like the one above. At the far end you see two stones - that's where the parents are buried. Then you see at least seven small stones. These are where the children are. Smaller stones, and no names. We saw a lot of small stones and small slabs that simply had the words "child", or "infant", or "boy" or "girl," imprinted on them.

We notice a lot of children died around the age of seven. This particular stone and slab has no identification engraved on it all. In the background you see several more.

This lady lived a long life. The writing is typical in the fact that her full name isn't inscribed.

This woman must have been of some importance. Her first name is listed. Not so the baby. Kind of sad.

Most of the stones with engraving were from the 1880's. There were lots of military stones and inscriptions. Awesome, I just did a google search with the information on this stone and found out that this is the Confederate Cemetary in Forsyth, Georgia. Private Henry Hobbs died on April 27, 1862. He was a volunteer enlistment with the Georgia Cavalry during the Civil War :). Gotta love google!

I love angels. I'm guessing these angels probably haven't been there since the Civil War. I'm guessing they are newer additions.





You just never know what you're going to find when you take a rest break! (And this isn't my first photo shoot in a cemetary! You can see the first one here :).