Lukie's Life Through a Lens

The Best .... and Worst

2011-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

I purchased a Keurig coffee machine for Dante for Christmas. This has turned out to be, in his words, the best and worst Christmas present EVER!

We love the machine, if you enjoy coffee, this machine opens up flavors in coffee that you never knew existed. I have come to realize that I enjoy a medium to dark roast. Flavored coffee does not have to be overpowering and sweet. I have some personal favorites and I will be highlighting those in later posts.

The down side is that we are spending so much money on the k-cups and drinking more coffee than ever before. Our argument in getting the Keurig was that we can never seem to drink a full pot of coffee and we end up throwing it out. The solution of only making a half pot just didn't seem to work because you could never get a consistent flavor. Either it was too weak or too strong. In our minds we decided that using the Keurig machine and only making what we knew we would drink would be much cheaper. That argument lost hope the first day. I think that both Dante and I have a three to four cups a day habit going at this point.

If you own a Keurig, please share what are some of your personal favorites. So far we have not really ventured outside the Green Mountain brand.

I have decided to start a Keurig label so that I can group all my ravings/cravings together.

Snowstorm

2011-01-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

We had our second snowstorm of the year on Wednesday. Right around the corner is a hardware store and a large parking lot. In one corner is this mammoth snow pile. The boys just had to climb to the top.

December 27th 2010

2010-12-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

Our first real snowstorm of the season. It was a few days late. Last night Cal and I went on a 2 mile walk in the storm. It was awesome. There is nothing better than walking at night in the snow. We were freezing and laughing at the same time.

Happy Black Friday

2010-11-26T04:54:00.001-08:00

We woke up this morning to rain, it was several moments later when I realized that the rain was actually freezing. I am so glad that I do not participate in Black Friday.

He is in there, somewhere!

2010-11-22T02:09:00.000-08:00

This is what CAL looks like after 24 hours of no sleep. Yes, he is in there somewhere. I have no idea how he can sleep with this head covered like that. Me, I would be in a total panic.

They had a teen event on Friday/Saturday. It is called Insomnia and they stay up all night long. They met at the church at 7 p.m. and then came back around 7 a.m. They did laser tag, rollerskating, bowling, and a ton of other activities. It is probably the event that the teens look forward to the most.

He slept from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. and then we made him get up so that he would still be tired enough to go to bed Saturday night. It worked. No major meltdowns........ yet!

It's time

2010-11-16T03:18:00.001-08:00

to start this blog back up. My life has changed so much in the past year! We have downsized and are loving every minute of it. I will NOT try to post a photo a day! That was madness! The first photo is of favorite subject! CAL. I have not taken our yearly Christmas photo yet. Since his accident with his teeth he is not as agreeable about having his picture taken.

School Pictures 2009-2010

2009-10-15T08:22:00.001-07:00

Such a handsome young man.

Because I am so far behind again

2009-10-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

I will wait to label this post

This burning bush is right out our front door. Tell me that is not amazing. On the way to school today CAL said "Mom I don't understand how anyone can look around and say there is no God." I don't understand either buddy.

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2009-09-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

They are nice but not as nice as in previous years.

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2009-09-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, the climber has finally started up the tree. I know in several years I will probably regret this decision, but for now.......

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2009-09-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

It would have been beautiful had all the flowers blossomed at the same time. The yellow and black of the Susan's would have complimented the white of the other plants.

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2009-09-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

My Rose of Sharon bushes did not do as well this year. Usually they are so full of blossoms (and bees) that you are overwhelmed.

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2009-09-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

Black-Eyed Susan's love my yard.

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2009-09-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite flowers in the gardens. The blossoms on this plant are about ten inches in diameter. It makes me very sad that they don't last very long.

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2009-09-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Cal's paintball wounds. The camera did not even begin to capture the intensity of these bruises. The Hubby was so mad at me...... see I am the one who allowed him to get the gun. I thought for sure Cal would say that he never wanted to go again but it seems that his interest has only intensified.

The bruises really started to scare me when they became very hard and Cal said they itched really bad.

Thankfully they have almost healed, although you can still see a faint outline.

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2009-09-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

If I had planted this flower it would have NEVER have survived.
God is good, and a much better gardener than I.

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2009-09-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

The flowers are very pretty when they open up but that doesn't seem to be long or often.

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2009-09-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why, but the ants LOVE these flowers. This is a climbing something that runs up the front and side of the house.

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2009-09-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

A few days after we were all clear of poison ivy, CAL broke out with this rash. It was the worst under both arms but he did have a few random spots on his body.

We have it narrowed it down to a deodorant concoction. It seems that Cal was concerned on his second or third day of school that he might not smell good at soccer, so he put on three different kids of deodorant at the same time.

I don't think he will do that again because it took forever to clear up and he said it really itched.

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2009-09-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

We have a customer that comes to pick up parts a couple times a month. The last time she was here she brought us peaches from a tree in her yard.

These were the best peaches I have ever had in my life. The only issue I had was the fuzzy skin on the outside. It made my entire mouth itch so badly. I tried to peel them before I ate them but they were so ripe and juicy that it was a huge mess.

They also went bad very quickly. I hope she has more for us next time.

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2009-09-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

He told me yesterday that he is enjoying soccer much more than he ever thought he would.

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2009-09-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

The boy has a 'tude but no where near the 'tude his mother had in a soccer uniform. I told him the other day that he has to be much more aggressive.

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2009-09-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

Cory thinks he wants to be a model.

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2009-09-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

Second day of school.

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2009-08-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

The first day of school for my boy. I am so proud of him.

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2009-08-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

There are so many pictures from the falls. There was so much to do and we didn't really get a chance to take full advantage. That was mostly my fault because I didn't want to stay overnight. I cannot wait to go back with Joe, Cory and myself. I really wanted to take some of the hiking trails but......

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2009-08-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

I could not believe how close we were able to get to the water.

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2009-08-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

How could I leave out pictures of the Horseshoe Falls. Danielle joined us in our walk to the Horseshoe falls. Erich and my mom stayed behind, once again.

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2009-08-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Bub and Cal rode the 4-wheeler all over the property. I assume they had a great time because they went around and around and around. When we were kids the 3 & 4-wheelers were glued to our backsides.
Bub rolled the 4-wheeler down over this hill when he was only about five years old. I have always thought that Cal looked like Bub, but this picture leaves no doubt.

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2009-08-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

My son and my brother are very much alike. They don't really know each other and that is a shame but I find myself calling Cal, Bub! I think they really enjoyed each others company. I wish that Cal could get to know him better.

Bub let Cal run the backhoe. I have asked what was the best thing he did on vacation and each time I get a different answer. I don't think he wants to make a choice.
Cal was very proud of the hole that he dug. Bub was pretty impressed that he could run the backhoe so well until Cal told him it was just like a video game.

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2009-08-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Maid of the Mist had a short walking tour after you departed from the boat. Cory and I took this while the others waited at the bottom. I have most of these pictures posted on my facebook account, if you want to see many more.

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2009-08-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Mom and Cory on The Maid of the Mist.

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2009-08-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

The view from The Maid of the Mist was spectacular, I am shocked at how well the pictures came out. The mist was drenching.

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2009-08-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is the Canadian version of The Maid of the Mist.

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2009-08-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Bridal Falls were truly amazing. God's hand is what is truly amazing.

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2009-08-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

If you look real close you can see The Maid of the Mist. That ride was truly amazing.

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2009-08-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

If you look close you will see the permanent rainbow. This is God's reminder that he will never flood the Earth again.

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2009-08-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

I cannot imagine being on the crew of people that is responsible for keeping these walkways safe. I would assume that they would have to be taken out of the water each winter and reinstalled each spring.

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2009-08-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

If you look in the bottom left corner of this picture you will see what they call the Hurricane deck. It took your breath away. The water from the falls is crashing down about a foot away from you. You can hardly stand up and you cannot see anything around you. You feel your way to the end, and then turn around and feel your way back. We were lucky that it was not crowded the day we were there. Cal and I stood on that deck as long as we possibly could.

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2009-08-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

If I had to choose only one thing to do at the falls it would be The Cave of the Winds. As you can see in the picture they have build a walk way at the side and bottom of the American Falls. You can literally reach out and touch the water rushing over the falls. Most people are very disappointed that there is not an actually cave. According to Cal they had to blast the cave back in the 60's for safety reasons.

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2009-08-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Cory, Danielle, Erich and Mom on The Maid of the Mist. That was one of the most amazing boat rides I have ever been on. When you get close to the falls, the boat comes to a complete stop because of the force of the water. You can feel the boats engines fighting with all their might and going nowhere. Then you slowly turn around and head back. They get you as close to the falls as possible.

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2009-08-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

I have a tons of pictures from the falls.

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2009-08-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

My mom actually posed for pictures and looked happy in the majority of them. I was shocked and very pleased because usually she avoids the camera and you end up getting horrible pictures. BTW: August 13, is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday!

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2009-08-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

Mom with her three grandchildren. This was the first picture of the day! Cory and I had a blast at Niagara...............

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2009-08-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Cal had the opportunity to drive my dad's Mule while we visited them. It was a lot of fun and he would have drove around that field a hundred times if I would have allowed it. He was getting a little more daring each and every time. He is a wild man - just like his mother.

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2009-08-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

My brother Bub (Larry) and his wife Brenda, on our creek hike. My brother has really grown into a great guy and I am glad that I had the opportunity to spend some time with him. I really wish that we lived closer because I think that we could/would be a big part of each others lives if we did.

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2009-08-09T03:32:00.000-07:00

One of the many waterfalls on our creek hike. It was getting dark so the pictures didn't really come out all that well.

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2009-08-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

Cory, Mom, Bub (brother), Brenda (SIL), Deanna (sister), Me, Danielle (niece), Chuck (BIL) was taking the picture.

One of the things that I really wanted to do when I was visiting my family was to go to "Little Niagara". It is a small waterfall back in the woods. I remember only being there a few times as a kid but wanted Cal to be able to see it.

Instead Deanna had a much better suggestion. A few miles from where we lived they had found several waterfalls. On Tuesday we headed out for our creek hike. It was wonderful. The creek is spring fed and didn't have much water in it but it was really nice anyway.

The above picture is where I think most of us came into contact with the poison ivy. My mom got it the worst and she didn't actually hike down the falls.

Update

2009-08-07T03:26:00.000-07:00

September 1, 2009 Once again I have fallen very behind in this blog. I don't know why because it is most definitely my favorite. I guess I just have a hard time finding things that I think will be interesting and feel that I have disappointed everyone with all my flower photos. Anyway over the next few days I will be uploading vacation pictures. So hopefully you won't see many flower postings. As I have always done I will be backdating these photos to make sure at the end of the year I will have 365 pictures.

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2009-08-07T03:16:00.000-07:00

While I was on vacation I had the opportunity to visit with my very good friend from high school, Becky. Her husband is the pastor of a church in Addison and on Sunday, Candy surprised us both and came to church.

Candy is a friend of mine from high school who also went to the same "college" that I did in Syracuse. We played soccer together and have many memories.

Becky and I have become better friends in the past few years, thanks to facebook. We were always close in high school but took different routes. Becky was always the very studious, serious, wonderful person and I was the exact opposite.

Somewhere down the line we are related but I am not sure that is really important, when you come from a small town like Addison you are all related.

Seriously our grandparents were cousins and were very close to each other.

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2009-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Some of my forsythia bushes have a fungus...

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2009-08-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

The bees love this bush. Look how full his little legs are!

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2009-08-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Black Eyed Susan's love New England.

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2009-08-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

This is how I love to spend my Sunday!

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2009-08-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

My butterfly bush didn't really do that well this year. The flowers are not staying open for very long. I have not seen a single butterfly!

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2009-08-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

All the pictures that I post of flowers are from my garden.

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2009-07-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

I warned him several times not to spray me while I was taking pictures....... He did it anyway.

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2009-07-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

I love my Japanese Maple.

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2009-07-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Thank God for the Big Bang!

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2009-07-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

I think this is poison ivy...... if it is not, it is poison something.

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2009-07-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

What a pretty bee.

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2009-07-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

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2009-07-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

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2009-07-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

This section of the river is so pretty it is hard to believe the other section is so nasty.

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2009-07-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't feel like I was sitting like a man?

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2009-07-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

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2009-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Not the most flattering picture we have ever taken.

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2009-07-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

Such beauty is destroyed by children and poor parenting.

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2009-07-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

My boys!

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2009-07-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

It is such a pretty section of the park. I wish the water was clean because I was just aching to jump in.

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2009-07-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

Just more pictures of the pretty rocks and water at our park.

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2009-07-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

I found this tree amazing...... it is growing between these two rocks.

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2009-07-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

My wonderful son at the waterfall.

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2009-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

We have rediscovered a park that is close to our house. It is a nice park except for the fact that it has a very slow moving river that runs through it. It is so slow that 90% of the time the water is very stagnant with rats swimming in it. There is one small section where the water is actually nice. This is one of those spots.

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2009-07-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

I think the cornflower is one of my favorites.

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2009-07-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Just one more picture of my hubby chopping wood. Don't you love his choice of footwear?

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2009-07-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

You can just start to see how the yellow flowers are turning brown, when they are brown is when the goldfinches love them most. I have seen many birds in the yard checking out their crops.

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2009-07-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Each and every time I look at my gardens I see new flowers.

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2009-07-09T07:24:00.001-07:00

We tried to get this plant to climb on our mailbox but year after year it just refused to look good. Finally two years ago The Hubby moved it into our climbing roses. This is the first year that it has produced more than a few flowers. Now my neighbor succeeded in making it climb on her mailbox after only a year.

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2009-07-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

This little guy has been living in that cement drain (that is in the middle of our yard - I have no idea why) for years. I don't know the live span of a chipmunk so I have to wonder if this is a couple generations down the line. All I know is that every year for the past eleven years a chipmunk has lived in the drain. My bedroom window is very close and each morning he comes out and makes his chipmunk noises. I am waiting for him to start singing "The Chipmunk Song".

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2009-07-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

Guess who ended up doing most of the chopping? It was not because CAL didn't, CAL actually had a grand time. That was the problem. The Hubby decided that it looked like fun and had to get in on the act. Now it is all chopped and I have been begging him to go get the remaining five pieces but he claims that are too big to lift into the trailer. I told him to chop them on site. NOPE, he doesn't want anyone to see how weak he is.

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2009-07-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago a house several blocks away cut down some big trees. They chunked the wood and left it by the road with a free sign. I have been bugging The Hubby to go get some of the wood for our outdoor fire pit. Finally he went and got five pieces. I decided that it would be an excellent chore for CAL, to chop the wood.

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2009-07-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

Cal just could not wait for the blueberry to become ripe. The birds probably would have eaten it if we left it any longer. There were a couple and you should have seen his face on the first one. He puckered up and ate it with the most horrible expression, and then declared "hey these are good".

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2009-07-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

After ten years, we have a blueberry.

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2009-07-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

My bee bom's just seem to grow all over the place. Not really sure if they are worth it. They are pretty ugly the rest of the time and make my garden look messy. You will notice the moth type butterfly on these flowers. There were several of them. Not very attractive but God's creatures non-the-less.

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2009-07-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

We have berries. I didn't plant this bush so it is wild. Blackberries are my favorite berry. I will have to nurture this bush and see if we can get more to grow. With my black thumb I will start to pay attention to the bush and it will die.

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2009-07-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

The pipe that came from our bathroom and inspired this post. I would really hate to think what our city water is doing to us, if that is what it does to chrome pipes.

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2009-06-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more beautiful than a close-up of a flower.

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2009-06-29T10:29:00.001-07:00

Look at all those blossoms!

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2009-06-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

A close up of one of the orange lilies. How beautiful is this?

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2009-06-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Lilies don't really do well in Lukie's garden. I have no idea why but something happens to the leaves and they look like they are dissolving. It is really gross. This flower has lots of blossoms and is very beautiful except for this black gunk that used to be leaves.

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2009-06-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

A close up of the bird bush blossom. In the fall the center of this flower looks like thistle seed. The plant is the best reproducer that I have in perennials.

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2009-06-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the bird bush with flowers. This bush will attract more birds than you can imagine, mostly the prettiest goldfinches you have ever seen.

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2009-06-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Hubby's climbing rose is going nuts. If you look close you can see where it has grown into the light and opened.

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2009-06-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Pink Rose!

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2009-06-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

Don't these look like purple cotton balls?

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2009-06-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

This perennial is one of my favorites. I have no idea what it is called but these flowers remind me of teacups. Carol do you have any idea what this flower is? Also if you could email me I would really appreciate it because I lost your email when my computer crashed.

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2009-06-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yellow Rose

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2009-06-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Peach Rose

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2009-06-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

I tried desperately to get a picture of all the bees on this bush. The Hubby was screaming... now..... now..... now..... it was quite annoying. This is one of the better ones that I captured. They were going nuts and would not hold still.