The 366 day photography project: week 43

I think that Father Earle King is the longest-serving clergy person in Grand Island. He came to Saint Martin in the Fields in the mid-1980s. Younger members of the church have known him all of their lives. Father Earle encourages and supports the youth of the church. On Sunday, he gave the youth an opportunity to help him create a sermon.

Father Earle announced that he had no prepared sermon. His sermon would be centered around a paper bag that contained random objects. Father Earle is a good enough public speaker that he was able to carry off creating a sermon in which he mentioned all of the items. At the same time, he was still able to offer a message about faith (with humor).

I have used random objects as the basis of creative writing exercises but extemporaneous speech... well, that's quite a bit more challenging! Needless to say, there was quite a bit of laughter. It was an entertaining ad libbed sermon.

I discovered that the camera on my cell phone takes good close up pictures. 

Ground cover.

My little garden is planted. I hope that visitors are delighted by what they see.

L

Late last summer, Adele Upton taught a workshop on painting rocks. All of the rocks had been painted black in advance of the workshop. The technique that she taught was called "one-stroke painting." It is a technique that requires a minimum of brush strokes to create an image. It employs both ends of the paintbrush, so the white dots and the center of the flowers were made by the other end (the one with out the brush) being dipped on paint and then dotted on the rock.

One stroke painting can be used on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, wine glasses, plate glass, and more. It is a fun painting technique for beginners.

Tree at the library.

On Monday, May 24th, Brian Castner came to the Grand Island Memorial Library to talk about his books and to answer any questions that the book club had. Brian is an Iraq War veteran. He worked in Unexploded Ordnance Disposal. In other words, he disarmed bombs. Brian talked about life in the military and about war and about returning home and having difficulty adjusting to life with his family and normal activities in general. He talked about having witnessed death and about being Crazy. He talked about how his first book, The Long Walk, was created while he ran along the roads of Grand Island.

I will share more of Brian's story in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned!

Spring is my favorite season. The colors of spring can be very subtle...

Or very dramatic and vivid...

Color abounds everywhere...

On Tuesday evening, just before tap dance rehearsal, I got this hanging basket full of vivid purpleness.

I planted this basil in a pot, which sits on the porch. Later in the season, I'll turn it into pesto (yum).

I had a little bit of kitchen fun... guacamole!

I had a busy week, going from garden to garden, so that I could rehabilitate them. 

Lilacs are my favorite flower, pretty and fragrant.

Lawn decoration.

From the back yard of one of my gardening customers, I could see the river and the docks.

On the other side of the river is Cayuga Island. It is part of Niagara Falls, New York, and is a small island in the Niagara River. 

Here is another flowering tree.

This is allium, a globe-shaped flower. It grows nicely in gardens and adds its unique shape and color to any garden setting.

Nothing says that yellow and purple are complementary colors better than this iris.

Day lilies. If you have these, don't let your cats anywhere near the plants. They are poisonous to cats. It's not an issue with my cat because she is determined to live life as an indoor cat. She sees the front door opening and she runs in the other direction.

Next week:  More gardens, dance recital, Grand Island Historical Society Installation dinner, and more!

The 366-day photography project, week 42

Week 42 of the photography project started with Father Earle baptizing little Cecily, one of the calmest babies that I've ever seen anywhere. She was very relaxed and seemed completely at ease. Father Earle has a special gift with babies. Even the crabbiest, most frustrated baby becomes calm and easy going with Father Earle. This baby was just happy. Her family was happy and there were many of them. 

Later in the day, I went with a group of women from St. Martin's to see "Young Frankenstein." It was a musical adaptation of Mel Brook's movie. It was hilarious. There was lots of singing and dancing, and it even included a tap dance number. The show was produced at the Niagara Regional Theatre Guild, on Ellicott Creek Road, in Tonawanda. 

Here are some of our group, happily anticipating the entertainment. Afterwards, we went out for dinner at the Grapevine. If I were to review the restaurant, I would give it a rating somewhere in the middle. The food wasn't awful and it wasn't awesome. We started with a salad, which was mostly iceberg lettuce, which I admit that I don't like. I wasn't hungry enough to finish that. The bread, however, was nice and warm, and I always appreciate the heel.

We had four choices for a main choice, which we had requested in advance. Our choices were broccoli chicken, chicken cordon bleu, four-cheese pasta, and haddock. I had the haddock. The fish was served with mashed potatoes. I was disappointed to see no vegetable with the main course. The plate seemed oddly incomplete without a vegetable. The fish was delicious. There was plenty of it and it was quite tender.

For dessert, we had vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It was delightfully decadent.

The service was excellent. We were brought a myriad of beverages from wonderfully attentive servers. The noise level was very high, and it was difficult to hear anyone. Being unable to hear anyone is a rather isolating feeling. People were carrying on animated conversations, and I watched their mouths move and I heard a loud cacophony of sound. Such is the social life of people with auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder, and hyperacusis.

Sigh.

All in all, however, it was a fun outing, and it was nice to be with friends.

This week, I was fortunate enough to spend a good deal of time outside, working in various gardens.

It is work that I love. There is nothing like getting your hands in the soil. I am fortunate to be surrounded by so much color.

So many different shapes...

... so much texture...

At last! The lilacs are blooming! My favorite flower! I love their aroma and their variety of colors!

Sweet little buttercup...

This is part of the all-schools art show at Grand Island High School. I love these cups. They are awesomely creative and delightfully colorful.

Rite of spring: planting your own garden.

Vividly colored marigold.

Tis the season of flowering trees. They come in white...

... and in pink...

For a short time, the trees are radiant.

Here are some vividly white lilacs.

Many of them come in this light lavender shade.

This bunch seems almost pinkish.

Baby cones growing on the blue spruce.

Thursday, May 19th, was the second to last (penultimate) painting class at Stella Niagara. This time, we were painting flowers that were in the process of being watered. Someone got a little carried away in filling the watering can, and, here, the water is coming out in a great gush!

Still at Stella Niagara.After painting class, I find this busily industrious bee fertilizing an apple blossom.

I'm at a very lively garden on Friday. I weeded the garden boxes in the back yard (where the vegetables will be planted), swept the leaves off the back porch, and pruned the shrubbery in front.

On Friday afternoon, my friend Mary Stewart and I went to take pictures at Buckhorn Island State Park. It was alive with wild flowers. Here is one with a little bug sitting on top.

View of the foot bridge.

This is the marsh in springtime.

Delicate little wild flower.

It is a weed but it is so photogenic.

On Saturday, I went to Beaver Island State Park to take pictures of trees being planted by people in memory of loved ones.

White oak tree. Once there were many white oaks in Grand Island, but, in the 19th century, the overwhelming of white oaks was clear cut and sold to ship builders for mastheads on ships.

This one is a tulip tree.

Next week: Author Brian Castner visits the library book club, more flowers, my garden is complete, and more!