Tag: lifestyle

A Garden Diary

I am not a garden expert by no means but this is my first garden post. I guess it has been about a week now and look what I have.

Beefstake Tomatoes

These are seeds that were left over from the last planting season. The soil is Miracle Grow Garden Mix which was also a left over. The pan they are in was also a freebie…when I bought a package of those tin pans at Christmas…this plastic tray proved to be a nice little greenhouse.

I just uncovered them yesterday and they have grown more.

That’s all folks. Happy gardening.

Let Freedom Ring

I have struggled for days to find the right words. One of my favorite songs is “Independence Day” as recorded by Martina McBride. In the song are the words “let freedom ring”. While the song is about domestic violence those words are about so much more!

As a child I didn’t realize how many freedoms we did have or at least were supposed to have. As I grew into an adult I watched as those freedoms and the strong values this country was founded on slowly fell by the wayside.

The last four years have been refreshing as I have seen a glimpse of those once cherished freedoms and values. Our economy was stronger and as an aging adult for the first time in many years this country had hope. On January 20 that hope was all but destroyed!

It is becoming abundantly clear that this country is in serious trouble.

Over the last year it was enough to deal with COVID. Now I question whether even that was real….or just another strain of the flu. I and a friend of mine both had it. On friday night in a discussion with her on the subject she casually mentioned that she had not heard of even one person that had the flu this year. I kind of scratched my head and then I realized she was right. What if COVID, like everything else, was fake. We lost our freedom of identity, our freedom to move about freely and most recently our freedom of speech.

There are a lot of theories about what is going on in this country and sooner or later the truth will come out. In the meantime we have an imposter spouting out orders that will paralyze what is left of this country. What are we supposed to do?

We are supposed to be strong in faith. We,the people, can still establish a more perfect union. Getting the country back on track will take time but it begins with each one of us. Your voice is the strongest instrument you have! If someone tries to silence you….shout it from the roof top.

NEVER use force or violence to make your point….that just sends the wrong message. Walk softly and peacefully but cary a big voice.

I challenge you to do your part to rebuild America. Voice your concerns to those who will listen. Make sure you are living a life with values and not just existing.

My ancestors fought in both the American Revolution and the Civil War. I speak for them!

LET FREEDOM RING!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Not to worry this is not really about politics. The title stems from an old western movie but one I have used on occasion. It is not hard to define who the bad are! The ugly of course refers to our current situation. Now that we have gotten those two out of the way lets look at the good that we should be focusing on.

Good – Putting God first! Regardless of your faith or even the lack of… it is time to put God first. Our forefathers in their infinite wisdom did that very thing regardless of how devout their religion was. Their intent was to build this country on a solid rock! It was important after war to start this nation in a positive way.

Good – Family. Most of us have one. While I don’t support some of the family units in this country, it really boils down to unity. It goes back to creation, God did not want Adam to be alone in the world so he created Eve and you know the rest of the story. The point being this world began with a family unit. And yes, there is good, bad and even ugly in most families. It is not something that most people want to talk about but it exists. More important than anything is how we keep the family unit together. That goes back to Putting God First!

Good – Country – And there again I am not talking about our situation I am referring to the land itself. We are blessed to live in the most varied and beautiful land in the world. We have not done a very good job of taking care of it but it still exists. As a photographer and avid camper I can tell you I have been in some breathtaking places in this country like this:

Don’t focus on the negatives but drive yourselves to the positive. We still have our families, the land and more importantly God!

Have a blessed day!

Into The Archive

Since I don’t have any new photographs for today, I decided to delve into my archive. If you have seen any of these before, I apologize in advance.

This is an old barn just outside of Hendersonville, NC.
Some would question that this is photographic worthy but I am a real sucker for anything with geometric shapes.

Until we meet again. God bless you all.

Today’s Shoot

Well when I got out today to find something to shoot there was very little to be found but hope you enjoy.

This grey Crane was only about 2000 feet from my house. Have never seen one this close before.
Found this interesting only because of the cannon.
Sun was in the wrong position to shoot this but I find old delapidated houses interesting.
And lastly I love shooting anything farm related.

Have a wonderful day.

Vintage Photographs

After my grandmother passed away in 2005, I rambled through her old photo albums (the kind that were held together with something like shoestrings and on black paper) to find these photos. I remember her remarking in earlier years that she did not even know who these people were but they were related to her grandmother. Some of them were tintypes that I restored. Hope you enjoy.

Hope you enjoyed this journey through time.

God bless you all.

Big Tech Alternatives

With the war on free speech exploding I started looking for replacements for Google, Facebook & Twitter and Pinterest. Here is what I have found:

Facebook/Twitter replacement is Gab.com while their app was of course was removed from app stores, you can access them directly because they have their own servers. The site is a little slow right now because they have an outrageous number of new subscribers so be patient.

Google browser I replaced with Savannah which as it turns out is better and faster than Google.

Last but not least Pinterest I replaced with http://www.juxtapost.com which may not be quite as glamour right now but is quickly growing.

I will continue to bring you more news of any other site solutions as I find them.

Continue in prayer, speak your mind and have an awesome day.

Moving Forward

I try to begin and end each day with prayer. It is not something I have always done but during the last year in particular it has been something I have tried to maintain to cope with life.

For the most part I have always been faith driven but there have certainly been times when I questioned God’s intentions. Last Thursday was certainly one of those days. It was later that day that I had to remind myself that it is not always about us! It is not our will or plan that is important. It is God’s will that is important.

We have to set aside our own personal feeling and let Him lead. The evil that caused the events on Wednesday to take place is still in this world.

It is time for God to take the reins because what man has put in place cannot easily be undone. There is still hope but peace will not come easily. Things will get worse before they get better.

Our part in this is simply to be patient. Don’t be swayed by mass media and corrupt social media. When we are quiet God has an opportunity to do his best work.

For me and my house, we will serve the Lord. This country can be great again but it will suffer a lot of birth pains before it reaches that point.

Be quiet and listen to the whispers of God for direction. For me moving forward I will be less concerned about the state of this country and more concerned about my own spiritual health. I will leave the hard stuff to God.

Fear not for the things you cannot fix…it is not meant for you too. Rejoice in your faith and family and everything else will be taken care of.

We truly do need to be “one nation under God” and that begins with each one of us. Have a truly wonderful day.

Crosses In The Sky

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s disaster I was unsure whether there was any future left. So disgusted by our cowardly Congress, antifa, and the loss of life. None of it was President Trump’s fault contrary to what the media would have you to believe. Anyway, it really made me question everything

Any chance we had left of reviving this country was lost to two people who are not worthy to even cross President Trump’s path. I know there will be a few of you that will disagree…and thats okay. I had asked God for a sign that all was not lost…a few minutes ago I got the sign.

I sat down in my office like I do every day for prayer and looked out the window. There were a lot of clouds but at the bottom almost at the horizon line were three crosses lying on their side.

You may not readily see them in these pictures as the clouds were still moving:

Just to the right of the building. Even when this was shot they were not as clear as they had been.
Still moving but can see parts of them.
Just barely visible.

Just a reminder that just when there is nothing positive left God reminds us that he is here for us. Excited now to see what is coming.

Have a blessed day.