Three for Thursday!

"The secret of a good marriage is forgiving your partner for marrying you in the first place." ~ Sacha Guitry

"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them." ~ Mark Twain

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
~ Robert Frost

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#1~ ONEWORD!~ offering a new word daily.. how much can you write before the timer runs out?

sim­ple. you’ll see one word at the top of the screen.
you have sixty sec­onds to write about it.

~ MADE ~


what a mess you have MADE of things.. you MADE me cry so many times.. I MADE myself stay when I wanted to run as fast and as far as I could.. what MADE you so mean and nasty.. finally you MADE me see the real you.. I am glad I MADE it to a better life.. he has MADE our lives complete!

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#2~ The Lens Day Challenge for this week is Swirl.

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#3~ A Haiku~

Early Riser

my bright cork plopped
into knee deep ice water~
tented ~ she slumbers

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
5-19-2010

Wonderful Wednesday!

"Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose." ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"Human beings can always be relied upon to exert, with vigor, their God-given right to be stupid." ~ Dean Koontz

"Drawing is the poet's written line, set down to see if there be a story worth telling, a truth worth revealing." ~ Irving Stone

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Watery Wednesday!

~ I would love to be in this place.. floating on the cool clean water.. a bottle of liquid refreshment chilling in a basket close at hand..

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Sepia Scenes!

~ Dave and I were surprised to come across this

new-fangled train station way out in the middle of no where.. seeming out of place on a back road.. close to nothing important.. there is a gate between the rail road tracks and the front of the building.. but we honestly couldn't tell rather the building housed a real railway station or rather it was just the folly of some individual who lived next to train tracks.. Hattieville station it says.. and even in the photo you can see the schedule on the front of the building.. interesting to say the least.. Checking maps and encyclopedia entries on the history of rail roads.. I did discover Hattieville station on one of the old maps.. It appears to be in this same location.. I also discovered that the tracks in front of this lonesome station is what was once The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.. After several mergers over a number of years it is now a small part of CSX Transportation.. Maybe someone has decided to revitalize a building that was hidden by vines and old trees.. or maybe someone just decided on a new decorating scheme to celebrate the location of their new building on an old historical sight.... either way our curiosity was peeked..

next time I'm in that neck of the woods maybe I'll get Dave to stop and go up to the door.....

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Lensday! ~ The Lens Day Challenge for this week is History.


~ This Train station is a very real part of southern history.. passenger trains used to run from town to small town all up and down the east coast.. There are very.. very few train tracks left here but many of the old stations are still standing along wide grassy area's where the tracks used to lay.. This Station is privately owned and is located in Kline, South Carolina..

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Three Word Wednesday asks us to write what we can from three words that they choose.. Just Three Words! This weeks words are.. gentle, praise, vulgar ..

This week.. as is often the case.. the words seemed to be at odds with each other.. and therefore at odds with me and me with them and dogs were barking and a phone called someone to work.. rush.. rush.. then finally.. as I made the third circle around the place.. hoping some dog would find a perfect spot.. I was trying the words different ways.. listening for something that struck.. this time it was the first line that leaped from my brain.. so many ways for a gentle one to be tormented.... as you read this poem think about what the words mean.. are you sure they mean what you think.. Please.. let me know if you like my writings.. I hope you enjoy your stop by my crazy world today.. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Patsy

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~ Appeal ~

oh gentle soul
so long tormented...

what manner of death
your invocation...

at his grunts
of vulgar praise?


Written By: Patricia Sawyer
7-14-2010

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~ Wordless is now silent every single day.... welcoming us to share our wordless adventures at any time..

~ On the EDGE!

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A Wednesday Visit to MY World! Welcome!!!

"The world began without man, and it will complete itself without him."
~ Claude Levi-Strauss

"The Creative knows the great beginnings. The Receptive completes the finished things."
~ I Ching ~1150 BC

"Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that."
~ George Carlin

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Each week Three Word Wednesday gives writers and those who would like to be writers a mid week prompt of creativity.. three words are chosen and we attempt to write something from the chosen words.. This weeks fine words are.. dread.. grasp.. and pacify..

Beneath the Bridge

he faces each day with dread

demons holding sanity just out of his grasp

a bottle will pacify

Written by: Patricia Sawyer

5-19-2010

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Sepia Scenes #84~

My Grandmother ironed with one of these ancient smoothing irons.. she heated hers on a pot-bellied .. coal burning...stove.. It now shares space with other old treasures on a shelf in my dining room.. I never look at it without thinking of her.. I love old things.. I admit to being spoiled by all the wonders of our modern society.. Can you even imagine having to survive in a kitchen like the one pictured here?..

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Although it rarely happens.. today I was lucky enough to have a picture for Watery Wednesday that would also meet the challenge for the theme of "Clouds" offered by Lensday..

On this hot.. lazy day at the shore the water was wonderful and the clouds simply beautiful.. Puffy and white they hung in the blue sky.. changing into many things as they floated silently over head.. mesmerizing the eyes..the wonderful combination of salty air.. warm water and a beautiful sky... a sweet balm to sooth the mind and renew the spirit.. I surely need a trip to the shore!!

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What a day! As Wednesdays usually go I guess it wasn't too bad.. Expecting and needing rain for the garden... I was still selfishly glad for the sunshine.. Plumb tuckered out by my new exercise routine.. dog walking 101.. I was glad that Dave was able to get a walking path mowed for me and our newest pet.. I don't mind walking and walking and walking till he finds the most perfect spot.. but it sure is easier to walk at 1am if the ground beneath your feet is not covered with tall grass and prickly weeds.. I am indeed a lucky woman... I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog and into my simple world today.. Thanks for stopping by!.. Have a great night!
Patsy

Wednesday's Photos and Words..

"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees."
~ William Blake

"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love."
~ Saint Basil

"All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports."
~ Chief Seattle

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Known simply as "The Perimeter" this tree stands a silent sentry that keeps party goers safe.. Our Lensday Challenge of today is trees.. Trees give us shade from the hot sun.. they freshen the air around them.. I have tied tires and sticks and even sacks filled with old clothes to the outstretched limbs of trees and then sat upon those things to swing for hours.. I have planted tender young trees and watched them grow and I have seen old trees struggle and finally fall.. I have even hugged a tree..

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Watery Wednesday asks us each week to share a photo that shows our admiration for Water..I love water as much as I do trees.. I hate to see people toss litter of any kind into water.. I love to stroll along the beach listening to the sound of the waves as they roll across the sand.. washing away even the footprints that would show that I was there.. Lately the beaches are often crowded and many times littered.. I ask everyone to do their part to keep our waters clean and litter free!

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A replica of a vessel from days gone by this beauty looks as if it could have sailed the seven seas.. I can almost imagine pirates with swords drawn leaping on to it's polished deck.. no pity for the simple sailors as they forced them to walk the plank.. after all pirates needed spices and silk as much as they needed rum and gold..

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Three Word Wednesday offers us these words top write something from this week.....fear, ignore, weightless

No Swimming!

weightless in water

all fear overcome by glee~

ignore not the sign

Written By: Patricia Sawyer

5-12-2010

This has been a wonderful.. even if tiring.. week.. we have planted and trimmed and hatched and accepted and give away critters.. some of us have rambled in the woods and sunk up to our parts in the muddy pits of the swamp... searching and finding and not finding...but through it all we have laughed... I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Wednesday!

Patsy

Another Wonderful Wednesday!

"If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it's already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer." - Eve Arnold

"My photography is a reflection, which comes to life in action and leads to meditation. Spontaneity - the suspended moment - intervenes during action, in the viewfinder." - Abbas

"The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express."
- Francis Bacon

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Lensday~ Flashback! Somehow I missed the day when they had Disposable as the Weekly Challenge.. I am almost sure I was planning a wedding or welcoming home a son or something else important.. I recently had a chance to go with Dave to our local landfill and I was shocked at how many things are now considered disposable!

Baby cribs and couches and computers by the thousands.. giant containers of bottles and jars and other things glass.. Ironing boards and china cabinets and tables and bird cages.. I wanted to load up a box of dolls and a perfect babies cradle.. I was told that it is a crime to take anything from there..

Even this boat that we would love to have owned was now disposable.. When did we become such a wasteful world? Is everything now disposable?

I was sad to think of all the people who might could have used some of the furniture that was waiting to be buried.. How many children could have played with perfectly good toys that someone simply outgrew?.. And how many fish could we have caught from this old boat?
This giant machine sat idle while I was snapping photo's of all the things that people have deemed disposable.. It takes a monster of a machine to crush and bury the mountains of disposable goods that fill our landfills every day.. I fussed so much that I am pretty sure Dave won't let me go with him to the landfill ever again..

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I looked everywhere for a path to trespass here.. sitting way out in the water I wondered if this sign was intended for the family of ducks we saw swimming nearby.. I wanted to cast a hook out there and see if the fish were biting but Dave said " NO!" Thanks Dave! I guess I couldn't write my Watery Wednesday Blog post from Jail!

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Another Sepia Scene!~

Reminding me of simpler times.. I adore this old store.. I have shown the front in Sepia and left the side as it was to show it's wonderful .. colorful signs! It looks as if the owner just stepped out for a second and will be right back.. I couldn't resist slipping a nickel into the old fortune telling scale and was surprised when it actually worked.. My fortune said.. " You will speak wise words today!" .. Signs of long ago era's decorate the sides and even the back of this old building.. I can just imagine sitting on the long wooden bench ..sipping on a cold Coke from a green glass bottle..

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Today has been a wonderful Wednesday.. the house is so quiet tonight as I sit here and the only sound is the click of the keyboard keys as I hunt and peck for the words I want to say.. Both of the menfolks are working.. No visitors.. even the phone has rested for a change.. I had almost forgotten how great it can be to have a quiet night.. Thanks for stopping by... Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Patsy

Some Saturday Stuff..

"You may not be able to read a doctor's handwriting and prescription, but you'll notice his bills are neatly typewritten."
~ Earl Wilson

"Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away."
~ Earl Nightingale

"I've got to feel the pencil and see the words at the end of the pencil."
~ William Faulkner

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- Wordless asks us to post pictures that tell a story without words.. I love the photo below of my middle son skateboarding..

- The Photohunt word for today is Balanced- have you ever tried to balance on a rolling skateboard? How about flying through the air on one?

- The lensday word for this week was excitement.. having spent a lot of time at the various skate parks in our area.. I have seen a lot of skater excitement.. they are excited to try new ramps or jumps and even more excited to actually land something new..

I was always excited to watch the young men accomplish a new trick.. I miss hauling them all over the country to skate.. A cooler of cold drinks.. a picnic of sandwiches and chips.. some toys for Mason and a book and camera for me and we were off..

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~ This week for Camera Critters I am sharing some of my own animals..

~ Lucy~ a ringed neck dove.. she and her Husband Joe serenade us while we feed the fowl every day.. we love to hear them Cooing..

~ Janet~ a polish top hat hen.. yes she has some weird feathery hair on her head.. but she is a sweetheart and gentle too.. plus she lays me a warm fresh egg every day!

~ and this guy... we bought him from a man that swore this was a hen... Of course it is hard to tell when they are very young.. we tossed him into the growing up pen where most young roosters will practice their crow and let us know not to add them to the harem of an old rooster.. they will practice holding the young hens down and chase each other around in the pen.. This fellow grew up silently and we really took him to be a hen.. we had a few young roosters who had already started crowing and doing their sideways.. I need a hen dance.. scratching the ground and fluffing out their feathers as they sidestepped and made a clucking sound.. so we chose a rooster for this guy... needless to say as soon as he saw his new "husband" he jumped up on a stick and crowed his head off.. I had named him Delila.. I don't think that name works for a rooster.. do you?? If you have a suggestion for this guy a new name leave me a comment... He needs a name.. he is a beautiful rooster... I will choose a name for him from those offered in comments.. and I will post it on here.. Have a great night!

Patsy

update~ we were offered two names.. Ricky and Delta.. we have decided on calling this guy Ricky.. we both liked the name Delta and will be naming our next rooster Delta.. Have a great day!

Patsy

Wednesday.. Watery.. Weird.. and in My Lens!

"I use music as some kind of weird salvation to get away from life!" ~ Billy Corgan

"Our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean. Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper." ~ Arthur Golden


"If you have not crossed the river, you should not abuse the crocodile."
~ Igbo Proverb
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Watery Wednesday challenges us each week to share a photograph of something to do with water.. This photo reminds me of the lagoon on the Television show "Gilligan's Island" Ever since I watched that show as a child I have always wanted to own and live on an Island.. then recently I started thinking about what if I got sick or what if I changed my mind and wanted to come back.. what if my radio didn't work.. Dave and I are getting older..what if we weren't able to garden.. what if we ran out of food.. needless to say I almost what iffed myself out of the notion for Island living.. This small Island Pictured above is little more than a sand bar in the Santee-Cooper lakes... You could swim back to land if you had too.. Dave could most likely throw a rock from the island to the nearest land.. I am thinking that I could live on one of these small islands and have the effect of being separated from the world until I wanted some company.. then I could just yell across the water to my neighbors on the shore.. I could toss a rope across to them and they could tie on some food or other things and I could pull it back across.. Yep.. one of these little islands would suit me just fine.. Dave could fish and we could garden.. with our animals in tow we could be right at home on our own little island..

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This is where I answer a few weird questions.. I do not make these up myself even though I think I could most likely be even weirded than some of the people who write these questions.. I find them from the Internet and also accept them from other people who send them to me.. Sometimes I don't answer a question that is sent to me.. if you sent me a question and haven't seen it on my blog it was either something that I didn't want to answer or maybe it was way to weird even for me.. I can't answer anything that would cause heart failure to my Mom or my children.. that said.. here we go!

1:)-What was your imaginary friend's name as a kid, and did they ever annoy you or just us? ~
I personally never had an imaginary friend as a child.. my cousin had Tater and we got in trouble all the time because he swore that we sat on Tater.. man I hated tater.. on the other hand I had dolls who I told all of my secrets too and weirdly I had one who I called Toni.. he was actually a boy doll but I made him wear a wig and a dress.. he was Trudy's doll that she kept sitting on her bed.. I'd sneak in and steal him and stick a wig on his head and snatch his romper outfit off and replace it with a red dress.. I have a son Named Anthony but he wasn't named after the doll.. he was named after his Father.. But for some weird reason I always hated it when anyone called him Tony!!


2:)- If your neighbor is having a baby would you buy a baby gift for them? ~ I can't help but laugh at that weird question.. All of my neighbors are old people.. or at least older I'll say.. we have one family that I guess could medically still have a child but... Nah they won't.. All of us but one family have grown children and grand-children.. I guess If any of us were having a baby it would shake up the neighborhood.. I can't think of a thing any of my neighbors need because none of them would be weird enough to have a baby at our age.. but I think the question is simply would I buy an expecting neighbor a gift.. the answer is that if any of my neighbors were expecting I would crochet them a blanket and sweater combo.. The image of any of my neighbors expecting might be just weird enough to cause me to have nightmares.. see what you did with your weird questions..

3:)- Have you ever howled at the moon?~ what a weird question.. I have an equally weird answer.. last year Me and Sheri.. Cooper.. Erin.. and a few other people all came out of a Karaoke bar at the same time.. closing time.. the night was weird.. some of us had been drinking wine.. we were all standing there talking with Cooper's car radio playing in the background.. suddenly noticing the giant shadows we cast on the ground... we all began to dance.. our shadows danced on the ground.. it was awesome in a very weird kind off way.. Of course I am just weird enough to dance with my own shadow.. I don't remember any of us howling.. but I think it safe to say we shouted at the moon that night.. after our dance we all hugged and said I love you's all around.. it was a night to remember..

4:)- When the sun sets, what are you usually doing? ~ the sun sets so early now.. and it's cold as a well diggers feet here right now.. maybe even colder.. sunset usually finds me sitting in front of my computer either farming or cooking on Facebook.. those games are mighty addicting and for someone like me who doesn't watch television they are even more so.. I know it is weird to be almost addicted to a crazy game that you just click around on.. but I think I am.. I have quit them before and then the very next day I was back.. hoping my island was still there and wondering if I had left anything on the stove in my cafe... this will sound weird but I think it was easier to quit smoking that it will be to quit those games.. wouldn't it be weird if they came up with a patch or maybe some gum for those of us addicted to click games.. I'd be a super weirdo with patches everywhere and a mouth full of gum..

Weird questions all done and not to awful weird for a change.. or maybe they are taking it easy on us since we just started a NEW YEAR.. I for one hope this year is calm and normal... but then again Calm and Normal would be weird in my life!!!

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The Lens Day Challenge for this week is Storm... this weird sky was the beginning of the end of a couple of days of cold cold rain.. my animals were wet and cold.. I was wading in ankle deep ice cold water to toss them food and look for eggs.. Seeing this tiny bright spot in the sky I thought the storm was over... needless to say it was not and the icy drizzling rain fell for another full day before finally moving on.. later this week the forecast is for a snow storm.. It hasn't snowed here in a long long time.. I will hope for snow.. I will dread the cold rain that will most likely be what we get here.. what ever falls it will be wet and cold.. I have a plan to warm things up.. a big pot of home-made vegetable soup ands some hot.. buttery cornbread!! Have a good night!
Patsy

Watery Wednesday.. Cold.. Lensday..

"The only cure for seasickness is to sit on the shady side of an old brick church in the country." ~Author Unknown

"Though inland far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither."
~William Wordsworth

Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills. ~Ambrose Bierce

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Traveling along a country road recently Dave and I spotted this contraption nestled in between some twisted old Cyprus trees that looked like they should have been along a creek bank.. with no streams in sight the trees looked a little out of place.. curious enough to turn around and come back we discovered that this weird pipe and board contraption is an old flowing well.. we weren't sure what the purpose of the half green.. pipe fitted bucket was but Dave caught a bottle full of the ice COLD water.. straight from the highest pipe.. for us to drink.. we each took a few sips before deciding that maybe we really shouldn't drink water from an unknown source.. how ever as we stood there debating the safety of the water.. several cars pulled into the swampy spot and the people jumped out with empty jugs and soon had a regular assembly line going filling and loading gallon after gallon of the icy water. Dave handed me my ever present camera and went about drinking his spring water.. The water was delicious and icy cold.. I still don't understand the elaborate pipe and board with bucket contraption but the water was divine! My only thought for the buckets purpose was that we were in horse country and maybe the bucket was for animals to drink from.. I know that horses do enjoy a long cool drink of water..

Have a great day!
Patsy