A Little Love Letter to Ken

Anniversary Tulips from Ken

I am very lucky to be married to a romantic man. He remembers our anniversary, birthdays and Valentine's Day much better than I do. We married late in life and I've only been married to him for twelve years but we've crammed a lifetime into those years!

Ken was the one who encouraged my photography. He got me a digital camera for HIS birthday! This was back in 1999. What a difference it made ... I could instantly see what I was doing wrong and could correct it, right there. Before then, I was using film and would be lucky to get one good image out of three rolls of film. Ken would ask me, "What was your f-stop? What was the exposure setting? Speed? Look at this image and tell me what is in focus?" I was clueless. But when digital came out, all the settings were there. And because of Ken, I became a Cat Photographer.

Now we are able to travel together, work together, play together, live a full life, with cats -- together. All because of cat photography. Sure, there are rough patches, but they don't last long. And it's usually me that gets bent out of shape or acts like a drama queen! But we end up laughing about it and remembering what, in the long run, is important.

Happy Birthday, Cousin Kathy!

Here is my card to Kathy Samuels Schuler, my cousin on my mother's side. To introduce Kathy, let me tell you a bit about the family:

Kathy's mother was one of my favorite Aunts, Aunt Helen, who lived in Oklahoma City, OK. Aunt Helen was the wife of a Christian minister, Uncle Joe. She would sew the most unusual things (like the State of Oklahoma which made an apron) and mail them to my sister, Paula, and I for Christmas when we were kids, she had a love of life and people that was remarkable, loved and was interested in everything, gave excellent advice, laughed at the drop of a hat, and she was always supportive of and fascinated by my cat photography. Aunt Helen would come to the cat shows in Oklahoma City with Kathy, and in May of 2000, she brought Aunt Georgia, the oldest of my mother's sisters, who passed on a few years after.

Aunt Helen died last June after battling colon cancer and the attendant chemotherapy. She was a love. So now I have Uncle Joe and Kathy & Dustin as my relatives who live in Oklahoma City.

Kathy and I have developed a great relationship. She is like a sister to me. And today marks a milestone birthday for her (I'm going to be decorous here and not mention the number, but suffice it to say, she is younger than I am but not young enough to be MY daughter!). So I thought that I could honor her, her mother, and the marking of a good number of years on terra firma by this post. Kathy has a big heart, loves animals, is sharp as a whip and has a sly sense of humor. She is a treasure. Happy Birthday, my Sweet!

I Got Flowers!

Before a Big Cat Show, like the TICA Annual coming up, I get a little short-tempered. And if I have to sew cases for pipe-and-drape, or hem new backgrounds, that cuts into my retouching time and publisher's deadlines, so I am afraid I am not as "zen-like" as I'd like to be. Ken knows this (probably better than I do), so he brought me flowers this morning to stave off the beast!

Since the beauty of flowers is so transitory and they die, a photograph "is forever" they say, so I will keep the memory close to my heart -- and hopefully keep a civil tongue -- while the blooms are alive. If I forget, I have the photographs! I'm smiling already. :)

Surprise Lilies!

These pink lilies have apparently "self propogated" themselves as I used to have only one stem a year appear. This was a delightful surprise! We could see them outside our dining room/living room windows.

Here is a closeup of them. I was fortunate that I took the time to photograph them as they only lasted a week. We had some torrential rains that hit them hard over a period of about four days after these shots were taken. They were never the same and no new stems appeared this year.

And finally, this is what they looked like after a rain one morning. They looked lovely with the raindrops (like little diamonds catching the light) but the blooms were pounded too long to be able to photograph them again after the rains ceased.

et Cetera - Datura

Our good neighbors are Ralph and Arly Pineo. Arly Pineo, is a published writer, a magnificent cook and has a garden that is the envy of our community. One year she grew Daturas and told me they were poisonous. The blossom is quite beautiful, so after I took a snapshot of it, I looked it up on the web. This is what I found:

About Datura, from B and T World Seeds website, http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/Datura.htm

"All species of Datura and Brugmansia contain powerful alkaloids which in sufficient quantities have the power to kill. The main alkaloids represented are Scopolamine, Hyoscyamine and Atropine. Self-experimentation is not recommended and must be strictly avoided by anyone who suffers any kind of heart condition. The effects are stimulating on the central nervous system and simultaneously depressing on the peripheral nerves. Symptoms include an increased heart rate, drying up of the mucus membranes, a dry throat and sometimes cramps. At first the effects are arousing, sometimes manifesting as uncontrolled talking or laughing, forgetfulness and indulging in senseless repetitive activities. Vivid hallucinations and delirious illusions may also occur. Occasionally the effects can produce extreme violence and destructive urges. The period of agitation is usually followed by a deep prolonged sleep accompanied with vivid dreams and hallucinations, often of a sexual nature. Upon awakening one might experience a distinct hang-over and a total lack of memory as to what actually happened during the state of altered consciousness."

NOTE: "In cases of poisoning one should induce vomiting and bowel evacuation as a first aid measure. Willow-charcoal powder can be given for detoxification."

Arly also grows a Datura which is a white version with purple edging. Very striking blossoms. I have yet to see the seed pod. In fact, Arly has a fantastic garden with shade plants in the back and sunny ones in the front. It is always a pleasure to see what is thriving.

It's Over for the Pansies

Ken and I planted pansies last fall .. and they thrived! I photographed some and here are two shots. Unfortunately, they don't do well in the Texas heat, so we'll have to plant something else for the summer.

Texas Morning Glories

One summer morning, early, I was feeding the cats and looked out the back sliding glass door into the back yard and saw two Morning Glories, lit by beams of sunlight. I ran and got my camera, gingerly stepped out into the back yard, slippers covered with dew, and grabbed this image. It's probably not formally photographically correct, but I love the way the sunlight has illuminated the bells of the blossoms. I keep this image on one of my computers as the desktop.

Light is a wonderful thing in photography.

Some "et Cetera"

Daisys on the hills of the Arbuckle Mountains, above

On the way home from the Thunderkatz cat show and A1 Savannahs, we travelled across the Arbuckle mountains in Oklahoma. We took a senic turnout to stretch our legs and found that the mountains were covered with daisys!

I got out the Canon XSi and started popping off some shots.

The wind was blowing so some of these flowers aren't as sharp as I'd like. However, the sky was overcast so the clouds acted as "Mother Nature's softbox" and gave me nice, diffused light.