5 by 55

In October, I'll be 55 years old. The bucket list I made earlier hasn't had anything marked off in a long time. So I picked five of the easiest things to accomplish and am hoping to get them done by my birthday.

Here's my list:

1. Make a Victoria Sponge Cake

2. Begin reading Samuel Pepys Diary

3. Revamp my wardrobe (The original entry on my bucket list said "To wear the cutest clothes ever" This will help me get started on that goal.

4. Buy a fabulous pair of brown boots

5. Get completely organized; paperwork under control

I have exactly sixty days to accomplish my list. I'd say it's doable. I'll give it my best shot.

Fall Semester Begins

This is Gabriel, our adopted college student. He's a music performance major at our local university; lucky for us. He serenades us with Chopin, Rachmaninoff, etc. when he comes over. We usually have him over to eat Sunday dinner with us after church.

Our church has this program where college students who want to be adopted while they're in school in our town and going to our church sign up. They're then placed within our church families.

We've had some not so good ones in the past, but we scored big with Gabriel. He's only a sophomore, so we'll have him around for a few more years.

I gave him the score from the movie Pride and Prejudice for Christmas last year. It's the most beautiful music I've ever heard. Within a few weeks he had it all worked up and was playing it for us. There are definite perks to this adoption thing. Now if he'll only do the dishes!

Around the Breakfast Table

One of the highlights of visiting my parents is the country breakfast Mama always cooks; sawmill gravy and biscuits, bacon, sausage, milk, and homemade jams and jellies.

This is us gathered around the table. I had my camera on a tripod with a four second timer. I had to push the button and run sit down before the shutter clicked. Mama leaned back too far, so I didn't get much of her.

We're heading up there tomorrow for one more weekend of rafting. All Darcie's schoolbooks are ordered, so I'm taking a long weekend to relax before school starts. I'll work on scheduling as we drive up. I've also got an Anita Shreve book to finish. I use the five hour trip to read, plan, and sleep.

So, until next week...have a good weekend.

The Nantahala River

When I was growing up, our family would raft on this river in North Carolina. It's a Class 3 so is pretty mild. It's slow enough that you can enjoy the surrounding scenery but rough enough not to be boring.

At the end of the ride, there's a six foot drop off that was loads of fun to go over. Now they make you get out earlier. Spoilsports!

Earlier this summer when I was at the John C. Campbell Folk School taking a digital photography class, we took a day trip to Asheville to photograph the city. On the way back we went through the Nantahala Gorge and just had to stop and take pictures of the mist rising off the river.

Since my photo taking skills had risen a lot during the week, I was able to get these photos when the night was almost completely dark. I was in full manual mode so was able to let in a lot more light. I turned my ISO up to 1600 and rested the camera on the handrail to avoid camera shake. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

My photo-savvy friends kept telling me that when I went manual it would open up a whole new world. They were right. Thanks, Jenny and Charlotte.

A Summer Beauty

Isn't this butterfly a beauty? I was standing beside the Hiwassee River with one of my grandsons waiting for Gayle (husband) and Darcie (daughter) to come floating by so I could snap their photos. There were butterflies everywhere. This one cooperated by being still for a few seconds. So beautiful yet so delicate.

Double click on it and you can really see the colors.

A Dreamy Place to Read

I took this photo during a movie I was watching. The movie was so bad that I won't even tell you the name of it. I fell in love with this reading nook.

The window is leaded, diamond panes with a deep windowsill. Tucked below that is a row of old books within easy reach of anyone fortunate enough to be lounging on the pillow-covered bed. It's in England, of course.

I'm walking around my house looking for a place to make my own little nook similar to this one. I just bought two antique needlepoint pillows on E-bay yesterday, so I've got a good start. I'll keep you updated.