The Call: Guitar Cake — Cheryl I have baked and decorated at least a half dozen guitar cakes. Whenever I get started on one, though (like today, for Henry on his birthday), I doubt my abilities to create an edible facsimile of the stringed instrument. This one is pretty good. The Response: Doubt — Jessica […]
The Call: A Pinch of Herbes de Provence (so good on baked chicken)… — Jessica One of my goals for 2013 was to do a better job of planning meals. If I have them written out beforehand, I am much more likely to have the ingredients on hand when it comes time to make them. […]
The Call: Pine Needles — Cheryl When I walk down my road with camera in hand, I employ a rather simple, straightforward approach to creating good photos: I point my camera at whatever the sun has highlighted. The Response: Ouch! — Jessica After two years of aching feet and painful walking, I finally managed to […]
The Call: Huddled Against the Cold — Jessica At least the doves had each other for encouragement… Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who are laboring among you and who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you, and […]
The Call: The Battle Begins — Cheryl This angle doesn’t really convey the number of hobbits, orcs, uruk-hai, dwarves, elves, wargs, spiders and ring wraiths involved in this impending clash, but it seems that Jack has envisioned a miniature Middle Earth battle of epic proportions. The Response: Visual Shapes — Jessica While it’s not always […]
The Call: Happy Birthday, Tommy! — Jessica Today he is an authentic six year old — accept no imitations! (We don’t normally run around without shirts. He requested waffles for his special birthday dinner and then spilled some sticky syrup on himself.) Response: Tilt-Shift Imitation — Cheryl A few months ago, I discovered tilt-shift photography […]
The Call: Feather Abstract — Cheryl We almost live in the woods, so there’s plenty of nature outside my door. That does not mean, however, that I don’t want any of it in my house. Henry found this feather a few years ago, and I’ve held onto it since. Right now, it resides on my […]
The Call: An Abundance of Acorns — Jessica It’s no wonder the squirrels around here are so fat this winter — you should see the acorns just rotting away all over the ground. Catherine, Luke, Danny and I went to the playground this afternoon to walk down by the creek to gather rocks for Catherine’s […]
The Call: Snow Dog — Cheryl Caddie is nearly 13 years old and has arthritis in her back legs. When there’s snow on the ground and a stick to fetch, though, you’d think she was no more than two or three years old. The Response: Drying Pin People — Jessica “Quick Catherine, fetch some paint […]
The Call: Pixie — Jessica Pixie, my daughter’s cavalier spaniel, lies on her lap while she finishes reading her school work. My dear old dog, most constant of all friends. —William Croswell Doane Response: The Family that Plays Together … — Cheryl I’m very thankful that my kids are friends as much as they are […]
The Call: Searching for the Key — Cheryl Yesterday, my father-in-law asked me about creativity. He thinks he has none and wondered about cultivating it. I don’t think there’s any one key to unlocking the secret. It seems to me that cultivating creativity involves a multifaceted strategy that includes giving oneself permission to fail, allowing […]
The Call: Sunrise — Jessica I am very thankful that each day the sun comes up and gives me another opportunity to try and capture its beauty. Everytime, I learn something new and hopefully next time the picture will be that much better. This time, I learned that my windows are really dirty and need […]
The Call: Checkers in Living Color — Cheryl We got Skippity for Christmas. In theory, it’s like checkers. In reality, it’s much more fun. The Response: But What Does it Mean? — Jessica Every time we visit with my mother-in-law, we leave with bags of Polish candy. It’s really good and this particular type is […]
The Call: Returning Order, Slowly — Jessica We do this for the art, not the adulation. I’d rather our music get liked and we get ignored. I don’t want to be adored for anything other than the music. — Andy Partridge This sums up, pretty nicely, how I feel about photography. While it is nice […]