A Little Bit of Everything...

"The Worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." -James Bayce

I recently finished reading two amazing books.  The first was Plain Truth, by Jodi Picoult.  I picked this book because the story line revolved around an Amish community, and in particular, one Amish family.  I have been intrigued by their way of life since my exposure to the Amish communities with my visit to Pennsylvania in July.  In Plain Truth, a shocking murder shatters the picturesque calm of Pennsylvania's Amish country—and tests the heart and soul of the lawyer who steps in to defend the young woman at the center of the storm.  I had a hard time putting this book down.   Well worth the read.

The second book worth a mention, is Tending Roses, by Lisa Wingate.  This book is a great study on family.  The lessons that are put forth in the book are right on the money, and enriching.  I never wanted this book to end.  Each time I read it, I felt like my soul had been enriched 100 times over, and always put it down feeling encouraged and uplifted.  Here are two examples of life lessons that the main character learns through her grandmother. (lessons we know, but often times forget).  It is a sweet, sweet book!

"Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands.  Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God.  Be a person in whom they can have faith.  When your are old, nothing else you've done will have mattered as much."

"Sometimes it's easier to have sympathy for strangers than it is to have sympathy for your own family.  Which isn't right.  But that's the damage a long trail of bitterness can do.  It dulls the way you look at people--like a wash of watercolor black that makes everything look darker than it is." 

Now turning from the subject of books to our cat, Maggie.  She has a new favorite spot:

She goes here every night...

If you guessed the trashcan, you would be right!  We have to keep it dumped or else she uses the contents for  a toy.  

Next is a photo experiment.  In surfing the web, I found a photographer who had one of her high school seniors blow on a handful of glitter, and the effect was so fun. My grandkids...especially Erynn, are quick to help me with my experiments.  I just wanted to see if blowing glitter would work, and it did.

With fall upon us, our Maximillion Daisies are in bloom and buzzing with insect activity, which I tried to capture.

I am still trying to get that awesome sunset, and I think I have a pretty nice one here.

The sun is just going down

Upclose shot

Driving away from it, and looking back at the sunset.

Upclose again.

New Mexico sunsets are hard to beat.  They are shockingly gorgeous!  
Driving home from taking my sunset pictures, I happened upon this:

I turned around to get this unique picture.  I do not know who did this, but I thought it was funny.  Especially out in the middle of nowhere.

Nice Bra for a telephone pole!