Memorial Weekend...Summer Kick Off !!!

Memorial weekend was so wonderful...We kicked off the Summer with our Czech fundraiser concert held for my son on Sunday...It was a complete success...I will share pics. this week as I get some from family & friends that took them. I am so grateful to the handful of wonderful friends who helped bring the event to fruition and for the friends and church who have supported our son through the whole process. My parents and Gramma also, came along with my aunt and uncle...They were the cheerleaders...Thank you! We also honored and remembered those who lost their lives for our Country with a BBQ with friends.
It was the sweetest way to
 start the Summer off.
Freckles agrees!!!

The food and fellowship was fabulous!
 Mr. Darling had a great time hanging out relaxing after his very long and challenging 3rd year of Seminary. We are thrilled beyond measure that he has just one more year to go until we move on to our ministry.


We all had a lovely time fellow shipping and later playing Bunco...
It was our first time ever playing, and quite addicting actually. 
The best part of the day was being with my little family...
It was a relief to just kick back, let loose and ponder on how
 thankful we are for the blessings that God bestows upon us. Next on the agenda for this week is a bit of sewing, finishing up a couple important things that didn't get finished , make cherry jam and go to a Vintage/Antique Flea Market with my friend...Hope you all will have a great week!

Saturday Afternoon...In The Backyard....

I thought I would go outside and capture some of the beauty in my backyard and get some fresh air after being cooped up in my house for a week with the flu. I am not 100% yet, but think I am getting better, though I am still suffering from low grade fevers and the yuckies... But, I have so much to do. After I post this I will be in the kitchen making Frikadeļu Zupa, a Latvian Soup recipe from my Gramma as well as Pierogies another recipe from Latvia ( Europe ) which we will be serving at the Czech Soiree ( My son's Mission Fundraiser Concert) tomorrow night...Our friends are making some authentic Czech foods and desserts as well. I will share the evening with you all next week. Both my kiddo's will be playing the piano as well as a whole handful of others! Okay so back to my backyard.... Here are little glimpses of what you would find walking around. I love this little tea pot my daughter plays with in her
 Mud Kitchen .

Our roses are in full bloom...They were really on time this Spring, perhaps because we had such a warm Winter. They are beautiful... We have yellow, hot pink, reds, and white roses all along our back border... I can peek right out my window and see them...so pretty!
Ahh my white metal vintage chair...I love it..I thrifted this a couple years
back what a great find for cheap!
Ha ha, here I am garden globe gazing....

Looks like this water feeder needs to be filled, it's dry as a bone...
Another scene from the Mud Kitchen...I think this was a mud pie in the making. Last time Freckles had a friend over there was more that mud pies being made...There was a mud fight... with mud flung EVERYWHERE! It was a mess and Mama was not too happy about it either. I can handle a little mud, but this was over the top, it was a mud murder scene....Thankfully it only took water to wash it all away.
What is this doing out here? FRECKLES!!!! This is an old fork I made curly cue &  use in my kitchen as a little recipe card holder....Hmmm. Okay so if you don't like SPIDERS...You'll want to pass the next picture quick...It is not for the fainted heart...

This was huge creepy looking arachnid...
and gave me the willies. Next!!!!

Ahh my little sunflower strainer...This also belongs in my kitchen...Freckles must have went through the cupboards to add stuff to her mud kitchen. Silly girl. Well , I guess I should go get to work...I have lot's of cooking ahead of me. Hope you all have a lovely Memorial Day Weekend...We will be able to relax Monday with a nice BBQ with friends...So, looking forward to that!

We Went To Africa...

 
Well, sort of. Last weekend we went to The Wild Animal Park with Freckle's Grandparents and Great Gramma. Freckles and I were actually pretty sick that day, though some fresh air did us good. It was a nice day out, not too hot just right. We took it easy for the most part. Since Gramma was in a wheel chair.
 
The best part of the day for Freckles was seeing an owl up close and personal...
We didn't make it up the hill to see the elephants... Maybe next time.
 
Great Gramma treated us to ice cream cones which were perfect for sore throats mind you.
Thanks Gramma!

Great Gramma even got Freckles a little souvenir....
Gramma and Pop Pop got her a barn owl stuffed animal to add to her growing collection. I am sure we'll get a picture later... Pop Pop had a bunch of pictures on his camera but didn't send them our way...so if your reading this Dad...e-mail me the pics. LOL!!!
Next stop, we took a ride on the wild safari tram through Africa...
I told you we went to Africa!
 
We even got to see some rare animals...like the John Deere and the bobcats above.
 I guess their re-doing the lions den.
We had an extra guest for lunch...This silly Haron ate a fry right out of my hand and wasn't a bit scared of me. He must be used to all the humans from the park. That was pretty sweet!


Later that afternoon we finished off the day watching the bird show...Freckles was thrilled that an owl flew just feet away from our heads. It was a fun filled day regardless of being sick the whole time. I think we are slowly on the mend...A church member brought us a meal the other night which was helpful since I have been running fevers all week. So nice to think someone even thought of us...Since Mr. Darling has been so heavy into the books finishing off his third year in Seminary...He's finally done and now preparing for a Summer internship until Fall. It will be a nice change of scenery and pace. Thanks again to all who left comments and e-mails your so sweet to send get well wishes!
 Have a great Friday!!!

Tid Bits...

Just a quick post to say hello.
It has been a week since I got hit with the flu. To top it all off my whole family got it. I have so much to do, just needing to shake off this flu before I can get anything done, this is the first day in a week I haven't had a fever. I have some sewing plans in store for Freckles and more canning. Sadly I don't have a garden full of food to can so I have to get it from the market...awaiting prices to drop on fruit. With Memorial Weekend upon us prices went down for cherries and peaches...
looks like some canning is in store after all!
YAY!!!

I also have lot's of cooking to do to prepare for Maestro and Freckles Piano recital/Czech Soiree fundraiser. I mentioned over a month ago my son will be going to Czech/Praha for a three week missions trip this Summer. We have been trying to raise money for his trip with the garage sale we had last month, a car wash and the soiree this weekend...We are setting it up like a dinner music theatre with over 12 pianists playing and Czech food. I hope to get pictures for ya all to see

I will end with that ...short but sweet. Please keep our family in prayer for getting better.

Wishing you all good health in return.

Blessings!!!

Saturday Morning Cinnamon Biscuits & Photo Tips...

Good day!
 I just wanted to pop in and thank you for the well wishes through comments and e-mails. Friday was a better day for me except Freckles got the same thing now...Poor dear was a mess all day with a sore throat and low grade fevers. I am sure she will feel much better for the zoo today. We will take it slow with Gramma and Great Gramma. Oh yeah, I wanted to share this recipe I actually shared back in 2009... very simple recipe for Cinnamon Biscuits here. As I was photographing these...I thought I could share with you how I take care of my dark pictures. Number one I don't have a high end camera...Just a little camera that was less than $100 bucks. I am not complaining... I am very thankful to even have a camera to capture moments. One day though...I will invest in a very nice camera...For now... I deal.
Alright that being said... I love taking pictures...I don't like using flash, since it really makes pictures look blah. So if I don't have enough light during the day I have to tweak and edit it through my picture program... I store all my pictures on Picasa.com....which is free...I can then crop, enhance etc... there or there is an option you click through Picnik....These photos I edited with Picnic.
(before)
Notice how this photo is dark....I uploaded it to Picasa then clicked the Picnik button option. Then I clicked Edit...Then clicked exposure. I moved the top bar to the right adjusting the exposure setting to about 26 and the bottom bar contrast to about 31. Then I clicked save to Picasa... You then have the option to save a new copy or replace...I usually press replace..unless I am going to edit that same picture in different manners.
(after)
You will have to play around with the exposure/contrast as well as other effects you want to accomplish. I love it...I have found that tweaking my pics. they really look better. Some pics. are harder to edit than others though... If a room is wayyyyy too dark...The picture itself will look fuzzy even when you try to edit it. Unless you have a realllly good camera that is. I have also become the best of friends with my crop button option... I just love that you can cut out unwanted background or surrounding area...It brings your subject in so much closer. You also have the option to sharpen a picture if you think it is a bit blurry...
This too has helped with many pictures.
(before)
I am pretty happy with most of my picture results. I can't complain too much... Again I am grateful to even capture a picture at all. I hope this has helped a little. Perhaps you already knew all this...Perhaps you learned something new... I hope you can benefit either way. By all means...If you have any tips for me...please send me an e-mail or a comment. I'd love to hear your take on making photos better when you have a mediocre camera!

(after)
 I hope this will inspire you to embrace
 your cameras this weekend and shoot some photos and give them some sparkle!
P.S This is only my opinions and my own experience. I  am not a professional and have no clue really what I am talking about when it comes to photography...Only what I have personally learned from experience and playing with my own photo's.

Have a delightful weekend!!!!!

After The Rain....

A RAINBOW is surely to follow.

This week has been dreary and rainy.... on top of that, I woke up really sick the other day. BOOOOO!So, what to do on a rainy day when your sick and have no gumption. A little light crafting in happy colors will surely bring the rainbow inside these dark walls. I took a RAINBOW of colors in nail polishes and painted Freckles, fingers and toes in RAINBOW fashion. She loved it!

They instantly brightened up the room.

We even enjoyed a bowl full of RAINBOW colored candies...Yummy!

I ran a fever all last night...and slept in really late as my fever finally broke. I actually had a little more umph to me this afternoon. We decided since I wasn't fully up to pare that we would do a quiet craft...That way, I can still get my rest and Freckles would have something to do. We pulled out our friendship bracelet making kit our friends gave us...and picked out our colors & went at it.

We sat for a spell this afternoon weaving our threads...It was so nice just to sit together, with a little chit chat in between ( I can't talk much...since I have a bad sore throat). Freckles is already, ready to move on to another bracelet...But I told her she would have to complete this one in order to move on. Sometimes she still has such a short attention span...it must be her artistic self...Artists are known to be a little flighty.

Their coming right along...perhaps we are only 1/4 of the way done...a couple more hours and we should have a bracelet to wear. I am working on a bracelet for her....She is my best buddy after all. (wink)

 

Through the rain and dark clouds that were upon us this week, nothing could stop the sun and the rainbow from coming into our house today! Have a cheerful week ahead.... I gotta get better before the weekend since Gramma & Grampa are coming to take us to the zoo.... Lot's of rest, vitamin C, water,sunshine and RAINBOWS of course!