My 14 year old nephew made this commercial for his entry in the Paint the State competition. It is really amazing! And it doesn’t contain the disturbing content that most anti-meth ads do. It shows how wonderful life is, but can be blown away by meth. Honestly though, life is so beautiful and fragile that ANY addictive drug can destroy it. Not just meth. It’s heart breaking to hear of people getting caught in this dangerous trap that destroys so many lives. Share this video – not only because it will help my nephew with his competition – but because it might influence someone to be strong and avoid making the mistake of trying meth. Just click on the YouTube icon in the lower right corner to be taken to the YouTube site for their “share” option, or use the ones below this post. Thank you!

Took this tonight. Nothing beats a sunset over the Idaho desert

Dear Summer,

Why don’t you want to stay?
I miss your burning kisses
and your soul warming embrace.

When Spring stopped by to tell me
that you were on your way
Her enthusiasm was lacking
then she quickly went away.

All winter time I longed for you
and knew return was nigh
For all the time we’ve spent together
could not be cast aside.

Now your solstice is upon us
It’s not optional, but still
Since you’ve hardly said hello,
the event will lose its thrill.

Autumn will be my last hope
for at least a warm goodbye
Then Winter, so dependable
will long be at my side.

~Cindy

It’s night. The dogs bark and run to the window alerting us of danger.  Jim follows and calls to me. I hurry to see, then dash for my camera. Jim was already on his way outdoors to handle the most dreaded part of poultry ownership – the culling of the flock. Now we both head out into the night.

Outdoors the sky is black, aside from the blinding flashes of light that are nearly constant. I start my count, but I don’t get past one-one thousand, for the sharp cracks of thunder are nearly instant. North, south, west, and straight overhead – the attack rages on from nearly every direction. The sound reminds one of our dogs of gunfire and we wonder what terrifying memories the thunder has recalled. She runs for cover as her masters, now armed with their weapons of choice, head out into the dangers of this night.

Amidst the horror of the thunder and the lightening, sounds of imperfect poultry screaming their last breath echo through the night. And I, with my camera mounted to a lightening rod tripod, perch on the front hill for a better view. The danger is real. Lightening is threatening from all about. In my mind the legend of Aunt Grace is quickly retold.  A soul’s warning of danger – as if I’d forgotten how her life was cut short by the strike of a lightening bolt. “But I must get the shot!” I argue in response, as I press the shutter open yet again for another chance at capturing those elusively ominous fingers of light in this huge sky of black. My skin crawls with the charge in the air. Finally, I grab my gear . . . and run.

(Originally written as an email for friends and family last week after photographing a lightening storm, and what was going through my mind as I did so. Since I am way behind on my blog, I thought I’d pick this easy addition to post just for fun )

It was my first ever slide show made with some of my original digital art projects back in 2003, back when I did some serious playing with my photography in Photoshop. Daydreams Art was a brand new name and website then – thousands of pictures and many site revisions ago. This show’s been viewed so many times over the years and some sites still link to the downloadable EXE file still hosted on my server (for PC’s only). Feeling nostalgic recently, thinking about where I’ve been and where I’m going, I dug out the original and thought I’d share it here. So I invite you to take a break from reality, turn on your speakers, and enjoy some of my first Daydreams

Not only is this the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever tried, they’re photogenic too! I love chunky cookies. I’ve baked these several times in the last little while and they’ve been such a hit. The secret’s in the pudding! They’re too good not to share, so here’s the recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.5 oz) package instant Cheesecake pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups flour (bread flour helps make them chunky)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chocolate chips
  (white, semi-sweet, and/or milk chocolate chips – just pour in what looks good)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (177 degrees C.)
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Dough will be very thick. Fold in nuts, coconut, and chocolate chips.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. They don’t spread out much, so if you want a bigger cookie than this, you’ll need to adjust the temperature and cooking time.

Note - The above is how I make them. You can use different flavors of pudding, leave out or adjust the amounts of the coconut or nuts if you want, and add as many or few chocolate chips as you want. They’ll still be delicious!

We got some baby chicks recently and I just had to take some stock photos of them. They’re too cute! We also have an old Bible that was printed in 1890 that’s so cool. And yeah, some candy for props of course Jim was the chicken wrangler and the chicks were so funny we were in hysterics, I wish we had a video of that shoot. Click the play button in the lower left corner to see some fun pics.

I love Steve Martin and think he’s hilarious, but this is a side of him I never knew existed. Amazing!

From our home to yours!

~ Cindy, Jim, Bandit, and Calamity Blue

And here’s one of my favorite Christmas time songs from the fun classic “ELF”: