The Call: Fret Job — Cheryl

Dennis is making excellent progress on Henry’s handmade guitar. Today, he installed the frets.

The Response: Handmade Handmaid — Jessica

That’s a really bad pun for such a lovely lady and I am truly sorry. I started out taking a picture of a tatted lace doily that I made in high school and then tried a piece of pottery from my oldest son’s 2nd grade class. Nothing was really working out all that great when, as I was walking out of the room, my eye was immediately drawn to the evening sunlight and the fabulous rim lighting on my statue of the Blessed Virgin. “Well, she is the ‘handmaid’ of the Lord,” I thought.

The Call: Little Drummer Boy — Jessica

Tommy started out playing the drums on his brothers’ Beatles Rock Band playstation game. Then he graduated to an electronic kit that we had set up in our bedroom. (Yeah, I know, don’t ask, you don’t want to know!) Finally, he insisted that he wanted a real drum kit and has been playing on it everyday since. For a six year old he can keep a pretty good beat.

Response: Wizard’s Light Show — Cheryl

It was like playing Beat the Clock: bang the ball on the countertop in the darkened bathroom, get the lights flashing, and snap a photo before the flashing stopped or one of the kids opened the door and let in the light. Of course, I couldn’t keep Jack and Stella at bay for long, and Jack decided that his Lego wizard needed in on the action.

The Call: Photographic Studies — Cheryl

Dennis and I bought this digital SLR as an anniversary gift to each other in 2007. Determined to use it, and eventually use it well, I spent a few weeks taking photos everyday and emailing one to friends and family. The shutter bug didn’t really bite, though, until Dennis started shooting at one of Luke’s baseball tournaments and handed the camera to me. Since then, I’ve shot thousands and thousands of photos and have learned TONS along the way.

The Response: Bookfrog? — Jessica

Once you learn to read, it is possible to learn almost anything your heart desires.

The Call: Lost Sock Bin — Jessica

Every time I do laundry, I add a couple of mateless socks to this stash. Every other week or so, I go through and match up the pairs that have been reunited. It’s amazing how fast they accumulate. Just a month or so ago, I finally threw out all the socks that didn’t have mates. Now, I have a whole ‘nother lot of single socks.

Response: Dreary at the Graveyard — Cheryl

The day started out as a beauty, but somewhere along the way, the sun and blue skies got lost in the clouds.

The Call: Cast of Characters — Cheryl

When I was growing up, my favorite aunt was an Avon lady. She kept my sister and me in cute accessories like these.

The Response: Big Box of Legos — Jessica

Legos are not accessories. They are necessities.

The Call: Easter Monday — Jessica

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee,
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Response: Tulip Shoots Amid the Detritus — Cheryl

Pied Beauty
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things —
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced — fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Over the Fireplace — Cheryl

Dennis and I bought this painting outside our local Safeway years and years ago. He tells me that the style is not original, but it’s real paint on real canvas. All I know is that its beautiful, rich colors and rounded shapes make me happy.

The Response: Easter Basket — Jessica

I wish I could say that this is an original Edge 80 shot but I haven’t gotten that good at getting the slice of focus with that lens yet. Instead this is a photoshop original. Which, I will admit, when I get the time to play in it, makes me feel like all my shots are original.

The Call: Colored Eggs — Jessica

Twelve cups of dye — an infinite combination of colorful eggs.

We’re getting ready for Easter.

Response: Turning the Pages — Cheryl

I read poems and stories hundreds — or even thousands — of years old, and I’m struck by the recurring themes: loyalty, betrayal, pride, honor, ambition. Perhaps more striking is the realization that one theme underpins the rest: the need to feel loved. I then turn to the Bible and find that God has always, and always will, supply what is sought, for his love and mercy are infinite.

The Call: Striped Socks and Pink Bungees — Cheryl

My pink and black Bellicon rebounder arrived on Saturday, and it has already gotten hours of use: by me and everyone else in the family.

The Response: Good Friday — Jessica

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” John 12:23

The Call: Storm Clouds — Jessica

The weather man said that we could see some rain showers “here and there.” It looks like our area is in danger of being in the “here and there” zone.

Response: Liberty Got Wrinkled and Blurred — Cheryl

When I saw this brand new flag flying at the driving range, I thought about our nation and how different it is from what our Founding Fathers envisioned. We’ve lost so many freedoms and are in danger of losing so many more.

The Call: Willow Catkins — Cheryl

Signs of Spring are scattered hither and yon, and it is heartening to see them.

The Response: Scattered Thoughts — Jessica

Playing with double exposures, again. My thoughts are as numerous and disorganized as the pebbles scattered around the ground.

The Call: Empty Frame — Jessica

Somewhere I heard that a photo isn’t finished until it’s printed. Of the 29,000 photos currently sitting on my hard drive do you know how many I’ve printed? Less than 30. Isn’t that awful? Our walls are nearly bare and my hard drive is full — but nobody can see the contents of the hard drive.

One of my goals or resolutions for this year was to print some of my photographs. I’m going to start now.

Response: Trees Near Sunset — Cheryl

In this photo, the trees look bare, but I know that the multitude of branches hold a multitude of buds just aching to bust out and add some green to the view.

The Call: Neglected Kindle — Cheryl

I’ve suffered from my fair share of writer’s block, especially in college and when I worked as a newspaper reporter. Now, I’m faced with reader’s block, a condition in which you just can’t force yourself to pick up a book and read it. I generally get in a chapter or two of whatever is on my bedside table after I climb into bed, but during the day, when I actually have some time to read, I often find that I just can’t do it. It’s especially true for the books I’ve downloaded to my Kindle. After spending more time at the computer than I’d like each day, I find it very difficult to motivate myself to read more words on a screen.

The Response: Stack — Jessica

We’ve got all kind of blocks around here: wooden, plastic, cloth, creative, time… I had a severe time block today because of the surprise snow storm, the altered schedules and the impending family visit that requires a heightened degree of cleaning and other preparations.

The Call: A Ghost of Myself — Jessica

To carry on with our Palm Sunday theme, I am always reminded by the readings today, that it was the women that stayed loyal (and close by) to Jesus until the very end — the women (one of whom I chose as my confirmation saint) and John.

Response: Vintage in Pink — Cheryl

I have a hutch filled with my mom’s bone china teacups and saucers (along with Hummels, plates, crystal). The linens I inherited from her fill the drawers of more than one dresser. All of these lovely vintage treasures are beautiful, and many were handmade by Mom. Since I have little room for it all, I’ve been tempted to give some away. That, though, somehow seems disloyal.