SpruceHill

Bright color for a rainy day

Last night our family went to my Mom and Dad's house for Sunday dinner. My Mom is a very talented gardener. She has a lot of different flowers that I do not have here at Spruce Hill. Lucky for me I had my camera with me! I spent the first 20 minutes or so when we got there taking pictures before the clouds returned. The sun was not out much, but enough to get some pretty shots.

 

The flowers in My Mom's garden are always bigger, brighter and healthier then the flowers in my garden. I am not sure what her secret is but she is doing something I am not.

Since it is such a rainy yucky day here on Spruce Hill. I thought I would share a bit of bright color and sunshine with you!

I would also like to send these flowers all the way to California to my friend Mary W. and her Mom BL. Hope they brighten up your day! I hope you are back on your feet soon!

Trip to Havre De Grace, Maryland

Yesterday Miss H and I traveled the short distance from our home to spend the day in Havre De Grace, Maryland. It is a petty little town at the mouth of the Chesapeake bay. It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect. We did a little shopping. There are so many little shops, all very unique.

 

Our favorite shops were the antique shops. We could have gotten lost in some of them! They were filled with great finds.

 

I had fun taking pictures in the shops, I took most of my photos of blue glass. I think I might have to go back and get some.

 

Miss H bought this pretty ring at an antique shop with her baby sitting money. I thought she made a good choice. Isn't it pretty?

 

After shopping and lunch we stopped at the local ice cream shop and then headed over towards the water.

 

This is the Concord point lighthouse. Concord Point Light is a 36-foot tower that was built in 1827. It is the second oldest tower lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay and the oldest continuous lighthouse in Maryland. The tower is built at the point where the Susquehanna River meets the tidal flow of the Chesapeake Bay and navigation is very hazardous around this area.

 

Across the street visit the newly restored Keeper's House which tells the interesting story of Lighthouse Keeper John O'Neil, as well as the history of Havre de Grace's best known landmark.

  

 

It is such a gorgeous spot. I could have stayed there sitting on a bench for hours eating my cappuccino crunch ice cream. Just watching the world sail by.

 

There is a small board walk that meanders along the water. We walked along and took photos of all kinds of birds and all kinds of wildlife.

 

This guy looked really scared. I think he thought if he was still enough we would not notice him.

  

 

Here is the view from the board walk. The views were spectacular. From this point there were boats coming in and out of the marina just beyond this house.

 

It was such a fun day. I really enjoyed my time with Miss H. I can't wait to go back.

Walking in the woods and a secret

Time to share more from our creek walk yesterday. There were so many pictures to take and so little time! It was truly enjoyable poking around in the woods to see what I could see.

We left off yesterday with fern fronds, So for Gin I will give you more curly ferns.

 

In the last week or so I have had several people asking me what kind of camera I use. I am very flattered and consider this a great compliment, I however have to admit that it really is not all me. I shoot all of my pictures with this. I shoot everything on auto mode, it is totally point and shoot. So now you know my secret.

 

The reason I went for this camera is because, I wanted to be able to take macro shots like these. Without spending too much money on camera lenses. My camera fits right in my pocket and I like it that way. I can also take regular photos too though I tend to like the macro setting the best.

 

I do however lust after a bigger fancier camera with nice lenses and a lot more shooting options. This camera is my first digital camera. I stuck to my art school roots for way too long and thought I needed a film camera to do this. Then I woke up and smelled the roses. I do have a nice fancy film camera I am thinking of putting on ebay soon. I will never go back.

 

Then we need to talk about photo editing. Until say about February all my shots were SOOC (straight out of camera) Now I edit my photos with Picasa and Picnik. I have not yet moved on to photoshop, It is a lot of money to spend and I am not quite sure which version I want. Any suggestions?

 

While in the woods I also found these little flowers. I think they are wild bleeding hearts.

 

They were everywhere I turned, I couldn't get enough of the pretty little lantern like flowers.

 

 

So now you know all my secrets. I hope I did not disappoint you!

Today Miss H and I took a little day to ourselves. Today was her last day of spring break. The other girls have been in school these last two days and I have really enjoyed spending time with her one on one.

I have lots of photos to share for tomorrow so stop by and see where we went!

A surprise at the creek

Miss H and I headed off to the creek this afternoon to get a bit of fresh air. We were wondering just how high the water would be after all the rain we have had in the last few days. We were standing on the cliff overlooking the creek and Miss H said "What is that black thing in the water, is it a bird?" At first I did not see it, but after a bit of pointing and looking. There it was!

 

A beaver, just swimming up stream against the current.

     

I had to zoom in pretty far with my lens.

  

But I got a couple of good shots.

   

We stood there for a while and then decided to walk down to see if we could get a better look, but by the time we got down the hill he was gone. It was amazing to see this animal within walking distance of our house. We were a bit puzzled though, I did not expect a beaver in such a fast moving creek.

On the way back up the hill, there seemed to be things everywhere that I could take pictures of. I will share the rest tomorrow. But here is one for now.

 

A fern frond, just starting to uncurl.

More tomorrow.

It's been four months

  

Update to my post from yesterday. My check up went well and I am happy to report that I am healthy. I do not have lymphedema in my left arm like I thought I might. The pain I am experiencing is very normal and hopefully will go away slowly over time. For now I am going to try to exercise more and strengthen my left side.

Tomorrow it will be four months since my last oncology doctor's appointment. I am always very nervous before my appointment. I worry about every ache and pain I have, wondering if my cancer has come back, wondering if I will have the privilege of living a cancer free life.

Because my cancer was an early stage IIA, I do not get scans and blood tests, which I guess is a good thing. It is hard though to sit and wait and wonder if or when it will come back. I had triple negative breast cancer.

It is now commonly understood that breast cancer is not one form of cancer, but many different "subtypes" of cancer

These subtypes of breast cancer are generally diagnosed based upon the presence, or lack of, three "receptors" known to fuel most breast cancers: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The most successful treatments for breast cancer target these receptors.

Unfortunately, none of these receptors are found in women with triple negative breast cancer. In other words, a triple negative breast cancer diagnosis means that the offending tumor is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative and HER2-negative, thus giving rise to the name "triple negative breast cancer." On a positive note, this type of breast cancer is typically responsive to chemotherapy. Because of its triple negative status, however, triple negative tumors generally do not respond to receptor targeted treatments. Depending on the stage of its diagnosis, triple negative breast cancer can be particularly aggressive, and more likely to recur than other subtypes of breast cancer.

You can find out more information about triple negative breast cancer HERE on the triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation site.

Cross posted on Mothers With Cancer

On a different note I have added some advertising to my blog. I have been going back and forth on this issue for some time. I decided to give it a try and see how it goes.