Recent Snapshots

I jumped into the growing stuff this year as someone was offering small yellow pear tomato plants for a good price.  My mom grows hers I thought I could too.
It involved a big pot, a lot of soil, sticks to brace the plants and water every day.  I bought these plants on May 29th.  It's been 2.5 months and I have yet to eat a tomato.  I'm not sure I will.  I probably have 20 little ones on the 2 plants but they seem to be at a stand still.
I understand from gardeners my problem is that I don't have enough sunlight on my balcony to grow almost anything.  I was hoping to have cutting flowers for vases next year for my table but not enough light.  Does anyone know of cutting flowers I can grow with east light please leave me a comment.

I picked chokecherries early last  week but it was too soon.  I had to pick around the red ones and only choose the ripe ones. Not great time. Good thing I only pick a little bit.

I will have to try again soon.

I spent 3 days with Mom and Dad last week.  I was there to take them to medical appointments but I picked raspberries too and did a bit of packing.

My Mom has a wonderful raspberry patch.  The raspberries are big and luscious.  It's easy to pick because Mom always has managed her patch in the off season to tie up the canes, get rid of the extra canes to keep the patch no too crowded.

Unfortunately, this year is the last year for picking raspberries in that patch as they are moving to town someone else will own the patch next year.  SAD!!

This is the best shot I got of the hummingbird at Mom's feeder.  They move so fast.

It was getting late and the light was fading which did not help.

They have a feeder in the yard as well where I have captured some good photos over the years.





 
I took this photo of a key for a challenge on one of my Flickr groups. The challenge was high key which I did not know much about.  I managed to learn a bit about it through the group then took this shot.  The objective is white background, well lit object and no shadow if possible. I am happy with this one.  You can find my photo stream here.

 This is the end result of a visit to hospital emergency at the end of July. I was out taking photos of my tomatoes around 9:00 pm.  Shortly thereafter I noticed a burning sensation and a swelling finger.  It is my ring finger on my right hand.  I soaked it in cold water and tried the butter solution to try and get the ring off.  No luck!  At 10:10 pm I made the decision that I needed to go to the hospital. 
After waiting hours, I finally saw a doctor in the wee hours of the morning.  They tried several tricks to get the ring off with no success so I made the decision to have the ring cut off.  This is my college grad ring which has been the best. I bought the hard metal option and it has not misshapen over the 25 years I have worn it.  The hospital staff used the standard cutting tools to try and remove it. After 45 minutes of trying to cut it with the standard tool and making some progress the nurse headed off to find a better option. I don't know what it was but it was very effective. We cut it right down the center at bottom of the base but we could not spread the ring at all.  So it took 2 more cuts leaving the ring in three pieces but my finger is alright.
I'm not sure what bit me but did it have to be the ring finger?

I have to say I don't know what the lesson is but I am a minimalist in jewelry and only wear a few good pieces all the time.  I'm not sure where I am going from here but I miss my ring.

Sharing at Through My Lens #107 hosted by Mersad.
Share Your Cup #260 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson