sno-globe: The Spiritual Gift Piece for Saying Thanks! :-)

Artist: Lenny La Rue, IPA
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Card: US$4.83
Print: from US$20.66

sno-globe: The Spiritual Gift Piece for Saying Thanks! :-)

...a drop of water on the leaf of a weed in a garden of roses. He’s the Master Of Details, isn’t He? :-)

Of the more than 160,000 photographs I’ve taken in the last two and a half years, this is the one that garners the most positive comments and the most admiration. I’ve always loved it but hadn’t know the depth of others’ enjoyment in it until I started showing it in prints and online. Here, it’s the shot I’ve taken with the most comments and the most ‘favouritings’.

The very glory of what He does on such an incredibly small scale shows in this simple macro snapshot of a weed.

If I had to choose a single photograph I’d call a “masterpiece”, this one or “magnolia” would tie for that title. All profit from the sale of this image is pledged to be donated to the church or pastor of the buyer’s choice. If no choice is specified, I will chose one and note it in my Red Bubble journal. (Please see comments to understand what happened, the complete details of what is planned to happen, and why it will happen, if you’d like to know.)

AS FEATURED IN: Flowers in Macro, Macro Water Photography, Miniatures and Mammoths; Extreme Close-Ups, and the Globes, Spheres and Curves Group! “Yeah!” :-D

sno-globe: The Spiritual Gift Piece for Saying Thanks! :-) belongs to the following groups:

# 1 ARTISTS OF REDBUBBLE , Complex Simplicity of Art, ! 100% !, ** Super Macro Photography (Two Per Day ), Abstract Realism, All About Water, Americas ~ Rural, Urban, Wild, Free, Everyday Life, Extreme Close-Ups, Freedom to Shine, Friends of RedBubble, Globes, Spheres and Curves - 2 per day, IPA -International Photographers Alliance, Live, Love, Dream: , Macro Water Photographic Gallery, Miniatures and Mammoths, Nature's Wonders, PostCard Style (Describe your image please) Limit 2 per day), Put Out! or Get Out!!!, Shadows & Reflections, Shameless Self-Promotion, Stillness Speaks **Max 2 uploads per day** {{No NUDES, ABSTRACT, CANDIDS or ACTION IMAGES}}, The true beauty, The Urban Environment, United States and Western United States Artists and Photographers Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters

sno-globe: The Spiritual Gift Piece for Saying Thanks! :-) by Lenny La Rue, IPA

Ilmari Fabritius

Nice! Reminds me of this Christmas glass ball or what ever it is called when you shake it and there snows in it :-D
CinB

cool shot, makes me feel chrismasie! great detail!
Jonicool

Wonderful macro!
artsthrufotos

nice pastel color and great macro!
jacqi

Beautiful, I love the teeny crystal fingers feathering over the water drop.
Bigcity

Nice macro.
PPPhotoArt

stunning macro, well done!!!!!!!!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thanks to all of you for the awesome comments! I may be new to Red Bubble but people have made me feel like I can hang out here a while. LOL!

Ilmari, you and CinB nailed it exactly. The title of the shot is a takeoff of the Christmastime snow globes most of us either had or played with once.

jacqi, this droplet of water was too small for me to see well until I got home and downloaded the picture. Once I saw the “fingers” in the leaf I almost kicked myself for not taking multiple shots, as I do now. I will forever be trying to find a weed like this one again, hoping that some gardener gets sloppy just one more time. :-D

(Does it ‘take anything away’ from the beauty if I say the water came from sprinklers and not recent rain? If so, please forget I said anything, OK?)
Michael Gatch

Really great shot. Love how such simple things can be so interesting. You have done well to capture this. Thanks so much for sharing.
totty23

I was just wondering if that hazey blue colour was already there or have you added that in? Im new here too, what is your fave thing to take pics of? im strugling to find time at the moe to take pics wi my work and rubbish scottish weather!! love for any comments on mine.

sam
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Unfortunately, I’m colourblind so I don’t know where the colour is that you’re referring to. My computer is set to show me where colours it can identify are located but shades and hues fool both of us. LOL! However, there was no retouching done to the original image other than cropping, noise removal, and a slight overall clarifying of the contrasts. Favourite subject? I wish I knew but I know it isn’t people. People are really picky, a lot more picky than banana slugs or female hummingbirds. :~~) The camera was a long-discontinued Olympus IR-500 ‘point and shoot’. And I’ll be into your work as soon as I post this! ;~~)
Karirose

Lenny, this is amazing. It has taken me days to decide what to say and I still don’t know! (sigh) Suffice it to say that it is a delightful shot. I really like the reflections in the drop of water.
Dorothy Venter

..a drop of water on the leaf of a weed in a garden of roses. This is a poem to go with an unbelievable shot. Well done.
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you both very much! I am a writer who hasn’t focused on that while trying to get photography into Red Bubble but I’ll sleep on the description as a poem and see what comes of it. However, if it inspires YOU, by all means start writing and I’ll add it to the description a credit you. :-)
Wendella Reeves

This shot is wonderful!
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you!
machandel

That looks like a perfect shot.
LindaR

amazing shot!!! Just lovely ~ !
Lenny La Rue, IPA

machandel, you just made my (up until now crummy) day! And thank you LindaR. I just hit your site and took a swift look at the huge body of great work you have here. If you think this is lovely, I’m doubly happy today. LOL!

By the way, there are sooooooooooooo many great artists commenting on so many things that I’d never upload anything else if I gave all their site’s the proper amount of time they deserve. But please be assured that I look at every site from people who comment, I often put the ones I didn’t get a chance to see well on my “Watch List”, and I wish I had the time to comment on so many absolutely extraordinary artists’ work! If I don’t mention you or yours, please know I looked anyway. When I run out of my current uploads, I’ll take more time to explore. Thanks again, ALL of you! :-D
Olga

Best ever!!!!
heathernicole00

amazing
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Again, thanks to all of you! ;-)
greenfrog153

Beautiful image Lenny.
smurfette57

reminisent of snow globe great macro detail perspective sharp great texcture
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you both! :-D
funkyfacestudio

This is one of my favorites, It’s so delicate and perfect, I love how the snowflakes are magnified in the droplet.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

And to hear your praise of a water drop is extremely gratifying! You are the Drip Master and I can only aspire to catching YOUR mastery! However, with the low-powered flash and some highspeed shutter action, I might take a shot at something inspired by you and your work. I will have to be pretty much colourless until someone helps me with that part. But the flash should make it easier to ‘stop the action’ somewhere cool. Trial-and-error until I get bored or frustrated or both! LOL!
Alison Gainge

simply beautiful !
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

I thank you much! :-)
hallucingenic

amazing capture! beautifully done i love it :D
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you so very much! :-)
Nancy Polanski

I can only repeat all the wonderful comments that have gone before mine, but I will add one thing. God IS awesome.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Matthew 11:15 :-)
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you all so very much. This piece has obviously touched many of you in one way or another and that’s exactly what it was supposed to do. :-) But your comments warm my heart since I had the opportunity to be behind the camera for this image.

You know what, people? I’m going to have to accept the special nature of this photograph as that which came thru my spiritual gift and donate my proceeds from any sales of it in Red Bubble to the churches of your choice. If you buy a copy of this piece, please let me know where you’d like for me to send any profit I get from your purchase and I will do that if you give me the name of the church or pastor, address, and a name to send it “in care of”. Funny how it took me so long to see this but I’m soooooooooooooo human. LOL!

I suppose this means you’ll have to either start buying it and telling others to do so as well to make the gift do the giving, huh? If you’d like, I’ll also post the information in my Red Bubble journal, including the amount being forwarded to the church/pastor. That way, you can see what your purchase has created as well as the purchases of any others willing to let the information be public. Any money not designated to a specific church/pastor will be donated in the name of ‘Red Bubble’ to the church of my choice and I will post that information in my journal as well.

Again, thanks for ALL of your kind comments and your inspiration to do what I should have known to do all along. (Sometimes, I have a stiff neck, if you know what I mean. LOL!) And a special thank you to Nancy Polanski for the clarity I needed. You rock!

Be well, all and please help make this an open acknowledgment of The Place all gifts come from!

Lenny La Rue
Wildwings

This is a fabulous macro. Love the clarity of details and color. Very often the eye doesn’t see hidden beauty but you certainly did when you captured this shot. This is a favorite of mine.
8daab

This is a fantastic piece of work. The color is excellent. What I love is the magnification of the weeds tiny elements within the drop of water. The sharpness and clarity of that refraction is incredible excellent work
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Wildwings and 8daab, your comments are greatly appreciated!
ApeArt

wow
Amanda Hammock

This is wonderful. I love the detail in it.

Fantastic job.
Nancy Stafford

awsome photo
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Appreciate the new wonderful comments! :-)
Les Magee

gorgoeus- wonder of His creation in miniature!
Ozcloggie

I’m not surprised. It stands out, when viewing the first thumbnails in your collection. (Thank you for your comments on my latest writing. Writing it I wasn’t too emotional. Reading your reaction did affect me!)
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Ozcloggie, I’m not sure if you’re a better writer, painter, photographer or musician but I’m sure you are one precious person. God bless you, my friend.
Farmncamera

What a world we live in. God’s fingerprints are all over it. Everything is a reflection of God.. Our finite minds can not comprehend the world we live in, nor the world beyond the stars. As it is infinite. I have captures similar simple things, that make you know there is a God.
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Elaine, I couldn’t have said it better. Thank you!
Cathy L. Gregg

Wow! I love this. It is just beautiful. The best part is you saw it and photographed it. Most people would just walk on by. Nice Capture!
sweetscent62

So very beautiful… : ) Wen
Larasolnishko

I think all seasons reflect in that drop of water. It has mysteriouse property and look like as a dream, I will safe it as my favorit and will write piece of poetry to that drop….Magical, delicate, unforgetable…
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you very much, Larasolnishko! Please BubbleMail it to me when you’ve finished. I’d LOVE to read it!!!
Roland Schicht

WoW!
handprintz

Love this lenny,and for all the times l have gone through your folio l have never seen it !!this is so very beautiful,well captured
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you very much, especially for favouriting it. :-) What I’m doing these days is looking back at the art I think either got lost in the shuffle or not on my front page enough and “2nd Chancing” them along with newer pieces. If they bomb twice, I know they suck and everyone DID see them the first time. LMAO!
KristaLynn1807

WOW JUST AMAZING
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thank you. :-)
Sean Farragher

gorgeous shot
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you very much, sir! :-)
Carla Jandelle...

for so many reasons Lenny? i can see why people love this so much!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks honey! It gets booted back up to the top of my images about once a month ‘by popular demand’. ;-)
aroha

beautiful! the detail is just stunning, and lovely colours
Lenny La Rue, IPA

Thanks much, aroha!
valzart

Oh woot woot congratz stunning macro..wondrous in magical macro land eh? ;} Val hugzz
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

:-D Macro is wonderful!
Elana Bailey

Fantastic macro and I love the little snow crystals. Well done.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you! I can’t even begin to imagine how small they are. It wasn’t a big drop of water; sunlight on it was all I could see with the naked eye. But I’d recently done some wallowing in wet grass and liked those shots of water. LOL! Some of the now-visible features inside this tiny world can’t be bigger than 1/100th of an inch in length!
RosaCobos

The chilliness of the moment….
offers a new posibility of getting into soft shading.
We love macro…because our senses are not able to capt but a tiny part of reality.
And the way things are enhanced and multdimensioned isnfantastic.
We then…sense that our soul has much more force..and vision…which somehow makes us too feel our intelligence and our spirit.
We can then, simpathy with scienctist…who devote themselves to looking Life through the microscope and find extreme spiritualiy and beauty in the way particles, atoms and molecules express their energy of Life….
I love it….!!!! it is in my human substance to love it….but I love the dew too…..and the mist…and find that water…is really a true miracle.
Rosa
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

The smaller you look, the bigger the perspective seems. :-)
JOHAN (photowa...

CONGRATS ON YOUR FEATURE ITS A FANTASTIC PHOTO .........JOHAN
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

I hadn’t gotten my notifications yet so this is the first I’ve heard of a featuring! Woo hoo! and thank you! :-)
RoxyLust

xCONGRATS ON YOUR FEATUREDx
great work xxx
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks!
Sensiworld

Stunning and congrats !!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Muchos gracias! (I think I got that right!) :-)
Darren Post

Amazing! ... Love how the small fibers are magnified to look like trees and the little sun (flash mark) in your sno-globe. Incredible detail… :-)
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks for looking so deeply into the drop and outside the drop. Quite some time ago, I posted sno-globe for critical review by professionals and photographers with much more experience than I. Some of their suggestions were: recompose the shot and lose that distracting tiny drop on the left side of the leaf; remove the flare for the same reason, and; turn the entire thing into black and white since the colours are so muted anyway. I did all of those edits and tried to post them in that forum but never got it to work so I never did get the follow-ups. LOL! But I feel so odd about changing this shot, I did some serious digging in hundreds of thousands of shots since 2000. I finally found the master and it had 6 shots with it. 4 of those are just not good for one obvious reason or another. But the other 2 are ‘mine to play with’ and I’ll revisit this edit from time to time so see if I want to try something else.

The thing that’s MOST important for me is to have multiple file numbers so I can keep full personal control over an image while selling a ‘shot’ with a different file name. Finding the masters of sno-globe was one of the happiest days of my life, as I wasn’t even sure I kept them, much less took a burst of multiple shots. In those days, I had the spare memory in the camera and didn’t always use it. I also started out with the terrible habit of trashing file names when I renamed a shot. Losing a few shots to posts that took ALL the rights after I posted to them cured me of THAT foolishness the hard but quick way!

Thanks again for your “critical eye” response! I can NEVER get enough of those, positive or negative. :-D
stevedobert

superb shot.had to hold so still to get this clarity.makes anyone love macro
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you very much, stevedobert. My camera at the time was a tiny Olympus IR-500 ‘pocket rocket’. It had this WONDERFUL design: a heavy metal case that unfolded 360 degrees to make a HUGE display screen on the back. It was virtually indestructible in your pocket. Unfortunately, the design precluded any hope of using a tripod as there was nowhere available to screw it in. I tried a few homemade things but nothing worked well. So I finally got used to bracing the camera against myself or anything semi sturdy close by when I could and holding my breath while taking multiple shots when nothing was available. In this case, nothing was available and the weed was too deep into the flower garden (the flower garden I never bothered to shoot!!!!) for me to get next to it easily. I held the camera out at arms’ length to take this shot so the odds I got a steady image were all but nil. The fact that 3 of 7 in focus is the mystery of that day. I actually think my camera hit a time between body tremors 3 different times. No two in a row were good.

My advice is to not worry about how still you need to be and take as many shots as you think a finished perfect one would be worth to you. All you need to do is get everything perfect for 1/400 of a second. LOL!
Donell Trostrud

Great Macro! I love to capture shots like this, and I love the fact that you give God the credit for the beauty He’s created. It’s up to us and our “macro” eyes to find these treasures – there’s plenty out there. Thanks for sharing this one!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Now THAT’S what it’s really all about. I couldn’t have even begun to say it as eloquently. :-) While I fully believe in the spiritual gifts I’ve been given, suppose an atheist was to see this photograph. What would he/she think about something so incredibly intricate in a weed? This is way too small to impress a human walking by or even bending over for a closer look. And why would somebody want to just bend over and take a closer look at a weed? After all, even Jesus blew off weeds as something to be discarded and burned! (Matthew 13:29) So how incredible is it that God put this much work into the part even He discards? LOLOL!
mnkreations

Truly amazing! Definitely masterful! It is amazing what we find when we look in the smallest places. Amazing portfolio!
Lynda McDonald

very interesting and a naturally beautiful photo that i can certainly appreciate
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you very much!
stephaniek

This is so super cool!!! Congrats on it being “Featured” in Ca. Sound!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you so much! This is a featuring I actually knew about but what’s impressive to me is that this piece of God’s work has been featured more than any other of my pieces or art. If nothing else, God’s getting His due on this one. LOL!
Laurie Puglia

love this piece lenny :) laurie
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you very much! People in RB get such wildly interesting things in drops of water that this one seems a bit tame. But I love it, you love it, God loves it, and it’s getting some sweet featuring in a number of groups. That’s all an AFG (Artist For God) can hope for. (And no, there’s no Artists For God group yet so get busy and create one!!!!)
Carrie Gardner

ohhh … now that shots blown me away.My jaw…..down to the ground right now….
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

LOL! Thanks! It was just one of those divine moments I was blessed to be carrying a camera. :-)
deegarra

outstanding macro shot
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

I thank you so very much!
Gayle Dolinger

Incredible!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks! :-)
Angela Lance

Congrats on being featured! Beautiful shot!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you and thanks MUCH! :-D
edgeplus

Magic!! ;o)
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you so very much!
sweetscent62

Congratulations on being featured in Miniatures and Mammoths with this beautiful image Lenny : ) !! I would like to see “the morning’s foggy-dew kisses” in the group also at some stage! (not so subtle hint) : ) Wendy x
melbourneguy75

Gorgeous image, simply beautiful.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

I thank you, kind sir!
E.R. Bazor

A unique and beautiful photo!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks mucho! Unique it certainly is. :-)
tonymm6491

Congratulations! LOVELY macro! Happy New 2009 Year!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

I thank you much! I’m a monster for macro and can’t wait to get the lenses to make the Nikon D80 do what the ‘pocket rocket’ did to catch this. :-)
Meeli Sonn

Congratulations
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you!
FelicityB

Congratulations on your feature – all I can say is “wow”, what a stunning picture!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks! You are quite kind! :-)
ldeiter78

Congrats on your feature – this image is stunning!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Gracias! And being featured is waaaaaaaay too cool! :-)
Wendi Donaldson

What a wonderful shot – reminds me of a snowglobe but of course you’ve heard this before. Nicely captured…congrats on your feature!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Yup, looking at those little glass orbs is how this shot got its name. I felt a little creative at the time and tossed out the “w”. LOL! Getting something featured is certainly a nice bonus and I thank the Flowers in Macro Group for the honour!
Yool

Congratz on being featured in the Flowers in Macro Group with this exellent capture!
Well done !!!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Cool and a big thank you to YOU for the fine recognition! I wish I could remember the approximate size of the weed but all I can be sure of was that I had to get my knees dirty to shoot it. LOL! The best indication is that a drop of water rarely gets this big. Hehehe!

Thanks again!
Rosemaree

WOW OH WOW!!!! This is simply stunning…. It looks like a snow globe I had a a child. The detail insde the droplet looks just like real snow flakes. The lighting is just perfect as it allows the ‘globe’ to glow. It is seriously deserving of the feature in flowere in macro. I am now on my way to check out what other amazing things you have produced…

congrats
Rosemaree…
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

LMAO! You are not gonna find anything like THIS one again in MY stuff. :-) This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime capture for me and I’m feeling very blessed to have gotten it before I got to old to enjoy it and too much of a curmudgeon to share it.

The lighting was interesting tho I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time. All I could actually see was the glistening on the leaves from the sprinkler’s water. I wish I could say it was planned or early morning dew or perhaps a touch of rain but nope. Plain old watering of the REAL plants in the small space on the edge of a large garden is all the manmade parts of this. Everything else wasn’t about me (or the gardener who, thankfully, hadn’t pulled this weed yet)! In fact, the other wonderful “flower” I saw within a couple feet of this one was another weed that someone had missed called “showy milkweed”. Up close, the intricacy of those flowers is amazing so I’ll have to dig up those shots too. They have an enormous amount of editing on them tho: showy milkweed is seriously sweet to ants and every single bloom was covered with them. It took days to pull off all the ants digitally. LOL!
Judy O'Neil

WOW!!!! this is the most amazing shot – taken by a master photographer. I am totally mesmerized by it – well done. Love your work. Judy:)
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

LOL! You are seriously flattering me. :-D I’m so not a master but I hope to be one when I grow up. Hehehehe! I have sat and stared at this image for years and to think I had no idea what I was shooting (a weed) until someone told me and I certainly didn’t have an idea there was so much happening on its surface. It was just as mesmerizing to me as it was to you. And a very inexpensive camera did it; there was no controls at all other than some presets and macro on/off. What this really proves is that the only tools you really need are your imagination and a $100 point-and-shoot. God pretty much takes care of the rest. :-D
Sheila Pasket

on your feature in Flowers in Macro on 12-27-08. Well done!!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Woo hoo! Thank you!
robmac

amazing amazing well done
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you! :-)
Judy O'Neil

Lenny don’t EVER GROW UP – your great work may be ruined by age!!!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

LOL! Thank you and while I wouldn’t mind aging into a fine wine, turning into a fine vinegar isn’t really all that much to aim for, is it? LOL!
gaylene

brilliant
congrats
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you! :-)
JayneLogan

Marvelous detail … great shot, Lenny!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Hello again, Jayne and thank you!
Sharon Johnstone

Gorgeous work Lenny!!!!!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thanks mucho! :-D
Corina Daniela...

Such a beauty! Congratulations on being featured in the Flowers in Macro group!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you and thank you! I am honoured. :-D
maxy

This is abaming and does look like a snow globe! Surely the master of details!!! I love this!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you, Maxy, I couldn’t agree with you more! :-)
Michelle Barlo...

BRAVO
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Woo hoo! And thanks!
Caren Schwartz

Very Cool!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you and thanks for helping sparkle up the place with Sheila! :-D
theyellowfury

Come see us?
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Sounds interesting but what does C.O.R.E. stand for/mean?
theyellowfury

I’m thinking about that, you’ll find out.
Bunny Clarke

Gorgeous capture. Splendid composition, colors and forms.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

I thank you most sincerely! This is easily my most popular piece of photography. Funny how it came from such mundane elements but I’m thrilled He pointed me in the right direction. :-D

By the way, I passed along the camera that captured this shot. If you knew the wonders it is doing now, they would blow your mind!
jewelskings

I would like to Congratulate you on being featured in the Globes, Spheres and Curves Group! Yeah!

05-09-09
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Jewelskings, thank you so very much for the featuring! This ones means a lot to me on so many levels! Your group ROCKS!
Bunny Clarke

Really beautiful work. Splendid capture.
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you very much, Bunny! :-)
Basia McAuley

Congratulations on having this exquisite water macro image featured in the macro water photographic gallery!!! If you like, you are now eligible to enter The Macro Water Challenge!
Lenny La Rue, IPA replied

Thank you so very much for the wonderful comment and invitation! I don’t do challenges often but with a wonderful invite like this one, how can I refuse? :-) Thanks again!