Au Contraire...

If you happen to stumble across this blog you are probably wondering who in the heck is this, whoever she is she hasn't posted anything since August 28th....hmmm. If this is a photo-journey of my life as the title of this blog suggests, it doesn't seem like I have a life at all. Au contraire (had to look up the spelling of that) my life is full, sometimes too full, since I like my alone times to not be crowded out by the busy times. I'll even admit right here that sometimes I skip an event just because I need that alone time. But admitedlly, there are times when I really miss my sweetie. Holidays do that to me.

We had, in my opinion, a horrid summer, too hot and way too humid. If I was a kid, I would have spent my days in our local pool, but since my bathing suit body left several years ago I choose not to be seen without sleeves or partially covered legs. Since I did absolutely nothing except sit on my back porch, and take some very nice trips my body is spreading. And unless I get busy and begin some kind of activity there will be no beach wear again next summer.

But in all fairness, the heat and humidity did produce some exquisite blooms.

Autumn was absolutely spectacular this year. It was probably the most beautiful and longest lasting Fall I can remember. I made many trips to the Arboretum capturing the colors and was sorry to see it come to an abrupt end with our first snowfall of the season this past weekend.  There were colors still glowing.

Thanksgiving was spent with a partial family. Brie (youngest grand) has moved to Denver where she is happy as a lark working at a vet's animal hospital so she was not able to join us and my son Lane and his wife Nelly opted to stay in California this year to spend Thanksgiving with her family. But guess who came to Thanksgiving dinner....Matilda Mae with a new bow wrapped around her pretty little head.

Time marches on with or without a blog post and now we are in the midst of the holiday season. I have boxes piled in the entryway, a half decorated tree and a need to move a little quicker with finishing adorning the house. I'm hoping that I will be a bit more deligent in the posting of  "the photo journal of my days"  Maybe next time I'll talk about TV, Movies and good books that I have enjoyed these past days, weeks, months.

I wish for you a season filled with joy and gladness.

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Until next time.....

The June July August Break

Oh dear, I did it again, Said I would and then I didn't. I am very unreliable. Blogging is akin to a habit, you must continually write and post so it becomes part of your daily habits. And I don't mean a bad habit, I mean a good habit, sorta like drinking a cup of coffee before the world begins to turn. Many bloggers are taking what is referred to as an August Break, where they either don't post at all or very minimally. I think I fell into that first category but my August break went back as far as the end of June, the 29th to be exact.

And I might be in real trouble when it comes to forming a habit.  I just checked Google (I love Google) and instead of the old adage of 21 days, apparently the University College London has done a more thorough study on habit forming and now it has been determined that no longer is it 21 days but 66, trumping the 3 weeks to now more than 6 weeks. Are you kidding me, OMG I'm done for.

Oh well, I will give a quick over-view of my adventures this summer. trying to catch up during my June-July-August break. The two photos above were taken in Chicago on a night photo-walk during the photography conference. I rarely, pretty much never, do long exposure night photography. You need a tripod and patience, both of which I tend to fail at.

The 4th of July I drove to Dayton, OH with my kids to spend a long weekend with my sweetie's family.  Only one good day of weather the whole weekend was a disappointment. I thought it was a rule that it doesn't rain on the 4th of July.  Seeing and being with family certainly makes the days brighter even if the skies are dark and rainy.

Later in July I flew to California to visit and stay with my son and daughter-in-law for a week. We visited the San Diego Zoo, along with a million others and walked the beaches with a million others, and yes, it was hot like a million other places have been this summer. Remind me not to visit California in July. Fall or spring seem to be the more pleasurable times. But again, seeing and being with my son and daughter-in-law removed the unpleasantness of the crowds and the heat.

  But one thing is for sure, roses love the hot southern California weather.

And along the way I found a red barn.....always a fav!

And a gorgeous butterfly....

Many happy moments were spent with family this summer....this being one of them.

Can you believe this little bundle of joy will be two next month.

I am heading to Michigan next week to visit old friends that have a cottage on Torch Lake. Expectations are high for many photo ops.  Hope you have had a lovely summer as we head into a new season soon. It's been too hot and too humid around these parts this summer. The windows and doors have been shut almost the entire month of July and into August with the air conditioner running. Love having the windows wide open, enjoying the soft breezes and the sounds of summer. Maybe in September it will cool down for that enjoyment.  Until then, I will continue to sit on the screen porch, overhead fan on high, ice cold drink by my side, with an occasional trickle of sweat dripping on the pages of my latest read.

Until next time.....

Whose Winning the Population Battle??

I am not sure who is winning the population battle in my backyard between the robins and the sparrows. The sparrows are like little piggies at the bird-feeder and the robins love splashing in the bird baths which in turn drives me to continually fill the feeder with birdseed and add the water for bathing.  There was a time when I didn't feed the birds in the summertime, I felt that there was plenty of rations in nature that it wasn't necessary. I still believe that, but now I do it for purely selfish reasons, I enjoy watching the birds.  If it wasn't for the feeders my porch sitting entertainment would totally diminish. Between the regular feeder, the finch sock, and the hummingbird feeder I have continuous delight throughout the day.

Today was B&N day and we had quite a group, counting from memory (which varies from time to time) I think we had nine today. I love it when so many come to visit. The only down-side is that when there are that many, there will be different conversations at different ends of the table. I want to hear it all, but it's just not possible. It's our connection time which now that Bailey is gone, I really need.

After B&N, I decided to grab a bite to eat and take a stroll down by the Riverwalk, with camera in hand.

I honestly don't know if this is a grass of some sort or a weed, but I love the feather like branching.

The orange day-lilies were in bloom.  I do love day-lilies, they have hyberdized them so that you can plant just about any color you want from the traditional orange, to yellows, to pinks, purples, reds and whites. I planted a new one this year, right now it is full of buds. I am anxiously awaiting that first one to pop to actually see the true color.

And these sweet little daisy-like flowers that I honestly think are some type of weedy wildflower. No matter weed or wildflower, it's a charmer.

The front gate arbor is covered with this lovely Etoile Violette clemantis. I planted this many years ago when the trees were just saplings. Now they are covered in shade for most of the day, but they still manage to bloom their little hearts out for a short while.

It's been hot, but we had a good rain yesterday and last night so the grass and garden are happy, which makes me happy.  Toby, on the other hand, was not happy. He does NOT like rain, nor thunder, nor lightening. I guess Mother Nature can't please everyone.

Tomorrow I will share a sweet surprise!

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."  ~  Dr. Seuss

Until next time......

Dropped A Few More Coins

My poor Bailey (granddaughter who has been living with me since August) is still waiting to hear if she has been accepted into a new job she interviewed for over a month ago.  The job, if she gets it, would mean a move to Omaha, NB, which means ofcourse, I will lose my roommate of nearly a year. I know she really wants to move on with her life, and I want that for her too, but damn I'm gonna miss her.  After living alone for 4 years, new life was brought into my tiny little domain, new life with Bailey and with Boone (her kitten, I relented and let her buy). I will miss our TV watching together, our shopping trips, our runs to our favorite frozen yogurt place, but time and life moves on.

Right now she is headed to Champagne, IL to assist a store in need, so I really think this is the end of her life with Nana. Sob! On the positive side, I get a closet back. Deanna, it sounds like you need a good clean-out of your walk-in closet (translated means large) if you need an overflow closet.  It's on my list of "to do's".  Enough about cleaning, it's summer. So, after dropping her off at the car rental place I headed over to a favorite garden center. Uh oh, I did it again, dropped a few more coins and brought home more bloomin' beauties. And caught a glimpse of an early season butterfly.

Must get outdoors to plant those beauties I brought home. Hope your day is glorious!!

"Life is full of miracles, but they're not always the ones we pray for."  ~  Eve Arden

Linking to Kim at Little Things Thursday and TexWiseGirl for her Good Fences

Until next time,