Practicing Again!!

Cinder pretty well sums it up for us....still brutally cold, but at least the winds calmed down somewhat today.  The kids were out of school again making their Christmas break extra extra long, and there has been no garbage pick-up for the last 2 days.  All I heard for most of the afternoon was the beep beep beep back-up warning sounds from the snow removers....plowing and piling, plowing and piling. Good Lord, we will have piles of snow still around in June.

Today was cleaning lady day....if I didn't have her come every two weeks my house would probably remain messy all the time.  I'm telling you, the older I get the lazier I become, shame on me.  My Mother would not be proud.  She was always so neat and organized....those genes just didn't find their way to my DNA....dang it.  But anyway, the clean-up and clear-out began and with it I started tossing all the Christmas greenery aka paperwhites and poinsettias that had wilted and curled due to my lack of watering.   But before they went the way of the garbage....I decided a shot or two was in order with my 50mm lens.

Then when I was in the process of tossing my red poinsettia I noticed many of the flowers were still quite beautiful.  Better Homes & Gardens had an article several years ago about cutting poinsettias and using them in vases like bouquets.  If you ask me if I saved that article, yeah...but don't ask me where it is.  I just remembered it....so I cut them and placed them in this white pitcher and I love the red white and green combo....the red just pops.  And again, using my 50mm I focused on the leaf in the first image....and on the tray in the 2nd.  And btw if you love trays, I bought this at IKEA when I went over before Christmas to buy my daughter new slipcovers for her furniture which was on her Christmas list.  I spotted this and felt the need to bring it home.  It is pretty large so I'm thinking I'll use it alot.  It housed all my glass candle holders with white candles during the holidays, and I am sure I will use it on the screen porch next summer.  If I remember correctly it was less than $20, probably $19.99, but that's less than $20 right??

Now you know I am getting bored when I take pictures of my lunch...but again, practicing with my 50mm.

Tomorrow I am leaving, leaving the house anyway...at last.  Our winter session of Bible Study begins. We are studying one of Beth Moore's courses...the book of James. Now James is one of the smaller books of the Bible and I understand Beth Moore memorizes the entire book. Wow, I have trouble just remembering a single Bible verse let alone a whole book.  I have completed 2 Beth Moore studies, Esther and Daniel.  I loved Esther, Daniel was a bit more challenging, wasn't fond of that one and Beth Moore can be a little over the top in her presentations, (she has videos with each lesson) but I understand she is a little calmer for the James study.   And then after our morning session a group of us are meeting for lunch, actually I should probably refer to us as the Downton Abbey groupies, to confabulate over the first episode of season 4...so looking forward to leaving this house...I feel like I am getting out of jail, free, free, free at last.  It is supposed to be a whopping 14 degrees tomorrow (with snow) and it has warmed up to a balmy 4 above zero right now.  Well, the kids are wanting to go out and do their thing....so I'm off.

"Either you run the day, or the day runs you." ~ Jim Rohn   (Oh is that a true statement.)

Until next time.....

The Outside - The Inside

Oh wow, thank you so much for all the sweet birthday wishes sent my way yesterday.  It made my day complete.  At the end of the day I thought, "wouldn't it be nice if I could have one big party and have all of you attend?"  How fun would that be?!!  Can you imagine the conversations we would have?

But instead of that big party I had an itty bitty one with my daughter and grand-daughter....met them for breakfast and spent a wonderful 2 hours eating, drinking (coffee & juice) and visiting.  Something we don't get to do too often....everyone leads such busy lives.  Bailey headed off to work and Lisa and I headed off to do a little shopping (after all it was my birthday).  After finding a great new pair of shoes we went to visit my sweetie.  I told him it was my birthday and he tried, he really tried to say "Happy Birthday".

Said goodbye to my daughter and headed out to the country to see what I could find.  The day was awful, rain, and mild temperatures causing all that snow to melt and creating a misty fog that was a must to capture with my camera.  I did get a wee bit anxious as I drove down those country roads, the melting snow and over abundance of rain was causing flooding everywhere.  The corn fields were large lakes, the roadside gutters were filled with rushing waters, causing this gal to think "what the heck am I doing out here?"  So, after finding my way back to the main road, I hightailed it home.

Driving home, thank goodness there wasn't much traffic, I stopped and snapped a couple of pictures that were just mystical.  Look at that fog...!!

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm

The outside was pretty grim yesterday, but the inside was filled with spring.  Both of my children gave me tulips for my birthday...one came via florist delivery, the other was waiting for me at breakfast yesterday.  It may be grim outside, but it's spring inside.

And least we forget, Easter is 3 weeks from yesterday.

Hope your week is filled with all good things....

Revel in the moment.  Seize the Day - Carpe Diem - 

Respond to the call to take action in your life,

To experience the moment.

Enjoy NOW.

This moment is all we have,

all that is real,

all that we can change, affect or influence.

Until next time.....

A Lovely Encounter

Still quite a bit of snow on the ground so headed out this morning with camera in hand.  Drove around the neighborhood looking for snowmen....pitiful, somebody needs to teach the kids of today how to build a snowman to be proud of.  Hmm, maybe I should build one, oh just looked at the clock and it is getting close to 4:30 and within an hour it will be dark....too bad, not enough time to build one.  Now if it were Sunday, we would have an hour extra of light due to the beginning of daylight savings time.  Whoopee!!  More light, now I won't feel like crawling into bed at 7:30 PM because it's been dark for so long.  In December & early January it gets dark by 4:30 PM, leaving us with an awfully short day.  And if it's cloudy, the lights come on about 3:30 PM.

Anyhoo I diverse....after finding no camera worthy snowman, I decided to travel to the horse farm a short distance from here.  And I wasn't disappointed.  Not only were all the horses out, but I met some really delightful people.  First I met grandparents with their 2 grand-daughters who were having so much fun petting the horses.  Grandpa and I had a friendly conversation about the area and how it had grown etc etc...seems like we both had lived here for about the same amount of time and had watched the burbs grow from small towns to large cities.  My city has grown from 35,000 from when we first moved here to it's present 147,000.  Certainly no longer a small town.  Thank goodness the counties and towns have left lots of wide-open spaces with parks & forest preserves or no telling what our population would be.

After chatting for awhile to both grandparents, I asked if I could take their grand-daughter's pictures.  They were both so cute, and such beautiful blue eyes.

They loved looking at the horses....

Some of the horses were sleeping, standing up....I suppose they are done with this cold and snow and now waiting for some springtime weather.

This pony was a favorite of the girls...Tucker was more their size.

And while we were there, here came the sleigh, pulling a wagon filled with people enjoying the ride.

Before leaving, I ran into a group of "photography" students.  A couple of them had cameras and were taking photos so naturally I stopped to talk to them.  They convinced me to take some photo classes at our local community college.  The only "classes" I have taken are those that have been offered on the internet. And thank God for those, because when I first began this photography journey my husband had reached the point in his dementia that I could no longer leave him alone.  Now I think live classroom instruction would be beneficial.

How about you....have you taken classroom photography classes or on-line or self-taught?  If you have taken on-line classes, any that you would recommend?

Linking to Kim's Little Things Thursdays.

"Express joy in your daily life whenever you can, so that joy becomes a habit.  Cultivate the habit of living joyously so that your very first response to life's experiences is one of joy."

Until next time....

Friday Letters -

A couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a blog that on Friday she pens a letter.  It is rather clever that by writing the letter she is briefly summing up her week.  She entitles her blog post Friday Letters.  After checking out several that had posted to her Friday Letter's Link, I discovered, which isn't surprising, that the contributors are mostly very young mothers.  I think it's terrific that young mothers across blogland are connecting,, exchanging ideas, offering advice, but since those days are way long gone for me, my interest in joining with this link quickly disappeared.  However I still liked the idea so here is my interpretation of Friday Letters.....

Dear Sunday, you blessed us with a beautiful sunshiny day so naturally I took the opportunity to drive the countryside to capture more barns & farms with my friend, DSLR and her assistant, Tamron 18-270mm ....They make a great combination.  I sometimes wonder just how many pictures of barns, farms and fences I have??  Linking to Friday Fences.

Dear "Safe Haven", you are a movie that our Movie Club Ladies decided to see on Monday since all confessed they could never get their husbands to sit through.  If you saw the movie, "Sleeping With the Enemy" with Julia Roberts in 1991 your story-line is almost identical.  But this time author, Nicholas Sparks placed a slight (very slight) twist at the end.  You are definitely a chick-flick, but Josh Duhamel was definitely easy on the eyes.

Dear Snow, where were you at Christmas? where were you in January? where were you in early & mid February? now you decide to visit us??  Now that we are ready for Spring to arrive you decide to snow on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.  OK, enough already.

Dear Alzheimer's, I hate you.  I know that is an exceptionally strong word and there is very few times that I use it, but I definitely hate Alzheimer's.  It took my husband, and now it seems to be taking so many of my friends' parents.   Another one of my very dear friends just learned her mother has Alzheimer's.  So Alzheimer's I hate you, no if's and's or buts.

Dear Tulips, you bring a breath of fresh air and a hint of spring into the house whenever I buy you.  Thank goodness grocery stores always have a delightful mix of blooms to purchase which is exactly what I did last night.

Dear Weight, I am tired of you getting in the way of buttoning my jeans & pants.  I am definitely tired of you making me look like I am almost as wide as I am tall (well not quite that bad).  I am definitely tired of not being able to wear those cute "sleeveless" tops & dresses in the summertime.  So Weight, we are going to have a serious discussion as to what we are going to do about you.

Dear March, this is your first day, so let's see how many terrific days you present to us this month, after all, it is my birthday month.  And did you know that March is Optimism Month....that means no negative thoughts are allowed, only positive and in your honor I have a new blog header, hope you like it.

So how about you....do you have a short letter to write to sum up your week?  It was fun, give it a try. I have provided a link for any of you that would like to post to the original Friday Letters.

Until next time.....

The Longest - Shortest Month of the Year

Does February seem to drag on forever??  Well, good news, today is the last day of the longest altho shortest month of the year.  There is snow covering the ground, which I really wanted to happen at Christmas or in January, because now I am ready for some spring-time activity.  But instead of seeing crocus and daffodils I am seeing piles of snow.  As much as I whined about the lack of snow earlier in the winter, wanting, wanting wanting it to appear now it's like too little too late.  Oh we are a fickle lot.

Since it is the end of February I decided to post some of the photos I didn't post during the month.  Some I have played with, adding textures etc. some not.

Linking to Tricia's Watery Wednesdays....

Linking to Little Things Thursdays.

Have a happy Thursday.

"Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, God smiles from above and says..."Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end."

Until next time.....

Some Snow Fun

Thursday night into Friday I woke up to our biggest snowfall of the season that finally dropped a whooping 3-4 inches of the white stuff.  Not quite NEMO size or the national attention, but enough to make everything beautiful with a covering of the white stuff.  There is a good & bad news snow situation in the suburbs....the good news is that the streets get cleared quickly, the driveways and sidewalks are shoveled for walkers & autos to move easily, the front & back yards are havens for the dogs that love to romp in the snow ie: Toby, but the bad news is that said streets, sidewalks & yards are no longer pristine with newly fallen snow.  There are no hills or valleys or fields that have no trace of human footsteps, I have to drive to see that.  And yesterday I did not feel like driving, maybe it was the long drives of last weekend that I was still recovering from, so my snow pictures are very local (yard local).  Maybe today I will wander into the pristine countryside.

Toby is in heaven when it snows...throw a ball to him and he is a happy guy!!

Not only does he play in the snow, but he eats the snow...

I love this portrait of Toby....may have to frame this one.

Hope you all have a happy weekend....tomorrow night is the Oscar's where we find out the best of all....my daughter always has an OSCAR Party and it's always a fun night...placing bets as to who or what wins the golden statue and eating Chinese food.  A perfect evening!!

Linking to Madge's Weekly Top Shot.

"A blind person asked: 'Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?' The reply: 'Yes, losing your vision.'"

Until next time.....

Weekend Wrap....

This weekend, while the northeast was being buried in snow, I enjoyed 2 movies, 2 lunches and 1 dinner with friends, and a trip to Milwaukee to visit my grandson and his wife.  A fun-filled weekend. The first movie was "Side Effects" with Jude Law and Rooney Mara (aka the girl with the dragon tattoo).  If you like a mystery with a few twists and unexpected turns go see this movie...all 4 of us really enjoyed it, altho I must admit we had to discuss question it over lunch...there are some twists that definitely needed discussion.

The 2nd movie was "Lincoln"...omg, I can see why this has received so many awards and nominations. Spielberg knows how to create a movie that is both informative along with brilliant acting.  I can't even begin to chose a favorite in the acting category....Daniel Day Lewis was absolutely Lincoln personified, Sally Field was outstanding as Mary (Molly as Abe called her) Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones (oh he is not a handsome man) as Thaddeus Stevens, and James Spader, (was a handsome man, now not so much) as W.N. Bilbo all delivered wonderful performances.  There were others...these just happened to stand-out to me.  

Saturday I drove to Milwaukee, only about a 2 hour drive and literally all expressway driving to visit with Brandon & Hilary.  On the drive up the snow and ice was still clinging to the trees so it was a dazzling display....I was so tempted to take a side-trip, but kept driving forward.  Once there we drove down to the lakefront (only about 4 blocks from their home).  The lake was so blue, which surprised me.  I expected it to be grey.

A couple of sweeties....

The homes in this part of the city are all old and majestic with interesting roofs and front doors....

Love this one with all that wood trim around the front door....

On our drive I also spotted this lighthouse...the North Point Light Station established in 1855 and is now on the National Registry of Historic Lighthouses.  How pretty against the blue of the sky.

And finally our trip to Anthropologie where I was overwhelmed by the fun things they have....you can seriously drop some change in this store.  Here is a little cup (I know you are totally surprised by my purchase) and a little Valentine wish....

"There's this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger and your whispers softly echo.  It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me."  ~  Gretchen Kemp

Until next time.....