Time for fish oil?

When I woke up this morning I was thinking about Ralph's new mini-van, and how I must commit his new marker plate number to memory.

Then my thoughts turned to the other vehicle in the driveway: mine. I couldn't for the life of me remember my marker plate number. Eeeek.

I finally came up with the last three letters, but couldn't remember the first three numbers.

Maybe I just wasn't "awake" yet.

Blogger extraordinaire Empress Bee often talks about taking fish oil. I think I may start taking it as well.

Sepia scenes

I was trying to be artsy with this shot of several of my favorite bunnies just in time for Easter.

I'm not happy with how it came out.

I like the second photo better. It's almost true to life but still has a sepia tone.

To see lots more sepia-fied photos, visit Mary T, The Teach, at her Sepia Scenes blog.

Linus and me

Somebody likes to stay close to his mama when she's working.

Ruby Tuesday

I spotted my clip-on sunglasses on the table and took a photo. It was unplanned, but I like the weird way the photo came out.

Go visit Mary T, The Teach, to see many more photos featuring a little or a lot of red at her always fun Ruby Tuesday meme.

A smile on a rainy Monday

I wish I had taken this photo. So adorable.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ urban shadows

Regular readers will know that I took these two photos of downtown Hartford through the windshield. I hope there are enough shadows here to qualify for Shadow Shot Sunday!

I urge you to go visit our hostess, Tracy, at Hey Harriet to see many more shadowy photos.

Macular drusen

I'm hoping this condition sounds worse than it actually is.

A retina specialist diagnosed me with it last week. It was scary to hear, but my vision with my glasses is 20/20 and I have no pain so I'm doing OK.

According to one description I found online, "drusen are small yellow or off-white deposits that form either in the tissue layer underneath the retina or on the optic nerve head. Though the exact cause of macular drusen is still unknown, their appearance near the macula is one of the most common signs of macular degeneration development."

The ophthalmologist said I should take vitamins that contain lutein, get cardiovascular exercise to improve circulation, and always wear sunglasses when I'm outside. He said I don't have macular degeneration, but I'm at risk of developing it in the future. Way in the future, I hope.

I've since read that eating foods rich in antioxidants (such as broccoli, spinach, kale, tomatoes, berries, cherries, grapes, oranges, grapefruit, kiwi fruit and more) is important for good eye health as well.

OK, I can do that.

Not sure if pizza counts. ;-) The red sauce is made from tomatoes, after all ...

Smoking can exacerbate the condition. Fortunately I've never smoked.

I wasn't going to write about this, but not writing about something here that is important to me is not being true to myself, so I decided to go for it.

After I wrote the above this afternoon I took a brisk walk (cardiovascular exercise, no?) and snapped this picture of the "afternoon moon."

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I plan to do just that.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

This is how the sky looked Sunday afternoon on our way to Hartford.

And this is how the sky had changed a few hours later, on the return trip:

Go visit our hostess, Tisha, that CrAzY Working Mom, to see lots more sky shots.

(Top photo taken through windshield; lower photo through the passenger-side window. But regular readers probably guessed that already.)

Yard art

I haven't taken any yard art photos this week, so I had to dig into the archives from last July.

I'm looking forward to spring and gardens and flowers, as everyone else is!

You'll see many different kinds of yard art at Mary T's Work of the Poet blog. Go visit her and join the fun.

Sepia scenes

[Please click on photo to enlarge]

I snapped this picture of Scarborough Street Sunday in Hartford, Ct. I took it through the windshield as Ralph was driving.

The boulevard is lined with beautiful mature trees and features lovely, classic-looking mansions which seem like they may have been built in the 1920s. We travel down the street when we are on our way to nearby University of Hartford.

See many more sepia-fied photos at Mary T's Sepia Scenes.

Ruby Tuesday

I found some dried-up red berries in the yard last week. As soon as I saw them I thought of Ruby Tuesday. It might be a choke cherry weed thingy.

I did my best to get a close-up shot. I like the red against the blue sky.

See many more pix featuring a little or a lot of red over at Mary T's Ruby Tuesday meme at Work of the Poet.

Hartford through the windshield...

and the driver's side window.

We took our son, aka Kid Two, back to school at the University of Hartford yesterday. It was a quick week off for spring break..I hope he got enough rest (and food!)

Kid One was already there because she had had a three-day vacation traveling with the pep band and women's basketball team to North Carolina. She had a lot of fun with her friends, and enjoyed touring the campuses of Duke and University of North Carolina.

Unfortunately our team lost to Louisiana State University, but the women did a great job this season that qualified them to play in the tournament.

Regular readers know I take photos as Ralph drives, and yesterday afternoon was no exception.

There was an emergency of some sort that forced us to take a short detour, and I snapped three photos of sights I wouldn't have seen if not for the detour.

City scene ~ not sure what that building is in the background.

We traveled down Farmington Avenue and I was lucky to catch a photo of part of the stately Mark Twain House through the driver's side window as we passed by. It's a beautiful mansion. Twain lived there from 1874 to 1891. I visited twice on field trips when I was a kid and remember being impressed. Kid One and I plan to visit there someday.

I spotted this interesting-looking tree trunk as we were stopped at a light. Do you know what kind of tree it is? I do - "old."

ha ha

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

First forsythia flower found

I was so happy to see this in our yard yesterday on the first day of SpRiNg!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Ralph's long-awaited new vehicle is the subject of today's shadow pic.

And it was also featured here yesterday. ;-)

Tracy is our meme hostess. See many more shadowy pictures at her blog, Hey Harriet.

Happy vernal equinox

Today is the first day of spring. Time to celebrate with some cheesy clip art!

I'd photograph flowers if there were any in our yard.

But alas, it's only March.

Friday morning at our house

Ralph is enjoying his new mini-van. It's a major improvement over the full-sized Ford Club Wagon that drove like a truck that he had for 12 years. It was roomy, but not that comfortable or fun to drive.

I finally took a picture of him in his vehicle this morning as he was getting ready to leave for work. I didn't even notice that I caught my reflection as I was taking the picture.

Hope everyone has a great Friday. Spring is on the way!

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Lovely blue skies...

I saw some wispy clouds out there this evening. It's nice that's it's still light out, and the weather has been beautiful today.

Spring is on its way ~ yay!

Visit Tisha, our hostess, at CrAzY Working Mom to see lots more sky photos and join the fun.

Yard art

It's true; I try.

I've posted this before, but not for a photo meme..

Check out more fun Yard Art photos at Mary T's Work of the Poet.

Sepia scenes ~ boxed in

As I mentioned yesterday, Linus is getting back to his old silly self. His little brother Rigby died 11 days ago, and I know Linus misses him. They were always together. This cardboard box was one of their favorite play spots.

Linus went in there Tuesday and ripped the place up. I like how he's examining his work in the photo below.

You can see many more sepia-fied photos at Mary T's Sepia Scenes blog.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yes, this guy is part of my (injured) gnome collection. The sun was shining Tuesday and I snapped a shot of him surrounded by dead weeds and leaves. He kinda reminds me of a leprechaun.

A beary comfy ride

I know at least two of our bears like Ralph's new mini-van. I took a picture of them as we drove to Hartford along the Wilbur Cross Parkway Sunday. They didn't seem to mind their ride on the dashboard.

I still need to take a photo of Ralph with the vehicle. Today is the first day that it hasn't been icky out since he got the mini-van, so maybe today is the day.

A happy cat makes a happy home

Our Linus seems to be doing much better. It has been 10 days since his little brother, Rigby. suddenly went to cat heaven.

This morning Linus was back to his old trick of jumping up on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Then he went under a bookcase and gave himself the challenge of squeezing back out from under it. He's not a tiny cat and the space is rather tight. It's funny to watch him emerge from under there.

Finally he hopped into his new bed, settled down and took a nice nap.

=^. .^=

Ruby Tuesday

Phew! I was a bit panicked this afternoon when I had no photo to post for Ruby Tuesday.

I went into my daughter's room and found one of the cats in her collection has bright red ears.

I took him outside for a photo shoot and here's the result. Unfortunately none of the other kitties have any red on them, or we could have had a group shot.

This little cat needs a name. Any suggestions?

See lots of photos featuring a little or a lot of red at Mary T's meme at Work of the Poet.

Sign of spring

A touch of green peeking out from the leaves in the front yard caught my eye, and I ran inside and got the camera. First sign of spring! Woo hoo!

I used edge blur on the surrounding leaves and mulch because it's raining and everything looks a bit blurred around here. It's wet and muddy, but at least it's not snow.

Spring is on the way...

Shadow Shot Sunday

That's me taking a photo of a plastic patio chair last July. I posted these photos at the time, but not for a meme!

I can't wait to see the tiger lilies in bloom again in our backyard. This weekend we change the clocks and spring forward, so that's a good sign that spring is on its way. Happy weekend and shadow seeking to all!

Visit our hostess, Tracy, at Hey Harriet to see many more shadowy photos from around the world.

Busy, busy

Ralph drove home his new, modified-for-the-wheelchair mini-van Thursday and the two of us have been so busy we didn't even take a picture or blog about it. It has really low mileage on it and should last a long while. And only 71 more monthly payments to go. ha ha

And this morning it's pouring out, so I'm not sure I feel like taking a photo!

Later he will be doing a bit of highway driving and getting used to it - he is picking up our son for spring break. I can't wait to see Cameron. Mama misses him!

Our daughter is staying because there is a big basketball game tonight and she is in the pep band. If the women's team wins, they may be going on a trip. Two years ago she went to Louisiana with the group. She saw some of Baton Rouge and New Orleans and had a great time.

Hope everyone has a happy Saturday ~

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I took this photo in November, and I'm pretty sure I never posted it. ;-)

It's the steeple of the First Congregational Church in Derby, Ct. We've been members since 2001.

It's a small but friendly congregation. Ralph is one of the deacons, and serves Communion once every three months, despite the fact that he uses a wheelchair. He manages!

Occasionally I teach a Sunday School class.

See many more photos of the heavens by visiting our hostess, Tisha, that CrAzY Working Mom.

Yard Art ~ another gnome at home

Our birdbath top broke a while ago. Last spring I put this gnome on top of it, just for fun. He's still there.

Visit Mary T's Yard Art meme to see more interesting yard decorations.

Sepia scenes ~ statuesque

This sits atop a statue in Paris. I have no other information! I took it from a bus window as we were touring.

Unfortunately I don't even have a photo of the entire monument, or else I would have posted it.

Here is the original:

See many more sepia-fied photos here at Mary T's Sepia Scenes.