To bowl or not to bowl

Daughter Allegra and I went bowling on Wednesday. If you knew us or had been a fly on the wall at the bowling alley, you would be chuckling right now.

We're not very good at it.

The non-profit for which she has been volunteering had a family night, and it was free. So we went and had a good time! Met a few nice folks and realized we needed some "practice" before we could call ourselves bowlers.

I won the first game; she won the second. Neither of us cracked a 70..but we did crack up a few times.

The last time I bowled the balls were all black. Who knew they came in pretty colors now?

Bwahahaha

Sepia scenes

I took this photo through the windshield June 20 as we were leaving Boston after our nephew's wedding the day before.

Ralph took a rather circuitous route - something for which he is known around here - so I could get pix of the Leonard P. Zakim-Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. We'll forgive him this time.

See lots more photos featuring a sepia tone at Mary T's Sepia Scenes.

And, just for fun on a hot summer day, here is the original below. Which do you prefer?

Cool

It was wonderful to wake up at 5 a.m. because the air was chilly and I had to pull the sheet up to my chin.

Woo hoo! The recent heat and humidity have made me so sluggish.

So for now I am celebrating being cool!

I'm sure it won't last. They say it's still July.

Shadow Shot Sunday

A wonderful blog buddy who lives down South sent me these shadow shots...

Aren't they great?

I live in the south too...Southern Connecticut, that is. Haha.

About 9 or 10 miles from Long Island Sound.

See many more shadowy pix at our awesome Aussie friend Tracy's Hey Harriet blog.

Sepia Scenes ~ serene

I snapped this last week on a hot and hazy afternoon. I liked the color version, not so sure if the sepia/antiquing enhances it. The fun is in the experimenting, right?

Visit Mary T's Sepia Scenes to see lots more photos in sepia tone.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Whilst at our nephew's wedding reception in Boston last month one of the other guests and I pulled back the drapes to watch a street performer at Quincy Market. I caught a few shadows here.

OK, no more Boston pix. This is the last. ;-)

We'll have to go somewhere else so I can take some more interesting photos.

See many more shadowy pix at Hey Harriet, hosted by our awesome Aussie friend, Tracy.

An update to yesterday's post about friends

I just read my friend Karen's note on Facebook from earlier today...her sister Gail died yesterday.

Karen said she went in peace, and she knows that Gail is in a better place.

Cupcakes

That's it!

I figured it out. Cupcakes are the secret.

Their sweet selves serve to pull us out of our depression, our frustration over a slow Internet connection, our exhaustion, or in my case heat exhaustion.

I don't know about you but the summer weather does a number on my brain - I can't think straight when it is so hot. And I'm sitting in an air conditioned room. How spoiled.

What did the pioneer women do? I know they didn't have air conditioning in those covered wagons and log cabins and outhouses.

Allegra made *cupcakes* this week after I purchased a baking tin, and now I want her to make us some more. We enjoyed them immensely.

They are wonderful. And she is wonderful for making them. I hope she reads this blog post today.

OK, back to work. Have a good day.

Make new friends, but keep the old

...one is silver and the other's gold.

Those words certainly rang true for me Saturday when I got back together with a friend ~ who I had not seen in almost 40 (gulp!) years. She has lived in Michigan since she went away to college.

I have been thinking about Karen all week and trying to decide whether or not to write about what it was like meeting up with a friend after all these years had gone by.

It was great to see her; we chatted about our memories of growing up, about our teachers and classmates, our children and our careers. That part was fun. We had no trouble reconnecting.

But my brief reunion with Karen was tainted with much sadness. Her only sister is dying, and she is back in Connecticut to be with her. Her parents and younger brother have already passed away, and her sister is her only tie to her original family.

I don't want to go into any details. I'll just say the situation is terribly sad and unfair. Her sister has a husband and two adult children. They are all making sure that she doesn't face the end of her life alone.

Karen has a deep faith. I admire her strength in this most trying situation, and I know she will weather whatever comes her way.

Sepia Scenes ~ Boston encore

Yet another photo from Boston. This is a promenade that was built above a new tunnel which was dubbed the Big Dig when it was under construction.

Ralph and I were wandering back to our hotel on a hazy, hot Sunday morning when we spotted these children making good use of the fountains!

It looked so refreshing I wanted to jump in with them.

This is the second exterior shot I've sepia-fied that looks like science fiction to me.

What do you think of the pink-ified version below? I think I prefer it.

Visit Mary T's Sepia Scenes to join in the sepia photo fun.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ in the park with Ralph

A few more photos from Boston. I can't believe it has already been three weeks since we were there.

Apparently Ralph was done looking at the flowers in Christopher Columbus Park in Boston before I was.

"Wait up, Ralphie!"

Visit our Aussie friend, Tracy, at Hey Harriet to join the shadowy fun!

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Happy 4th on the 9th

This isn't the best fireworks photo I got last Friday night, but I like how the people are looking up. ;-)

And, it was on Friday! So I guess it works.

This was one of the better ones I captured. I posted this on Saturday but here it is again. Hope everyone had a fun Fourth of July weekend.

See lots of sky photos over at CrAzY Working Mom, hosted by Tisha.

Is there ANY good news out there?

The last six weeks or so have been filled with bad news. Both here in our community and all over the place, it seems.

It has been one thing after another.

I hope something good happens soon! It's getting depressing.

In June three friends lost family members, and today I read that an acquaintance, a salt of the earth kind of guy who was a World War II veteran, has passed away.

My good news is I may be getting together with a friend I haven't seen since *high school* tomorrow. That is a long time ago! We have reconnected after all these years through Facebook.

The bad news is she is back home in Connecticut for a sad reason.

Anyone have anything happy to share?

Sepia scenes ~ Boston building

I liked how this stately old edifice - Board of Trade Building - appears like it must have looked in a former time. There were no air conditioners in the windows and there were no power lines in the way. It seems as if the photo could have been snapped a hundred years ago.

At least I think so.

Ralph and I were in Boston for our nephew's wedding on Father's Day weekend and I took this then.

See more sepia-fied pix at Sepia Scenes, hosted by Mary T.

* Happy Fourth of July! *

Sparkly.

Ooooh...ahhh!

I ended up seeing two fireworks displays this weekend: one on Friday night and one on Saturday night. Woo hoo! I'm sure we could find one tonight, since it's the actual Fourth of July, but I'll pass. I did have fun experimenting with the point and shoot.

The above ones were taken on Friday night in Derby, Ct. Below are fireworks we went to last night with a bunch of relatives in Manchester, Ct. So many towns in New England have the same names as towns in England.

Hmmm...I wonder why that is?

;-)

And that's what we are celebrating today ~ our nation's Independence from the Crown. Like how I tied that all in?

I was further away from the fireworks for these photos. It made a difference!

Bonus shot: Our grand-nephew Adam using a toy tennis racket as a guitar at our family's Fourth of July party Saturday. Isn't he adorable?

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ more from Boston

This is the Massachusetts Beirut Memorial in Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park in Boston.

It was created in memory of the nine Marines from Massachusetts who died in the terrorist attack on the U.S. Marine Barracks in Lebanon on Oct. 23, 1983.

It says "Blessed Are The Peacekeepers" and the fallen Marines' names are inscribed.

One can almost read the sign!

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

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Welcome to Boston on a sunny June morning...

I had to "straighten" both of these city scene photos. I was tired when I took them, after having attended our nephew's wedding the day before in the Parris Room, located on the second floor above the bustling Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall in Boston.

I've been away from Tisha's fun meme for a while, but I hope to get it together and participate regularly.

See lots more sky pix at CrAzY Working Mom and join in~

Hobo trail

I'm up at the proverbial crack of dawn to take a walk with a friend.

She wanted to do the entire loop of a local walkway, but I told her it would be too much for me and my out of shape self.

So we are taking a shortcut to cut the distance in half. She called it the hobo trail.

I'll let you know if I see any hobos.

UPDATE: We didn't see any. And we walked for over an hour.