Online shopping today?

Not moi, but I guess many people are..I'm just not in the Christmas spirit. Or the shopping spirit, for that matter!

I have a few gift ideas rolling around in my head.

In our extended family we enjoy a wacky Yankee Swap on Christmas Eve. The other day I saw a perfect gift that is sure to be "swapped" around the room.

It's a George Washington Chia head.

There are several other Chia choices, including our current president, but I liked ol' George the best.

I think it will elicit a few laughs. ;-D

Happy Cyber Monday for those who partake.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Ah yes, it's all coming back to me now...the blogosphere and the friends who live here inside my computer.

Hi everyone! I'm back. And ready to share some shadowy scenes.

I snapped these two shots moments apart, as bloggy friend Linda, of Are We There Yet? and I explored the picturesque Norfolk, Ct. Green in October. We had a fun foliage trip, and I hope we can do it again next October!

She drives; I sit and passenge...works for me.

See lots of shadows from around the world at Hey Harriet, hosted by our awesome Aussie friend Tracy.

The boy is 20? Yikes

I've not been blogging much lately. I'm not proud of that fact, but I suppose it is what it is. Haven't written or visited.

These past few weeks at work have been busy but I couldn't let today go by without wishing a *Happy Birthday* to our Cameron (Kid Two) who turned 20 today.

He was due on 11-11. Woopsie - he made me wait for 12 more days, arriving on the day after Thanksgiving.

But he was and is more than worth the wait!

Ralph, who is participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), has been posting every day this month, pretty much putting me to shame.

He wrote about Cameron and posted an adorable photo from a few years back here.

Sepia scenes

On Sunday we attended a Thanksgiving open house at the David Humphreys House in Ansonia, Ct. Here are several junior docents who made a lot of the food (pumpkin soup, squash pie, turkey and all the fixings) we sampled. They did a great job.

They even churned butter in glass jars. Now that is a lot of work!

Our daughter has been working there as a docent teaching fifth graders from area schools to learn about "A Day in 1762," the year that Humphreys was 10 years old.

Unfortunately tomorrow is the last day of the program until spring. Part of the day is spent outside touring the historic district, and so the classes are put on hold for the winter.

You can read about the open house here, and here, and at Ralph's blog here and here. I hope you can stop by! Safe to say we both got a lot of posts out of the fun event.

Visit Mary T's Sepia Scenes to see lots more sepia-fied photos.

Ruby Tuesday ~ historic

On Sunday our daughter Allegra worked at a Thanksgiving open house at the David Humphreys House.

The house in Ansonia, Ct. is run by the Derby Historical Society. She has been working there as a docent teaching fifth graders who visit the house on school field trips about life in the18th century.

The experience will be invaluable if she becomes an elementary school teacher, which is her goal.

In the photo taken through a front window you can see the sign for the house, where Humphreys, a Revolutionary War hero, was born in 1752.

You can read more about the event here in a post I wrote Sunday, and in posts Ralph wrote Sunday and today. I hope you take a look at them!

See lots more photos featuring a little or a lot of red for Ruby Tuesday at Mary T's Work of the Poet.

Our daughter the docent

Today was a Thanksgiving open house at the David Humphreys House in Ansonia, Ct. The house is the headquarters of the Derby Historical Society. Ansonia, as well as several other towns, were once all a part of Derby.

Our daughter, who hopes to become an elementary school teacher someday, has been working there as a docent when fifth graders visit the house where Humphreys, a Revolutionary War hero, was born. The house was built at the end of the 17th Century. Humphreys was born in 1752.

Humphreys was a teacher, an aide-de-camp to George Washington, and later served as an ambassador to Spain. He brought black Merino sheep back to Connecticut from Spain and started a woolen mill.

At the open house we enjoyed samples of pumpkin soup, squash pie, turkey, cranberry sauce, applesauce, and brown bread with freshly-churned butter. Everything was delicious. I enjoyed watching Allegra talk to the members of the public about the house and the food that had been prepared in two fireplaces.

I was pleasantly surprised when blogger and history buff extraordinaire Linda walked into the room while we were sampling the food. I knew she had wanted to see the house, but I wasn't sure if she would be able to make the trip today to our part of Connecticut.

Happily she did, and brought her daughter Jamie and, of course, her camera. It was good to see them! I hope they enjoyed themselves. I'm sure Linda got some great shots.

You could say the kitchen is "rather dark" even when it's sunny out. But with its big fireplace it is definitely cozy. Notice the formal portrait of David Humphreys in the front room, seen through the doorway.

The turkey was roasted in this tin oven in the fireplace in Lady Humphreys' parlor, located next to the kitchen. This room in the front of the house definitely lets in more natural light.

Ralph also wrote a post about our afternoon, which you can read here.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ sunny!

I always appreciate alliteration, as many bloggers do.

Snapped this when I went with blogging friend Linda of Are We There Yet? fame to the Northwest hills of Connecticut to do some leaf peeping and foliage picture taking. She drove, I pointed at trees and hills and said "pretty!"

Can you figure out what hour (Daylight Savings Time) we were on the Norfolk, Ct. Green?

Now that I look at it again, I think the sundial was using Eastern Standard Time. I know it was later in the afternoon than what it shows here.

The inscription says "My days are as a shadow and there is none abiding."

Food for thought. ;-)

Below we see Linda using her Nikon to get a shot of the sundial. I've got lots of photos from that October foliage ride. Must get them organized and posted.

You can see lots of shadowy shots from around the world by visiting Hey Harriet, hosted by our awesome Aussie friend Tracy.

A tribute to veterans

I have been taking photos of our Stars and Stripes lately. I spotted this flag flying above a school in our neighborhood last week as the sun was setting.

I took the photo below of a torn American flag that flies from a highway overpass. It was published in the newspaper today, with information about where to properly dispose of tattered flags.

A member of the American Legion did not know who had put the flag there. It clearly needs to be taken down and disposed of properly.

There is a second, slightly less tattered flag attached to the railing on the other side of the overpass. One veteran I spoke to surmised that the flags could have been put there after Sept. 11, 2001.

Today, on Veterans Day, I am deeply grateful to all veterans and I thank them for their service and their sacrifice.

Ruby Tuesday

I took a fun foliage trip to the Northwest hills of Connecticut two weeks ago with blogger extraordinaire Linda of Are We There Yet? and we stopped at this covered bridge.

Linda is an expert on covered bridges! And she was startled to find this one in need of a good power washing. She said other ones she had seen in New England were not filled with dirt and cob webs like this one is, which made us both embarrassed for our home state of Connecticut.

It was pretty gross when we ventured inside and walked through it. You can't tell from the photo below, but take our word for it!

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

Noooooo!

It's that four-letter word that begins with "s" again...

Drama in the morning

Clouds

Bright on one side of the house, foreboding on the other.

The sky was dramatic-looking this morning when I went outside to get the newspaper, so I came back in and grabbed the camera.

These shots are straight out of the camera.

Have a great Saturday ~

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Today I share two straight out of the camera shots from a foliage trip I took last month with blogger extraordinaire Linda, author of Are We There Yet?

This flagpole stands on the historic Green in Norfolk, Ct. in scenic Litchfield County.

Join in the fun with Tisha's Looking at the Sky meme at CrAzY Working Mom.

And keep looking up! You never know what you'll find.

A re-post of a re-post: 'Pawsing' for Blogblast for Peace

I love the photo below that I used in '08 and '09..and I love it even more today because Rigby, the relaxed black and white furry guy on the left, passed away earlier this year.

~ Dona Nobis Pacem ~
Thursday, November 5, 2009

I'm posting a peace globe that I made last year, because I wanted to make sure to participate, in a small way, in Queen Mimi's third anniversary of Blogblast for Peace.

We have a new Macintosh computer, and I've yet to figure out how to create graphics on it.

I had several kind bloggers offer to help me, but I lost track of time and didn't ask for their assistance.

Hanging around with our ever-peaceful kitty cats (they're brothers) calms me and helps me find some peace in my daily life.

I hope you feel the same as you look at these two furry guys 'pawsing' for peace on the windowsill.

=^. .^=

Don't forget to vote today (see how I tie that into this post)

Finally took a photo yesterday of our Allegra wearing her Colonial garb. She plays the part of Elizabeth Clark Hull, grandmother of Commodore Isaac Hull, a U.S. Navy hero who hailed from Derby, Ct.

Hull commanded the USS Constitution during the War of 1812.

Allegra is a history major and she has been enjoying her part-time job working as a docent at the Derby Historical Society's David Humphreys House (above) in Ansonia, Ct.

The photo of the house was taken from an historic cemetery last summer during an Open House Day.

The educators work with fifth graders in a program called "A Day in 1762," which was the year Humphreys was 10, the age of most of the kids who visit to the house for the program. Humphreys was born in the house.

Since part of the program includes a one-hour outdoor tour of the historic district, cold weather will force the program to end later this month. It will start up again in the spring.

Humphreys was a patriot and a Revolutionary War hero. He served as an aide-de-camp to George Washington and later became an ambassador to Spain.

He brought black Merino sheep to this country from Spain and started a successful woolen mill.

Humphreys was a poet and in his younger days he was a teacher.

Humphreys died in 1818 and is buried in Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, the final resting place of some famous folks. They include Eli Whitney, who invented the cotton gin. a device that mechanically removes seeds from cotton, and Noah Webster, a prolific author and lexicographer who published An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828.

So..how do I get from there to today, Election Day? I guess I could quote 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke, who said: "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."

He also said: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

To that I would add "good women" as well.

Trying not to be political here, simply hoping everyone exercises his or her right to vote today.

~

My thanks to the Internet for its help in writing this post.

Dreamy

Happy memories from September 2009, when we still had two cats. Our Rigby (black and white guy) passed away in March. We may be getting a feline pal for Linus before the year is over.

We'll see.

=^. .^=