Ruby Tuesday ~

Ralph used a photo of a sign from our local street festival that I was going to use for Ruby Tuesday, so I found others with some red in them that I took Saturday at the 14th annual Derby Day.
I'll forgive him this one time. ;-)

Lookit all the rubber duckies. I should have gotten another for my collection.

I posted this photo below of the Sterling Opera House on Sunday but I figure why not re-use a photo I like? As you can see the weather was beautiful Saturday afternoon.

This is a friend who is part of Above the Realm paranormal investigative team. He was one of three members who were giving tours of the historic Sterling Opera House throughout the day.

I haven't participated in a while in Ruby Tuesday, but I'm back. See more photos featuring a little or a lot of red each week at Mary T's Work of the Poet.

Balloons, crowds, and general silliness

As I mentioned here yesterday, I spent Saturday at the 14th annual Derby Day.

I had never been at a venue an hour before a festival started, so it was interesting to see the vendors hurriedly getting ready for their day, that feeling of anticipation in the air. (I'm easily amused I suppose).
At that point the skies were overcast and I thought that rain was on the way. Fortunately that wasn't the case. It turned out to be a lovely, sunshiny day.

I thought there was a good turnout, but I'll have to find out this week from the organizers what they thought about the how the day went.

Above you see the stately Sterling Opera House standing in the center of all the activity.
It's the same historic (and haunted?) 19th-century building that was investigated a few months ago by SyFy's "Ghost Hunters" team led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson.
People were lined up throughout the day to get a chance for a free tour. It generated a lot of interest. I love that building.

These two wine bottles that Valley Arts Council member Billiejo of Prospect, Ct. transformed into incense holders were on display at the council's booth. Eye-catching!

So after helping at the booth a good part of the day I started to get tired, and by late afternoon I got out the camera to pass the time. These photos are what I call my balloon series:



Silly enough for you? There were more pix but I decided that was enough of that!

There also was a Mustang convertible being raffled off..here are Allegra and Ralph checking it out.

I think our daughter would like a vehicle like that. She sure looks comfortable in it. ;-)

Let the festivities begin

Squirrels are running around on the roof at the moment and poor Linus is going nutty. He keeps looking up at the skylight.
Go away squirrels!

In other news, I'm going to be "working" today at Derby Day, a street festival, here in southern Connecticut (for my out-of-state friends).
I'll be at the Valley Arts Council booth.
There will be live entertainment throughout the day, craft vendors, kids' activities and art exhibits in two indoor locations and more.

And free tours of the historic (and haunted?) Sterling Opera House. (pictured above)

Boo!

I hope the skies don't open up. The clouds look threatening. Go away rain!

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ second submission

~ Pumpkins ~ Jack o' Lanterns ~ Hay Bales ~

Shadows!

To see many more shadowy photos, visit our hostess, Tracy, at Hey Harriet.

Jack o' Lantern ~ vignette version

This was a child's entry into a pumpkin-decorating contest at our city's harvest festival last week.

It looks like there is a red (second place) ribbon on his pointy hat.

Confession: I didn't carve a pumpkin until about 10 years ago. I've led a sheltered life.

I wonder if I will get around to carving one this year? If I do, I'll post a picture. Stay tuned.

As you can see I'm still experimenting with the vignette application.

October Saturday

I snapped this Saturday when we were at our city's sixth annual harvest festival on Main Street. I like how the sky looked on a crisp fall day and decided to share, even if it's not for a photo meme. (!)

The old brick building with the "modern facade" next to City Hall once housed the daily newspaper for which I toiled for many moons.

Below you see City Hall's autumnal decorations.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to our Main Street landmark.

Ruby Tuesday ~ at the pizzeria

I have a conglomeration of reds spotted at a downtown pizza and pasta restaurant during Saturday's harvest festival along Main Street. My mother and I needed some lunch so we stopped in to eat our slices of pizza in comfort.

This friendly (and blue-ribbon winning) chap welcomed us into the eatery. Sometimes his head moved and his eyes rolled around. Creeeeeepy.

He's under a red umbrella advertising Bud and the sign next to him has red letters in it. The banner behind him has bright orange-red on the Jack o' lantern's face, and some guy standing there is wearing a red shirt. All in all, a perfect ruby find, as my husband would say.

To see more Ruby Tuesday entries, visit Mary T, The Teach, at Work of the Poet.

Not my car

This mini-Mercedes is parked in the window of a downtown insurance agency. I spotted it as I was walking around the city's annual Harvest Festival Saturday.

I used a white matte application to give it a "dreamy" quality. It would be a "dream" car for me. Except for the size. I don't think I would fit behind the wheel.

First fall foliage and festival fun

I haven't posted in a few days. Life can get in the way of blogging, as we all know.
Yesterday we went to our city's Harvest Festival on Main Street. On the way I stopped the car and took a picture of this old tree, which has just started to change color. Lots of green leaves left. Too bad about the wires.

The festival was a lot of old-fashioned fun, and the best part of it is that a friend of ours is the chairwoman of the event. She has been in charge of it since its inception five years ago, and now seems to have it down to a science. She makes organizing a street fest look easy!
The weather turned out to be beautiful and sunny, after a really chilly morning.
After we parked I photographed some dramatic clouds.





I never said this post was going to be exciting.





But it will give you a glimpse into our day. Keep scrolling.





There is always a pumpkin-carving contest for the school kids. They make their creations at home then bring them to the judging and put them on display in the park next to City Hall. A storyteller was on hand to spin spooky tales for the young'uns.























I took the picture below of the scene on Upper Main Street because of the historic aspect of the towering 19th century building on the left. It's the oldest opera house in Connecticut, and our newspaper's satellite office used to be housed in one of the storefronts. In other words, I feel a connection to the grand old edifice.

There were goats, and ponies, and scarecrows, and even Ralph, a.k.a. Airhead 55 ...

He actually took some artsy shots which he will share this week for Ruby Tuesday and Creative Photography.
I just kinda snapped away, and didn't seek out any artistic angles.










Would you buy furniture from these guys? ^ Me neither.

Yes, in the picture below we have an abandoned factory building. I wish it would be torn down, as do many other people I'm sure. It's across the street from the opera house.

Well, it's a street festival, not a country fair. And we do what we can to celebrate fall!