Practicing night photography

The rising moon startled me this evening when I got in my car to take my mother home. It really looked huge.

When I returned I used the night mode on my point and shoot, and this was the best I could get after several tries. Dang it's cold out there.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Last Saturday Ralph and I took a foray to the beach. Brrrr.... it was a bit nippy out there.

This shadow is me photographing the famous Savin Rock in West Haven.

Well, it's famous in southern Connecticut, anyway!

There used to be an amusement park here. I vaguely remember the foot-long hot dogs, French fries and fried clams, an auto-racing track and a roller coaster that I never rode. I was quite young then, really! Urban renewal came through in the '60s and it all was razed.

This is a shadow of a bike rack at the beach. As you can see it was not a busy day there. Brrrr...

Visit our hostess, Tracy, at Hey Harriet to see lots of shadowy shots and join the fun!

Foto fun and a ghost re-post

Are you looking at me?

~ ~ ~

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010

Ghosts among us?

My bureau chief at the newspaper, Michelle, has just published a novel about apparitions and things that might go bump in the night.

I'm thinking it might be something blog friend and part-time ghost hunter Linda, Duchess of Norwich-Upon-Thames, would be interested in reading.

That's because on Halloween night Linda, her friend Amy and I visited the Sterling Opera House in Derby, Ct.

It's a place where spirits soar, or, as many folks believe, actually reside.

Here's the link to Michelle's new blog about her book. I urge you to check it out.

http://ghostsanovel.blogspot.com

Looking at the Sky on Friday

After spending a snowy day at home I went out to mail some bills, and to cheer myself up after parting with a lot of moola I took photos of the setting sun and the edge of another front heading toward us.

It flurried for a few minutes after I snapped these.

You can see many wonderful sky photos by visiting our meme hostess, Tisha, at CrAzY Working Mom.

Happy Friday!

Snow what's new?

I just swept snow off the driveway and after I was done, decided I should get something positive (i.e. pretty photos) out of today's unexpected wintry weather event.

~

Now less than an hour after I took these, the sun is shining!

What did Mark Twain say about New England weather? I'm paraphrasing here: "If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes ..."

The sun is bright, the sky is blue. It was worth the wait.

Let the melting begin.

Sepia scenes ~ snoozing

I liked the original photo, and thought I'd try giving it the look of sepia.

Linus likes laundry, or at least snoozing on it. What a good kitty. = ^. .^ =

Visit our hostess, Mary T, The Teach, to see lots more sepia-fied photos.

Ruby Tuesday

A talented artist friend sent us this Christmas card featuring a print of her watercolor painting of Christmas holly.

I wanted to give her a blogosphere "plug" as I did here in November, and I thought this would work for Ruby Tuesday. Check out Cindy's site, Art by Gilbane.

Visit our hostess, Mary T, at Work of the Poet, to see many more photos featuring a little or a lot of red.

See gull?

I took this several weeks ago, but didn't post it because I wasn't happy with it. It's a seagull taking off from a frozen pond, but at this angle the wings are hidden.

If you click on it you get a better view of the bird.

I'll chalk this one up to practice.

January beach day

Today was a good day for the beach, if you are one of those people who wants it all to yourself.
Let's just say it was cold out there.

Full disclosure: there were people walking on the nearby paved walkway. But I like these photos without anyone visible. It was rather windy, and Ralph and I didn't last too long outside, without gloves or scarves or hats. We weren't prepared for the chill.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Um, once again I took a photo from the passenger seat as Ralph was driving...regular readers must be tired of reading that on almost every post lately. Sorry but 'tis true.

I spied this group of shadows when we were dropping off our kids at the sports center at the University of Hartford last Saturday. They play in the pep band for the men's and women's basketball teams and it was minutes before game time. They got there in time for the first song. Actually we got inside before tip-off as well.

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

Looking at the sky on Friday

Through the windshield...

These are straight out of the camera. As usual I took them as Ralph was driving. That's how I amuse myself while a passenger. ha ha

To see more sky photos, visit our hostess, Tisha, at CrAzY Working Mom.

Lucky capture

Yesterday Linus was watching me work (as usual) and when I turned around he seemed to be posing. Lucky for me the camera was on the desk, with charged batteries and everything, and he stayed there long enough for me to get a photo.

In the background you can see a sleeping (ceramic) cat that just happened to get in the picture.

Have a great Thursday. I know Linus will!

Sepia scenes ~ stately

This is Connecticut's state Capitol in Hartford. I took this through the passenger window last week as Ralph drove.

Here is the unedited original:

The sun was just starting to set, giving the building a pinkish glow.

To see many more sepia-fied photos visit our hostess, Mary T, at her Sepia Scenes blog. And join in the sepia fun!

Awwww ...

Lookit that face!

Allegra took this with her phone in 2008 when our kitty cats alerted us to an interloper and we saw this little visitor wanting to come inside. I wanted to scoop him up, but I didn't. Minutes later when we looked again he was gone. I called the women I had adopted our cats from, and one of them brought over a safe trap just in case he returned.

We never saw this little guy after that morning. I felt badly about it, but couldn't bring him into the house with our two cats. I hope he has a good home.

=^. .^=

Ruby Tuesday

Here is Allegra watching a basketball game at the University of Hartford last week. She plays the flute in the pep band, and her little (6'3") brother plays the trumpet.

Ralph and I are proud parents.

Visit our hostess, Mary T, at Work of the Poet, to see many more pix featuring a little or a lot of the color red.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Some shadows seen in downtown Hartford, Ct. This photo is straight out of the camera. I snapped it through the windshield as Ralph was driving.

Visit our hostess, Tracy, at Hey Harriet, to see many more shadow photos.

(P.S. Ralph just told me he used this photo on his blog! Where have I been?)

Ghosts among us?

My bureau chief at the newspaper, Michelle, has just published a novel about apparitions and things that might go bump in the night.

I'm thinking it might be something blog friend and part-time ghost hunter Linda, Duchess of Norwich-Upon-Thames, would be interested in reading.

That's because on Halloween night Linda, her friend Amy and I visited the Sterling Opera House in Derby, Ct.

It's a place where spirits soar, or, as many folks believe, actually reside.

Here's the link to Michelle's new blog about her book. I urge you to check it out.

http://ghostsanovel.blogspot.com

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I snapped this photo in Hartford Saturday. I took it through the windshield of the van as Ralph was driving. I gave it a slight vignette look, just for fun.

Visit our meme hostess Tisha at CrAzY Working Mom to see many more sky photos.

Happy weekend to all.

How does one get any work done...

when lumps of fur prevent access to one's computer and phone?

=^. .^=

Sepia scenes

For some reason I was unable to upload this photo earlier today. It just wouldn't pop into place. I must have tried five or six different times, but it wouldn't cooperate. I was frustrated to say the least, and I imagine I'm once again late to the sepia party.

I took this on Christmas Eve at our niece's new home.

I wish Sue and her wonderful husband all the best in their new digs.

To see more sepia-fied photos, visit our hostess, Mary T.

Sunsets always offer photo opps

I've been low on blog post material outside of fun photo memes lately. The sun is setting as I write this and I just grabbed these quick shots. They were taken in the same minute, amazingly enough.

Ruby Tuesday ~ still in Christmas mode

I got this little bathrobe-wearing bear for Christmas. He's seated in a ceramic bathtub.

I immediately thought he'd be a great Ruby Tuesday subject.

On the count of 3 ... awwww.

I love Teddy bears.

Visit our hostess, Mary T, to see many more photos featuring a little or a lot of red.

Happy Ruby Tuesday to all ~

'Tis good to learn stuff

Yesterday I taught a Sunday School "class" consisting of a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old. They are a big sister/little brother duo and are as adorable as can be.

We were using a lesson from Dec. 20, and talking about Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in the manger.

Um...I guess I thought the manger was another word for the stable they found for shelter on that cold winter night. But the story said it was a feeding trough for the animals used for the baby's crib.

Where have I been? If I knew that once, I forgot.

Kid Two, Cameron, was helping me with the lesson and he said he'd inferred the manger was the makeshift crib from the words of the carol "Away in the Manger."

I'll be OK. It's good to learn something new every day..

Shadow Shot Sunday

I'm tall but I'm not this tall. I noticed this shadow Thursday morning as I was taking a sky shot for another fun photo meme, Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday. Check it out if you haven't already.

Visit Tracy our hostess at Hey Harriet to see lots and lots of shadows!

Snow-free Saturday

It's not snowing today! Yay! The sun's out! Yay!

We're going to the University of Hartford this afternoon to watch a basketball game. Our kids both play in the pep band and they signed up to participate, even though they are still on winter break. Amazingly they don't go back to start the second semester until Jan. 18. They should be well rested by then!

We remembered to charge the camera batteries and hope to get some good photos. As long as we remember the camera.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Yesterday morning I took a photo of the bare trees behind our house silhouetted against a crisp blue January sky. The sun was shining and all was quiet.

This morning, not so much. * Snowing again. *

Visit Tisha, our meme hostess, at CrAzY Working Mom to see many more sky photos.

I hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Chex this out ->

One of our traditions was started several years ago by Kid Two, who decided one December day he wanted to make Chex Party Mix for our extended family's Christmas Eve get-together.

So we bought all the ingredients listed on a Chex cereal box, and young Cameron was on his way.

This year he kept to his tradition, but tweaked the traditional recipe a tad. No more Wheat Chex, he said, because he just doesn't like them. He eliminated the mixed nuts and just went with cashews and peanuts, if I recall correctly!

He also added oyster crackers to the seasoned blend that includes bagel chips and mini-pretzels.

If you've never made it before, the recipe involves putting the mixture in a low oven and stirring it every 15 minutes for an hour.

I took a picture of it before we left, and realize now that I should have taken the plastic wrap off the bowl.

But you get the idea.

I almost used this for a Sepia Scenes post. It would fit right in with the color scheme of that meme!

Sepia scenes

I snapped this photo of a female cardinal (I think) through a window at the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center (in Connecticut) on a snowy New Year's Eve day. Since she didn't have much red, I thought a sepia tone would work here.

I also was fortunate to get a photo of a downy woodpecker that morning.

Visit Mary T, our meme hostess, to see many more sepia posts and join the fun.