Looking at the Sky on Friday

I took this from the passenger seat Saturday as we were passing through Waterbury, Ct. on our way to see our daughter.

I thought it would work for Tisha's fun meme.

The cloud formation looks like a ghost to me. What do you see?

Enjoy the weekend!

Mommy bought us food!

Yep, a few more feline fotos ...

These two guys always jump on the table to see what I schlep home from the store. How happy they were when this trip included goodies for them. Not treats, but sustenance. Yes, they do get some all-natural wet food too. Turkey, chicken with vegetables, beef... I think they may eat better than we do sometimes.

"I'm starved, aren't you, Rigby?" Linus might be saying to his brother.

They never did manage to get the bag open, in case you were wondering.

They deserve our respect, today and every day

I found this online and thought I'd post it. I'm not a poet, but I appreciate the talent of those who pen poems.
"They Did Their Share"

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.

We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

- By Joanna Fuchs

Sepia scenes ~ featuring Rigby

When in doubt, photograph your pet.

= ^. .^ =

I admit I do post a lot of photos of Rigby, but what can I say, he's photogenic!

To see more sepia photos, visit Mary T at Sepia Scenes.

Ruby Tuesday * reflection

It's moi playing with the camera as Ralph drove us home from Hartford Saturday.

The sun was bright that afternoon!

To enjoy many more photos featuring a little or a lot of red, visit our hostess, Mary T, The Teach, at Work of the Poet.

Does he lean right, or left?

I was happy to capture our Rigby reading the news Sunday morning. In these photos he's undecided on the way he looks at current events.

Looking at his expression below it appears he is trying to decide what he really thinks about politics.

Kinda like me.

Sunday morning with Rigby

I'm not sure if Rigby is in favor of the House Democrats' health-care plan or not.

Are you as sick of those people in Washington as I am?

Woops, that's getting political, and I try to stay away from that here.

~

I'm preparing a Sunday School lesson. It's about Moses and the Pharaoh this week.

Fortunately I have my daughter here to help me. I hope the little children (ages 4-7) are well behaved. Someday if they are not paying attention and disrespecting the teacher (me) I'm going to send them back out into church to sit with their parents. bwahahaha

Have a great Sunday!

Shadow Shot Sunday

We picked up our daughter this afternoon at the University of Hartford and I spied this great shadow on the side of the Hartt School of Music. I took a quick shot through the windshield.

Below are November shadows playing on the on-campus apartment building where Allegra lives.

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

Looking at the Sky

I snapped this as I was leaving for work on Election Night Tuesday. Full moon was the night before, so this is pretty close to full.

I lightened the photo a bit so the cloud formations would be more visible.

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

Happy weekend to all ~

~ Dona Nobis Pacem ~

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.

=^. .^=

Sepia scenes ~ kinda spooky, kinda friendly

I spied this guy last week displayed in the window of a local art gallery. The actual piece is painted in Jack O' Lantern orange, but I thought I'd give it a sepia bath.

Visit Mary T, our Sepia Scenes hostess, to see more sepia photos.

A bit of history on a rainy Halloween night

(spooky bat art for Halloween created by artist Richard DiCarlo of Derby, Ct.)

Welcome to the Sterling Opera House

Is this historic building haunted?

Some are convinced that it is.

And that bit of information is all I needed to know last week when artist Rich DiCarlo, president of our local Valley Arts Council, invited me and a few others to step inside the Sterling Opera House in Derby, Ct. on Halloween.

I took him up on the offer, but not without first inviting blogging buddy Linda, Duchess of Norwich-Upon-Thames, who I knew would be interested in visiting this historic building, as well as in looking for ghosts.

She immediately was intrigued, and asked me to find out if she could bring along her friend, Amy. That was fine with the arts council prez.

Since Linda had never been to the area, we arranged a meeting at the Derby Train Station (below), which looks rather haunted here, don't you agree? The rain was coming down in buckets for a few minutes, so we waited in our cars for it to pass.

Here is another view (below) that I snapped through the windshield.

I like how this photo came out; I confess a bit of sepia-fying went into the final product.But back to the Sterling Opera House...seen in this picture in 1889, the year it was completed.

It stands majestically across from the old Derby Green, vacant since it was last used as City Hall in the 1960s. Renovations are in the works. Its ornate cupola is being repaired and is expected to be replaced in the spring.

(I just noticed that our Duchess Linda has written a comprehensive post about our experience...much longer and more detailed than this post will be, but I will forge ahead. )

The American flag in the above photo is hanging from a lamppost on the perimeter of the Green along Elizabeth Street, across from the opera house. The Second Congregational Church, and its long-vacant parsonage next door, can be seen in the background.

When Rich unlocked the side door, a musty odor greeted us as we entered the building.

Dark? Yes. We all were armed with flashlights and extra batteries. And digital cameras. Duchess Linda had two with her. I had my trusty Canon point and shoot.

We entered the theater and our 2 1/2-hour journey began...walking amongst debris, dust, piles of wood, and more debris. Did I mention it was dusty?

Here is Duchess Linda walking past one of the walls...dilapidated place, isn't it?

Below is another view of the theater, right near the stage. See any orbs? No? That's because I cropped them out of this photo. We'll leave the orb story for another day. Stay tuned for that.

I'm off to work, to get official vote numbers from yesterday's local elections.

It's Election Day - will this woman be our new mayor?

The votes are being cast as we speak. Here our blog friend Linda looks at what may be her future office space, if she wins the election today.

Bwahahahaha!

Don't forget to vote today ~ and may the best man or woman win.

*** Mouseski for Mayor ***

Ruby Tuesday ~ spooky?

On Halloween night I went out alone, in the pouring rain. That was brave of me, no?

It was not to trick or treat, but to meet up with the one and only Linda, blogger extraordinaire.

Lucky for me she was able to drive about 70 miles from her home in Norwich, Ct. with her friend, Amy, so we could do something fun and spooky to celebrate the holiday. wooooooo

We met at the tiny Derby, Ct. train station, pictured here in this photo taken through the windshield. It looks almost haunted in the dark, doesn't it? Creepy.

But more on that later!

To see more Ruby Tuesday photos with a little or a lot of red, visit our hostess, Mary T, at Work of the Poet.

Mystery of previous shadow shot post uncovered

It's... it's... a jar candle! A Granny Smith apple-scented Yankee Candle.

It was fun fooling folks. ;-D

~ Shadow Shot Sunday ~

This could be a mystery photo. Or can you guess what it is?

A bit spooky for Halloween. Just a bit.

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

From the e-mail bag today

Why the dog left ...

Now that is creepy.

Happy Halloween!

Thursday's moon rising

I liked this shot ~ looks like autumn to me. I added a slight vignette frame to it.

Happy Halloween!

Looking at the Sky ~ clouds at sunrise

I went out in the front yard to take photos of the sunrise last week. The kids at the bus stop nearby seemed to be wondering what I was doing. I felt like saying "just look at the beautiful cloud formations!" but I didn't.

To see many more cloud formations and sky shots, visit Tisha at CrAzY Working Mom.

A Halloween message

<>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<>

This little poem sums ups my Halloween plans. And you?

Halloween rerun ~ still spooky though

From the 2008 archives...I posted this last October, but it's worthy of a re-post!

Linus is on the left, Rigby is on the right. They are both kwazy kitties.

Sepia scenes ~ shadowy

It's moi photographing our neighbor, Libby, in our driveway.

Our two cats, Linus and Rigby, stay indoors. We want to keep them safe and sound.

And they certainly don't like it when I interact with (pet and talk to) Libby. They watch me from the front window and seethe. At least I imagine they're seething. Sorry, guys.

For more pictures of this friendly feline, see my post from Sunday.

To see more Sepia Scenes visit our hostess, Mary T, at the blog of the same name.