Sepia scenes

I snapped this the other day when the sun was shining. You can see remnants of snow in the background. Today in Connecticut we are having STEADY snow coming down. All I see is white as I look out the slider at the patio and nearby forsythia bushes.

Ralph and I are snowbound with our two kitty cats ... such as the one you see below:

It's Rigby! One of my favorite photo subjects. He and his brother, Linus, love cardboard boxes.

I tried to sepia-fy most of the photo yet keep his signature black and white fur. Ha!

I don't have any technical explanations for what I did; it was just trial and error using iPhoto.

So that's about it from snowy-land. Stay safe and warm!

See many more sepia photos here, at Mary T's blog of the same name.

Super snooze

This was what our cats were doing Sunday during the Superbowl. Apparently they don't care too much about football.

= ^. .^ =

Ruby Tuesday ~ service project

On Friday I wrote about a cookie-baking marathon run by students at a local high school. Click here to read the story. The cookies were to be sent to U.S. troops all over the world.

This is the eighth (non-consecutive) year that the school's Distributive Education Clubs of America program has held the Stay Awake and Bake event. The tradition was revived after a four-year hiatus, during which the program focused on other community service projects, the advisor said.

These are the cartons the teens packed with boxes of sugar cookies. I thought they did a nice job wrapping them!

They said they hoped the treats would reach their destinations by Valentine's Day.

Kudos to the 22 students who gave up their Friday afternoon and evening to express their gratitude to troops serving our country.

See many more photos featuring a little or a lot of red at Work of the Poet, hosted by Mary T. The Teach.

Sunday morning thoughts

I am getting ready to teach a Sunday School class, ages 4-7. There are four kids, unless we have a guest.

This week's bible verse is from Matthew, Chapter 6: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The lesson is drawn from the story of "a rich young man," found in Matthew Chapter 19, verses 16-23.

The game we are going to play is "It's Just Money." I like that concept! That's why I'm writing about it. ha ha

I'm reminded of a former co-worker many years ago. She was a wonderful woman with a great sense of humor, who died in her early 50s. I remember her saying once, "The money comes, and the money goes" when a group of us (underpaid folks) were having lunch.

'Tis so true. I'm continually trying not to get anxious about the bills, and writing about my financial worries helps a bit.

But back to the simplified Bible story: The "It's Just Money" game will have me hiding play money around the room. The children have to find the money, and I will ask them how they felt when they were looking for it (anxious to find it) and ask them if there are things that money cannot buy. Of course the answer is yes, and I'll mention hope, love, joy, and peace.

I am writing this in part to prepare for the lesson, but also because I'm trying to remind myself that I'm blessed, and I do have those things that money cannot buy.

Saturday evening

Time: 6:56 p.m.

Place: Home sweet home

Dinner: Chicken, on the stove, almost done. Spring mix will be the salad, with Italian bread on the side.

Me: blogging, visiting Looking at the Sky and Shadow Shot Sunday participants

Ralph: blogging as well, using laptop from work

Music: currently, the 40s - Big Band. It's a college radio station

Happy face: that would be mine because Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll" is on the radio right now. It's one of Ralph's all-time favorites. So of course I like it too.

Have a great weekend!

Shadow Shot Sunday

I call this photo Empty Benches. ha ha

They were empty because it was a cold January Saturday when Ralph and I went photo hunting along Long Island Sound in West Haven, Ct., as seen in previous post here.

Too cold to sit down! Had to keep moving!

Check out many more shadowy shots over at Hey Harriet. And join the fun!

Looking at the Sky on Friday

(actually it was Wednesday)

Yep, that dot is the sun, peeking out from behind a lot of white Wednesday morning. We have been having relatively low snowfall amounts, fortunately!

I haven't had to attempt to use the heavy artillery (snow thrower) on the driveway. The person who does that is away at college.

For background information on the white sky, click here. ;-)

Visit Tisha at CrAzY Working Mom to see many more sky pix!

This is what the cats do while I work ~ not much

The Brothers Furr from left: Rigby and Linus.

Barely able to come up with a post today...

but that's not stopping me.

This is one of the four bears that go everywhere in the van with Ralph, and provide him with friendship and moral support. Like on Tuesday morning, when a tiny electrical wire caused a massive problem for my hubby. He was transferring out of the wheelchair onto the driver's seat, which swivels sideways to allow a smooth switcheroo from one chair to another.

But the swiveling driver's seat stopped swiveling, in a most inconvenient spot.

Ralph was stuck. He couldn't swivel it back so that he could get back onto the wheelchair. And he couldn't swivel it completely around to face the steering wheel.

What to do? Fortunately this happened while he was parked at home, and while I was here.

He moved the best he could in the driver's seat to face forward (always a good idea if you want to look out the windshield), I helped him move his legs to the front (he uses hand controls) and got a pillow to prop him up in the back.

He headed out to the place where he gets repairs done on the van and its many mechanical doohickeys. Unfortunately it's 58 miles from home. Fortunately it was mostly highway driving, and long after rush hour.

Yikes. He must have been uncomfortable at the wheel. But he lived through it, and was able to get to his afternoon appointment for his job.

There! I got a post out. 'Twas rather therapeutic. Thanks for reading!

Sepia scenes ~ after the snow

We had an unexpected snowfall last week. It had been billed as snow "showers." It didn't drop a lot of precipitation, but it was just enough that I had to sweep the driveway with a push broom. Easier on the back than shoveling!

Here you see some lovely "flowers" in my garden. They look rather tired, don't you think?

To see many photos that have been given a sepia look, visit Mary T, The Teach, at Sepia Scenes.

And more white stuff has fallen!

I'm waiting for Ralph to say "it's good for the reservoirs" or "we won't have to worry about a drought this summer." ha ha
This is how the sky looked as I was sweeping off the driveway this morning. The sun kept coming out from behind the white then hiding again. I finally caught a photo of it, which I may post for Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme.

Have a wonderful Wednesday ~

Ruby Tuesday * bear with me

This may not be the most artistic Ruby Tuesday post I've ever done, but bear with me.

I didn't have a ruby photo this week to post, until this afternoon when I went to a newly-relocated thrift shop. The shop is not set up yet, but this red bear seems happy to have a carton on which to rest.

The Stars and Stripes Thrift Shoppe is run by a non-profit organization, No Vet Left Behind, Inc. that helps needy veterans. The organization provides them with the basics, everything from clothing and blankets to food, as well as with support in navigating the bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This bear is sitting in their store window, and there was glare when I took the photo. I did what I could.

I urge you to check out the non-profit organization here. Founders Mary and George Porter of Derby, Ct. are both Army veterans who want to do what they can to help other vets.

Mary Porter told me there are 5,000 homeless veterans in Connecticut. That number sounds unbelievably high. But she knows whereof she speaks.

She is dedicated to helping them in any way she can, and for that I commend her.

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

* Monday morning miscellany *

The weeks sure fly by! And the weekends go even faster, don't they?

It's time to get back to work mode...But before I do that, I found a cute joke about one of my all-time favorite fairy tale characters to share:

A Gift for Snow White

Snow White received a camera as a gift. She happily took pictures of the Dwarfs and their surroundings. When she finished her first batch she took the film to be developed. After a week or so she went to get the finished photos. The clerk said the photos were not back from the processor.

Needless to say, she was disappointed and started to cry. The clerk, trying to console her, said,

"Don't worry. Someday your prints will come."

...and now I leave you with a re-post from almost two years ago:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008

Snow what? Snow White!

Ralph used to have a joke with our daughter when she was very small about the fair maiden.
He'd say "Snow What?" to her and she'd yell out "Snow White!" In honor of those fun times, I bring you a column I wrote in August of (ahem) 1987 for a now-defunct daily paper.

"... And they lived happily ever after"

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho.
You too will be singing those words if you go see the best film of the summer - "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
Yep, my husband and I saw this magical movie adaptation of Grimm's fairy tale last weekend and were enthralled by its charm and innocence.
The 1937 vintage animation is Walt Disney at his finest. From the beginning when Snow White sings: "I'm wishing...for the one I love" to when the Wicked Queen (Snow's stepmother) looks into her mirror and asks: "Magic mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" the movie sparkles.
Rarely have the forces of good and evil been so clearly defined. Snow White, the fairy princess, is surrounded by white doves while the Wicked Queen hangs around with ravens and buzzards.
The W.Q. despises Snow - she's jealous of her beauty - so she tells one of her henchmen at the palace to kill her. But he cannot go through with it and Snow winds up running through the Evil Forest until she meets the sweetest little group of animals this side of paradise. She sings, the bluebirds sing, the bunnies twitch, and the deer and the antelope play.
She tells them she needs someplace to live and they lead her to a cottage that's cozy but cluttered. Guess who lives there? The seven dwarfs, of course.
Snow can't stand the dirt and gets her animal friends to help clean up the mess. And as they work, they whistle and burst into song.
Meanwhile, the seven little men are out mining for huge, brilliant diamonds in a nearby mine.
But when these happy little guys get home that night and see all their cottage lights ablaze, they are scared out of their wits. "Maybe it's a ghost or goblin!" they shriek in unison.
They send Dopey inside to find out who or what is there. Of course, it is only our heroine, Snow, sound asleep in the bedroom.
They stare at her and Grumpy, who is suspicious of all women, declares: "She's female and full of wicked wiles."
After she wakes up, she tells them she will make dinner, but not until they wash. Grumpy is appalled. Wash? With soap? And water?
Eventually, however, he grows to love Miss White, as do his peers.
When her evil stepmother - enraged at her superior beauty -tricks her into eating a poisoned apple, she falls into a trance-like sleep and both the dwarfs and her animal friends are convinced that she has been murdered.
Since they cannot bear to bury her, they put her in a glass casket instead and set up an eternal vigil.
But she only sleeps until her Prince comes and kisses her awake and takes her away on his white stallion, off into the sinking sunset.
Unlike most mass-appeal movies made these days, this one has a simplicity and beauty that take your breath away.
It vaults you back to a different time, a different place, when people left their doors unlocked and trust was a common coin.
Go see it. It will leave you with tears in your eyes. But as you leave the theater, those tears will be replaced by a sense of exaltation, of innocence regained.
And as you walk toward your car, you will begin to hear a voice, way off in the distance, singing: "Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's home from work we go."
And then you will realize the voice is yours and you will find yourself wishing, with all your heart, that Snow White was not a fairy tale, and that you too could live happily ever after.

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.