Better late than never, I s'pose

I've not been keeping up with my blog or my blogging friends.

I'm trying to get back on the blogospheric track..I visited blog buddies yesterday and hope to do the same today.

Yesterday I started working on a book of my mother's memoirs. She has so many memories of growing up during the Depression. And they are truly vivid memories of her family and friends living in a small town in New Jersey.

I'm urging her to jot them down so I can compile them into a book that I'd love to self-publish someday. That's my goal.

Shadow Shot Sunday

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Friday afternoon was simply gorgeous, so I ventured outside (!) to seek some photos for two fun memes, Looking at the Sky on Friday and Shadow Shot Sunday.

Whilst out there, I accidentally captured a shadow of moi.

See many more shadowy photos at our awesome Aussie friend Tracy's Hey Harriet blog.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I just went outside to take a photo of the bluest of blue skies and this "cloud face" greeted me. You do agree it looks like a face, don't you?

I'm not totally losing my marbles, am I??

It's Friday and I'm late posting for Tisha's fun meme, Looking at the Sky on Friday, but I'm here.

What I like about these photos is the color is not enhanced.

The sky is simply stunning this afternoon.

Happy late August afternoon to all!

I met a little angel last week

I briefly met a lot of wonderful children on a recent visit to a day camp program, and one of them in particular was what I would describe as an angel. She was so bright, so adorable, and so wise for her years. She made me smile.

I've found that when life is not going as well as it could, someone always seems to come into our lives and puts us back on a positive path. The 10-year old I met did just that. She stole my heart.

I wish I could have stayed longer to talk with her. She told me so much about herself in a few minutes. She has not had an easy childhood, but she seems to be coping with everything pretty well.

We live in the same town; maybe I'll see her again. I hope so.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Linus posed for the camera this morning!

I'm feeling lucky. =^. .^=

Visit Tracy, our awesome Aussie friend, at Hey Harriet, to see lots of shadowy shots.

Sepia Scenes ~ experimenting

I thought I'd try something different with this night photo of the gazebo on the Derby, Ct. Green. It's fun to experiment!

As you can see I was out ve-r-r-r-y late the other night. Not a soul in sight. (I wasn't alone, my companions are just not in the frame.)

But more on that later. See lots more sepia-fied photos at Mary T's Sepia Scenes blog.

Foot pain

Darling daughter has had a really painful right foot since Saturday. It hurts every time she puts her weight on it.

We are going to have it looked at this morning. Wish us luck.

:- (

UPDATE: We talked to nurse at local CVS who said it was most likely from being on her feet with her new job. She suggested taking pain relievers and soaking the foot in cold water, which daughter already did. And she needs to get some better shoes with good support.

Shadow Shot Sunday

I call this one "Patti needs a Pedi."

I had a pedicure once. I think it was the '90s.

See lots of shadowy pix at our awesome Aussie friend Tracy's Hey Harriet blog.

Straight out of the camera ...

Sunflowers!

Zinnias!

Thought I'd post photos I took last week. Wish I could say this was my garden. ;- )

Sepia scenes

I snapped this yesterday while on assignment photographing a despicable act of vandalism to a memorial. The monument was installed in the 1990s to honor a local man killed in combat during World War II. The memorial area is in a park next to a reservoir.

The photo reminds me of an old-fashioned swimmin' hole on a hot summer afternoon.

And the original:

See lots more sepia scenes at Mary T's blog of the same name!

Bowled over

Told ya we bowled! (See last week's post here.)

Here's proof that Allegra and I were actually in the bowling alley. Notice the lanes behind us.

One of the folks who works for the non-profit that hosted the bowling night took this photo. I thought it came out cute.

We were hot and tired, but we managed to have a lot of fun!

Shadow Shot Sunday

I hope reflections count as shadows. Ralph tells me they do.

;-)

I would not want to miss out on participating in Shadow Shot Sunday for two weeks in a row. I wasn't happy that I didn't get around to posting anything last weekend.

I took a walk with a friend yesterday morning and took some photos. It was nice out; the heat hadn't yet gotten out of hand at 7:30 a.m.

The river was so calm, almost mirror-like, and I think these photos make an old mill town look nice. Hope you agree!

See many more shadowy shots at Tracy's Hey Harriet blog. You won't be disappointed.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

Took a walk with a friend this morning. After I took a photo of the church steeple, I walked a few steps further and saw this dramatic cloud formation.

I hope the changing sky means a cool front is approaching. I can't take much more humidity.

See lots more sky shots at our CrAzY Working Mom's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme.

Had to share this

This morning I got a close-up for the first time of a bee doing his thing ~

A re-post with some linky love

For several days I've been meaning to write about Ralph's new venture in the blogosphere...he is trying to figure out how to work for himself and forge a new career path.

The part-time job he has now may not be there for much longer.

He has started a blog called Lapareau Consult.

Please take a moment to check it out! Thanks in advance.

Mystery photo ~

Hop, hop. Twitch, twitch.

It's a bunny, I know, but I don't know where he came from. Seems like someone's pet escaped from its hutch. It doesn't look like any of the brownish-colored wild bunnies I've seen.

Hop, hop. Twitch, twitch.

I was walking in the yard last evening talking to my mother on the phone. It was starting to get dark and I saw what I thought was a black cat. Well, it was a wascally wabbit. =<^.^>=

I ran for the camera, and took these pix on night mode. I lightened them on the computer because the bunny was in the shadows and you couldn't have seen him otherwise.

He hopped away after a few minutes. I hope he found his way home!

Ruby Tuesday

Tuesday is back, and so am I. I can't believe that five weeks have flown by since last I participated in Ruby Tuesday.

My excuse is the July heat and humidity made me sluggish..lazy..too hot to post.

haha. I hope August brings us some more bearable weather.

So, I went out this afternoon and found these pretty red doors on an Episcopal church about two miles from our house.

Christ Church was built in the late 1890s. It is made of Ansonia granite and New Jersey gray stone in the English gothic style, according to its Web site. Construction was completed in 1896, in time for Christmas services to be held there.

When I got home I took this shot of a flower from a plant a friend gave me. Unfortunately I don't know what kind of flower it is. I haven't planted the plant; it's still in the pot.

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

Giving my love some linky love for his new blog

For several days I've been meaning to write about Ralph's new venture in the blogosphere...he is trying to figure out how to work for himself and forge a new career path.

The part-time job he has now may not be there for much longer.

He has started a blog called Lapareau Consult.

Please take a moment to check it out! Thanks in advance.

To bowl or not to bowl

Daughter Allegra and I went bowling on Wednesday. If you knew us or had been a fly on the wall at the bowling alley, you would be chuckling right now.

We're not very good at it.

The non-profit for which she has been volunteering had a family night, and it was free. So we went and had a good time! Met a few nice folks and realized we needed some "practice" before we could call ourselves bowlers.

I won the first game; she won the second. Neither of us cracked a 70..but we did crack up a few times.

The last time I bowled the balls were all black. Who knew they came in pretty colors now?

Bwahahaha

Sepia scenes

I took this photo through the windshield June 20 as we were leaving Boston after our nephew's wedding the day before.

Ralph took a rather circuitous route - something for which he is known around here - so I could get pix of the Leonard P. Zakim-Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. We'll forgive him this time.

See lots more photos featuring a sepia tone at Mary T's Sepia Scenes.

And, just for fun on a hot summer day, here is the original below. Which do you prefer?

Cool

It was wonderful to wake up at 5 a.m. because the air was chilly and I had to pull the sheet up to my chin.

Woo hoo! The recent heat and humidity have made me so sluggish.

So for now I am celebrating being cool!

I'm sure it won't last. They say it's still July.

Shadow Shot Sunday

A wonderful blog buddy who lives down South sent me these shadow shots...

Aren't they great?

I live in the south too...Southern Connecticut, that is. Haha.

About 9 or 10 miles from Long Island Sound.

See many more shadowy pix at our awesome Aussie friend Tracy's Hey Harriet blog.

Sepia Scenes ~ serene

I snapped this last week on a hot and hazy afternoon. I liked the color version, not so sure if the sepia/antiquing enhances it. The fun is in the experimenting, right?

Visit Mary T's Sepia Scenes to see lots more photos in sepia tone.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Whilst at our nephew's wedding reception in Boston last month one of the other guests and I pulled back the drapes to watch a street performer at Quincy Market. I caught a few shadows here.

OK, no more Boston pix. This is the last. ;-)

We'll have to go somewhere else so I can take some more interesting photos.

See many more shadowy pix at Hey Harriet, hosted by our awesome Aussie friend, Tracy.

An update to yesterday's post about friends

I just read my friend Karen's note on Facebook from earlier today...her sister Gail died yesterday.

Karen said she went in peace, and she knows that Gail is in a better place.

Cupcakes

That's it!

I figured it out. Cupcakes are the secret.

Their sweet selves serve to pull us out of our depression, our frustration over a slow Internet connection, our exhaustion, or in my case heat exhaustion.

I don't know about you but the summer weather does a number on my brain - I can't think straight when it is so hot. And I'm sitting in an air conditioned room. How spoiled.

What did the pioneer women do? I know they didn't have air conditioning in those covered wagons and log cabins and outhouses.

Allegra made *cupcakes* this week after I purchased a baking tin, and now I want her to make us some more. We enjoyed them immensely.

They are wonderful. And she is wonderful for making them. I hope she reads this blog post today.

OK, back to work. Have a good day.

Make new friends, but keep the old

...one is silver and the other's gold.

Those words certainly rang true for me Saturday when I got back together with a friend ~ who I had not seen in almost 40 (gulp!) years. She has lived in Michigan since she went away to college.

I have been thinking about Karen all week and trying to decide whether or not to write about what it was like meeting up with a friend after all these years had gone by.

It was great to see her; we chatted about our memories of growing up, about our teachers and classmates, our children and our careers. That part was fun. We had no trouble reconnecting.

But my brief reunion with Karen was tainted with much sadness. Her only sister is dying, and she is back in Connecticut to be with her. Her parents and younger brother have already passed away, and her sister is her only tie to her original family.

I don't want to go into any details. I'll just say the situation is terribly sad and unfair. Her sister has a husband and two adult children. They are all making sure that she doesn't face the end of her life alone.

Karen has a deep faith. I admire her strength in this most trying situation, and I know she will weather whatever comes her way.

Sepia Scenes ~ Boston encore

Yet another photo from Boston. This is a promenade that was built above a new tunnel which was dubbed the Big Dig when it was under construction.

Ralph and I were wandering back to our hotel on a hazy, hot Sunday morning when we spotted these children making good use of the fountains!

It looked so refreshing I wanted to jump in with them.

This is the second exterior shot I've sepia-fied that looks like science fiction to me.

What do you think of the pink-ified version below? I think I prefer it.

Visit Mary T's Sepia Scenes to join in the sepia photo fun.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ in the park with Ralph

A few more photos from Boston. I can't believe it has already been three weeks since we were there.

Apparently Ralph was done looking at the flowers in Christopher Columbus Park in Boston before I was.

"Wait up, Ralphie!"

Visit our Aussie friend, Tracy, at Hey Harriet to join the shadowy fun!