Monday, Monday

Photo via Limilee.

Face in Hole

Face in Hole photos are so much fun. We took full advantage of the offerings at the 4H Fair.

I think the little lamb is my favorite.

Here's to a Spectacular New Year

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead.

Dolomites photo by KevinKunstadt.

Endless Summer

There's a feeling in the air that summer is winding down and yet, I also feel as if it's barely begun. Maybe it's that the garden has never really taken off after the deer attacks or there has been one too many rainy weekends. It could be there were too many chore filled days without a sense of just hanging out. Maybe I expected to get more done.

It didn't help not to have a real vacation. Next year no matter what I'm planning a week off in the heart of the summer. Today, I'm envying people like surfers who live in places and have a mind set that is summer centric. I could use a dose of endless summer.

The beautiful surfing images are tintypes by Joni Sternbach for her SurfLand series.

Inspiration for Monday

This photo from the awesome blog I Heart You made my day. Well it's still early yet. We'll see. At least it made my mini lunch break more amusing and provided some inspiration for the rest of the day. Believe!

Photo Paige from I Heart You.

Views From Our Day

A Photo a Day 12/365

Christmas in May. Thanks Susie. We love everything. You made our day!

A Photo a Day 11/365

Yesterday's photo: Grandma buys the little one her own mini wheel barrel at the local Agway. Mommy thinks, is it okay to make a two & half year old mulch the garden?

A Photo a Day 10/365

Our camera is in a bag of rice. Never a good sign. So here's our photo of the day using Photo Booth on our Mac. I think this photo should be called "Stripey Cheesy" because we are both wearing stripes and saying cheese. I love her in this shirt. Am I raising a mini me? Is that wrong?

A Photo a Day 8/365

One would never guess from the smile on her face that it was a sleep late, wake up grumpy, no nap, whiny, cranky kind of a day. Oh well, we survived and at least she had fun hiding in the bushes and we managed to plant some sunflower seeds without a melt down. Of course she's sleeping like an angel now. Whew.

A Photo a Day 7/365 or Lucky Times Three

Today I found three four leaf clovers. I was walking into one of the municipal buildings in our town and saw a lot of clover in the grass. I remembered an article saying it wasn't as hard as people thought to find four leaf clovers. I took a quick look and actually found one. The article also said where there is one there are usually more. And sure enough I found another.

When I was leaving I decided to pick a three leaf clover for comparison and as proof my new lucky charms weren't from an oxalis plant which naturally have four leaves. That's when I found number three. I left feeling very lucky indeed. My treasures are now tucked into the pages of a nice thick book.

A Photo a Day 6/365

Good old fashioned advertising and al fresco dining courteous of Stewarts. I did not have a hamburger but I think it would be pretty funny to eat one at this table.

A Photo a Day 5/365

Sundresses and bubbles. Suddenly, it is very hot, too hot for gardening. I tried but was red as a tomato in no time. In fact, I had hoped to get the tomato plants in today. Well as we all know the best laid plans often go astray. So we were forced to put on sundresses and get the bubbles out. I blew and she chased. Many bubbles were made and popped.

Note to self: Taking photos and blowing bubbles at the same time is not ideal. Next time we need to rope in a third party (Grandma) to blow the bubbles.

A Photo a Day 4/365

Waiting for "a pie to go" at DeLucia's Pizzeria. News flash, after thirty years the old orange booths are gone and there are all new tables and chairs. It looks a lot fresher, but I was a bit taken a back by the reserved sign on the table where the old video game used to be. Thankfully, the portrait of Grandpa Constantino is still up on the wall and the brick oven is firing away.

A Photo a Day 3/365

I'm posting yesterday's photo of the day today because of we got home in the wee hours last night. We baby sat my nieces and nephew and drove home super late. We saw lots of deer, a shunk and a fox on the drive home. I wish I could have gotten a photo of one of the nocturnal critters. Instead a close up of the bush in my brothers front yard. This is our photo of the day because something about it reminds me of the strange quality of the suburbs. More about that another post.

A Photo a Day 2a & 2b/365

Last of the Radio Flyer or Last of the Deer? I couldn't decide. Both have been decomposing in our back yard. Years of being out in the rain and elements did in our childhood wagon. Not sure who got the deer. It was too large for the local fox who seems more interested in the squirrels and birds. I think either a car or a coyote or a combination of the two. I have spotted a coyote twice now. At first I thought I was imaging things, but he was too large to be a fox and too wild looking to be anyone's dog. Yes, I'm sure we have an Eastern Coyote in our midst.

A Photo a Day 1/365

A photo a day for 365 days. Can I do it? We'll see. Day one, photo one. Hmm, what will a year of photos reveal?

Today's photo: Hay rolls at the edge of a field on a country road.

Eyjafjallajokul

Looking at the photos of the Eyjafjallajokul volcano, I think thank goodness I don't live in Iceland. It's not that I don't love Iceland and it's numerous volcanoes, I do. I think I could deal with ash spewing all over the place, but I would never be able to spell anything correctly let alone pronounce it.

I'm sure those in the path of the ash cloud are none too pleased with Eyjafjallajokul, but from my safe distance, I'm really enjoying the surreal visuals this powerhouse is generating. You can see more here and here.

Photo 1: Lighting in Eyjafjallajokul's ash cloud/ Reuters/Lucas Jackson
Photo 2: Day turns into Night/Reuters/Ingolfur Juliusson
Photo 3: Air Traffic Control Geneva/Reuters/ Denis Balibouse

Recession Fun #2: Photo Booth Self Portraits

On my recent trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado I ran into the Lyon Corner Drug & Soda, an old-style pharmacy with an actual soda fountain and shakes, to buy batteries for my digital camera. I didn't have time to indulge in a shake but I spied an old-time B&W photo booth and vowed I'd be back with my friend Susie in tow to get our pictures taken. I was massively disappointed when I went back and found an "Out of Order" sign posted.

It's getting harder and harder to find B&W photo booths. Sadly they are being over taken by lame digital versions that spit out cheap digital prints that look like something you printed from your home computer. So if your lucky enough to stumble upon a true blue B&W photo booth don't hesitate to spring for the $1.50 to $3.00 it costs. You'll have a little piece of history and a worthy souvenir. The hardest part is deciding who gets which shot. There you have it, another idea for having fun with little or no money - Photo booth self- portraits!

The wonderful B&W photo booth images above are from Square America.

End of Summer Aqua Blues

Less than two weeks left till Labor day which means the pools will be closing and swimmies will be replaced by backpacks. I'm going to miss the aqua blue water, neatly trimmed hedges and hodgepodge of vivid beach towels on the grass. Maybe even the the life guard's whistle followed by "walk" being shouted at some over excited little swimmer on his way to the snack bar.

At the pool the other day we were 50 cents short for an ice cream cone having spent all our cash on French fries. My niece said not to worry, we'd find the money and sure enough we did. Turns out she and her friend figured out that coins fall down into the cracks of the metal picnic tables and get left behind when swimmers head back to the pool. They've been making a point of the checking the tables each day. Turns out it has been a pretty lucrative summer for them. So we did a search and came up with 75 cents. I think the victory made our ice cream taste extra sweet.

The great photo above is by Friendly Made and available at their Etsy shop.