The Magic of the First Snow

Well, we got our first snow of the new winter last night (not counting a TINY dusting we got Christmas Eve). The weather people said we were going to get 10 inches (UGH–plowing bill), but we only got 2-3 inches (YAY–beauty without the trouble!).

The bird’s food dish was frozen (there was rain mixed in the snow) so I had to go out and toss some seeds on top. Here’s a view from my back upstairs window above the bird feeder.

A female cardinal looks on

Out back where the birds are, the trees were covered with snow.

Fresh snow on trees

And the sun rose over the freshly fallen snow. I always forget how beautiful the first snow is until I see it.

Second floor office view of the first snow

Sun on fresh snow

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures

I started this blog in 2012. My original plan was to post rough draft poetry snippets with some photos. Once I started participating in the Weekly Photo Challenges, it became almost ALL photography. I hope to mix it up more in the new year.

For this challenge I looked through my posts for each month and chose one photo. Some were part of challenges and some were not. In the meantime, I am grateful for the Challenges; they led me to meet a lot of  wonderful people and find a lot of wonderful blogs!

Swans on a pond in December

Graveyard in Hull, MA

A young me with my cat, Misty

A Kentucky raccoon observed out a window

Tree with a fist-shaped burl

Dressed up for July 4th

June pollen after the rain

Blue Iris in May

Two Subject Photo Challenge

Gardens at Biltmore Mansion in NC, visited last April, posted this March

My first Photo Challenge: Regret

80’s Boots…posted with a poem in January 2012

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Merry Christmas!

Sued51's Blog

So…you know what they say…home-made gifts are most appreciated. Here’s the store-bought gift.

 

And here’s the home-made gift: some pieces of leftover foil paper taped to a wine cork.

 

Guess which gift is more popular?

 

Merry Christmas!!

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Sunday Post: Christmas

Jake’s timely topic this week is Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise

This week’s topic is Surprise. This topic seems especially appropriate at Christmas when many children dream of Christmas morning surprises. As adults, it is a much more rare occurrence to be surprised in such a happy way. We always try to know what is coming and be prepared; we don’t expect happy surprises, we tend to expect bad ones. It is sometimes a struggle not to get jaded and lose the JOY of surprise. That’s why over the years, my husband and I have sometimes given each other children’s toys. This is one of them: a jack-in-the-box.

As you can see, it has a specific theme. It is a Red Sox Jack-in-the-Box. When you turn the crank it plays “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” And then…

Out pops David Ortiz! It turns out, it is a “David-in-the-Box”!

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things that Make me Happy

Cee’s topic this week is timely because it is the holiday season. I never post pictures of my family, but that’s what comes to my mind for the topic today. We just had a Christmas get-together last weekend because my relatives were coming from another state that couldn’t get here on Christmas. This is a picture of my niece and my great-nephew! It makes me happy to be around all my nieces, nephews, and great-nephews and nieces!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Please click the link below to see other photos for Cee’s Challenge!

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Dead Trees Do Matter

After a visit to Northern Narratives today, this photo I took last week came to mind. She’s right about the importance of dead trees, especially for birds and insects; this one is fallen but is still hosting life! You can buy mushroom growing logs for edible mushrooms online. Here’s a natural one, though I wouldn’t know if they are edible.

 

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Delicate

This week’s Photo Challenge Topic is delicate. I looked around my home for items I would define this way. (I’m too delicate to go outside in the cold!)

It’s Christmas time and I have a lot of delicate ornaments made out of glass, but this ornament is the most delicate of all. It is a very old “egg” ornament that my mother gave me. It is a decorated egg shell. She gave me two, but unfortunately I broke one last year.

My husband has done a lot of traveling for his job. He got this Japanese fan on one of his trips. It is made of silk and hand-painted. We put it in a frame to preserve it and display it.

Last but not least, this is a slightly different definition of delicate, as in “high-maintenance.” I love plants, but one plant I had limited success growing until recently was an African Violet. They have very specific needs in order to thrive and bloom: a window facing East is best and DO NOT get any water on its fuzzy leaves! You have to water them from the bottom. Someone told me they need to be pot-bound in order to bloom, but I’m not sure if that is true; I gave it a little African Violet food and as you can see, it gave me flowers!

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Red and Green

Given the holiday season in the US, this is an easy challenge; at Christmas time these colors are everywhere! But, I decided to go with two non-Christmas photos and two Christmas photos to step oh-so-slightly out of the box.

Click on the icon to see more examples of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons too

After seeing some lovely photo collages with all of the seasons represented (thanks, Eliz and firstandfabulous), I decided to revisit the topic.

I had forgotten that I have a piece of artwork in my home that is a perfect fit for the theme; it is actually called “Seasons.”  I wish I could tell you who the artist is, but I bought the print on the streets of Quebec City many years ago. Very expensive for me at the time, but I loved it. You can see the iconic Chateau Frontenac in the print.

Seasons

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