Happy New Year!!

It has been frigid to say the least

The creatures are looking for food

Bunny's parsley is frozen solid

Birds are fighting for a space at the feeder

15 minutes later, no more tracks, 

the snow is coming down heavy now.

I tried to cover some salad for Bunny

I will hate myself in the Spring when her offspring eat all my Petunias!

Stay safe and warm!!! Happy New Year!

Frost

This is what it looked like this morning out back.

This frost just settled on everything.

Merry Christmas to all!!

May your hearts be filled with 

Peace, Love and Joy.

90 years young!

Saturday we celebrated Lillian's 90th Birthday!!

Here she is with her four Grandchildren

Happy Birthday Mom!!

~

Slap me upside the head. I left my camera on the kitchen counter.

This is a cell phone shot. 

Fortunately we did have someone there with a real camera.

P.S. I'll be in and out reading your posts for the next week or two.

I am overwhelmed with busy. 

Let There Be Light

This time of year the sun rises on the power line side of the house.

I rarely photograph this side but the sky is quite

dynamic in that direction.

This was taken with my Canon on auto. I added a little contrast.

This one was taken in almost total dark so is a bit grainy but the sunrise was worth it,

I tried to sharpen it and lightened the shadows a tiny bit.

Cell phone shot - Unedited. 

Frosty Morning

I thought about this challenge all month and wanted to do something creative with indoor light.

Maybe next time. I was just too busy traveling and working. 

However, I never stop pointing my camera at the sky so there is plenty of light!

Linking to Donna's Personal Photo Challenge

Home

I have been away on business

as you can see by the pictures below

A quick jaunt down to San Juan Puerto Rico

To preview hotels for our 2015 educational event.

Not much leisure time but enough to get some sand between my toes.

It was quite windy, but warm and humid. 

I'm home now...

Ug

In Search of Jeanne

I will be reading but not posting for a few days. 

Joy to you all.

Frost

Yesterday Morning

There was an icy fog in the air and frost on everything.

Brrrrrr!!

December!!

I can't believe it is December already.

What happened to June??

These are pictures taken last December at this time.

I have not been out and about with the camera so 

a substitute is in order. 

Preparation

My post today is the new header. (old now)

We are preparing to put up the tree.

Unfortunately because of my allergies I cannot have a real tree.

With Abby's help I should have this done in no time.

No Black Friday for me uh uh!! Not going there!

I do hate shopping!!! 

Do I lose my badge of womanhood for that??

Have a great weekend! ☺

Happy Thanksgiving

From my little corner of the world

To yours... Have a blessed day!!!

A pretty little church

This little church is just a few streets away

What was once a farming community

Now rural residential

There are still farms but lots of new homes too. 

In the background is the new church for the larger congregation

It is one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. 

Who would do that??

Hey... I'm late but I made it!!

My note cards this month are very simple

The colors of Fall.

I have been crazy busy. 

I'm going to be reading all your posts on my IPad tonight.

Linking to Vee's Note Card Party

Safe and Sound

I am thankful today 

to have a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in. 

I lost a few shingles and my sister lost a bit of her roof.

We fared well compared to folks farther south of us.

That was some of the scariest wind I have ever seen.

Pretty

I didn't post a lot of Autumn shots because in my opinion

the colors this year were kind of Blah...

Now that the leaves are gone (come back, come back!)

I took a second look at some of the pictures and guess what? 

Not too shabby.

Come for a walk with me.

The Lake and Cook County Forest Preserve in Illinois 

have miles and miles of beautiful trails

This cabin is an education center at the head of a really nice trail 

A large part of the forest is in the DesPlaines river valley

but it expands from there to small lakes and slough's and into some hilly areas and glacial moraines.

I've found some pretty cool artifacts and fossils over the years in the creek beds.

These were taken a few weeks ago.

 All from my cell phone.

I generally don't take a clunky camera with me if my intention is walking. 

Sometimes the camera can be distracting. 

I like to hear the sounds and smell the smells.

A Paint Color

Okay this is it.

I'm just not that brave when it comes to wall color.

I don't like dark colors on the walls and I lean toward neutral.

This is kind of a parchment color but it has a richness to it, none of the oranges that come in the beige tones.

When I built this little house I had them paint everything white because I had no idea what I wanted to do. 

I was so overwhelmed with fear of being alone

but determined to do just that.

That was silly, I am very content.

Now I am getting inspired about decorating.

Took long enough!!

Now I have to pick a color for the bedroom. 

I hope that doesn't take me another year!!

Snow

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!

I'm not ready yet!!!

Wicked

This was one of the most delightful 2 hours I have spent 

in a long long time!!

Be warned the pictures are pretty awful.

They're to capture the moment not win any prizes.

Taken with a cell phone at night. Not ideal.

The Oriental Theater is one of Chicago;s historic theaters.

Very ornate and stunningly beautiful in an old world kind of way.

These two interior shots are not mine. 

It's the story of the witches of Oz and their friendship

 and how one got to be called Good and the other Wicked.  

I had really good seats in the second row.

Pictures are not allowed so I had to sneak them while the evil

female usher wasn't looking or she would snatch my phone and delete them 

on the spot. (they do that)

The play is a really clever twist on the story of Oz

Funny and sweet and sad.

I absolutely loved it!!!

If you get a chance to see this, don't hesitate.

It's wonderful!

Textures and Layers ~ Photo Challange

Okay... This one was a bit daunting for me.

I have a purist bone in me about photography.

I don't know where it came from and it's really kind of silly but I took a deep breath and jumped off that cliff!!
(Not that I don't post process, I fiddle with exposure all the time)

(You have to click on these pictures!)

Step one... I dipped my toe into Pic Monkey

Just one layer ~

I couldn't decide on color or B&W so you see both. 

Now I got Brave

I found this texture like paint and it worked perfect for this shot.

The one above has a Matte edgy thingy that I liked.

This one has a grunge frame from BeFunky and I softened it. 

I think I like the top one best.

Now my favorite

I took this picture in the woods in Sept.

I liked it before I started to play with it.

I used the same effect I used on the first set but it really only effects the sky.

Then I found the border vignette at BeFunky, I softened it. 

To me it looks like you walk down the path into the light!!

I tried really hard to figure out how to make the blogger borders go away and failed. they do have an effect on how these look. (Unless you click on them, please do!)

But... In the process I figured out how to change the font!!

Thanks Donna for your inspiration!!

This was FUN!!

Linking to

A Personal Photo Challenge.