Again?

I have to go back to work again?  Uugghh!

After a weekend full of college football, great meals out with friends, and leftover Halloween candy, it's back to the work grind on Tuesday.  I think Molly's photo says it all!

M.E.

Friday Fences

I saw this adorable picket fence by a gazebo and pond.  This is a brand new housing development, but I really like how they have reverted to designing a community, not just rows of houses.  These homes have front porches that face each other and garages in the back, out of the way.  They have communal green spaces and streets wide enough for kids to ride their bikes without being in the way of traffic.  What a great way to bring neighborhoods back into fashion.

M.E.

Texture Tuesday

I haven't done this in a while, so here is today's photo with some help from Kim Klassen textures.  Today's challenge was any photo with 2 of her textures.  I used "silence" and "mayzee". 

These are extra large pumpkins setting outside the market at a local orchard.  My family and I headed there a week or so ago.  It was a sunny, warm, but windy day and there were HOARDS of people every where.  I think we were all trying to fit in a fun day while the weather was on our side.  

We didn't get a chance to pick our own apples (too many people in line), but we did secure 3 large bags of different types from the market.  I have made applesauce and apple cobbler and still have tons of monster sized apples left for a few more weeks of goodness.  Then we went home to watch college football, where my favorite team won!

More fun use of textures at Kim's place.

M.E.

Purpose

"To every thing there is a season,

and a time for every purpose under heaven."

-Ecclesiastes 3:1

I love living in a part of the country with distinct seasons.  It's like getting a new chance to have a better season every couple of months.  This autumn I have noticed more yellows and oranges, but less reds on the trees.  I'm sure it is related to the differences in weather this summer, more rain, wind patterns, etc.  What I see though, is individual gifts, continuously new views, and a reminder that every thing has its time.

A reminder for me, through these bumpy past couple of months, that there is a plan and a purpose for everything.  I continue to seek and listen for the answers.

M.E.

Changing season

It's interesting how a change in season can change an entire view of a place.  Here's a pond in a park near my house.  The first photo was taken this summer, for my photography class.  Green, green, green!

This was taken last week while I was looking for all things autumn. Turning yellow and brown, and quite a windy day, so the reflections isn't nearly so clear.  Also, a few clouds in the sky.  You can tell it was still quite a bright day. 

I think I will continue this series through the next two seasons, like my previous 4 Season project. (I might have to tweak these a little, that second one is a little blown out. )  It is kind of fun for me to see how different the same place looks and anticipate what I will find each season.

Watery Wednesday here.

M.E.

Bzzz...

While out trying to catch some of the last blooms of the season, 

I surprisingly also caught this little worker bee.

If I had been paying better attention, I would have upped my 

shutter speed to eliminate the last little blur still visible.  

But, sometimes life happens without planning and you just have to go with it!

More Macro Monday here.

M.E.

Fall reflection

I grabbed a few shots of the gorgeous colors, with early morning sun, reflecting in the river. 
Here is one of my favorites from that day.

You can see a small area still in the dark.  The sun was coming up over the ridge behind me and there were a few trees high enough to block the rays.  Still a darn nice way to start the day.

Weekend Reflections here.

M.E.

Tree top heart

I was sitting, stuck in traffic after work, and looked up through my sunroof.  There was a lovely tree top heart peeking out from behind another tree.  Since I had the time, I snapped a shot with my phone.  It made the day just a little bit better.

I hope you find some hearts in your day too.

M.E.

Rossi Pasta

During my short trip back to my friend's home town (Marietta, Ohio) a couple weeks ago, we made sure to stop in the little downtown area.  This is a small town on the river and Saturday nights they all but roll up the sidewalks about five.  However, the special pasta shop was open until 6 and let me tell you, the purchases our group made probably helped their whole day's receipts!

The store is Rossi Pasta.  They have all kinds hanging on the drying rack in the window.  They make fresh pasta in all kinds of flavors, sometimes changing with the season.  They also stock specialty jams, sauces, oils, and do gift packs really well.  

This was always a must-have stop whenever we visited Marietta.  I'm sure it will continue to be when we come to town and hang out with her family in the future too.  These were the two kinds I picked up.  So far I cooked some of the pumpkin with cauliflower and had a light cream cheese sauce.  It's not overly pumpkin-y or spicy and makes the kitchen smell yummy.  I think next time I'll try a light red sauce or maybe just olive oil.

I'm looking for a white chocolate sauce to try with the chocolato Cabernet noodles.  Kind of like a little dessert or something.  And maybe some berries to go with that too.  Still pondering this one.  The down side is I cannot eat a lot of things with gluten (gives me migraines) and I don't drink wine (also the migraine thing), but I'm hoping small amounts with other food will be ok...because the taste is so good I hate to miss it!

The late afternoon sun coming directly into the shop and through all the lovely colored pasta made a fantastic design in the store.  Ah, the elegance of small town America.

M.E.

Barn Charm

 A pair of barns that have a little life left in them.

You can see the bean field hasn't been cut yet.  

Also, some of the trees are turning orange and yellow, 

but plenty of green left due to the higher than average rain.  

We'd be happy to send some to the southwest.

More lovely barns with Tricia:

M.E.

Friday Fences

Jan has started a new photo meme, Friday Fences.  Here is a lovely split rail covered with roses.

Don't roses make everything a little more beautiful?  I'm thinking of putting some in my front garden next year.  I love the color and smell and would really like to see them when I'm hanging out on the front porch.

I'm hoping to find some fall color this weekend.  The weather folks promise us gorgeous days and nights, so the camera bag will head out for adventure.  I might even bust the tripod out of the trunk for a change...well, let's not get too carried away.

More fences here:

M.E.

A fun win!

Misty, over at Misty's Musing, My Dogs Keep Me Sane, had a lovely giveaway and I won!  

I won the My Memories Suite, which is a digital scrapbook software.  Also, after I downloaded it, I received an additional $10 credit to buy a "kit" or something from the website. 

 This is so much fun.  I'm still working on figuring it out, but it is certainly much faster than how I personally scrapbook with paper and embellishments.  Now don't get me wrong, I love card making, but I can do that much more quickly than scrapbooks.  Now I can also add on to the software with digital scrapbook kits if I want.  On the website they also have tutorials and weekly challenges, so you all may see more of my creations here.

I put this "page" together in about 30 seconds.  Seriously, they have preloaded sets, plus tons of other options you can do once you master the software.  Here, I also exported the page layout as a jpeg.  So, if I wanted to put together some ideas and email it to my sister for her to check it out, she can open it without needing the software.  Although, after seeing this, she might want it too. :)

Thanks again Misty - I'm have a ball with this new toy.

M.E.

Baby Belle turns 2!

On Saturday, my niece Isabelle and about a half dozen of her little friends (and their sweet parents) headed to the Little Gym for her birthday party.  They set up the equipment and activities according to the age of the group.  After and hour or so playing in the gym, the group heads to the adjacent room for pizza and cake.  It was adorable.

Here's Belle dunkin' baskets with Auntie Linds.

This flip looked like to much fun!  She loved it and after said "Again!"

 

This part cracked me up.  The rest of the little kids are in the middle of the parachute, but there's our Belle, supervising from the outside.  She did eventually get on board and liked being swirled around inside.

Here she and a friend are swinging on the pole.  At first she didn't love the idea, but then saw her friend go for it and caught on quickly.  You can also see some of the other equipment in the room and the chairs and observation area outside for the parents and others not in the gym portion.

 

And there she is, running through the group as the parents lifted the parachute up.  Notice how the others are kind of just sitting and enjoying the tent-like idea while our little one zooms back and forth?  Yea, she gets that too-much energy from both sides of the family!

A good time was had by all and I bet a few parents went 

home and took a nap while the kids did too.

M.E.