Watery Wednesday: Frozen

Since my world has been a frozen one for a few days I thought I would share a couple of macros I took yesterday. The first one is a sweet shrub branch encapsulated in ice. I hope if you have a minute you'll enlarge this one and look at the lower right corner of the focused section. I had downloaded the photos and zoomed in to take a look at the different patterns of the ice. I was surprised to see a little blue angel behind the ice. Don't worry if in your imagination you don't see her. That just means she was only meant for me.

This little ice sculpture takes on different appearances depending on how you look at it. When I first downloaded it I thought it looked like the end of an upholstery hammer. A couple of glances later I decided it looked like a bird walking up the stem with a seal following behind. It was a cold day yesterday and I was bored. What can I say!

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Ruby Tuesday: A Valentine Post

Isn't She Lovely!

She sits beautifully on a banner than is at present hung beside my fireplace. Having been born on Valentine's Day, yes I am a cupid baby, I have collected lots of valentine goodies over the years - we just won't say how many years. ;)

I saw this banner a couple of weeks ago in my local fabric store and it was on sale. I decided I had to have it. The photo is painted on a heavy canvas in vivid colors. I just think it is so pretty. It reminds me of a vintage valentine from days gone by.

A Happy Ruby Tuesday Valentine's Day to Everyone!

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Macro Monday: Snowflakes

Today I decided to try my first attempt at capturing snowflakes. I had seen attempts by others in blogland and was awed at the results. After my own attempts I am in further awe by what I've seen. I don't know how many photos I took standing outside in the pouring snow in twenty degree weather trying to get what I wanted. This isn't it; so I'll keep trying. What I do like about this one is that it reminds me of an old piece of rhinestone jewelry.
For those inquiring minds that are wondering I haven't altered the color in any way. It came straight out of the camera in this black and white tone.
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Ruby Tuesday: Imperfection

"You see, when weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out."

~Martha Graham

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Macro Monday

"Life is like an onion: you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep."

~Carl Sandburg

For more Macro Monday join Lisa here.

If you would like to see the whole lily click the link in my sidebar for my photoblog. I've posted another shot there.

A Winter Scene in Sepia

We had snow again Monday night and Tuesday. A larger storm is on the way for the weekend and more snow is forecast. Unlike many of you I love the snow. Bread, milk, and eggs are in the fridge and the pantry and freezer are stocked. Light the fireplace!

This photo was taken turning into my driveway. It was snowing and very overcast. The original photo was almost monochrome and very washed out. I sharpened the original just a bit and converted it to sepia. Hope you enjoy.
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Eyes for Ruby Tuesday

"There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. "

~Walt Streightiff

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SOOC and Macro Monday

"Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven."
~Henry Ward Beecher

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Sycamore Leaves In Fall

Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you
Birds singing in the sycamore tree

Dream a little dream of me.

Say nighty-night and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me.

While I'm alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me.

~Gus Kahn

Did you know "Dream a Little Dream of Me" was first recorded by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra with vocal by Nelson on February 16, 1931?

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Who's Opening That Present?

Or....where did Lily Go?

I'm still going through the almost 1000 images my daughter and I took at Christmas and of course the color red is pretty prominent. I couldn't resist sharing these of little Lily today. Most of you know she is a huge Elmo fan. Here she is with her Christmas Eve hat and package. You would think she couldn't see what she was doing.
A little different angle shows her curls and those little hands diligently trying to get inside the wrap.
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SOOC Sunday and Macro Monday

"The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child."

~Joe Houldsworth

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My Dad

This is a photo of my Dad as a young boy. He is 15 years old as he sits on the old tree stump which would mean the original black and white photo was taken around 1941 or so. Dad grew up working hard on his family's farm and farms of others as well. This doesn't appear to be the old homeplace where he lived so I think it was taken on one of the farms where he often stayed and worked in his youth. With none of his five siblings in view I think it's fair to say this wasn't taken at home.
I like this picture of my Dad. It shows he was tall and lanky. He never lost that lush head of hair and it didn't turn gray until he was way up in age.
It will soon be fourteen years since my Dad passed away. It's hard to realize that many years have silently gone by. This coming Sunday the 17th would have been Dad's 84th birthday.

Love and miss you Dad.

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Watery Wednesday

Still cold, still snowing, but beginning to thaw........

(Be sure to click to enlarge)

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Ruby Tuesday: Books

Last week Mary suggested we might post books for Ruby Tuesday this week. My Mom and I have collected old books for a long time. There is just something about them that makes you want to hold them and peruse the pages. Above are three that have a little bit of red in them. It's not a bright ruby red but rather a deep rich tone of almost burgandy. The one aspect that draws me to old books is often the graphics stamped into the bound covers as the one on top above. This book was copyrighted in 1885 and has the name of a young twelve year old girl inside. The green book with the American flag stamped on it has Mr. James H. Rhodes and October 10, 1917 written inside. The all red book is The Cloister and the Hearth, part one. It's a tale of the Middle Ages written before 1859. I've tried to capture the stamped feathers on the top left hand side of the cover.
Of course I have to include Ms. Lily with one of her new books she got for Christmas. Yes, it featured Elmo!

For more Ruby Tuesday visit Mary here.

A Mellow Yellow Birthday

Most of you know my Granddaughter celebrated her second birthday four days after Christmas. This is Ms. Lily sitting on her birthday present. For those of you who aren't familiar with today's upscale electronic toys for tots this is the Vtech Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike.

It encourages learning through five modes of active play and teaches letters, counting animals and objects while using a LCD screen. Lily loved it. The morning after her birthday with all her Christmas toys and birthday toys around her it was the first thing she went to.

That little face she is making is directed to her Mommy just out of my camera range. Her Mommy had asked her to look at her so she could take her picture. Lily is saying 'cheese' through clenched teeth.

Oh yes, that cute little pink dress with the slice of birthday cake and remnants of dinner was from Grandma who found the original thirty-six dollar dress for eight bucks and almost DIDN'T buy it. It was worth every dollar - don't you agree!

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