Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning May 28, 2010 is:

  “What’s Up There” 
suggested by  Styx_Site

 

I’m playing catch up with the Weekly Challenge’s I’ve missed being here for.  Green for Zimbo is done previous to this one if anyone wants to see it, follow this link:  TO GREEN    Older photos for this entry, I went with combination images.

My Photos

 

 

1- I love the clouds and here they are combined and sparked up with some contrails which are fun to photograph.

 

 

2-  This is the one and only Blimp I have ever photographed and it was nice to catch it with a backdrop of beautiful clouds.

 

3-  This is the very first photo I took of a Turkey Buzzard / Peace Eagle.  It dates back to 2001 or 2002 and was taken with my DC 4800 Kodak camera, 3.1 Megapixels and it did a super job for the camera it still is.  Easy to use with lots of nice settings. 

 

 

Hoping everyone is enjoying good weather wherever you are in this world.

Thanks for visits and comments.  

 

 Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning May 22, 2010 is:

 “Green”
suggested by  Zimbo

 

I’ve been out of town.  I left home on the 22nd of May and was there through June 13th.  I had to date it with photo information because I couldn’t remember it seems a long time ago and I am so glad to be back home with my hubby.  I wasn’t planning on so long a stay but I was helping one of my sisters with a book she is writing and I am the more computer oriented and software able.  I not only had to organize a word document but I had to learn the latest edition of word so twice the fun. 

Anyway, I’m back So, catching up with Zimbo’s challenge, Green.  I am using photos from the drive on May 22, 2010 I71 to Columbus, Ohio.  

 

  Photos for Green 

 

1-  This view is always pleasant and green during the Spring and Summer months.  It’s a community we pass on our way to the expressway going North.

 

2-  This McDonalds is a block from where we enter the highway.  It’s well kept up and green and flowering.  I have taken some fun photos of Ronald McDonald at this spot, Ronald is hidden behind the sign and hedges. 

The American Flag always flies at McD’s.

 

3-  We entered the highway maybe 3 minutes ago and here we are stuck in a traffic jam.  It was waiting for us and the only green, from where I sit, is the green paint on the Fed X delivery.

 

4-  Lots of green to the left and right and the jam problem came into view a while back.  A horsetrailer with horses in it had a blow out on the South bound lane, throwing the trailer into the air so it had to be winched down into this position on the North bound side of the highway.

5- Not the best view of the horse but I can tell you it was quivering all over when we saw it.  I think it will be a while before it loads into a trailer, easily.

6-  We are out in front of the jam now with the view of green grasses either side of us.  The traffic in the South bound is a mess on the other side of the highway and will be for a good while.

7-  Wet and green, a branch we cross not far from our destination.

8-  We made if, finally about an hour and a half longer drive than usual.  A little sitting area in my sister’s garden, surrounded with green.  It was the only time I saw it until the day I left to come back home.

9-  I did see the views of the flowers from her living room window and the daisies were in full bloom, just beautiful.  Our next visit will be to enjoy the flower beds and some outdoor cooking, I hope.

Hoping everyone is well, in good spirits with a beautiful season wherever you are. 
Lots of prayers for the environment in hopes of a REAL sollution to clean up the terrible BP oil catastrophe.  Will we ever learn?

Thanks for your visit and comments.

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning May 14, 2010 is:

 ”Unusual Takes on Everyday Objects”
suggested by  BumbleFish

 

I have to be honest, this was a hard challenge for me.  It isn’t that I don’t have tons of objects but an unusual take of them has me stumped.  I was thinking upside down, backwards, inside out?  I finally decided on photos of our cat, knowing it isn’t actually an object.  (I stand corrected, Tim_Beddard/graphic_excesses gave me a dictionary definition for object and seems I’m okay on this entry.)

SOME of MY PHOTOS

 

1-  Many of you know this cat was a foundling.  Actually he came from a family just down the street who told us it belonged to anyone who wanted it.  I’m not sure how much it was wanted by us at first but as I had company at the time and it was being thrown scraps of food that it readily ate, it hung around knowing a good thing when it saw it. 

 

 

2-   It is a very smart cat.  It hasn’t forgotten where we live and it knows how to get into and out of the doors.  We hung some wood napkin holders on string and hung them on the outside door then showed it what to do to let us know it wanted in.  That lesson took about two shows and it had it down pat.  The above photo shows you it knows where door knobs are and what to do with them.  If it had fingers it would open and shut doors itself.

 

 

3-  My sweet husband is an animal magnet to begin with.  I’ve not seen a dog or ?? that didn’t like John.  Thinking I really wanted the cat, he made up to it while it was still outside.  Being a smart cat (its name is BobbyFischer) it has never forgotten it was John who first made up to him with petting.  After making his way into the house he slowly took over learning the proper meows for food and if we didn’t see him sitting by the door waiting patiently or we ignored the ring of the inside bell that lets us know he wants out, he uses his I want out meow which gets louder if he has to use it more than once to get our attention.  He also made it known to both of us who it still prefers to allow to continue making over him.  My taking photos doesn’t bother it at all so that is a plus.  I am allowed to feed it and it tolerates me brushing and sneaking in the flea drops to the back of its neck while he eats.  I can pet him but it’s never for long and though he has been on my lap, mine is usually the farthest lap from his mind.  The above photo, he is dead to the world on John’s lap while we watch television and the scenario is a daily/nightly event.

 

 

4-  John isn’t safe while at the computer either.  As sitting down forms a lap, it is expected that the lap is fair game no matter how busy John is at the computer.  To keep the cat off his lap, John has to swivel and move about and push the cat away.  The cat promptly takes an attitude and finds a spot at John’s feet and goes to sleep. 

 

 

5-  Nothing is safe from the cat unless it is encased.  My plant did have growth overall but the cat possibly thought it should be a litter box or at least a cat seat a little higher up.  He bared some of the soil with us protesting every time we noticed him working at it.  I finally put another shallow planter on the bare spot which he welcomed as a higher seating arrangement. 

 

 

6-  Notice the satisfied smile with a bit of an air of I knew I could get what I wanted if I hung on long enough.

 

 

7-  He has cat toys but the brush, which I use to brush him with, is the target in this photo.  The bite and the claws do mean business.  We get dead snakes a lot and mice now and then but as we fatten him up, though he is still as crafty, I am hoping he is slowed getting any birds.  I don’t have bird feeders up at this time because of the cat. 

 

 

8-  I move back a foot or two when he shows his open mouth which in this case is a yawn.  His mouth is nearly as large as his head and very scary.

 

 

9-  So,now to the more or less “Unusual Takes” part.  I really can’t say for sure but I grew up with the notion that most men don’t like cats.  My dad didn’t and I’ve known other men who felt the same way.  In my husband’s case, he has always been kind to any animal we ever had and in this particular case, this cat has John’s number.  I’ve never had a pet that wouldn’t let me move into its affections like this darn cat  but, it has a lot of funny moments about it and I pretty constantly have the camera out for a shot of it doing something that if I’m quick enough will give me some photo diary fillers of “Unusual Takes”. 

 

 

There you have it.

Thanks so much for comments and visits.

Have a great week.

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning May 8, 2010 is:

“Museum Pieces”

suggested by  MattBarber

 

My whole house is a museum, with an eclectic mixture sitting on shelves and window ledges.  I have had children knock on my door to see if they can come in to shop and that isn’t a joke.  I like a lot of things and wish I didn’t but most of it has cost very little as I love to shop at thrift stores and I was an avid yard sale addict.. 

 

Some Photos

 

1- This is a wedding lithograph that hangs in our hall, an angled view.  It has a copyright of 1894 and was printed in Berlin, Germany.

 

 

2- The nested Robin is a Westmoreland piece and the bowl is Nippon.  The jar and box hold old shell buttons.

 

 

3- More buttons in the box and a Santa from Taiwan dated 1984.  I probably would not have purchased the santa in 1984 but now, the stores are filled with similar items but made from molded plastics.  Comparatively I like him much more now than I would have then.  He is a painted, not a fired, piece so you need to be careful how you clean it.

 

 

4- I’m not a big collector of Lladro but I have 5 pieces and there are several more I’d like to have.  All of them involve Turkeys or Chickens in the theme.  My Lladro are all older pieces.  People selling it push the importance of a box but the papers that were originally with them are even more important and the Lladro mark on the bottom is a must.  Lladro has no interest in verifying any of their pieces without the papers even if they were an inheritance.  People collecting the smaller pieces think they have a worthwhile investment which I decided was not really the case.  I only buy what I really like and want for myself.  Lladro sells pieces for under a hundred dollars up to in the nature of $25,000. and possibly more.  They do have pieces in museums and though a relatively young company, Valencia, Spain 1955, their pieces are very desirable.

 

 

5- This is my tallest piece.  She will go to another spot when I have some display cases finished.

 

 

6-  I bought the turkey on the left years ago and broke it.  You can see the glue lines indicating the really bad fix.  I liked it so much I hunt EBay for a replacement and found the one on the right which I like but the colors are so dark it doesn’t do for me exactly what the first one did.  I keep trying for the exact replacement but nothing so far.  I have found one with different numbers than mine on it and a shade different coloring.  I’m not sure I’ll ever find the exact one.

 

7- My mother collected bottles and some of these were hers.  Mom’s windows were always full of a wide variety and I guess I inherited the love for them.  I have bottles that were manufactured for practical uses as well as decorative. 

 

 

8- A Lenox Pepper Mill some newer toby mugs, a gift from one of my sisters, a Norman Rockwell mug done by Dave Grossman.  As you can see I collect a variety of things from dolls to bottles to cups and mugs to ???  Some of it was a gift and some cost as little as a quarter at a thrift shop.  Most all of it has a special spot in my heart as well as in my home.

 

So a bit of a peek at my personal museum. 

Have a great week,

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning April 30, 2010 is:

The Unusual on the Road

suggested by me, PhotoGraphics

 

I keep the list of challenges, planning photos I’d like to put up, before the challenge happens.  When I suggested this challenge, I didn’t have any photos for it.  As time slipped by, nothing I saw turned up as more unusual.  I caught more cars and trucks and the occasional Mounty but NADA that eased my mind in preparation for “the Unusual”.  Then, in November, 2009, we spent Thanksgiving at my sister’s in Rockford Illinois. I took photos like crazy and on our return trip, I got lucky and caught the unusual, within about 2 and a half hours. Now, UNUSUAL DEPENDS a lot on where you live.  What is unusual for me may not be for you.  So with that in mind, some photos of things I came upon, as unusual, for me. 

 

My Photos

1- Anyone who is on the road, especially in the country, sees trucks, of this kind, all the time.  This truck is specifict for the transport of livestock.  This one has only a few hogs in it and I was nearly mooned by the hog’s butt, in the hold, at the upper right. 

 

 

2-  Anyone living near the ocean would see boats like this.  I see a lot of small boats but this one, because of its size, is unusual traveling the roads of Indiana.  I’m not positive but I think it would be unusual to see a boat this size on our Ohio river but then what do I know, they may be rampant in wealthier areas.

 

 

3-  A better view to give an idea of size as it goes beneath the overpass.

 

 

4-  Now these are really BIG TIRES.  I can’t recall ever seeing any this big before, ever.

 

 

5-  Here they are on the trailer of a big rig taking them SOMEWHERE where they may not be so unusual.

 

 

6-  And then, this guy shows up.

 

 

7-  I will assume their destination is the same.

 

 

8-  I hope these truckers demand the loads be checked for height before they take on the responsibility of driving under bridges.  Thinking this load has to be worth my house value, maybe two or three times, or MORE.

 

 

9- And next, this shows up.  I haven’t a clue what it is except that it is one BIGG TUBE.  I can picture it rolling down a hill with kids running like gerbils inside it.

I’m sure there are people who see these monsters on the road or around their city every day but for me to have the chance to photograph them was a bit “Unusual” and it made my day “Unusual” to get them for the challenge. 

 

Have a super week everyone and thanks for your visits and comments.

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning April 23, 2010 is:

 

   “Red”  

suggested by, Zimbo

 

I love colors / colours for those of you outside of the US. 

Some Colors speak for themselves and Red does it with flair.  In the right instance, Red hops into our senses most beautifully and its variations in shade, showing up in plants, clothing, cars, furnishings, hair color and the blush of a cheek, surround us in all seasons.  Red can be happy or the color I avoid wearing if not feeling my best because it manipulates emotions.

Some of my Photos

1-

Mums, available Spring, Summer and Fall for your garden.

 

2-

This planter is alongside the road and borders a filling station.

 

3-

Zinnia growing along the fence of a friends yard.

 

4-

I don’t know what these berries are but the line of trees, filled with them, is intense.

 

5-

The red shrubs are amazing and many are planted as hedge for the fall color.

 

6-

These trees are in our local park.  They take your breath away when they are in their Autumn dress.

 

Thanks always for looking and for the fun of the challenge.

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning April 16, 2010 is: 

   “Minimalism”   

suggested by, GandyWhite

 

Our local park has, beside the bicycle trail, a minimalistic figure.  The photo #1 below is of it and the only thing I found in our area using minimalism, unless you focus on cars.  Cars exteriors are designed in true minimalistic fashion, few lines, one or two colors and lines that help them to move more quickly, against the wind.  Lots of modern buildings use minimalism (marble and mirrors) in their construction and some of the most beautiful rooms in interior design magazines use only black and white for walls and furnishings, brining in potted plants for accents and maybe nothing at all.  Minimalism is simplicity, clean lines, uncluttered, having nothing within to make it appear messy.  We own nothing of the sort, except for our car.  I have, however, uploaded some of my photos minimizing surroundings, accenting what I wanted to see, so minimalized, to simplicity. 

My Photos

1-  The bicycle sculpture sitting in Loveland Park beside the bicycle trail and I believe this is true minimalism.

 

2-  Signs are usually minimal in design and color.  I thought this rail crossing sign, at the bicycle trail, was a good example of minimalizing.  I took its photo, with some of its surroundings, to make a minimal arrangement of my own. 

 

3-  This lamp post sits in the park and as I am always drawn to tall or narrow running lines, I took its photo. 

 

4- Then, I stood next to the light pole and put my camera against it, snapping the image, catching some of its height and the blue of the sky for a minimalized arrangement of it.  Personally, I prefer photo #3 as much more interesting.

 

5- This image of a snow covered curve of the road is fairly simplified.  If you can picture it without the trees, road rail, and brush it would be close to truly minimalized. 

 

6-  Another snow covered photo, the ground beside the rail tracks that jump out to make themselves seen.

 

7-  Our dogwood tree planted itself.  It grew from the tiniest twig, I recognized and protected, from my husband who offered more than once to remove it, as an unwanted weed.  Being positive of its identification, I helped it survive to grow to a beautiful full height with the most beautiful of April blossoms. 

 

8-  This image is actually what I would call a portrait, instead of minimalism, of a few of the blossoms from the tree and the world around me that refuses to be minimalized.  

 

Have a super week, enjoy taking your photos.

 

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning April 9, 2010 is:  

 “Envy”

suggested by, Sezwick

I don’t like to admit envy but I do have a share of it off and on.  My envy always has to do with things pertaining to our house.  I am envious of really big kitchens, big enough to enjoy visits while eating.  My photos do not pertain to kitchen envys but to house and window placement.  If it were possible I would either move my current house to the top of, or purchase another on top of, a hill, where I could see sunsets and sunrise.  Windows of course would face East and West instead of North and South.  Sunsets! I grew up with them and have never seen one from the house we moved to. Our house sits in a valley and the windows face North and South.  To see beautiful sunsets we drive out and about to catch them, not an all bad choice, but to relax in your living room or on the deck or lawn, while watching the sun going down, is a pleasure I am envious of. 

 

SUNSETS, that’s what I’d like to have views of, from my own windows, SUNSETS

and a biggggg eat in kitchen would be nice. 

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Have a super week, thanks always for your comments
and for putting up with my ENVIOUS ramblings.

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning April 2, 2010 is:  

 Food Photos or Meal Preparation

suggested by, Bumblefish

 

I love to eat and enjoy cooking.  If I had time to prepare the numbers of recipes I have collected I might become famous for fast prep of food at home.  I’m an experimenter and have messed up a few attempts for original creations but have never made anyone ill.  I usually try to keep things simple, and I try not to go overboard with numbers of dishes.  There are only two of us to feed at home and though I have fed large numbers in the past, large groups are just that, a thing of the past.

 

 

 

Some Food / Meal photos and a bit of explanation.

 

 

1- This was a simple meal to fix and more than enough for two.  The Chuck Roast was seared both sides in a hot skillet until it loosed itself from the pan.  I put it into a dutch oven, added about a half inch of water, covered it with foil and then a lid and slow roasted at a bit less than 250 degrees all night.  The vegetables are potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery and they went into a pan in the microwave this morning until nearly done then were added to the roast pan for maybe 40 minutes at the same slow oven temp.  The gravy is pre cooked, browned flour with the beef drippings and beef bullion.  The Salad is one large stalk of Romaine lettuce, cut into thin strands, half a large tomato grated, half of a vegetable from Mexico and I forget its name, also grated.  Half a large onion chopped small, and one large avocado cut into cubes.  Everything is tossed with a mixture of Italian dressing and mayonnaise.  I usually add pepper to any of the above but never add salt to the salad or the meat.  The Artichoke in the small red casserole came in a jar, no preparation for it other than put it into the bowl.  My Easter Eggs were dyed with Onion skins.  For dessert we have three fresh fruits, Mangoes and Kiwi and Blueberries, eaten when we feel like it.   We also have Whitehouse Cherry ice cream in the freezer that will make really nice ice cream sodas. 

 

 

 

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A close up of the Chuck Roast (not the best photo) but it was very good, tasty and tender.

 

 

 

3-

The Salad

 

 

4-

Easter Eggs

 

 

Have a great week and thanks for the fun of a challenge, your visits and comments.

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning March 26, 2010 is:  
  Bumper to Bumper  
suggested by me, PhotoGraphics

 

I take a lot of photos on the road.  

 

 

 

1-

I am pretty sure I’ve posted this one, or similar, before.  The view is the main street driving into Loveland, about 3 miles down the road and when traffic is bumper to bumper as you see here, it takes a while to move the short distance to home , Ohio, USA.  I really enjoy taking night photos lit with lights from anywhere or anything and night traffic lets me practice.  What I don’t have are things of real interest like the stadium or the river front.  I keep hoping.

 

 

2-

This is maybe 20 minutes from home, traffic going north, away from the Kenwood Shopping Mall.  The building under construction has been like you see it for two or three years now.  I am guessing money problems here in the states is the culprit.

 

 

3-

I knew when I saw this scene I wanted the photo.  It reminds me, in a distant warped way, of the Running of the Bulls in Spain.  When I was in my teens, cars owned by boys my age were always souped up.  Looking at this photo I recall the sound of engines reving and the sweet sound of glass pack mufflers as cars lined up as you see them above, getting ready to tear off, racing the streets to see who had the fastest.  It was a running of the bulls in a way and a lot of times, just as dangerous.  A cult classic movie for a view of what those years were like is, “American Graffiti“.  It’s a loved part of my movie collection and a lot of well known actors/actress more or less had their start in it, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, and Suzanne Somers.  Ron Howard was already well known from the Andy Griffith show.  I like cars, then and now and love those that date back to Model T’s.  All of them are appealing to look at, even those Bumper to Bumper.

 

 

Thanks always for your comments, have a good week

and keep taking those photos.