Day 244 - Peach shadow

After freezing another peck of peaches, I fooled around with light and shadows with the leftover one that Lew wants on his breakfast tomorrow. :)

Day 243 - Transition...

...from summer to fall.

Day 242 - "One bad apple...

...don't spoil the whole bunch, girl"*

*Lyrics from the 1971 hit tune by the Osmonds.

Day 241 - Spilled the beans

I could get into this still life stuff - :)

Day 240 - Southwestern still

Part of a collection of Southwestern pottery we got in Colorado quite a few years ago, these have been packed away since the family room redo. I only resurrected them because I needed some subject matter for this week's still life theme, but they look right at home in the new cabinet, so maybe we'll just leave them out.

Day 239 - Coral and shell

It doesn't hop, skip, or jump so I guess it qualifies as still life, yes? ;)

Day 238 - When life hands you lemons...

Stick 'em in a bowl on your kitchen table, take a picture... and call it a still life! ;)

Day 237 - Just peachy

In my first attempt at freezing them, we peeled, sliced, and prepared the peaches. We ended up with about 7 pints, but I'm not sure how many are actually going to make it into the freezer because... oh.my.goodness - these things are delicious! I ate almost as much as we were putting in the bags!

Seriously considering going back and getting some more... :)

Day 236 - Consistency

1st game

2nd game

3rd game

Pardon me tootin' my own horn, but WooHoo! - not bad for an ol' broad! ;) Wish I'd been this consistent when I was league bowling on real lanes.

We are having entirely too much fun with this Wii thing!

Day 235 - Bonny bounty

Lew came home with a bounty of goodies from our local orchard yesterday. Looks like it's time to roast some peppers, make some apple and peach delights, freeze the rest, and gobble up that ginormous cantalope!

Day 234 - Birthday Bonsai

My son and daughter-in-law sent me the cutest little bonsai azalea for my birthday. It has lots of teensy little buds so it'll be interesting to see what it does since blooming season has passed. It's an outdoor type that's supposed to be able live in the same conditions as a normal azalea, but I don't know. At the moment it's sitting on the patio where I can keep a sharp eye on it.

I've never taken care of a bonsai, so I sure hope I don't murder its delicate little self!!

Day 233 - Burgundy beauty

Close-up of the gorgeous Sumatra lilies I got for my birthday from Susan, Lawrence, and little Winston. The color is simply stunning and the flowers are huge.

To avoid a repeat of last year's smashed vase of flowers, we've got them far from the clutches of beastie-boy Buster and they'll be behind closed doors in Lew's office for the night.

Day 232 - He did it!

Remember those little noises I said Lew was making the other day?? Well, they grew into one big ruckus and surprise, surprise, a Wii remote was sitting on my desk yesterday morning - an early Happy Birthday to me!!

He's the only person I know who can mosey into the local WalMart and mosey on out with something that the whole rest of the country is still having a hard time getting their hands on!! And for about half the price, too. The man is ridiculously lucky!

Today he went out and picked up the pretty pink skins too. Fun stuff! :)

Day 231 - Grrrrr!!

See that little red padlock? It's there because some little shit has nothing better to do. Somehow I picked up a rather nasty virus yesterday and had to put my 'puter in lockdown until we (my super smart son) could find and dispose of all of it. It took hours!

Day 230 - Return visitor

We took the boys back yesterday, so I spent the day missing them and being lazy and unmotivated. My tiny visitor, who has been showing up regularly at least once or twice each day, didn't disappoint so I only had to grab my camera and click for today's photo.

Day 229 - Apples in the sky

In our travels 'round and about the countryside, we're always on the lookout for unique and unusual water towers. We've passed this one umpteen times, and finally stopped for a picture today on the way back from dropping off the boys. It's located a little south of Winchester, VA, in Mount Jackson. Not surprisingly, apples are one of their primary agricultural products.

Day 228 - Wheeeee! (aka - Wii)

The boys will be leaving tomorrow and taking their Wii system with them. They both excel at most games, but I bowled my best game tonight - a 267 - so I can hold my own in that area. It's really quite a remarkable piece of technology, and we've had lots of family fun with it.

Lew has been making little noises about getting one... we shall see. :)

Day 227 - Decadent dessert

The boys asked to go to Carrabba's while they were here and since they'll be leaving soon, tonight was the night. They each ordered the Pasta Carrabba (an alfredo-type dish with grilled chicken, mushrooms, and peas) but forgot to request that they leave out the latter two items. It was amusing to watch them each pick out every single piece of mushroom and every single pea!!

They had no problem, however, sharing and digging into a huge piece of chocolate something with brownies, mousse, whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

We had fun. :)

Day 226 - Movie junk food

You have to munch while you're watching movies, right? 'Course you do! Soooo, Christopher wanted popcorn and soda, Michael wanted chips and soda, and me? Oh, I just settled for a plain ol' dusty banana split (two scoops, extra whipped cream... and yeah, that extra cherry.)

Oh.my.God!! I knooooow I'm going to put on 10 pounds this week... but I'm sure going to enjoy doing it! ;)

Day 225 - Movie Central

We've spent the late evenings this week watching movies. Bucket List, Jumper, and Next took up Sunday and Monday nights, while Mr. Brooks and Gone Baby Gone are scheduled for tonight. American Gangster is on tomorrow night's agenda. I was wanting to see a couple of them but have enjoyed the boy's choices too.

Day 224 - A squirrel and its nut

Michael pointed out this little guy/gal scurrying around on our back yard oak so I snapped a few to see what it was all excited about. Looks like it found something tasty for dinner!

Day 223 - 13 year-old curiosity

As I've posted before, grandson Michael is enthralled with puzzles of all kinds. Not content to just work the puzzle, he wanted to know what makes it do what it does. Soooo, he took the whole thing apart, found out what makes it tick, and of course, put it all back together again! That's my boy! ;)

Day 222 - Bodacious bloom

After a visit to a girlfriend (and her hibiscus) in Florida several years ago, I wanted some hibiscus in my yard too. Originally, we bought six plants but two died and the remainder struggled for a few seasons before they decided that our yard wasn't such a bad place to live in.

We still battle some kind of munching critter, but for the most part they've developed into pretty plants and produce humongous blooms. Seriously, these things are at least saucer-sized, with or without munchers!

Day 221 - Green on green

I went out in the yard to take a picture of something with water and the birdbath, but got distracted by this little critter hopping around my feet. It was funny how it seemed to be hanging on to a blade of grass for dear life as I crawled around getting close-ups and its bent antenna was almost dapper - kind of Jiminy Cricket-ish. ;)

I also got this reflection in the birdbath water.

Day 220 - Water bowl

A last minute shot, the cat's water dish is about as creative as I got tonight.

Day 219 - Hose water

Didn't have to go far to get this shot. Just turned the hose on in the back yard and had at it. I did, however, play a little with some photo editing and added a bit of shadow and sharpening to emphasize the water flow.

Day 218 - Bell, bell, my Liberty Bell

A first for the boys, we took a trip to Philadelphia to visit our most famous symbol of freedom and independence, the Liberty Bell.

We had a full and enjoyable day that included a tour of Independence Hall, more sightseeing, and at the boys request, a taste of Philly's famous cheese steak sandwiches... which didn't impress us much. :(

Day 217 - Out for a ride

Another beautiful day in our corner of Maryland so we took the boys to Heritage Farm Park to expend a little energy. All went well until Michael took a slight spill and Christopher, being ahead, didn't see so kept on going. Michael was not amused. He suffered a small scrape, and a large bruised psyche. The former was repaired with some grandfatherly planning in the form of a First Aid Kit in the van, while the latter was repaired with some grandmotherly hugs, kisses, and gentle words. ;)

Starting off this week's theme of water, here's one of the three water towers that supplies the precious liquid to our town... when it's not being contaminated by a manure lagoon, that is!

boubou and her daughter were right on the money with their guess of the phone, just at the other end - hearing instead of speaker. ;)

Day 216 - What is it?? #6

Wrapping up mystery week - do you know??

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

#5 - there's just no fooling you guys - my trusty ol' Pink Pearl it is!
(thanks, gawdess!) :)

Day 215 - What is it? #5

Mystery (maybe!) #5

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aack! I'm so far behind with the answers! Sorry to keep y'all waiting...

#3 is the roman shade pull on our patio door...

and ding, ding, ding - we have winners with #4! Y'all are too good! :)

Day 214 - What is it? #4

What do you think it is??