12-31-10 Last Sunset of 2010

Tonight was the last sunset of 2010. As I look back at my blog posts, I reflect about this past year and what fun and adventures I had. Sometimes we get caught up in our everyday lives, and forget to notice the little things around us. As I head into 2011, I resolve to try and keep my blog current, keep working on my photography skills, and most importantly, continue to discover the world around me.

12-27-10 Wally

This is the newest member of the family. Meet Wally! He is an 10-week old Golden Retriever that belongs to my brother. Keilo (my sheltie) wasn't impressed. All he wanted to do was "herd him."

12-25-10 Why We Celebrate Christmas...

Christmas, 2010, has finally arrived!! This is the reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday. We celebrate His birth. As the Irish blessing states, "May He keep you in the palm of His hand." Merry Christmas!

12-24-10 Santa Is Getting Ready...

On the 12th day of Christmas, now that the house is decorated, I spied Santa getting ready for his annual trip.

12-13-10 A Decorated Tree with....

On the 11th day of Christmas, as I was decorating my house, my husband decorated the Christmas tree with lights, garland, ornaments and a minature Disney monoral.

12-22-10 The Bouncing Snowman...

On the 10th day of Christmas, as I was decorating the house, I found "The Bouncing Snowman" spreading "magic everywhere."

12-21-10 May You Truly Believe....

On the 9th day of Christmas, as I was decorating my house, this Santa from "The Polar Express" stated, "May you truly believe!"

12-20-10 Snow Family Ready..

On the 8th day of Christmas, as I was decorating the house, I spotted this snow family patiently waiting for the weather to change.

12-19-10 A Train Pulling into Town...

On the 7th day of Christmas, as I was decorating my house, the train pulled into Prairie Hills town, bringing passingers home for the holidays.

12-18-10 A Town of Snowpeople...

On the 6th day of Christmas, while decorating my house, I found a town of snowpeople hanging about.

12-17-10 Five Hams Ready for Smokin'...

On the 5th day of Christmas, I decorated my house with the smells of freshly smoked hams.

12-16-10 Four Children's Holiday Books...

On the 4th day of Christmas, I decorated my house with 4 children's Holiday books.

12-15-10 Three Stockings hanging...

On the 3rd day of Christmas, I decorated our house with 3 handmade stockings and hung them on the mantle.

12-14-10 Two ceramic reindeer....

On the 2nd day of Christmas, I decorated my house with two ceramic reindeer the I set upon a shelf.

12-13-10 One Elf Hiding in a Wreath

From now until Christmas, I thought I would post about different items we decorate our house for Christmas with. Kind of in a "On the first day of Christmas, I decorated my house with..." (take off of the "12 Days of Christmas"). So...On the first day of Christmas, I decorated my house with one elf hiding in a Christmas wreath.

12-7-10 A Charlie Brown Christmas

It wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on TV. I have watched it every year since I was little.

12-6-10 1st Anniversary Cake

This past July our daughter & son-in-law celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary. Since they were out of town for their anniversary, they didn't share in cutting their "anniversary cake." This past weekend, I decided it had been the freezer long enough and thawed it out. It still looked pretty, but the taste.......I'm not sure where this tradition was started.

12-5-10 Child Labor

Son came home from college this weekend and we put him to work. Our neighbor had cut down a couple of trees in his yard over the summer and gave us the wood. Some of the logs were too large to use, so we enlisted the muscles of one more suitable for the work.

11-30-10 The Crossover Season

Fall is the crossover season. It's the only season that allows trees to have more than one color of leaf. It's the season where we get used to wearing short-sleeves, then Mother Nature reminds us that She is "in charge." Fall is the colorful season. What other time of year can we see yellow, red, gold, tan, and all shades in between?

11-29-10 Falls Brilliant Colors

The one red leaf, the last of its clan,

That dances as often as dance it can,

Hanging so light, and hanging so high,

On the topmost twig that looks up a the sky.

---Samuel Taylor Coleridge

11_28_10 Feast of Thanksgiving

The feast of Thanks. Thanksgiving Feast. That turkey meal. Whatever you call it, IT'S GOOD!!!

11-23-10 Climbing the Ladder

We are having some work done on our house, and our contractor has several ladders laying in our backyard. This one is the longest one.

11-21-10 Choppin' Wood

Last summer, our neighbor chopped two of he trees down and gave us the wood. However, some of the logs needed splitting. So when Tim get's the urge, he goes out and splits wood. Today was one of those days.

11-14-10 The Daily Shoot Turns 1!

The "Daily Shoot" turns 1 year old today! It has been a source of inspiration for me as I work on my photography skills. In honor of it's birthday, it suggested to make a photo with a calendar theme.

11-12-10 Veteran's Day Tribute

(Meant to post this yesterday.) In the town I work in, they have a Veteran's Memorial. Last Saturday, they had a parade that ended at the memorial. Lots of people showed up, including members of the Patriot Guard. I was conducting a training across the street, when they fired the cannon off. Both days, Saturday and Thursday, actual Veteran's Day, made me say "Thanks" to
to those that have helped and are helping to keep this country free.

11-10-10 Coloful!!

I know I keep going on about this year's autumn colors, but they are so brilliant. Soon the colorful leaves will fall, and the harsh reality of winter will be upon us. So I'm going to enjoy the splendid color while I can.

11-9-10 Fall Colors

I love this time of year. The colors are so brilliant.

11-8-10 Enjoying the Day

Keilo & I went back to our favorite park, Swanson, and enjoyed some "bonding" time.

10-8-10 Kansas in the Fall

Keilo and I went back to our favorite park, Swanson, to see what fall colors we could find. On our way back, I saw this tree with the flag flying. Although today was windy, it was a good day to be outside.

11-1-10 Waiting for Goblins

(Keilo's thoughts...) "Where are they? I know they're out there. They come to the door, Mom gives them something, then they leave. Why don't they come in?"

10-31-10 Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

10-30-10 Best Buds

My neighbors had to go out of town for the day, so Megan (Golden Retriever) came over for a visit.

10-29-10 Last Chance Store

This was taken at the Last Chance Store in Council Grove. In my 38 years of going up there, I have yet to step foot inside. Actually, I don't think there is anything left inside. It's just a neat, limestone building; one of many in the area.

10-27-10 Fall Festival: Repurposing

Last night I went with a friend of mine to a women's fellowship dinner at her church. Each year, ladies of the church sign up to decorate a table and host it. The food is catered and they have an inspirational speaker. This year's overall theme was "Repurposing Your Life". Each of the tables were decorated with items from the hostess' home. This one was one of my favorites as the hostess used gameboards as the placemats.

10-25-10 Autumn Sunrise

This was the sunrise this morning as I headed to work. The colors were so vivid, even the radio DJ's were talking about it.

10-20-10 Mums the Word

Looking for today's picture and noticed my neighbor's mums. The weather here in Kansas has been perfect for mums.

10-19-10 Burnin' Brush

On my way to work this morning, I noticed two large burn piles, one on each side of the road, burning a large pile of brush. They really stood out as it was overcast and kind of dark.

10-18-10 Reflection On the Lake

The day we closed down the cabin, the weather was perfect. Not a leaf was moving, and there was barely a ripple on the water. Weather like that doesn't happen very often in Kansas.

10-18-10 Kansas Fall Colors

This time of year in Kansas produces lovely colors of autumn. These leaves in northeastern Kansas are just starting to turn. Over the next several weeks, the Kansas landscape will transform into a wonderous view of colors.

10-16-10 How Old Is The Cottonwood?

Last week when we were closing up the cabin, my daughter and I walked over to the neighbor's property to look at the large cottonwood they had cut down. They were afraid with the erosion, that it might fall on their boathouse or the neighbor's boathouse. We counted 85 rings before we had to stop due to the trunk rotting.

10-13-10 Geometric Design

Just thought this was a neat looking shot. This is the sun coming through my neighbor's deck.

10-12-10 On The Outside Looking In

This is the view from the outside of my greenhouse window. I just love having this.

10-11-10 Birds On The Line

This time of year, the birds are gathering; getting ready to fly south, or maybe it's just convention time! Anyway, this group was assembling on the electric lines. I wonder if once they land on the line, if they put their wings out to get evenly spaced?

10-10-10 Cabin Season is Over

Cabin season is over. (sigh!) Every year, at this time, I get a bit sad as it is time to close down the cabin for another season. The track laying there has been put in and out of the water 38 times. We have to take it out of the lake each year as the lake will freeze over, and the ice will tear up the mining track. The track is used to put our boat in and take out of the water. The cabin has no heat and our water pipes are above ground, so if they are not drained, they will freeze and split. I have to say I am already looking forward to next May, when we open it up for another fun-filled season. Hibernate well, E-9. See you next spring!

10-9-10 28 Happy Years!!!

Today is our 28th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe we've been married that long. Looking forward to the next 28!

10-8-10 Season Past

The other day while looking for a picture to respresent "discarded or abandoned" I snapped this one of our deck furniture. With daylight getting shorter and the evenings cooler, sitting and relaxing on the deck doesn't happen as often. Sigh!

10-8-10 Medicine Man

The Daily Shoot suggested "a picture of something abandoned or discarded." These old bottles are displayed in my dad's (home) office. He is a retired pharmaceutical salesman and also collects antiques. It's fun to read the labels of these old bottles. They always tout, "Will cure anything!"

10-5-10 Selling of the Pumpkins

This pumkin stand works on the honor system. You stop by, pick out the pumpkin you want and pay accordingly, by putting your money in a metal ammo box that is locked and has a slit on top. It's comforting to know that there are still trusting people in this world.

10-4-10 Happy Birthday, Snoopy!

Snoopy and the Gang are celebrating Snoopy's birthday! Sixty years ago he and his friends debuted in their comic strip. As a kid, I enjoyed reading the adventures of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. I have many statues, books and stuffed replicas of them. I would sit for hours and practice drawing them, at first tracing, then moving on to freehand. As an adult I had moved away from them, but over the past several years, I've started collecting again. Happy Birthday, Snoopy and friends.

9-30-10 Crepe Myrtle

The crepe myrtle in my dad's backyard is loving this cooler weather.