Roses and such

Happy Sunday to all!

Phineas would like me to thank everyone who left a comment regarding my most recent post. Being that he's a cat he can never get to much adoration.  Currently Phin's dealing with a bit of Feline Herpes, causing his right eye to have a runny, yellow discharge. Usually it only lasts a few days and then he's fine. The girls and I wipe it all the time while he leans in for the rub. If things get worse we shall be off for a visit to the vets *sigh* 

Roses

So far I've bought only one bunch of roses this winter but I photographed them every which way I could think of! Oh what fun, and oh-so glorious. Now they lie on the counter, drying up, but it was a good friendship we had. Who knows, maybe it shall continue.

Currently my Amaryllis and (lousy) Paper Whites are in full bloom but I'm thinking more roses are in order today or tomorrow.

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All of the following are iPhone-ography and Instagram

Speaking of roses ... above is the 2012 Monets Garden calendar I purchased from Georgianna Lane's Etsy shop. If you're looking for beauty look no further. G has got it!

Again, more Phin. This time relaxing in front of the fire on a chilly January day

And finally, a trip to the local greenhouse, Churchills, last Wednesday morning with my husband. It was a true touch of spring I tell you, especially when a butterfly came flying by! One of the people there said it had shown up a day or two before and must have hatched from a plant brought in for the winter. And yes, I did take the photo with my iphone.

Still no snow here in NH. Not good. Well I like it but it's not good for local businesses. After all, New England is supposed to have snow in January. Instead we have balmy temps in the 40's. A friend of mine from Instagram who lives just outside of Washington DC even has Daffodils in bloom! Hows the weather where you live?

Linking up with Marys Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

Afternoon by the ocean

Yesterday I had to go out to run an errand. Seeing as how it was Saturday, and my husband and I hadn't spent any time together all week, he decided to join me. After finishing up my errand I said I'd like to take a drive along the beach. It had been over a month since I'd seen the ocean and that's way to long for this lady!

Driving past Rye Harbor we decided to stop and grab a bite to eat. A cup of clam chowder seemed to fit the bill. It was good and hot on a dismal, cloudy day.


















~ A little coastal Instagram love ~


After enjoying the chowdah we continued along to North Hampton beach where there seemed to be a lot of surfers. More than usual, though you can't really tell by my photos.



How anyone could get in the New England ocean water this time of year, without a wetsuit, is beyond me!




I hope you enjoyed the afternoon with us. Wish you could smell the ocean. The salt air tends to have a healing effect on the heart and soul.


I'm linking up tonight with Mary's Little Red House blog for Mosaic Monday

On this day . . .

. . . I awoke to the sound of snow plows going up and down our street. Since I had to bring my daughter to work at 7 am, and there was a fresh inch of snow on the ground, it seemed like the perfect time to get out and take a few photos.

Lily, and a wonderful tractor I've been eying for a while

Hydrangea in my garden, with the lights on the arbor shining in the background

A wonderful old door in downtown Exeter along String Bridge/another hydrangea leaning into the arbor

Although I had planned on posting a bit more this past week, life had other plans. Since the 1st day of the year there have been issues to attend to which has taken all my emotion to deal with. Tonight's post makes me happy, and that's the only reason to ever share any of my photos, because they bring me joy, and I hope in turn they will bring you joy too : )

Linking up with Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Monday!

Hearts and lights, with just a little Christmas

Recently, while visiting one of my favorite blogs, Georgianna Lane, she brought to mind using a heart shaped filter. Although I'd seen the results before I'd never tried photographing with one. I won't lie, it's a challenge! At least it was for me.

Right after I started practicing I became distracted with dinner so my younger daughter took over and started shooting every Christmas light she could. Below are the results.

Elise had quite a few cool looking shots but these were a few of my favorites. The top photo was taken of a reflection of lights in the window on a rainy night. Such a cool result.

Interested in trying it yourself? Do a Google search for Heart Shaped Bokeh. I liked this tutorial!

We don't have a big house so I don't have many decorations. This is one of the spots that stands out so I try to make it look pretty for the holidays. I've had the feather trees for several years and still love them!

5 days until Christmas. Can you believe it? Me either. I'm not ready yet but I will be. Tomorrow morning I'll make my final list and head out for all the little things I still need. Here's hoping I can actually accomplish what I've set my mind too!

I'm hooking up with Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

Morning light for Mosaic Monday

The colors, shades, and textures of the new day are all around us to be savored and enjoyed. No matter where you live the first morning light is inspirational.

When you arise in the morning,
think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -
to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."

~Marcus Aurelius

Broken, devoured clams lay out along the beach wall. Evidence that the Gulls have had a morning meal to fill their bellies.

'Seagull you fly across the horizon into the misty morning sun
Nobody asks you where you are going
Nobody knows where you're from . . .'







I'm linking up with Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

Sheep and Geese for Mosaic Monday

These sheep and geese live on a small parcel of land near downtown Portsmouth. A very odd sight indeed! I painted in a house nearby and for the longest time couldn't figure out where the baaa-ing was coming from.

Just a small bit of country tucked into an historic city. I like it.

I loved the big fluffy Sabastopol geese, though I kept my distance because the with geese, no matter how pretty they are, well you just never know!

It appears Halloween has come to an end and we are headed towards another month and another holiday. My daughter was kind enough to inform me this evening that's it's only 1 month and 24 days until Christmas. Oh for goodness sakes.

Mosaic Monday at Mary's Little Red House

A day well deserved ~ Mosaic Monday

On Wednesday my husband and I took a drive up to Wolfeboro. We hadn't been in a couple years so I was anxious to go back. My one regret while we were there is that I didn't take any pictures in town. I don't know why, I just didn't.

On our way there we drove near Lake Wentworth . . .

We followed a sign that was supposed to take us to the historic site of Governor John Wentworths home. You can see the dirt road we drove down in the upper left corner. When we arrived at our destination it was a plaque on a rock and an old stone foundation. That's about it. He didn't have the best view either because it didn't even overlook the lake with his namesake!

In the two bottom photos: A tree growing right up over a big rock, and Lake Wentworth on a very calm, cool, and quite autumn day.

The view out our window during lunch in Wolfeboro: A squirrel eating his meal of Maple Tree seeds.

Above and below: Views from the dock over looking Lake Winnepesaukee

My husband catching a few rays

An old wooden boat cruising across the lake. It must have been cold out there!

A Loon weathervane on Alton Bay

And finally a bad picture of us that I tried to salvage with textures and such. I used the timer, and we took several shots, but they all came out horrible. This was the best of the worst.

We had an excellent day. Wolfeboro was glorious as always. As we made our way back to the car we happened to walk past Jimmy Fallon who was about to enter Garwoods Restaurant with an older couple, possibly his parents, who knows. Being that it was such a quiet day, no one else was around, just us. We didn't say anything to him though, just stared like crazy and walked on by. Kind of a weird moment that took us both by surprise. He was awesome on the Emmy's!



After taking a week off I'm going to try to get back in the blogging groove. Pretty soon I'll be starting a new job which I hope will give my life the shot in the arm it desperately needs right now. As much as I was dreading going back to work I think my spirit needs the distraction.


Mosaic Monday at Mary's Little Red House

Mid October Mosaic Monday

A local farm on a bright, autumns day

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And since it's Sunday, and Mosaic Monday is fast approaching, I thought I'd submit a few photos.

• I'm not sure what the Chickadee found so enticing about the Mum but it returned several times
• Who doesn't love a Wooley Bear in the Fall
  
• A Dandelion ready to hand itself over to winter
• Autumn leaves reflected in our birdbath

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Mosaic Monday @ Mary's Little Red House

Autumn splendor for Mosaic Monday

I thought I'd give the Storyboard action from The CoffeeShop Blog a try and this is what I came up with.

A mish-mash of different views. All of these are photos from 2 years ago.

Top left to right:

• Scarecrows from Wolfeboro, NH
  
• White Birch in the White Mountains
• Pumpkin bins from a local farm stand
• Mums from my own front yard
• A view of Lake Winnipesaukee from Mount Major on Columbus Day
  

The foliage this year is less than stellar so I had to dig into the archives.

We have gorgeous yellows but the reds and oranges just aren't there like they usually are. Still, it's a nice Autumn. My husband had the week off and I wish I could say we did something special, like a trip to the mountains, or lunch at the beach, but it didn't happen. We weren't feeling it, plus the weather wasn't all that great.

Well, we did do one special thing ... we rushed the Pug, aka Winston, to the Emergency Vets on Tuesday night for vomiting and diarrhea. Yup, that was a fun one alright. The boy ate mushrooms in the yard and ended up so sick he was hemorrhaging blood. The vets wanted him to spend the night, to the tune of $1,200, but we decided to bring him home (around 1:00 am) at a 1/3 of the price. He was quite tired the next day but fine. We kept an eagle eye on him in case he needed fluids.

Tomorrow my husband goes back to work, the girls have the day off of school because of Columbus Day, and I'll be going to an interview in the morning for a j-o-b. Hubby thinks I'm going to sabotage the interview on purpose so I don't have to work. Heee heee . . .

I hope you have some beautiful colors where you live. If only the mental stimulation brought on by Fall could carry us through the long, and cold, and brutal New England winter that lies ahead!


Guess what! It's Mosaic Monday over at Mary's Little Red House!