We are having a cozy day inside on this first day of winter.  No church, and they do NOT want anyone on the road unless you have to be.

 DEC 21A   Cozy

 DEC 21D   Family Gathering

 DEC 21B   Out the front window

 DEC 21C    Looking over the deck

We've been hit by some terribly cold and snowy and windy weather here in S.E. Wisconsin. Currently the temperature is -5° and the wind chill is -23°. I'd like to show you a few shots from around our house. Much of the snow arrived Thursday night through Friday. Enjoy!

 Did You Say Snow? 

"'Hear! hear!' screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, 'winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it.'"
- Henry David Thoreau

 IMG_1948  IMG_1277  IMG_1430  IMG_1254  IMG_7607 

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! 

On December 17th, I got my carcass out of bed early so I could head out and get some good pics of the sunrise hitting the Stansbury Mountains on the other side of the valley from Tooele.  I found a good location and started taking pics as the mountains began lighting up, but after about 8 shots, the batteries in my camera died.  No problem - or so I thought - because I had a spare set of batteries in the truck.  Unfortunately, those were dead too...  After a quick trip into town to buy new batteries, I drove south on SR-36 to a spot just out of the city limits and took some shots of the sunrise hitting the Stansbury Mountains    The morning was rather cold and crisp, but dawn breaking on  Deseret Peak was just too awesome to miss. 

After catching those shots, I drove further south from Tooele into Rush Valley.  The temperature dropped from about 12 degrees at Tooele to -6 degrees just south of Stockton.  I continued south until I turned eastward on U-73 which led me along the southwest slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains to the old Pony Express route which is now called "Faust Cutoff" which leads westward across Rush Valley.  About halfway across Rush Valley is the site of the Rush Valley  Pony Express Station Site, so I stopped and took a couple pics...and I was sure glad to get back into my heated truck to continue my drive, because it was 3 degrees when I got out to take the pics.  Driving along those areas of the  Pony Express II route, I am amazed at the hardiness of those riders and station keepers who lived and rode in the inhospitable regions without the modern-day conveniences we so enjoy to keep us warm, dry, and comfortable...

    Taking inspiration from Angie's photos and stories,her recent "cucumber"and "orange slices,led to my attempt,at these entries . Cucumber  12_8_2008_022  12_8_2008_022_1 

Dancing star fruit(Carambola) 12_8_2008_021  12_8_2008_026 

     Threw in some critters and birds for good measure. Taking shelter 12_15_2008_007 Birds of a feather 12_15_2008_012 

      Waiting for guest 12_15_2008_002 , Guess who's coming for dinner 12_15_2008_004 

        Thanks, for looking and commenting .

For those of you that know me you know how much I loved finding this.... 

Oh what a find!!  

This is something I have never seen before  

An Amish hat rim in a tree  

E.M.  (I bet the first initial E stands for Eli.  That is the most common Amish name around here) If you look inside the rim you see blue initials

 AwayinaManger  

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you....   Blessings, Ms Judi  :)

Just a few snaps from a day visit to Rockefeller Center. 

  Chester flooring it

 Chester and Grinning Pablo Wearing Cheap Sunglasses  wasn't too hard to talk this tourist into holding Chester. Judging by the two pairs of glasses he's wearing, one is a cheap pair of sunglasses, he is obviously dazed and confused by the sensory overload.

 Chester and the Scary Pizza Guy

Need more Chester ??  Visit the slide show below or my dashboard.  Please view the slide show at full screen and medium speed.

 Chester Visits Rockefeller Center 

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Two buses slid down E. Thomas Street, which is three blocks from my apartment.  Here is a shot from google looking up the hill.

The road conditions had Denny Way closed, which is the usual route from the freeway to the grayhound bus terminal .  However, because of the icy conditions, the city usually closes Denny Way.  So the bus drivers must have decided to turn around on Thomas Street (I guess) and head back a different way .  The only problem is, they couldn't stop and just slid down the road and threw the guardrail.  You can read more details about it on the Seattle Times .

The moral of the story for me?  When the camera I was using runs out of batteries, I guess it decides not to save the pictures I took to the camera.  The slideshow below is the only good ones I got that were saved.  Diss.

The Slideshow .

Santa has made his list and he's checking it twice  "BUT COULD I PLEASE HAVE SOME PRIVACY!!"

(Don't worry, this is in the bathroom-not my living room!) :-)

 ABUT 3 MONTHS AGO I POSTED PICS OF THIS FAMILY. HERE IS AN UPDATE.  IMG_1086 

My daughter Rachel never wants me to photograph her. It took a new man in her life to change her mind.

 Rachel 1 

 Rachel3 

 rachel5 

Hope they both like these!

A very quick visit over the last few days to Seoul, Korea. The weather was overcast, rainy and very cold. Visited a palace and saw these guards on display at the entrance. I thought they'd make a good study. Photos taken with my pocket digital - a very old Nikon Coolpix 4300. Time to update that little one I think!)

 Guard_1

 Guard_2

 Guard_3

 Guard_4

 Lake

 Gateway

i saw this in a store window yesterday. i've been a very good girl this year and i think it would be perfect in the old barn.

please, Santa?

love,

d

Nancy and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas

and Happy and Prosperous New Year!

A few images from our House to Yours - - - -

 Real_Meaning 

 Lighted_Village 

 Lighted_Snowman 

 Cushy_Frosty 

 Neighbors_House 

 From_the_Tree_1 

 From_the_Tree_2 

 From_the_Tree_3 

I've got some more shots from earlier this autumn as I'm slowly working through them... I wanted to experiment with shallow DOF on some autumn leaves. Here are my best results!

Autumn leaf one and autumn leaf two are more or less as shot, but this backlit autumn leaf I did a fair but of recolouring with. XD Black & white adjustment with tint.