Red Oak

There's a large oak tree on the side of my driveway that turns a gorgeous shade of red.

It was a beautiful day; this was the day I went to Town Neck.  I shot these around 8:15 AM.

My neighbour's burning bush.  Love these too.

Down the street

Well at least we got some foliage!

Stunning Fall Evenings

Best time of the year right now.  I love fall.  Not looking forward to winter though.  But trying to get some nice shots of the clouds and sunsets.

I wish the pics of these clouds could do justice to what the light looked like the day I took them.  The sun was on it's way down and while it was a bit cloudy in the west, the east had these gorgeous white clouds with blue sky.  It was reflecting the light into my yard such that it looked like sunrise, not sunset.  

Then they turned this colour.

Next night we had a pretty moon.

Two nights later it was stunning!  I should've driven to the beach but I knew this would be fleeting so I stayed in my driveway.

Sunset at the Railroad Bridge & the Moon

It was the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend and I was already in my jammies by 4:00 PM. Around 6, Russell asked if I felt like getting some ice cream, and I answered 'no thanks'.  45 minutes later, he asked me if I wanted to take a walk at the Canal.  I didn't really want to, but I felt bad about saying no to ice cream (and anyway I knew a walk at the Canal was gonna end up in a trip to Betty Ann's Dairy Freeze), so I said, 'I just want you to know that you are the ONLY person I would put a bra on and get dressed for at this hour. THAT'S how much I love you.'  

It really was a lovely evening, with a nice cool breeze and crescent moon.  There were still quite a few people walking, biking and fishing, despite the gathering dusk.

As we were walking and chatting, I heard the bridge whistle sound.  Russell stopped and looked at me quizzically as I excitedly said, 'The bridge is gonna go down for a train!  That's the warning horn!!!'  

Boat waiting for the bridge to complete it's cycle.

The train had crossed and we waited for the bridge to ascend, but it didn't.  We were already walking back towards it when we heard another train whistle on the other side.  Two trains for one lowering???  NICE!

 

Here comes the second one!

Sunset train on the bridge pics.....not too easy to come by.

 What a moon!

However this one pulled about halfway across the bridge, switched off the main engine lights, and then backed up to use the other set of tracks over there.  

OK Russell deserved an ice cream since his idea enabled me to get some really awesome photos!!! Note they were already featuring pumpkin soft serve!!!

Hard to believe but the last time...and actually only time...we had Betty Ann's was on Memorial Day when I got sick.  So this was a nice way to bookend the summer.  I got the watermelon sherbet/black raspberry twist. 

It really was a lovely weekend, even though heat and humidity greeted us for a few days at the beginning of September.

And an obligatory moon shoot because I love shooting the moon.

Wordless Wednesday

July Randomness

The humidity has been almost nonstop, with only one day of cool and comfortable temperatures.  So I've been hiding in the house for the most part.  

Oh I thought this was kind of an amusing anecdote.  One of the craft-themed FB pages I follow asked a question over the weekend, 'Who would play you in the movie of your life?'.  I read it out loud and pondered it for a second before deciding to type 'Tatum O'Neal' into the comments.  Without missing a beat, Russell says, 'Cyndi Lauper.'  OK, first of all, he gets major props for being aware of who Cyndi Lauper is, because he is not a music fan at all. Second, I took it as a huge compliment because I admire Cyndi's colourful individuality and wackiness.

We had some real steamy, rainy afternoons.  It's not uncommon for a late afternoon/early evening thunderstorm to crop up in this kind of weather. 

I hope I can get to these before the birds do.

That's a teensy snail on a branch, inside a water droplet that's reflecting my house.  We have a lot of snails in our yard of varying sizes.  I know they are a pest but I do like them.  I always think of the lyrics to the Donovan song, 'There is a mountain':  "The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is".  

And another droplet pic showing that leaf in the background.

Droplets on the CD windspinner.

Driftwood & foreign coin hanging.

Found inside one of the many fortune cookies we got over 4th of July.  Hmmmmm

I started a new colouring book called 'Out of This World Designs', using my new set of gel pens.  Also used were Prismacolour pencils and rhinestones.  

Liz had to go and mention that she made blueberry crisp, and I marched into the kitchen to make one too.  It was yummy. Soooo very yummy.

We haven't had many decent sunsets so far but one night revealed a lovely half moon and sunset.