Thanksgiving 2010

This year, Thanksgiving was very low stress for me.  We went to eat at Mr. H's Mom's house and she did most of the cooking.  In fact, if we had brought absolutely nothing, there would have still been too much food.  Our 2 oldest girls each made a pie to take:  the eldest made apple and Em made pecan, even though she doesn't LIKE pecan pie, she didn't want her older sister to get all the pie-making glory.

It was a beautiful warm day.  The camellia bushes were loaded with buds, but only 2 had opened.

 We sat out on the back porch after lunch.

 This little guy came over to see what we were doing.

We watched football and ate snacks later.  Can you tell what color skittles no one likes in our family?

New Toy

I got a new toy!!

Actually, I should say "we" got a new toy, because it's a joint, early Christmas present for Mr. H and I.
It's a Canon Rebel T1i.
And I've been experimenting...

Mrs. Jones

Grisabella

I know, I know... I have lots of pictures of cats, but they are always available models.

 

 Mr. H is always a good model, too.

 

I love this view from my backyard.  I probably have quite a few pictures very similar to this.

 For some reason, I find this very appealing.

 My mom gave me this for my birthday a few years ago.  It's hanging on my front porch.

 I was experimenting with motion settings here.  

 These 2 sit on top of my monitor at work.

 I like the effect of the sun through the tree.

 I know, more cats:  real and wooden.

 One of my favorite spots on the planet.

 Up close and personal with moss on the tree.

 Yes, another cat picture.

Yes, I like taking pictures of trees, too.

Well, that's a small (very small!) sample of our experiments so far.  Stay tuned....

End of Day . . . Homeward Bound

Behind me, the full moon has risen.  There is a high, thin layer of clouds that has captured her reflected light and transformed itself into a pale, bright veil around her.

Ahead of me, the sky still bears the afterglow of sunset:  crimson fading up through gold and lavender into deep indigo.  Trees on the distant horizon are like black lace stretched at the bottom of the sky. 

Closer to the dark road, light glows from the windows of otherwise invisible homes. 

Soon ...
        very soon ...
                       there will be light shining from my own windows.

Warm Memory

This morning I was taking a pan of muffins out of the oven.  I set them on top of the stove and started to close the oven door.  I changed my mind and just left it open for a bit, letting the oven pour its heat out into the kitchen.  I backed up to the open door and let the heat rise up my back.  I would be hard pressed to find anything else that feels that good!

It reminded me of winters when I was growing up.  We had a floor furnace in our house.  Don't feel bad if you have no idea what that is.  I just explained it to El.  In the hallway of the bedroom end of the house, there was a metal grate in the floor.  Below that grate was a big heater.  And the grate got hot when the furnace was going.  I remember winter nights (and mornings) standing above the furnace (careful not to stand ON the furnace) in a long night gown.  The warm air would billow up the gown, ballooning it out, surrounding me with warmth.  On cold nights, it gave me a head start on warming up the bed.

When our eldest was young, we lived in a mobile home with floor vents.  I taught her the joy of standing over the vent in a long gown, too.
I can understand why floor furnaces were replaced with other heat sources.  The little boy who lived across the street from me all those years ago had a grid-pattern scar on this chest and stomach from a fall onto the hot metal.  I never thought about how dangerous my position above the furnace was until I saw what could happen if one got careless.