Inspired by my friend, Carol’s posting of her overlooked (and gorgeous!) hummingbird photos, here are a few of my photos from the last couple weeks that didn’t make the blog:
Another view from our driveway – notice the P for Prescott on the hill-
A leaf on our snow day-
Two more driveway views (I’m lazy that way. . .), at sunrise-
Top photo textured with ecru from Kim Klassen; bottom photo textured with Mumbai, Depression Glass, and Brood from Jessica Drossin
We spent a very cold hour or so wandering around Prescott’s Courthouse Square just after sunset last night looking at the lights and enjoying the festive atmosphere. My flickr group’s topic was front and center, an easy one for me as we walked around all sides of the imposing courthouse building.
Here are a few more shots give an idea here of just how MANY tree trunks are lit up and how each side of the courthouse is decorated slightly differently from the others. The top two images were taken as we started our walk and the others after we had walked to the other side and it was getting dark.
After complaining on here yesterday about the fog, I went outside (in my bathrobe) and took this photo of a bare tree out front and tried to make the fog photoworthy.
Textures by Florabella.
To start things off on a positive note, I did some Christmas baking!
I had hoped for some beautiful snow photos on my blog today. We had snow predicted for last night, but all we got at our house was rain with a few snowflakes and some sleet. Nothing stuck (unless you count puddles). And then we woke up to fog- fog in Arizona!?!?! I might as well be in the Bay Area! Here is the view from my desk window:
When I visited Carol last week, I kept coming back to the basil in her back yard, which made a beautiful subject for my camera as I experimented with two of her lenses. The first two shots were taken with her 70-200 f/4 and the last with her 24-70 f/2.8; both are dream lenses!
Carol kept urging me to post one of my basil shots and call it “What a pity, Basil.” I had no idea what she was talking about! She finally explained here.
My talented and creative friend, Debbie, made this sweet ceramic heart for our Christmas tree this year. In fact, if you walk around my house, you will see quite a few items handmade by Debbie! We are so lucky! ❤
Textured with rue, magic film, and desert from Kim Klassen’s cloth and paper collection.
Linking up with Texture Tuesday.
Last night we returned home from an all too quick trip to California, where we managed to reconnect with many of our friends, despite the last minute notice and short time frame. As I wrote in my last post, my friend, Carol, put us up for a couple nights in the Sacramento area while my husband had an appointment. We drove down to the Bay Area Friday, where I dropped in on my school (where I had taught first grade for 23 years) and visited with some of my very dearest friends and colleagues. Saturday was a whirlwind- a visit with our HeartMath class at Unity of Walnut Creek, lunch out with a group from the class, afternoon coffee with two of my teaching partners (and dear friends), and a wonderful dinner at Sailor Jack’s with Jan and Jack (Jan is one of my Rapunzel friends- and the only one who was able to make the drive over from Petaluma this time). I know we will be coming back, and we’ll catch up with those we didn’t manage to see on this latest visit.
As we walked out of Sailor Jack’s Saturday night, Lonnie said, “Take a picture of the lights.” He knows how much I love the little white lights that dot all the trees along First Street (all year long now!). I only had my cell phone and just took the one shot, which I posted on Facebook. Last night, I converted it to black and white, which I may like even better.
We are visiting California this week (my husband has a business meeting), so we spent the night at my friend, Carol’s house. Carol is an avid photographer and lover of all things BIRD. She rescues hawks, and is the official photographer for the California Foundation for Birds of Prey. She is also the proud owner of Bobo, an Amazon parrot who is the real caller of shots at Carol’s house. I have photographed Bobo before for this blog, so today I took some photos in Carol’s back yard, which is a haven for the hummingbirds who bathe in her fountain and eat out of her feeders. Carol let me play with two of her favorite lenses (attached to my camera), the Nikon 70-200 f4 and the 24-70 f2.8, both of which are fabulous. The photo below was taken with the 70-200 and edited with Snapseed on the iPad.
Prescott is known as Arizona’s Christmas City (as well as Everybody’s Hometown), and they do take decorating seriously downtown. Having missed the tree lighting Saturday (cold, windy, with snow arriving any moment. . .), we walked around the square late this afternoon and looked at the lights. Holy Moly! This is just a small part of the square, but gives you an idea of the color scheme. I shot this with my iPhone; I hope to come back for more photos soon.
Our first snow seems to have finished off the last surviving bunch of marigolds, unwatered and forgotten, but still blooming out front.
Textured with several layers of Kim Klassen’s rue, altered to have golden tones.
Linking up with Texture Tuesday.
It snowed! This lifelong California girl is having to adjust to living in an area with four seasons. I have vacillated between excitement and dread over the possibility of snow- and now it has happened. Fortunately, I’ve been in training for the last 10 years or so through my visits to our daughter in Montana and Wyoming and realize this inch or so of snow is no big deal. But when I hear Prescott residents reminisce about the winter where they had 8 feet of snow (I think it was back in the eighties) or hear my friend, Debbie, talk about HER first winter here when they were stuck inside for days at a time, I know that it is important to be prepared.
Because of our frequent trips to Yellowstone, I do own an adequate winter wardrobe, including these boots, which I love. I photographed them today in response to the Flickr topic, something I wear.
And, in case you are curious, here is what our house looked like yesterday morning:
Funny- I don’t think I ever posted photos of our Benicia house on my blog, but I have posted at least 4 photos of this house that I can think of (at sunset, with stars, with Christmas lights, and now with snow). The blue sky in this photo quickly gave way to gray clouds, which hung around all day. But there has been no more snow, and almost half has melted away in the front. No more snow predicted for this week- at least not yet!
Two of this week’s Flickr topics were perfect for me!
The first was HANDMADE/HOMEMADE. I chose to photograph these little blocks, stamped by my son, Matt, when he was in fifth grade. Arranged one way, they say HOHO, and, turned around, they read XMAS. He would not be happy to see them on here on my blog- but, fortunately, he probably doesn’t read it!
Another topic this week was COMFORTABLE. We don’t have a formal living room in our new home; the living/family/great room is arranged for comfort, with couches that have recliners built in (pretty un-cool, but oh so comfortable!). So, with temps in the twenties (expected to dip into the teens), here is a shot of my slippered feet by the fire as I wait for the snow to start falling.
The scenes below are now covered by a deep blanket of new snow (with temperatures far below zero), but, during my visit a week ago, only the mountains were completely covered.
The top photo was edited in Photoshop with textures from Florabella and Jessica Drossin.
We have definitely got the Christmas spirit this year! We just finished decorating the outside of our house; I think it may be the earliest this has ever happened. And, truth be told, we had stopped putting up Christmas lights outside of our old house a few years ago. Moving has re-energized us! And now, I need to get back to putting the finishing touches on the tree.
melinda anderson photography 