GOOD-BYE 2009!!

Another year has ended. Where did the days, weeks, and months of 2009 go? I was trying to select a favorite adventure from 2009. Obviously, Palo Duro Canyon is the hands down winner. However, of the weekend jaunts, the one which stands out is the trip to the Ouachita National Forest. When asked the question of favorites, Harry selected the journey to Possum Kingdon Lake when we saw all the deer. We've had some good ones, haven't we, Harry?

Catching fish in the river with makeshift gear
Deer walking up to us as though tame
Beautiful, blue Lake Whitney
Hagerman Wildlife Refuge... for a variety of reasons, least of which is the wild boar
Rattlesnakes!! (and wild turkeys)
Daingerfield State Park in its autumn finery
Lake Texoma
.... not to mention the myriad of podunk towns and their churches we love to visit:
     Mineral Wells
     Commerce
     Pilot Point
     Ladonia
Cemeteries with historical figures of yesteryear
Abandoned military forts
Rusted out cotton gins and mills
Buying socks and shoes at a WalMart many counties from 'home' because my feet were frozen and wet after searching for just the right Christmas tree in the woods
....plus so many more I can't list them all!

Most of all, thanks to my compliant, willing, and adventurous navigator without whom these treks would not have been the same. There surely would not have been the laughs, the wrong turns, the sudden stops, the nicked bumpers, nor the same calibre of captured photos.

Thank you for accompanying me when I am too chicken to ride the DART train by myself late at night. Thank you for letting me freeze our tushes off when I drag you to Southlake to take pictures at night. Thank you for insisting if we are going to stop in a small town to eat we should experience the local flavor rather than the recognizable franchise fare. Simply put, thank you for being G.W. ...

Wow!!! I never intended this to turn into a "thank you" ......... oh well. It comes from the heart so I'll let it stay.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! And a great 2010 to all.

Until 2010.....

ONE LAST CHRISTMAS POST

This is a very special Christmas gift; yet another Jim Shore angel. Jim Shore does figurines that feature quilt block designs. One year Harry gave me one of the angels for my birthday. This year he added the Angel of Joy. She is beautiful.

Thank you, Harry. I will cherish her for years to come.

Until another day....

WHITE CHRISTMAS

It started snowing the morning of Christmas Eve. In and of itself, that occurrence is uneventful. Unless you happen to live in Dallas, Texas. We have been treated to the occasional snow flurry on various winter celebrations across the years, but do you know when the last time was that Dallas had snow ON THE GROUND for Christmas? According to the news sources, it was 1926!!

This is what the camera saw this morning after the sun had risen....

This is what the lens saw last night....

It was a first for my son and he loved every second of it. About 11 p.m. we took sleds to the sloping lawn at the nearby community college. The "children" played until we were all so frozen we could barely walk. Playing on a sled was also a first for Ross (the boy is almost 19 years old). It was truly a memorable Christmas. Hope yours was, too!!

Until the next post....

MERRY CHRISTMAS - 2009

Merry Christmas!! Today is made more special by the fact it is SNOWING!! The last time I experienced snow on Christmas Eve was likely in 1965 when I still lived in Wisconsin (we moved to Texas in 1966).

Christmas will be very low-key this year, as has become the norm. It will only be Harry, Janelle, Ross, and me. We will go to Mass today at 4 p.m. and then come back to my house where I will fix the Christmas Eve dinner. This year we are having Tur-duc-hen. Tomorrow morning I will fix breakfast, at which time we will be rejoined by Harry and Janelle so we can open gifts, and then switch houses for Christmas Dinner at Harry's house. Unhurried. Uncomplicated.

The picture below shows the new Christmas decor I made for the kitchen table. Sadly, I only had 2 cloth placemats to my name and decided it was time to change that. (Up until this year I always protected the table from the boys with a vinyl tablecloth. No longer.) One of the 2010 vows will be to make more placemats and tablerunners for my kitchen. Janelle helped make the decisions on which prints and colors. Thank you, Janelle, for your invaluable input.

We put the Christmas tree in a different location this year. It has always been in the diagonally opposite corner, necessitating the rearranging of furniture so that our backs weren't to the tree. Now we can sit comfortably in the chairs to enjoy package opening.

Break time is over. Back to the kitchen I go. I'm making broccoli soup at the moment. Already have the corn casserole assembled and all the pre-dinner snacks ready to put out. I feel organized, but doubt that is the case. I am probably forgetting the most important thing!

And finally, as penned in 1843 by Charles John Huffam Dickens in his ageless, heartwarming tale of redemption, "God bless us every one!"

Until I share the next pictures....

STAY TUNED.....

The forecast is calling for SNOW beginning this morning and ending this evening. I've not seen snowfall on Christmas Eve since I was a young girl living in the Midwest. Stay tuned for updates and possible photographs!

Until later..............

WINTER DARKNESS

Despite the fact it was very cold last night, I'd planned an after-dark outing to take pictures of the Christmas lights in the retail area in the town of Southlake, Texas. I'm still working on taking pictures at night without a flash and continue to get interesting results. The one below is "by accident". It has no redeeming value other than the unique way the leaves of the tree were captured.

I'll keep practicing!

Until after the adventure on Saturday....

GOOD ON A COLD DAY

Thanks to my cousin, Paulette, for sharing this!

Until I take walk-about photos tonight.....

FISH STUFF

I was able to get a photo of one of the baby fish. I have blown the picture up and used the fastest ISO, hence the noise/grain. If you look inside the circle you can just barely make out the fish.

Until new photo ops arise.....