Fun Friday Favorites 112715

Always up for a new link-up

 

This is one I don't think I used.

The winter gathering place for our potted cactus.

 

This is always a favorite when it appears.

When my kids were small they called it

'the earthquake chick'

and claimed it would warn us of an earthquake

when it jiggled.

(all the more amusing since we are not prone to earthquakes in our area)

 

Joining Cath for: Fun Friday Favorites

 

Critters 112815

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Hairy Woodpecker and House Finch

part of the winter crowd atMuldoon

 

Joining Eileen for Saturday Critters

Thanksgiving Eve - Sunrise - Moonrise 112515

Travel at Sunrise

Moonrise on Thanksgiving Eve.

Joining

Cee for Compose Yourself Photo Challenge - Diagonal Lines

and

Skywatch Friday

FENCES 112615

Happy Thanksgiving USA

 

Today I'm thankful for the surrounding countryside

with fields, fences, majestic trees and a rich heritage.

 

 

Joining Theresa for:

Good Fences

 

 

signs, signs 112615

Happy USA Thankgiving!

 

These two signs should make all the turkeys happy.

 

'eat chicken'

 

'eat pork'

 

This 'mom n pop' is a thriving market across from the Fairgrounds.

Thus the name.

They also have a catering business 

and have become well known for pig roasts as well.

They started out with one roaster on a trailer several years ago

and are up to five or maybe more now.

 

Joining Lesley for

signs, signs

Backyard Birds

These little finches come to feed 2-3 times a day.

Unlike the chick-a-dee or titmouse

who flit about from feeder to limb

these little ones perch and feast until their full

with little regard for humans in the area.

 

This day was just like that until . . .

 

it seemed to say

'what is that to the north?

I don't recall that little number being over there'

 

'Aha, a new eatery'

I bought this feeder in mid summer.

It was labeled as a peanut feeder.

So I filled it with bird peanuts and waited for it to be discovered.

 

Nada, nobody was interested.

 

So a couple weeks ago I emptied the peanuts

into the regular feeder.

Of course they were gobbled up over the next two days.

 

Today I had the thought to fill it with black sunflower seeds.

 

The rest of the story is history.

 

Joining Stewart for:

Wild Bird Wednesday

 



Wordless 112415

The November sunrises through my field of view have been spectacular.

This is just one example.

 

Joining Sue for:

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

 

Blue Mosaic Outdoors

The RG took these photos in 2013 

when he joined one of our sons in Hawaii.

It was to be our son's last long deployment of his 

Navy Air Wing career and he gifted his Dad passage with him from Honolulu to SanDiego on what is called a Tiger Cruise.

They were blessed to have time before the cruise to tour the islands.

The RG had only been in the airport enroute to Viet Nam 45 years before. And his father had been stationed there during WWII

so it was very special for him in many ways.

 Isn't the sky pretty in the last photo?

(or maybe I chose it for the special fella gazing across the beach ;)

He is back to civilian life after serving 

for twenty years and now enjoying daily life with his wife and son.

We are so thankful as a family for the memory this will always be.

Happy USA Thanksgiving to everyone stopping by.
And Happy Day to all.

Joining Judith for:

Mosaic Monday
and Sally for
Blue Monday
and
Outdoor Wednesday

The Barn Collective 112215

Out for a ride on a few country roads one day this week.

 

Uh Oh! This isn't good.

 

Joining Tom for:

The Barn Collective

INSPIRED 112215

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island, Ohio

 

Mother of Sorrow Catholic Church is also home to

South Bass Island's Lutheran congregation.

 

Linking with

Inspired

SIGNS

...of winter approaching

This place is hopping all summer but . . .

after Labor Day . . .

 

joining Lesley for:

signs, signs

Vertical Lines

Venturing into another of Cee's photo challenges.

Her essay on composing vertical lines

has improved my field of view.

 

Part 1





 

Part 2

In re-reading the challenge, I see that I wasn't supposed to move between shots, sigh. But I think I still caught the

essence of the lesson and they are not cropped.

 

Joining Cee's:

Compose Yourself Photo Challenge

Black n White

I am finding metal objects great subjects

for Black n White photos.

 

 

Joining Cee for

Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge

and

Joining Dragonstar for:

The Weekend in Black and White

 

 

 

Fences

or a reasonable facsimile.

Came across this fence (?) on a family research excursion.

Clever how mother nature created a swag of leaves.

 

Joining Theresa for:

Good Fences

 

Here a Chick, There a Chick

Everywhere a Chick, Chick. Old McDonald had a farm . . .

Just a few of the chicks that roost in my kitchen.

 

Joining Jan for:
Share A Cup
 



Sunrise

 

 

Joining Sue for:

Wordless Wednesday

Catalpa

A lightening strike couldn't bring this mighty Catalpa down.

 It remains sturdy and strong.

 Description

Mostly deciduous trees, they typically grow to 12–18 metres (39–59 ft) tall and 6–12 metres (20–39 ft) wide. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 6 metres (20 ft) tall. They can be recognized by their large, heart-shaped to three-lobed leaves, showy white or yellow flowers in broad panicles, and during the autumn by their 20–50 centimetres (7.9–19.7 in) long fruits, which resemble a slender bean pod, containing numerous small flat seeds, each seed having two thin wings to aid in wind dispersal. Because of the leaves, they are sometimes confused with the tung tree (Vernicia fordii) in the southern U.S., or the invasive Paulownia tomentosa imported from China.

Due to their large leaf size, catalpas are a popular habitat for many birds, providing them good shelter from rain and wind. These trees have few limb droppage, but drop large dark-brown bean pods during late summer. The wood of catalpas is quite soft.

 

 

Joining Adrienne for:

Trees and Bushes

 

Butterfly in November

I was surprised to see this butterfly mid November in western Pennsylania. But then again I was surprised to see our rhododendron in full bloom too.

We were hiking through a cemetery on family research when the RG spotted it sunning away.

 

Joining Judith for:

Mosaic Monday

Barns 111515

Barn and Farm Building

of a little Pennsylvania Dutchman

 from many years ago.

(photos are current)

 

Joining Tom for:

The Barn Collective

Flower 111315

Christmas Cactus

We don't try to time the blooms

We're just glad they bloom.

Give your Christmas Cactus bright but indirect light. Keep the plant in a well-lit location (like near a window) away from direct sunlight – too much heat and light can stunt growth and burn the leaves. It should also be away from drafts, heat vents, fireplaces or other sources of hot air.

• If it's in a north or east-facing window, you won't have to worry about light. But if it's in a south or west-facing window, diffuse the light with semi-transparent curtains or some other light-diffusing device.

 

Joining Denise for Today's Flowers

and

Nick for Floral Friday Fotos