Thompson St Middleboro MA

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I first learned about Thompson St in Middleboro one day when I stumbled across the following website:

http://greglessardphotography.com/-/greglessardphotography/galleryindex.asp?c=15921

I've made several trips to this part of Middleboro over the past year and a half, and have made several photos during those visits. I was there this afternoon buying some fresh produce from one of the farmstands, and of course I had my camera in tow.

There is going to be an antique tractor show at one of the Thompson St. farms, (called Homestead Farm) this Sunday, Sept. 5th. I went to this last year and had fun. Here's a couple of photos I took that day:

"Crooked Windows"

"Tractor Crossing"

"Bog Water"

I'm probably heading back to the tractor show this Sunday so stay tuned! :-)

The Specs for today's photos:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/160, f14, -1/3ev

Summer reflections

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Reflecting on the summer as the Labor Day Weekend draws near.

Reflections taken at Island Grove in Abington MA

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, 1/250, f5.6, -2/3 ev

All decked out

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Demo has begun on our backyard decking and railings.........soon to be replaced by Trex. I personally find the dumpster as an attractive piece of yard art myself. :-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/40, -1/3 ev

Sunset over Boston

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A beautiful sunset tonight taken from Hull Gut in Hull MA. The sunset lighting up the windows of these homes that face West particularly caught my eye:

Sailing through the Gut:

Another perfect day here in New England. I hope you enjoyed your day!

The Specs:

All Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200

Photo one: 1/60, f5.6

Photo two: 0.3s, f5.6

Photo three: 1/15, f5

My first!

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It's almost here. I could feel it in the air today. I could see signs of it everywhere I went. The stressed trees are always the first to change. Look at these colors against today's deep blue sky. Oh yeah baby.....it will be here before we know it.

So happy.......today is the first day that I am dedicating the theme of my blog to the Fall. I know it's a bit early.....but I just can't help myself! Yes, the temps will be back up in the 90's in a few days........but that's ok. The promise of Fall has begun. :-)

Even the creepy crawlies didn't bother me today. They were celebrating the coming of Fall as well!

These were all taken in Halifax and Plympton MA. I went back to the Summer Gardens Barn for their end of the summer sale with Nancy I. A wonderful day for sure!

The Specs:

All Nikon D90, ISO 200

Photo one: 1/500, f8

Photo two: 1/1000, f8

Photo three: 1/200, f9

Photo four: 1/400, f9

Photo five: 1/1600, f6.3

Here's "The rest of the story"

You may remember this post from a few weeks ago, titled "Camp Granada? :-)"
  http://carolsviewofnewengland.blogspot.com/2010/07/camp-granada.html
At the end of that post, I told you I would eventually post "the rest of the story".......so here it is! I am happy to announce that I went back to this camp today and signed the contract for Miss J's wedding reception which will take place on Saturday, Oct 8th, 2011 at the Needles Lodge at Camp Kiwanee in Hanson MA. The bride and groom are thrilled with this venue.......and so is the mother of the bride. I just fell in love with it when we first went to look at it. Here is the foyer and what you see as soon as you walk into the door. We are going to go gung ho with Fall decorations, so picture the fireplace mantle etc all decked out for the Fall:

There are 3 beautiful fireplaces in the lodge in other rooms. It's so rustic and just plain "us". :-) (A little reminiscent of our beloved Vermont perhaps?....yup very much so!) Here's the reception room:

That's my Dad checking the place out. I brought the folks with me today, and it met their approval! :-)

Here's a view from the wrap around porch. There are french doors from the reception room that step right out onto this porch:

One final view of the wrap around porch. The twinkle lights will be lit up at night when the sun goes down.

Remember the cabins from the Camp Granada post? Well, we have rented out 15 cabins which sleep 6, 2 cabins that sleep 2,  and one chalet which sleeps 12 for the night of the wedding. This also includes the "atrium" which is another very rustic building within the campground with a huge stone fireplace inside and a big firepit out front for the after party. Breakfast will be served the following morning in the atrium as well.

We hit the big time Woo-Hoo!!!!!!

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Press Ganey is a company that provides patient satisfaction surveys, used by hospitals all across the country. We have worked VERY HARD in our department at work to improve our patient satisfaction scores. One of the major improvements is a brand new patient menu we implemented this past year including all new menu items.........a wonderful variety of nutritious, delicious foods integrating fresh ingredients and fresh herbs. (Ahem........yes, I was on the new menu committee thank you very much) :-) We also have completely changed the meal delivery service and a combination of all of the changes has..............drum roll please..............brought our scores all up into the 90th percentile and higher........one of our scores was in the 99th percentile. This is a HUGE accomplishment.

As a thank you for all of the hard work, our dept. was treated to a take out Chinese Food Buffet for lunch today.

A small token of appreciation,,,,,but it goes a long way and it's really nice for everyone to be recognized for their efforts.........and it was delicious! :-)

Thanks to Pat for being the "model" today as well! :-)

The Specs:

 Panasonic LX3, ISO 125, 1/40, f2.1, -1/3 ev

I'm in a pickle today

Another raw, windy, wet, rainy day here. I'm still not complaining, we really need this rain and it is welcomed. I was planning on going to the beach today to photograph the waves at high tide. Well, that never happened, as I was having a lazy day, all comfy in my cozy warm house. I was in a real pickle about what to photograph today, but I took care of it when I went to the grocery store:

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Okay......I can hear the groans now. :-) I'm sorry for being so corny, but you have to understand.......this taking a photo a day thing can be very challenging at times. :-)

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 80, 1/5, f2,8

Finally!

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Woo-hoo!!!! We finally are getting a good soaking today and it's going to rain tomorrow too. This shot was taken through my windshield after I got off the shuttle bus from work this afternoon.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 80, 1/320, f2.8

Rain rain don't go away

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It rained through the night and was still raining this morning when we got up. I'm not complaining.......the rain is good for the trees and I'm hoping for a good foliage season. It wasn't a good day to be outdoors, nor was it a good day for photography. We pulled over so that I could take a photo of this hillside in Sheffield VT, and I snapped a few shots while sitting in the truck. Some would say I was being a lazy photographer, but I say I was being practical by keeping dry. :-) Note how nice and green the gass is...........all of the grass up there was green and lush......nothing like at home here in MA.......a very good sign that things are not as dry up there as it is here. But look at the colors of the trees........I noticed that they are already strating to show signs of the very beginning of changing. The stressed trees have already begun to change......but that happens everywhere every year and it is not unusual. Here's a shot from the same spot that I took at full zoom:

In my opinion, I think things are progressing normally up there, but perhaps maybe a little early.

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO, 1/100, f9, -1/3 ev

view, cows, rides, and trucks (my day in Vermont)

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The village of Lyndon Vermont, with Burke Mountain in the background. It was a nice morning in Vermont, but the clouds came in quickly and light rain began in the late afternoon.

In the evening, we went to the Orleans County Fair, at the Barton Fairgrounds. The light rain didn't interfere with the events.

 My favorite exhibits at the fair are always the farm animals:

The Himalaya Ride is always a popular ride (not for me that is, but for lots of others :-) )

Mr S's Favorite was the Professional Tractor Pull. Now, I've been to antique tractor pulls before, but this show was NOTHING like that. These things were LOUD and FAST. Here's a modified truck in the single engine class. It was still LOUD  so for the sake of my photo blog, I took one photo without holding my ears:

What???? Did you say something?? Sorry......I seem to have trouble hearing today. :-) Just kidding of course, but believe me........these things were ear piercingly loud!

The Specs:

Photo One: Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/400, f13, -2/3 ev

Photo two: Panasonic LX3, ISO 400, 1/25, f2.1

Photo three: Panasonic LX3, ISO 800, 1/20, f2

Photo four: Panasonic LX3, ISO 800, 1/10, f2.6

Another Girl's Day Out

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Went to Plymouth (MA) for the day with my friends Mary and Nancy I. We had a wonderful day......did some shopping at one of my favorite country/primitive stores (Blowin In The Wind) and bought myself quite a few things for the VT house........am heading up there for the weekend and want to decorate the house for the FALL.

We then walked along the Plymouth Waterfront and on the pier where I shot this tern in flight. I also shot these rusty old chains on the pier and I liked the old rust and the old wood together:

No girl's day out is complete without lunch :-) Me? I had fresh crabcakes and a salad:

Delicious! :-)

The Specs:

All Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200

Photo one: 1/320, f14, -1/3 ev

Photo two: 1/400, f13, -1/3 ev

Photo three: 1/60, f4 (note: smaller aperture should have been used. I know better, but I'm learning from my mistakes.....all very good lessons for me and one of the reasons I love having to shoot daily for this blog)

My Friend Matty.......Jamaica Dreamin....Man! :-)

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I went to a "Simply Tasteful" Party tonight at my co-worker Rosemary's house........out in her beautiful backyard on a gorgeous summer night. If You're not familiar with "Simply Tasteful" as Faye would say "It's like a Tupperware Party for food and drinks". :-) These frozen drinks were being served and sold.......just add alcohol and yummo.

Matty is my buddy from work who has been hankering to be put up on my blog. Tonight was the night! He's going to Jamaica in a few weeks, so tonight's drinks were getting him in a Jamaica state of mind. :-)

There were also yummy dips and chips and desserts etc that were passed around and sampled. I bought my fair share.

Thanks Matt for being todays photo. Love yah!!!!!! :-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, ISO 500, 1/60, f6.3

Wompatuck State Park

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This is a photo of a pond at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham MA. Look closely.........do you see any water?? It's completely dry from the drought we are experiencing. There's no sign of any rain in sight in the future forecast either.

Here's a shot taken from a path in the woods:

Here's the folks sitting at a picnic table while I was out shooting photos:

They're cute, aren't they? :-)

The Specs:

All Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 500

Photo 1: 1/400, f10

Photo 2: 1/80, f4.2

Photo 3: 1/800, f8 a little Orton-ish effect applied to this one

Ready....on your mark......get set.......Go!!

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Wheeze......wheeze.......cough........cough......gasp........gasp........Mr S and I have begun a nightly walk at the track. :-)

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 200, 1/30, f2

I'm a little worried

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The lack of rain this summer is really hitting us hard and taking a toll on the trees here in Southern New England. For those of you that don't already personally know me.........you are soon to find out that I am a self proclaimed "foliage geek". I LOVE the Autumn and all the wonderful things that come along with the season. I have been really looking forward to taking the autumn shots for this blog.......but I am getting a bit worried. I took this photo of my front lawn this evening. As you can see, the grass is brown and crunchy..........and look at all of the leaves from my Maple Tree that have already dropped on the lawn! It's covered with dead leaves........the trees are really distressed from the lack of rain. I am really thinking the foliage season here in Southern New England is going to be less than stellar this year. :-( I hope I'm wrong! The good news is that the folks up in Vermont are saying that they have had a lot more rain this summer up there, and that the grass is still green and lush and the trees look like they are progressing normally.....perhaps a bit early as some of the early "spotters" are stating that some of the trees are already showing signs of color change. Let's keep the optimism and hope for the best!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 500, 1/60, f10

The orange tomato

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I stopped at a farmstand on Thompson St. in Middleboro on Friday afternoon, when I was out and about with my good friends Mary and Nancy I. The produce was all nice and fresh. Among my purchases were these two beautiful red tomatoes. When the woman weighed them, she asked if I wanted to throw one more tomato in to make it an even pound, and she suggested an orange tomato. Hmmmm.........I told her I had never eaten an orange tomato, but then my photographer's brain kicked into gear........I told her it was a great idea, and that I was going to photograph it! (I got another one of those strange looks that I've been getting from people since I started this project.......although the look was not as bad as the mammogram tech's but that's another story as you can imagine) :-)

Please support your local farmers. Many of the towns on the South Shore are holding Farmers Markets, so if you can't drive a few miles to get out to the country, you can visit your local Farmer's market. You won't be disappointed! :-)

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/100, f8

Humarock

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A BEAUTIFUL evening in Southern New England. This photo was taken on the bridge leading into Humarock, as we were waiting for a table at the Bridgeway for dinner.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 80, 1/500, f3.2

Sunset Fun! :-)

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I met up with some people from my camera club this evening for a sunset shoot up in the old Quincy Quarries. It was a beautiful evening, although there were not enough clouds in the sky to make a dramatic sunset, we made the best of it.......had a lot of laughs..........and really enjoyed each other's company. There were 10 of us together for this shoot. Here's Bill Currie being a very good sport and jumping for joy!! :-)

Here's Nancy Carey, who was a model in her former life, doing what comes naturally! :-)

Finally, here's the colors of the sky, long after the sunset.

A special thanks to Nancy for putting the idea of a sunset shoot out there, and to David Parsons for putting it all together, and to Bill for jumping on the edge! :-) You guys are the best!! :-)

The Specs:

All Nikon D90, 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200

Photo 1: 1/160, f16, -1 1/3 ev

Photo 2: 1/320, f7.1

Photo 3: 1/15, f5

Photo 4: 1/320, f7.1

The big squish :-)

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Look where I went today! Have you or your loved one gone for her routine Mammogram lately? If you are overdue for yours, I hope this post inspires you to make yourself an appointment. Yes, it squishes and squeezes and smashes and hurts like h*ll......... but for a few moments of painful discomfort, in the end it's so worth it. I'm a chicken, and if I can do it, you can do it too. So please don't delay........schedule your Mammograms on time!

For years and years they told me,

Be careful of your breasts.

Don't ever squeeze or bruise them.

And give them monthly tests.

So I heeded all their warnings,

And protected them by law.

Guarded them very carefully,

And I always wore my bra.

After 30 years of astute care,

My gyno, Dr. Pruitt,

Said I should get a Mammogram.

"O.K." I said, 'let's do it."

"Stand up here real close" she said,

(She got my boob in line),

"And tell me when it hurts," she said,

"Ah yes! Right there, that's fine."

She stepped upon a pedal,

I could not believe my eyes!

A plastic plate came slamming down,

My hooter's in a vise!

My skin was stretched and mangled,

From underneath my chin.

My poor boob was being squashed,

To Swedish Pancake thin.

Excruciating pain I felt,

Within it's vise-like grip.

A prisoner in this vicious thing,

My poor defenseless tit!

"Take a deep breath" she said to me,

Who does she think she's kidding?!?

My chest is mashed in her machine,

And woozy I am getting.

"There, that's good," I heard her say,

(The room was slowly swaying.)

"Now, let's have a go at the other one."

Have mercy, I was praying.

It squeezed me from both up and down,

It squeezed me from both sides.

I'll bet SHE'S never had this done,

To HER tender little hide.

Next time that they make me do this,

I will request a blindfold.

I have no wish to see again,

My knockers getting steam rolled.

If I had no problem when I came in,

I surely have one now.

If there had been a cyst in there,

It would have gone "ker-pow!"

This machine was created by a man,

Of this, I have no doubt.

I'd like to stick his balls in there,

And see how THEY come out!

By Julia Napier©

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 400, 1/20, f2

  

The Land Of The Giants

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What is this?????? I've learned a lot about flowers, birds and other wildlife since I have gotten into photography, but I still have sooooo much to learn. I am not a gardener, nor do I pretend to be. I have a few flowers in the garden here at home, but none that require work. The reason is plain and simple. I don't like the bugs. I can't stand to be digging and finding slimy, creepy, crawly things. I start screaming and running around with my arms flailing like a complete idiot if I have a bug on me. It's a phobia and as hard as I try not to freak out, I just can't control it. So, that's why I visit other peoples gardens and public gardens for my photos. This giant mass of leaves is growing down at the butterfly Garden in Abington. I noticed it last night, so I went back tonight to photograph it for today's photo. My question is..........what is this???? I'm not sure if the photo shows justice to the scale of the leaves, but they are massive and all I could think about was that I was in the Land of the Giants as I stood beside it.

The Specs:

Panasonic LX3, ISO 100, 1/20, f2.8

Butterfly Kisses

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If you're a regular follower here on the blog, you may remember me mentioning taking photos at Abington's Butterfly Garden. I frequently stop by there for photo ops. I kept wondering........where are the butterflies? Well, as you can see, I found some today. A good macro lens would have come in handy for me today, but I don't have one, and will probably not be getting one for a very long time, so the 18-200 had to do for now. These have all been cropped.

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

Today, tomorrow and beyond.

~Irish Blessing

The Specs:

All Nikon D90 18-200 mm lens, ISO 200

Photo one: 1/250, f8, -2/3 ev

Photo two: 1/250, f7.1, -1/3 ev

Photo three: 1/400, f7.1, -1/3 ev

Photo four: 1/800, f5.6, -1/3 ev