Whistlin' Dixie In A Nor'Easter

I started reading a really good book this weekend while in Vermont titled Whistlin'Dixie In A Nor'Easter. It's about a Southern belle who leaves her beloved home of Memphis TN to follow her husband's dream of owning and managing a quaint Vermont Inn.
So, here is an image of where I sat as I read this funny and heartwarming book.......a book that takes place in Vermont........as I sat in my comfy rocking chair beside my warm wood stove in my Vermont kitchen.......with an inch or two of snow on the ground outside.

How relaxing!! Wish I were there right now sitting by the fire.

By the way, the book is authored by Lisa Pattton if interested. I recommend it!!

The Little School House

I've thought about photographing this little old school house for quite a while....... but there is an obtrusive satellite dish on one corner of the roof, and there are usually cars parked out front.......none of which go along with the look I am after. This weekend I decided to approach my shots from down the road. This allowed me to avoid the satellite dish, and I also was able to avoid the two cars which are parked out front. You can't see them because of the slight pitch in the road.

This is located on Baird Road....not sure if it is in Brownington or Barton. Isn't it adorable? I wish I could photograph this from a better angle. I go by here regularly, so perhaps another time I will find a better composition. This is a good example of the types of things you will find just by driving along a dirt road in Vermont. It's like a step back in time. See why I love it so much? :-)

I found my way

Day 242/Year 2

I finally figured out where I was when I got to the next intersection. (This is part two from the blog I just wrote by the way) I finally knew where I was. I decided to make a stop here to photograph these horses, because I liked the smoke coming out of the chimney in the house behind them. The smoke added to the story of 2 horses grazing on a cold winter's day.

Jimapco: Don't leave home without it

Day 241/365

I got lost! The first time ever. I have a VERY good sense of direction by the way.

Mr. S was working on the furnace Saturday afternoon. It was soooooo cold inside the house when we arrived. We started a fire in the wood stove, and I decided to take a drive and look for some photo ops. It was a grey day. The sky was grey......the trees were grey......the light was flat. I took a dirt road that I have never traveled on before, thinking I would know where it would come out. I drove, and drove, and drove. I was just waiting to come to an intersection, but it wasn't happening. Finally, I hit a STOP sign and decided to take a left which would put me towards the direction from where I came. I found some wonderful long views that I have filed away in my brain for some future Fall images. There's lots of promise in a few places I drove past. I decided to stop to shoot this barn......I liked the look of the barn, and I liked the mountains in the distance.

Normally I would have a Jimapco map book with me, but we weren't in my car. We took the weenie wagon this trip. The weenie wagon doesn't have a VT Jimapco. Note to self: Don't travel on any Vt dirt roads without the Jimapco. :-)

Rowan Turns One

We attended my great niece Rowan's birthday party this afternoon. She is such a cutie pie. Here she is sharing her spaghetti with her daddy. Just precious!

Here's my great nephew Ashton, being busy as always!

Happy Birthday Rowan!!!! xxoo

I was away in VT this weekend. Will catch up on the blog I missed while I was away tomorrow night.

Happy Birthday to me!

Day 239/Year 2

One more trip around the sun..............

Thanksgiving dinner table

A day of Thanksgiving for all creatures.......great and small.

This was taken today through the window at my sister Kathleen's house in Hanover MA.

I hope your day was just as magical!

Pilgrims

Day 237/Year 2

I hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow.

Autumnal still life

Day 236/Year 2

We're two days away from Thanksgiving. Can you believe it? It doesn't seem possible to me. Thanksgiving brings the end of the Fall decor. This weekend and next week, the Christmas decor will be brought out and put up in my house. I took a few Fall still life's today while I had the chance. Sigh.......I love the Fall and everything that goes along with it. Good news is.....I also love Christmas!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm lens, ISO 200, 0.6 seconds, f16

Vignette added in post to add depth to the scene

The incredible edible

Eggs-actly!!!!!!!!!!!

Puppy dog eyes

Day 234/365

What. A. Face.

My favorite from the Maine trip

I am always amazed at seeing a sunrise. There's something magical about that time of day. It's a humbling experience, and if you've never experienced being out there to see the sun rise, or if you haven't done it for years, I hope you can find the time to do it. You won't regret it. Promise.

Rhyme time

                                                    "On the Rocks"

"On The Docks"

"On The Gawks" :-)

Special thanks to Jessica from camera club for allowing me to photograph her reflective sunglasses.......and "hi" to Dave in the reflection. :-)

Spring Point Ledge Light

This lesser known lighthouse located in South Portland Harbor Maine was a fun place to visit. It would have been better if the skies cooperated......but there's nothing we can do about the weather but just take what you get and make the best of it. The clouds won out this time.

Spring Point Ledge Light is located along the Seacoast at Fort Prebble Maine.

"Fort Preble was known as Fort Hancock during the Revolutionary War, and was a temporary fort. In 1808, under the supervision of US President Thomas Jefferson, the construction of Fort Preble began. In contrast to other forts, this fort took a very short time to build; the fort was completed before the War of 1812. Fort Preble was named after Commodore Edward Preble, a heroic man born in Falmouth, Maine, which is today known as Portland. The fort was later enlarged and renovated to fit the needs of the sailors training there. Since then, Fort Preble has been periodically modernized. In 1863, Fort Preble served another purpose other than a sailor training base; it was used as a prison for Confederate sailors after an unsuccessful raid into the Portland Harbor. Fort Preble was manned until 1950. In 1952, the State of Maine gained control of Fort Preble, and turned the place into a Historic Landmark and built the Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) near it. Fort Preble overlooks the Portland Harbor and has a great view of Fort Gorges."

Taken from Maine.Gov website

Here's Kevin, one of the members of my camera club photographing from the top of one of the forts:

A view of the lighthouse from one of the fort windows:

Day 231/Year 2

Portland Head Light

Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth Maine is a beautiful lighthouse, with many different photographic opportunities. When we first arrived here, the sun was shining and there were a few pretty clouds dotting the sky. It was mid day, not the best time for landscape photography, but we made the best of it.

We were there for quite a while, and the clouds were rapidly rolling in.

We were planning on staying for sunset, but the clouds won over and Diane and I decided to start the long drive home while there was at least a little bit of daylight left.

Tomorrow I will share with you one more lighthouse that we photographed on Saturday.

The man in the red boat

Three different views of the man in the red boat. He eventually got in his skiff and rowed ashore to where we were standing. He gave us a big smile and hello!

Fishermen have a very grueling job, but I love their spirit!!

Coastal Maine part 2

Day 228/Year 2

Because the "early bird catches the good light", Diane and I wanted to be at Nubble Light for sunrise. The other members from our camera club were meeting and leaving Quincy at 7:30 am. Way too late for me. So, Diane and I had a 3 hour lead on everybody else. This gave us 3 hours before the others arrived. We made good use of the time.

After we left Nubble Light, we drove the coast road, heading to Ogunquit. We passed this scene and decided to stop to take a few pictures,

We then crossed the street and spent some time on this beach.

We then headed to Ogunquit, a quaint quintessential coastal Maine town, and had a great breakfast.

More on our adventures on tomorrow's blog.........

Nubble Light Cape Neddick ME

Diane and I went up to Cape Neddick for sunrise. I left my house at 4 am. This is just one of the Nubble Light images I got today. I am so tired right now that my eyes are crossing. Will process some more images tomottow to post. It was a great day.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow..........

Day 226/Year 2

The two times that I have driven up Coastal Maine for photography trips it rained. Pouring rain! This image was taken in June 2010 in Port Clyde Harbor, Maine.

I am happy to report that tomorrow I am taking a Coastal Maine lighthouse photography trip with my camera club.......and it's going to be a beautiful day!!!!! No yellow rain slickers will be needed.

Wedding pictures

Day 225/Year 2

We were fortunate enough to find the perfect wedding photographer for Miss J and Steve's wedding........"Rachel Kate Photography". Today, she put some of their wedding pictures up on her blog. We've been waiting to see these, and we knew they would be put up any day now. I would be lying if I didn't say I have checked her blog at least 6 times a day this week looking to see if they were posted yet. :-) I was thrilled to get an email from Rachel this afternoon telling me they were up.

Would you like to take a look? I'd love for you to see them. Here's the link:

http://rachelkatestore.com/wordpress/?p=6888

Are they gorgeous or what? If you find some extra time and want to be blown away by some amazing portraiture photography, I suggest you take a browse through her blog. Her images are the definition of perfection. She amazes me.

Here's the Cowgirls! :-)

I attended a fundraiser this evening.......a Variety Show to benefit the Cancer Center at the hospital where I work. Each "act" was performed by either a hospital employee, or an employee's family member. Some members of my Dept danced the Cotton Eyed Joe.

It was such a fun night........and the best part about it was the fact that $10,000 was raised for the Cancer Center this evening!

Deserted Island

The area around Atlantic Ave and Jerusalem Road in Hull and Cohasset MA is breathtakingly beautiful. There are multi million dollar, ocean view, meticulously maintained homes here. There is also one house located off shore.......on a small island. I don't know any of the particulars about this house and each time I go by, I always wonder about it's history......does someone inhabit this place? I've never seen any boats or any people out there. I tried looking it up on line, but could not find any information about this. If anyone knows the history of this little house on this little island, I would love to hear it!

Day 223/Year 2

These were taken yesterday on the way to the Cohasset Beach with the folks.

Indian Summer!!!

With the temperature up to 70 degrees here today, I decided to take the folks out for some fresh air. We stopped at Cohasset Beach where we sat and breathed in the fresh Atlantic air.

Love this one of my Dad....he just loves to be at the ocean.

They even walked around the parking lot for some exercise. This is how they always walk......hand in hand......they are adorable, huh?

Snow-capped

Day 221/Year 2

Not ready for this year's first snowfall........

May mat and frame this one

One thing I would like to do more often is to mat and frame some of my images to hang in my house. I don't do it often enough. This is one of the images I took last week when we got a little bit of early snow that I think I would like to see hanging in my own house. I have digitally matted and framed it to see how it will look. Here it is:

                                               "Winter's First Whisper"

This is the type of image that if I saw it hanging in a store or gallery it would catch my eye.

Remember.......if you see any images here on my blog that you are interested in, they all are for sale so please ask me about them!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/800, f9, -2/3ev

Nantasket In November

This one's for my Dad. We went down to Nantasket Beach the other day. His request was for me to take a shot of the beach and title it "Nantasket in November". He thought that was quite clever and mentioned it to me several times. :-) So, here it is.........
                                    " Nantasket In November"

I converted this to black and white because I felt it suited the mood that my Dad was after. It makes me sad to know that he can't see my pictures...........but I know he sees them in his mind and that's good enough for me!

The Specs:

Nikon D90, 17-55 mm lens, ISO 200, 1/400, f9

Pink sky at night.........

Day 218/Year 2

More from the other evening at Luddam's Ford Park in Hanover MA. These images were taken as the daylight was ending. I was really hoping to get a nice sunset and wanted to try to get some shots of the waterfall with a colorful sky behind it.

I went up on the bridge and shot this. The sky wasn't looking too promising at this point.

But then.....the sky started to change colors after the sunset. (This is usually THE BEST time for sunset shots.....AFTER the sun has set........the sky can turn some brilliant colors so don't leave once the sun goes down. Stick it out for a short time and you may get a nice surprise)

The pinks were coming on strong......

My final image of the night.......I got what I was hoping for.....just love when that happens!

Autumn lives on

I went to Luddam's Ford Park in Hanover this evening.......hoping to catch some sunset/water shots. Tonight I will share some of the images I got before sunset. Tomorrow I will post the sunset shots. It was a beautiful Autumn evening.

It's been such a crazy foliage season this year, but I am thrilled to still be able to find some color in spots. I think I'm going to be depressed when the last of the leaves fall off the trees............

Library Exhibit

We attended an opening reception this evening at the Hingham Public Library for the "Cushing Pond Photography Exhibit". My camera club was invited to photograph "The Seasons of Cushing Pond in Hingham.....sponsored by the Cushing Pond Preservation Society. I attended a Fall photo shoot, and a winter photo shoot at the pond. One of my Fall images was selected by the committee as the winning image, and it was featured in the Hingham Journal Newspaper this week. Okay......so it may not be the Boston Globe, but a girl's gotta start somewhere! :-)

Tonight's exhibit:

I had three photos selected to be in the exhibit. Here's one of them:

It was a wonderful evening!