Miss J......you look different!!!!

Cute story: Miss J is a preschool teacher. She did not tell her students that she was pregnant. While sitting on the rug with the kids for story time the other day, a few of the students commented that she looks "different". One little girl could not keep here eyes off of Miss J's belly. Miss J asked "How do I look different?" The little girl, still staring at her belly replied...."You look taller!" Miss J asked...."How do I look taller? "Do my legs look taller? Does my belly look taller? What looks taller?" One of the litle boys raised his hand and stood up all proud saying "I know what it is. I know what it is!!!!!! Your forehead looks taller!!!!"
Out of the mouths of babes! :-)

She is just adorable....forehead and all! :-)

She is eighteen weeks pregnant this week.

Thanks Miss J for agreeing to let us follow your pregnancy here on the blog.

Happy Easter!

Here is today's sunrise taken at the beach in Cohasset MA. I had a great day of shooting today....left the house at 5:40 this morning and got home around 3:00 this afternoon.

It was a glorious morning!

We are taking a quick overnight trip to VT. Will be home in time for Easter dinner on Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful Easter.

Winning Images

Last night at camera club, the winning images were chosen to be sent to compete to the Tri Club competition which we are participating in. The final competion of our club vs. the Boston Camera Club vs. the Newton  Camera Club will take place on Monday April 15th. There are 12 categories in this competition, and I'm honored that 3 of my images were chosen last night to represent my club.
Here are my three images:
This first image is one that has not been seen yet here on the blog.

Category: Minimalism Black and White:

"Simple Pleasures"

Category: Child/Children:

"Christmas Love"

(This is my Great-Niece Rowan!!)

Category: Intimate Landscape

"The River's Chandelier"

Congratulations to the other members whose images were selected. There were so many excellent images submitted. It was a fun night of judging.

Spring In The Woodland

Just little patches of snow here and there are all that's left of the winter.

Ames Nowell SP in Abington

You can't see it if you don't look

                 
  The tree with many toes:

The River Branch:

The river's chandelier:

Just a few of the many things you see if you just take the time to look around.

Welcome Spring!

Yesterday was the first full day of Spring 2013. It sure doesn't look or feel like Spring here in SE MA. We still have snow cover on the ground (maybe 6 inches?) and last night we got clipped with another quick couple of inches. As much of a nuisance it was, it sure was pretty....especially this tree as a street light was illuminating it from behind.

One of the many reasons why I love New England.

I made the Globe!!!!

A little bit of self indulgence here if I may!
Today's Boston Globe features an article about the Photographing The South Shore Workshops, led by Greg Lessard, of which I attended some of the workshops. I blogged about this recently, as some of my images from these workshops are hanging in an exhibit in Marshfield during the month of March.
There is some excellent photography at this exhibit, and I am just a lucky one who was contacted by Anne Steele of the Boston Globe for an interview. She also included my Summer Solstice image in color with the article.

This may be obnoxious self-indulgence, but here is a quote from me:

It's kind of cool to have your name given credit for an image in the Boston Globe:

And here is the original Summer Solstice image. This image means a lot to me, as this photography outing was during the time when my father was critically ill. It was my first time out with the camera in almost two months and it felt so good to be back shooting, as well as knowing that my Dad was going to be ok.

Thank you Greg for the opportunity, and thanks to those of you reading this for allowing me to indulge!

Nesting Swans........Already?????

Love is in the air!!!! Spring must be here too!!! But wait a minute.....it's still pretty cold here and we are forecasted to get some more snow in a few days. I guess these two didn't get the memo. Better yet....when love calls, I guess there is no time to wait!
Here is Dad gathering some nest building materials:

Here's the proud Papa to be standing on the nest:

Look at the size of the nest. It's just about finished, but Papa was putting some last minute touches on the homestead:

I'll be following these two throughout the Spring!

Ames Nowell State Park

With all of the recent snowmelt and rain, the water is flowing very strongly at Ames Nowell SP in Abington. I went down there last evening (have to love the daylight savings time!)

Some very exciting news!!!!!!!

I have been waiting to share this news here on the blog......and seeing as though today is Miss J's birthday, I decided that today would be a good day for the big announcement.

Miss J, Steve, (and their dog Stanley) are going to be having an addition to their little family. Miss J is 15 weeks pregnant.

We are thrilled to say the least. We are going to have a new baby to love....our first grandchild....(how exciting is that!)

The blog will be bursting with baby bump images any day now. :-)

So, happy happy birthday to Miss J. I love you and that little baby more than words can say. You are a miracle that never ceases to amaze me....full of beauty and love....loving and caring and simply amazing. You are going to be the best Mom and I couldn't be any more proud of you.

Happy Birthday. Enjoy every minute of that Hot Fudge Sundae tonight and I hope you get it super-sized! :-0)

xxxooo

A man and a mollusc (Scituate and Marshfield)

We took a walk along the beach in Scituate and Marshfield yesterday. It is amazing to see how many rocks and how much sand has washed up from this week's big storm.

Well, hello there Mr. S. You are handsome if I do say so myself!

Notice the lobster trap next to the handsome one? Many lobster traps as well as dead crabs and lobsters have washed up along the beaches.

Well, hello there Mr. Periwinkle. You are very handsome as well. You look so pretty in the late day sunlight.

What struck me the most yesterday was the fact we have 2 feet of snow here at home. Yet, just 12-15 miles from here at the ocean there was barely any snow.

Good news is we have a lot of melting going on this weekend.

Did they really say 2-4 inches?????

The forecast for this 48 hour storm which is finally winding down right now was for 2-4 inches of snow along the coastal areas with heavy rain and high winds.
Hmmmmmmm......2-4 inches somehow turned into 24 inches. I understand meteorology isn't an exact Science, but Geezum Crow!!!
Yes, we got close to 24 inches here in my neighborhood.
Here is my backyard shed with a fallen tree limb. Luckily the limb wasn't too heavy and I don't think it caused any damage.

Ready or not, here it comes

We're under the gun for another winter storm with coastal flooding here in SE MA. I really hope the damage is minimal from this one along the coast....but the forecast is for some possible major flooding and damage. Here are a few shots from Scituate this past weekend.

prayers for those along the coast....

Beach Fence, Marshfield

This fence in Marshfield partially survived the blizzard and Nor'Easter from this winter. The amount of rocks and cobblestones washed up on the beach, against this fence, and even over this fence is really remarkable.

It was soooo good to be out shooting again yesterday. I have missed it and hope to be out and posting more here on the blog.

Photographing the Beauty of the South Shore

I attended an opening reception today at the North River Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield MA, titled Photographing the Beauty of the South Shore, an exhibition featuring local photographers’ images of fourteen South Shore communities. This exhibit will be open throughout the month of March between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.
The exhibition is the culmination of a yearlong project by my friend and fellow photographer Greg Lessard, who led a series of free workshops designed to teach participants how to communicate the spirit of the South Shore through photographing beloved open spaces.
The exhibition is offered in gratitude to the participating cultural councils for their generous support in making these workshops possible: Brockton, Hanover, Hanson, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Plymouth, Rockland, Scituate, Wareham, Weymouth, and Whitman.
Here's my cousin BettyAnn with her beautiful image of the Gurnet Lighthouse which was chosen to be shown in the exhibit.

Here are 3 of my images on display:

And here I am checking out another one of my images

If you are in the area, I hope you can make it to this free exhibit showcasing some beautiful photography.