Ryleigh One Year Old Pictures

Let me begin by saying sorry for not blogging lately. I promise that as Fall is approaching  there will be a lot more blog posts. Please bare with me, and thank you!!!! Speaking of Fall......holy macaroni there is such a Fall feel to the air here in New England. I had to shut my windows and I have my couch blanky wrapped around me as I type this. It also has started raining here, which is welcomed, because we are in desperate need of some rainfall here in SE MA.

So, let's get to business. Ryleigh is one year old today. I can't believe how fast the past year has gone by. She is amazing in every way and she has brought so much joy into our lives. Here she is in all of her birthday prettiness....tutu and all, of course!

She melts my heart......

Another milestone to celebrate......drumroll please........I used my Nikon to shoot these images....the first time I have used it since May!!!!! Didn't use a heavy lens.....just used the lightweight 50 mm lens but I did it!! Woo-hoo!

The Early Signs That Fall Is Approaching

I love the feeling of anticipation that I get this time of year. Each year in late August, as the days get shorter, and the temps get cooler (except for today which was 90 degrees here in SE MA), I always get a feeling of excitement....knowing that Fall, my favorite season, is just around the corner. It's hard to describe this feeling of anticipation. I suppose I could relate it to the feeling I got as a child, as the Christmas season approached.

I hope you noticed the Fall Countdown at the top of the page here. I love to count down the days each year!

We are in desperate need of rain here in SE MA. The ponds and lakes are very low, the grass is burned, and the trees appear a little stressed. The early turning trees that I keep an eye on each year, have already started turning here.......it's the earliest that I can remember. This makes me a bit worried about the upcoming foliage conditions here in Southern New England. I hope it's not a disappointing show of color around here.

On the other hand, conditions up in Northern New England are looking great!!! I am hopeful for another stellar show this year. Here is an image I shot last Sunday along Rte 91 as we were heading home to MA. You can see fog in the valleys......another reminder that Fall is just around the corner....and you can see some early season color changes in some of the trees!

Oh how these sights make me happy!!!!!!!!

NEK VT and The Orleans County Fair

Spent a very nice weekend up in VT with my family. Jay couldn't make it because he had to work. He was disappointed and so weren't we. We missed you Jay!!
We went to Lake Willoughby Saturday on a cool cloudy day. But we still had fun, because who in their right mind would not be happy to be in one of the most beautiful places on the planet?

All of these pictures were fun to take and share, but this next image is a landscape that I am really happy with:

Saturday evening we went to the fair. We watched the tractor pulls for a while. Mr. S loves the tractor pulls. Me, not so much. They are very loud and scary.

 It started raining about 20 minutes after we got there. But that did not stop me from eating this!!!!! Those close to me know that I have been obsessing over this for the past few weeks This is what it is:

And this is what it looked like:

And this is what I felt like after I ate it:

But it was sooooooo worth it!!!!

Sgt. Daniel Vasselian Motorcycle Run

My little hometown of Abington MA has a lot of hometown pride. Today a motorcycle run was held in honor of a hometown hero........Sgt Daniel Vasselian........a Marine who was killed while serving in Afghanistan in December.
You may recall the blogpost about Danny's homecoming. If not, please copy  and paste the following link to view:

http://www.carolsviewofnewengland.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=50

Last week a group of volunteers in town got together to make replacement yellow ribbons to hang along the motorcycle route, along with American flags. These items were all donated by local businesses and local residents. Abington shows it's pride very well.

We had spotty showers and light drizzle during the motorcycle run, but that didn't stop the hundreds of motorcyclists, and the hundreds of people along the route who paid tribute to a fallen hero.

My thoughts are with the Vasselian and Doyle families, and I'm sure they felt the love today.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Update and Webb Park

HELLOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Sorry for my absence. I hope life has been good and that you are enjoying your summer. Can't believe we are approaching August first. It blows my mind how fast the summer is flying by.

Good news: I have started physical therapy!

More good news: After twelve weeks out, I went back to work this week! Yeah!!!!! I'm so very happy to be back!!!!!

Not so good news: I get very very sore when I work.

But it's just the way it is and Motrin and ice packs have become my best friends.

More good news but also not so good news: Xray shows more healing of the fracture........however it is still very broken.

More not so good news: I can not lift my right arm. Orthopedist says I either have a frozen shoulder (which is very possible from being in the sling so long) or I could have a torn rotator cuff (which is also very possible from the force of the trauma)

But we will not do an MRI yet. Will wait four weeks and see if there is any improvement from the physical therapy. Not going to worry about it now and hope for the best.

AMEN

Either way I will not be able to shoot with the Nikon for a very long time. Makes me very sad but could be so much worse and still counting my many blessings!!

Recent camera phone pictures taken at Webb Park in Weymouth MA:

Ryleigh is ten months old now! She eats all sorts of table food. She is crawling and it's so much fun to see her explore her world. She walks along holding onto the furniture and it will only be a matter of time before she's off and running. Her favorite word is "hi" and she says it to everyone she sees. She is always happy and she lights up my world more than I ever could imagine!!!!!!!!!

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Miss America

Here's a few pictures of Ryleigh that I took on the 4th of July......again, using my point and shoot with practically one hand.

You can call me Lefty if you choose to do so.......

CHASING RAINBOWS

Update. Yes, went to Vermont. Yes, brought the recliner to sleep on. No, I did not sit on it during the drive like Granny Clampett!!!

BUT........drumroll.........I took a picture!!!!!!! Still can't hold the Nikon, but I can hold the point and shoot now........can't hold it up to eye level, but somehow managed to take a few pictures. Went out to find a rainbow after a late day shower with the sun shining......drove up to Duck Pond Road and found this:

                                  "THE COLORS OF THE WIND"

It was pretty cool that the first landscape that I've been able to shoot is of a rainbow!