Hope Everyone's Was Merry!

Hoping everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Amazing how much preparation goes into the celebration and then "poof!", it's December 26th. We had a great time and excellent feast!

Preparing for the Feast

Three great cooks in our kitchen. Ray, Rickie & Erin.

It's hard to keep them out of the kitchen ...

though I've yet to ever try (and can't imagine why I would!).

Among the first of my pics with my new macro lense.

It's going to take a lot of practice, but I'm looking forward to it :)

Symbols of the Season

Traditions



Hope



Angels



Love & Faith

Joy!

Holly-Jolly

Well, I did get a Christmas Tree on Monday (yay me! LOL) and it's had a few days now to settle; so this weekend we'll decorate it ;) Then it's it's time to dust off that party hat, because the festivities go into full swing: Mya's recital on Thurs, Party on Friday and a Wedding on Saturday!

In the meantime, and in the Spirit  of the Season, here's a pic I took of some Holly on our recent visit with John & Rosi ...

And in the Spirit of "Fun!"; here's one of Tugboat & Lola playing a game of "Tug" ... Hmmm, who do you suppose is winning??

And being the true gentleman that he is, he not only let her win, he did the dishes too (cleaned her food bowl, on numerous occassions)! By the way, my father-in-law (John) caught this pic using my camera :)

Oh! I also want to say thanks to my regular visitors for coming back, as well as to my new visitors from Denmark, Canada, Croatia & the Philippines!

I've also started a new page at http://ChristineStonebridge.imagekind.com/ where my pirints are available (framed, or not). While some of the prints have previously been posted here (in low resolution), I've been going through my collection from this year and adding many new images soley to that site. Hope you find a chance check it out (and maybe share the link) - your thoughts would be welcome :)

Getting Into The Spirit of the Season ...

Ho!Ho!Ho! Well what'dya know ... It's here again. Christmas!

Despite my plans of going out & getting a Tree this weekend; I easily let it slip by.

I could say that I did it in an effort to be "green",

reasoning that it makes more sense to pick one up after work tomorrow;

But the honest truth is that ...

Procrastination is an Art, and I am an Arteest!

We got our first cold snap earlier this week, which always gets me in the spirit,

and it works on our winter plants too ...

Christmas Cactus Bloom

Palms & Poinsettias

Revelations

Visiting with Sheryl last night (also a fellow shutterbug), I revealed that the pics in my post titled "Fantastical Friday" where alas, not of beer bubbles. I can certainly see this as a logical guess; they do look like beer and everyone knows I do love beer ;)  Here is the "real story" ... a beautiful ornament given to me by another of my closest friends, Tasha.

Yet another fun thing with photography, by selecting what part of an image to show, we're able to spark the imagination.

Wishes ...

More pics from our stay with John & Rosi.

Colony of Wishes

Make a Wish

Despite the fact that there'd been a freeze, these Ladybugs and this defiant Dandelion

seem to be there as a reminder that wishes are are never out of season.

Family Pics

We had a great Thanksgiving with Ray's parents. In person is always so much better and four days of home cooking and lots of spoiling ("Sit, you're here to relax, not to work") left us wanting for nothing, other than a few more days with them.

I got a chance to try out the tripod that John gave me, along with the self timer on my camera, which I've used only once before. I'll definitely be using both for future gatherings.

Rosi, Ray & Lola

I love this pic of Ray with his Mom. I see so much of her in him,both in features and personalities; including their talent and passion for cooking.

I got several good group shots, but this one's my favorite because I think it captures

the laughs (and teasing) that went along in setting up for "The Family Portrait".

I love how Tugboat and Lola are both looking up at us.

Morning Frost

It was a "crisp" 27 Degrees at 8-ish this morning.

All the same, it felt much warmer than yesterdays' rain.

The sun shining, the air was still, and I was happy to get my lazy-head out

of bed and outside with my camera before the frost melted ...



Thanksgiving in North Carolina

We're enjoying another visit with John, Rosi and their adorable little dog, Lola.

We're a tad late in catching the changing colors in thier full glory,

but there are still hints of it here and there.

And Tugboat is thoroughly enjoying his first vacation.

Tugboat

John has given me a tripod, so I'll work on getting a group picture next.

Blue Moon

In order to get a halfway decent shot of the moon; I had to venture off "auto" and into the unknown (for me) of manual ... we're tallking speed & apperature settings. I've by no means "accomplished" the lesson, but I am pleased with the results so far :)


Blue Moon

I've always been fascinated with the moon; full, blue or otherwise. As a little girl, I liked to imagine that the moon was my protector, because no matter where I was, it seemed to be following me.

Interesting that we only ever see this side of the moon (it's rotation is such that the "far side" is always eluding us) and that it's the fifth largest natural satelite in our solar system. Also interesting, is that a Blue Moon isn't necissarily a second full moon within the same month. Each month of any season has one full moon (an early, second, & late moon) -  for a total of 12 full moons per year. An additional full moon in any season is a Blue Moon .... Which sounds a bit like the same thing, but isnt' really. No matter ... it's just cool; and that requires no additional explanation.

A Day at Babcock Webb

Ray & I went to the gun range today at Babcock Webb Wildlife Management Area, in Punta Gorda. In all, it exceeds 80K acres and is among the last undeveloped expanses of hydric (wet) pine flatwoods in southwest Florida (I googled it ;). It offers camping, hunting, the gun range and an abundance of wildlife.

When I'd had my fill of target practice, I grabbed my camera for these shots.



Blue Bird (post) & Prairie Warbler (wire)



Bluebird



And then it was off to lunch at Randy's Fish Market Restaurant (yummy!).

They have the freshest seafood & great service.

If you haven't been, you're missing out.

Fantastical Friday

Daydream

Fantasy Worlds

Bee on Red Flowers

I took these in my favorite go-to place for photos, our back yard.

Sandsculpting Contest at Ft Myers Beach

Pics from the Sandsculpting event on Saturday. Supprisingly, only one artist ("Writer's Block") had a title-plaque. The contest is traditionally held on Sunday, so the artists were all still hard at work ...

This one was called "Writer's Block"

"Headache" took 1st Place (bottom left)



Kevin

Sunsets ... fleeting moments of pure beauty ... 

Ft Myers Beach Pier at Sunset



Sun Revelers Enjoying the Last Rays of the Day



Ft Myers Beach

I went to Ft Myers Beach this past Saturday for the annual Sandsculpting Contest. As it turned out, I spent much of the day getting there. I hadn't bothered to look up exactly where it was being held and so I parked by the pier. I love walking the beach, so I headed south at a liesurely pace. By the time I realized just how far away it was, I was already committed to the journey on what came to be a 4+ mile walkathon. I also failed to realize, the that settings on my lense had been put back to factory defaults (duh!). No matter; it's not always about where your going, but how you get there ... and remembering just how lucky you are to be wearing shorts in November :) 


I couldn't help but notice a theme ... Pelican, Parachute, Palm, Person



Osprey Catching Lunch



Gizmo & Nikki - regular visitors from Ohio

This one of the Egret is my favorite of the day

Snowy Egret



Double Crested Cormorant Resting on One Leg

Snowy Egret, Full of Hope

All and all, a fabulous day. More on the Sandcastles next post :)