Shadow Shot Sunday 93: Over the Top

Shadow Shot Sunday is a weekly photo meme hosted by Hey Harriet. To see many, many more shadow shots or to contribute some yourself, head on over to her blog.

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Who the heck is that other cat down there?

Sky Watch Friday: Plaza Sky

Late afternoon display. Springfield Plaza shopping center, Springfield VA, December.
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This is the first time I've participated in Sky Watch Friday, although I've been enjoying all the sky photos for quite a while now. To see more (much more awesome) entries, or to post your own sky shots, please visit:

Outdoor and Wordless Wednesday: Rock Wall at Graceland, May 2004

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Outdoor Wednesday is hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. To see many, many more outdoor photos or to post some of your own, please visit her blog.

For more Wordless Wednesday offerings,
please visit the website here.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Leafy Shadows

Shadow Shot Sunday is a weekly photo meme hosted by Hey Harriet. To see many, many more shadow shots or to contribute some yourself, head on over to her blog.

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Blue Monday: And the Winter Blues Continue

Blue Monday is hosted weekly by Smiling Sally.
To see more offerings, or to participate yourself,
please head on over to her blog.

Around here, we really do have the winter blues right now. And last week, even the atmosphere was blue. This is a shot my hubby took a few days back, right after the blizzard. It's a photo of the outdoor swimming pool area of our condo complex, and it was taken around twilight which is, I suppose, why everything looked so blue-ish (it's not retouched or anything - this is just what the camera captured). But this is really pretty much how the world looked for a few days there. Fortunately it's sunny right now, so the blues have lifted a bit for the moment. But we've got more snow coming later today, which means it's probably just a matter of hours until those blues come sneaking right back. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Shadow Shot Sunday: Amber Shadows

Shadow Shot Sunday is a weekly photo meme hosted by Hey Harriet. To see many, many more shadow shots or to contribute some yourself, head on over to her blog.

Shadows and reflections of a little amber glass Blenko vase on my computer desk.

Blue Monday: More Winter Blues

Blue Monday is hosted weekly by Smiling Sally.
To see more offerings, or to participate yourself,
please head on over to her blog.

As I think I've said before, I don't have much blue around the house - I'm more of a green and beige person, I guess. But I do have a lot of dolls with blue outfits in my collection. So here, in honor of the opening of the Winter Olympics later this week, are two of them. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

All suited up and ready for the slopes. In a nice cozy pair of blue ski pants (they really are blue - see the last photo for a truer likeness).


Ready to ski, too - but we've only got the one set of skis! So she's going to do a little sledding while waiting her turn at the lifts. And, if you look closely, you'll notice the blue in the flowers trimming her outfit. But I'm not sure those shoes are going to hold up so well in the snow.


Both of these are Ginny dolls, 8 inches tall, and made by the Vogue Doll Company back in the 1950s. The Ginny dolls were my favorite playthings when I was a tiny tot - and although neither of these girls is actually one of my own childhood toys, I still love to play with them.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Snow Shadows (Yet Again!)

Shadow Shot Sunday is a weekly photo meme hosted by Hey Harriet. To see many, many more shadow shots or to contribute some yourself, head on over to her blog.

Digging out after the Great Blizzard of 2010. That's the hubby working on getting the car out. Ours is not the vehicle that's uncovered in the photo here (darn!) - but only two and a half hours later, we're all clear, too.

I offered to help him dig (honest!), but he said he preferred to work alone (!!??).

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The Great Blizzard of 2010, Day 2

Well, at least I think it's Day 2. I'm having trouble remembering when we didn't have snow all over the place.

So. It snowed today. They said it would be "tapering off" by this afternoon, but they lied. The afternoon is heading on towards evening now and it's still snowing and I really don't see any tapering going on. Well, the flakes are smaller - I guess that counts.

We didn't try to get out - just stayed in all day. The hubby did some reading, some guitar playing, and (surprise!) some vacuuming (thanks, Sweetie). I did some laundry, some dusting, and baked pumpkin bread. And since there was snow on the ground and spice in the air, it felt like Christmas all over again. So we listened to some Christmas music and created our own little time warp.

Also snapped a few more photos of the historic storm. Some of our neighbors ventured out (hardy souls):


When we took the outside wreath down last month, I just left it on our balcony table, and it was dusted with snow and ice today. Another little Christmas-y touch.


A closeup of one of the pine cones on the wreath. Looks very pretty, doesn't it? Sort of like a Christmas card. This is about as close to snow as I care to get, I'm afraid.


And - the pumpkin bread. Trust me, it tastes better than it looks. And I know that because it's from a mix - not one of my "from scratch" monstrosities. What would I do without Trader Joe's?

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Random Photo Friday: Snowed Under

I've been seriously neglecting my Joysweb blog. Well, I've been in a sort of general funk, with all this winter around me. And the last week or so, I've been coping with some amazingly painful dental procedures - don't want to bore or gross anyone out, and I'm not anxious to relive it. Suffice to say - I haven't really been in a blogging mood or condition. And the little time I've had for blogging has been devoted to my book blog, so Joysweb has gotten short shrift.

But today I seem to be coming back from the edge, and thought I'd post a couple of photos. I used to do a Random Photo post every Monday, but haven't kept that up lately. So today I'm introducing Random Photo Friday, which may or may not become a regular thing. Anyway, this first photo is a shot that was actually taken by my hubby, just this past Wednesday, right after our last big snowfall (I was zonked on pain killers at the time). He took it right after sunrise, and if you look closely you can just see the lights of the city shining through the trees. It's really a very pretty scene - if you're not going to have go out and slog your way through it anytime soon.

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This second shot is one I took later that day (in one of my brief spasms of consciousness), a closeup of snow on branches. I loved the white-on-white look of the branches against the snow. The view out our front window was a totally black and white world. And since it's snowing again right now, it looks like we're headed that way once again. Don't know about you, but I'm ready for some spring color right now!