Friday Hunt, 2016.2-5

It is Friday, and Teresa is back with her fun meme, Friday Hunt. The clues this week are here, and I am happy to comply with these unique items. So I am ready :)

Starts with 'D'. I am going with my main form of ambulation, my trusty 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. With its Braun conversion, it allows travel for mysel and my wheelchair. So my entry is my steed, the top pic being taken on Wednesday in Ansonia. Here, it looks as innocuous as any Dodge Minivan. However, I am also adding the ramp sequence as it deploys (i.e.: opens). The pics were taken in 2010 - but the process remains as is...

Week's Favorite. Here is the new playground at the Ansonia Nature and Recreation. After the old playground had to be demolished in April due to its structural degradation (built in 1993), a number of volunteer efforts helped to begin the construction of a new playground. The main benefactor was the Seymour CT based Basement Systems, whose CEO and employees financed the project and volunteered their time and paid for the materials along with the efforts of the local United Way's corporate volunteer council - and completed on Sunday. There are grant applications to add the ADA features of ramps and such. We covered the story in our Valley-Voice newsletter yesterday...

Summer or Winter. Given that the heat dome that has plagued the midwest is shifting east toward New England today, I chose Winter, this view taken out the front door on 27 January 2011. I now feel cooler...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Melting Gnomes

Well, not exactly melting, but facing apart anyway. As the season of Winter is beginning its fading away this year (yay), the sun gets shorter as do the shadows. So for this week's edition of Shadow Shot Sunday 2, I am using a photo taken by the always lovely Patti a few years ago of her gnomes in Winter They seem to be cracking and breaking apart but are as winsome as ever, and their shadows in better shape...

Watery Songlines - Fresh Water in the Winter

Despite living in our four-season climate in Southern New England, I am not much of a fan of Winter - but merely for the cold. Much of the season, though, offered beauty, and not just snow. So for Watery Songlines, I take a look in January at the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme CT. The patchwork of blue on the sky reflects well on the surface. Yes it's cold - but beautiful...

Worded Wednesday - The elusive cardinal

Not all birds wing south for the Winter, especially this cardinal. Our daughter caught this fellow through a window with a simple point-and-shoot camera. Nice catch, beautiful bird...see NC Sue for more!

Friday Hunt 2016-7

I am back for Teresa's fun meme, Friday’s Hunt  For this week, the three themes are (1) Starts with G,  (2) Week's Favorite, and (3) In my kitchen. Here we go:

1. Starts with G: This is Grilling on our patio. Not in the season of Winter to be sure :) It is pork, marinated in lime juice, chilis and crushed red pepper. The limes for marinating and Portuguese bread completed this charcoal fueled meal...

2. Week's Favorite: This was taken on Tuesday at Witek Park in Derby Connecticut, a two mile jaunt from home. It is a pretty tranquil sight, but certainly as cold as it looks!

3. In my kitchen: From a few years ago, it is myself making Lemon Chicken, the browned chicken having been removed and the sauce beginning. One can only make this with fresh lemons - never reconstituted juice. Ever! These are all great hunt items, look forward to next week's list...

SOOC - Snowy Friday

This week's post for Straight Out of the Camera-SOOC was taken yesterday during the snowstorm yesterday. This burst of snow was taken mid-morning out the living room window by Patti; the snow total when it ended in the early afternoon was 9in / 23cm. Snow is pretty to look at if not to travel in...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Snowy Aftermath

It is Winter in the Southern New England, and snow is always a possibility. For Shadow Shot Sunday 2, I look at our latest snowfall the morning after, and of course the sunny aftermath leads to shadows. With my new droid phone, I took each, the one on the left on Jan. 23, the one on the right this morning. There are shadows, and perhaps you can see the difference in snow quality - two weeks ago it was a light and fluffy quality that left a smooth and unbroken carpet out the back door. Yesterday's was of a heavy snow with a high water content - it stuck to the branches and fell heavily onto the patio, having an crater-like look. Either way, the phone takes okay pice, there is a differing quality of snow and shadows abound. A trifecta for any SSS!

Friday Hunt 2016-6

I am back for Teresa's fun meme Friday Hunt. I like the eclectc themes, and today I am looking at archived and current pics to meet the theme. So here it is: 

Starts with F: For me, this goes to my second wheelchair driver vehicle, a 1998 Ford E-150 Club Wagon. I took delivery on May 28, 1998 and donated it to a non-profit in May 2010 with over 158,000 miles (and would have easily run another 100,000, but I needed an upgrade to a more manageable van). It was a beast and ate plenty of gasoline, but what price independence? I took many a pic of this over the years and present them today!

Week’s Favorite: Patti captured today on today’s snowy afternoon. As a wheelchair user, the cold of snow and winer keeps me indoor on days like this. Yet, the birds do offer a reminder that the warmth of Spring is not really all that far away so no more complaining is allowed! The structure in the back is not a barn - just a suburban storage shed with a gambrel roof…

Negative Space: Forgetting the snow, I don’t know if this shot of the moon basking in clouds over our home is a look into the abyss - but I’ll take it as a metaphor into the emptiness of space. Or something like that…it was an interesting shot taken on last November 25. Thanks again Teresa!

Wordless Wednesdays - Aglow

Just a basic and austere Congregational church dots many New England town greens. The Puritans preferred bland to colorful. This church in Shelton CT does allow for a bit of color as the sunset filters through stained glass upstairs. Thus we see a hint of warmth in this winter view...See more WW at NC Sue

Wordless Wednesday - The difference a day makes

We had the 'pleasure' if you will, of a snowy Saturday. Happily, although we live a mere 85 miles (137 km) north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, we received a mere 10 in (20 cm) of snow, much less than they did. Happily :) The top view was Saturday afternoon, the bottom view Sunday Morning. The sunny morn nicely offset the snowy Saturday...See NC Sue for more WW!

SOOC - House Decorations

Up north, I believe, there seems a desire to add lights and decoration to many a homestead seems to take hold (although for myself, wheelchairs kind of preclude such activity :). So, a couple of pics will showcase this phenomenon for Straight out of the Camera - SOOC. Here are two houses in nearby Derby Connecticut whose bold LED colors stand out in the winter evening. And pixelated  views are almost unnoticeable at nights. The decorations are subtle too - decorations I'd consider that would look very nice on our humble abode especially if snow were on the ground. Straight out of the night...