Wordless Wednesday - The Little (and Big) Drummer Boy

On Christmas Eve, the extended Villers family has its big Christmas Eve celebration. This year at my sister Sharon and brother-in-law Bob's home. He is a drummer, and some of the young cousins decided to try the drums. Bob showed show them how a real drummer operates...See NC Sue!

SOOC - The Gift Has Been Opened

This is a true season of giving - and receiving too! Thus for Straight Out of the Camera - SOOC, I am at our extended family Christmas Eve. One cousin has opened the gift, and gives it an examination. The gift (a dress I think) looks stylish to me, but the recipient seems to checking out a little more diligently...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Cousins at Christmas Eve

For this holiday weekend's Shadow Shot Sunday 2 we have the lamp shadow for all the cousin kiddies who were dressed up for the extended family Christmas Eve on Thursday. All this are cousins (none of them ours :) dressed in red to receive their presents this evening. Ah, to be young for Christmas, the happy time just perfect for children...

SOOC - A Wintry Oasis in the Urban Jungle

The usually fast pace of Lower Manhattan in New York City seems a bit slower when the financial workday ends and a bit of snow falls. So for Straight Out of the Camera - SOOC, I offer another un-edited phone pic from our NYC resident son Cameron. Few people, taxis and speed are about and the peaceful light snowfall add a serenity we rarely see on the urban landscape...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Night in the Big City

For this week's Shadow Shot Sunday 2, I am using a couple of pics taken by Cameron, our son living in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and working in The City (to which to the outer NYC Boroughs of the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn and NY call), Manhattan. He snapped a couple of nighttime phone shots at some park in The City and the results are great, the wrought iron fencing and leafless branches falling nicely on the accumulated snow. For a city with a normally frenetic pace, it seems peaceful and quiet. A world away from what we may be used to...

Wordless Wednesday - Giving in Seymour

There is a big event in our neighboring town of Seymour Connecticut, this being the 11th annual TEAM Toys 4 Kids Christmas breakfast at the Baklik home. For he cost of a new unwrapped toy, even Sant arrives - behind a tractor. A unique giving event...see WW by NC Sue

Ruby Tuesday Too - Christmas and Kids, 1993

In honor of our favorite color red, and since we are in 'Tis the Season, I submit for Ruby Tuesday Too a pic of our kiddos on Christmas morning 1993, happily posing with their largesse from Santa. Plenty of rubies, the biggest being the Radio Flyer wagon. Allegra (almost 5) and Cameron (3) seem pretty happy this Christmas morn!

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... 

Shadow Shot Sunday - Derby Public Library in season

We look for shadows all about, and they often arrive on a bright sunny day as bold. But how about during nighttime, what kind of shadows are are possible? For Shadow Shot Sunday 2, the very nice Patti found a wonderful example the other night, this being the entryway to the Derby (CT) Public Library. Dressed for the season, the portico adds soft shadows. Given the white lights above, it looks like snow. However it has been unusually mild (55°F / 13°C), so no snow on the ground - this seems a nice lead-in to the winter Christmas...

Wordless Wednesday - Small City Community Christmas Tree

Our small city of Ansonia CT (19,000) had its annual Christmas Tree lighting last Friday. The community took part in not just the tree, but Santa too. It was a great event!...See more WW at NC Sue

The slideshow shows more of this cold but cool community event! 

SOOC - Christmastime in Ansonia

The Ansonia CT green was alight with lots of people, decorations and colorful lights. Photo by Patti

This was captured last night and I think it fits the bill for Straight out of the Camera - SOOC. The event was run by myself as Chairman and the other members of the Ansonia Cultural Commission. The Christmas tree lighting was held, and hundreds of people visited to witness it. And children had a visit with Santa too - as a grownup, I was interested in the tree and lavish holiday decorations. The kids...well, when I was little, the big guy in red was my focus too :)

This was taken with a mere point-and-shoot camera by the always lovely Patti, and it gives a flavor of how nice the tree was decorated by Ansonia Public Works, and the Ansonia High School choir was there and even Marines in their dress uniforms with the Toys-for-Tots boxes and more. This is a mere snapshot of a wonderful night!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Mirror Finish

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 is a fun meme that allows us to see shadows and reflections in a unique way, sometimes even artistic. The always lovely Patti visited the Osborne Homestead Museum in Derby CT for the the 30th year that the house has been decorated for the public viewing. Local garden clubs have decorated the home following the theme of "Holiday at the Farm."

This was taken in one of the bedrooms, and why I like it is that as we look up yo see the top of the mirror, and cannot. Hey if we look down we area actually looking up. Our eyes have been fooled...shadows and reflections abound!

Wordless Wednesday - Derby Time Capsule

A time capsule from 1915 was opened on Friday at the Derby CT Elks. A great look at life a century ago was unearthed! Patti was there and besides getting pictures, wrote a unique story...see NC Sue

Ruby Tuesday Too - Christmas Rubies, 1964

For Ruby Tuesday Too, where red is showcased, I recently scanned this print from Christmas Eve 1964. It is all seven Villers children in our at our East Hartford Connecticut.  Aside from the degraded print offering a reddish hue overall, there are wrapped presents in red paper, the padded railing on the playpen, red lights on the tree and sister Suzanne in her red nightwear.  Plenty of ruby red accents here!

SOOC - Grand Opening

Straight out of he Camera - SOOC takes us this week across the Housatonic River to a new restaurant, GROW, a farm-to-table eatery in Shelton, CT. This eatery grew from the ashes of the downtown fixture (since 2004) Liquid Lunch, damaged in a fire last year. 

The restaurant will support local farms (Stone Gardens Farm, Beardsley Orchard, Jones Family Farm, and Farmers Cow Dairy) in its retro cool and stylish interior. Need another visit!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Giving Thanks (and Giving)

Wordless Wednesday - Resort Relaxin'

Our software developer son decided to spend five days in Cancun, a long deserved vacation in a warm place. His phone pics show a very relaxed guy standing around Yucatan ruins - and a hotel dwelling peacock. Looks like a vacation and a lot warmer than here...see NC Sue for more wordless captures