Signs of Spring

What could be more of a sign of spring than the dandelions which adorn my front step?

 

The rose bush nearby has new growth.



And so does the mountain ash.


Other signs of spring are the workers in the fields, vineyards and hopyards.


Check out the other signs of spring found by the other headbangers linked in my sidebar.

Sepia

These are some of my favorite photos from my Dad's albums. They really look sepia in the originals although some of the scans look more black and white.

He enjoyed traveling around the area. He did some research in the desert.

The boy on the trike is my cousin Melvin, who will be ninety this year. Not sure who the little guy about to fall off the wagon is.

Before the "Keep Wildlife Wild" campaigns. I believe that is my granddad facing the camera, and the critters.

another of Dad's cars. Quite a fascination.

That is my Dad. (I inherited my fear of heights from my Mother.)

This may be my favorite picture. And I am not sure with his head buried under the hood if it is one my his friend Hall took of my Dad and one of his cars, or if my Dad took it of his friend Hal.

Cropped for the header.

Headbangers. We have fun each week with a new theme. Other members are linked in my sidebar.

Birds

My theme for my headbanger friends.

Some of my birds.

A disclosure. I am not getting out to take pictures lately--hardly at all. The pictures I post are collected from my files over several years. I drastically need a road trip.

Except for the geese, these pictures were taken in Arizona, and parks near Mesa and Chandler. The geese were in a lake in Oakland California.

Blue Heron

Cormorants cooling off

Cactus Wren--love this one, I call it "What you lookin' at?"

Are these cormorants, too? Not sure

Not sure about these guys either.

On my way to meet some friends.

Oh, there they are. I don't know what these guys are but they sure have long skinny legs.



Geese.

Birds have gone now.

Links to the blogs of  Mac, Tom, Lew, and Christine are in my sidebar. Follow them to go birdwatching today.

New blog.

I have created a new blog to share the trials and triumphs of living with Dementia with Lewy Bodies.

No posts yet, but a description of my purpose.

I will find some links to add to help anyone interested to understand this mystifying condition.

Adventures with Lewy

Snow or Winter

Aren't they synonymous? Well, no. In order to show some winter pictures that include snow I have had to go back to my files. We have had some great snow this winter, but it comes, goes, comes again, then goes and at the moment it is gone. A trip to the mountains would find us some, but we haven't been.

I had thought that the theme was winter or frost. Consequently I had this image ready to go, which certainly is illustrative.

Some snowshoeing pictures from past years definitely show snow and winter.

My header will come from this common sight in the rural Northwest. Irrigation lines resting till the season. These were taken in Eastern Oregon.

Check out the winter views from the other headbanger challengees. Their links are in my sidebar.

In the Kitchen

My own kitchen is not currently fit to be photographed--unless you want to see the disaster that it sometimes is. Let's just say we are not House Beautiful ready. We flit in, cook, heat, eat, and clean up (or sometimes don't) and are gone again.

My favorite kitchen is this one:

Cooking pizza at Cousin Camp

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend, however, I did cook lunch for a group of about sixty in our church kitchen.

My header is the taco soup at a simmer.

 Here are some of the goodies that are served along with...

Beverages of choice

 

And such is to the day that there was about an inch of soup left in the pot when we went back to our studies.

 

The recipe:

Brown together:

2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey

1 large onion chopped

Add undrained canned vegetables:

2 14½ oz. cans diced tomatoes

1  14½ oz can Mexican style tomatoes

1 4 oz can chopped green chilies

1 15 oz pinto beans

1 15 oz can kidney beans

1 15 oz can black beans

1 15 oz can hominy

1 14½ oz can whole kernel corn

1½ can water

1 1¼ oz package taco seasoning mix

1 ½ oz package ranch dressing 

I also add a can of drained olives and for this group used jalapeño chilies.

Bring to a boil - reduce heat - cover and simmer 30-45 minutes or till lunch.

Serve with sour cream, chopped green onions, grated cheese, and tortilla chips.

This is supposed to be 16-20 servings. That depends on appetites.

Of course, for the large group at the retreat I doubled this recipe and also served a big pot of potato soup. 

Check out the kitchens of my colleagues in the weekly header challenge. Their links are in my sidebar.

Shadows

Shadow of the protective railing looking down at Box Canyon.

 I have used these shadow pictures fairly recently, but good things can be repeated.

Mantis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IIf I had realized that the theme this week would be shadows, I might have saved this one. At that, I will reuse it and use it for the header. It is my best shadow picture--at least the best I could find.

Black and White

I did edit these images from my archives to be totally black and white, but they could almost have been true B&W straight from the camera.

Birds flock against a gray November sky.

 Putting our heads together in Death Valley. Are there three of us or four? There were four of us on the trip.

 Even without the color, the Golden Gate Bridge is golden.

 

 My header is cropped from this one in November of a different election cycle. I am sure we will be seeing similar sights as this year advances.

The Headbangers are doing Black and White this week. My headbanger friends are lined in my sidebar.

We are Back--Favorites

Tom suggested we show some favorite photos to start off the year so I decided to go on a month by month review of last year. I had to chose one favorite for each month and that was not easy. I also was trying to choose a photo that I had not posted before, but I do not know if I succeeded in that.

 We got together with our son Jeff and his family and took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island at the first of the year. Benjie signaled that this was very OK.

 A good clear shot of the moon took the spot for a February favorite.

 In March we popped over to Arizona to visit the girls there and their families. A good look down down into the Grand Canyon was a great shot.

 Coming home from a Quilt Retreat in April I found that you can't rely on the weather in the mountains in the spring. The roads were clear and dry on the trip to the coast a few days earlier.

 In May we went over the mountains again to visit OUR mountain. The water at Rimrock Lake was like a mirror.

 One of the highlights of the Scottish Festival in June was the dance competition. The guys in kilts throwing big heavy objects of one sort or another was also good.

 I always love seeing the cousins of all ages bonding over the chess board at Cousin Camp.

 Another Quilt Retreat--I had to leave early so this August picture was actually taken on the last day of July.

 Our friends Angelica and Martin renewed their marriage vows for their Silver Anniversary in September. They had a grand party. (I could have showed their grand Fourth of July party for July.) So glad to be considered part of the familia.

October's Trunk or Treat was moved indoors because of nasty weather (winds if I remember correctly.) We had planned for the car to be the Ark, but Mr. and Mrs. Noah brought the animals in two by two to pass out goodies.

We took no pictures at all in November as we began to adapt to our new reality because of medical issues. And the December pictures are still in the camera--I may add one from the Christmas pageant later.

What were the favorites my headbanger buddies chose for this week's posting and header? You will find their links at the top fo my sidebar.

Far Far Away

I presented this theme a while back and it was transferred to this week when we decided to take a two week break at the holidays.

Our travel is very limited at the moment. But in the past I have had the opportunity to travel to some distant places that are not on the usual tourist routes. In fact, when we visited Russia, we were asked by many in Moscow and St. Petersburg just why we were going or had gone to Siberia.

This is the farthest east I have traveled--on that trip to Siberia. The picture shows Lake Baikal--the largest fresh water lake in the world. It is said to contain something like 20% of the world's fresh water. I give that figure from memory, and it has been eighteen years since we traveled there.

 

Legend has it that bathing in the waters of Lake Baikal adds twenty years to your lifespan. We each waded for a measly five years added.

 

 

Two years after our trip to Siberia, I traveled with a group to India. This is as far west as I have been from my home. We visited the Periyear Tiger Preserve and National Park. We did not see any tigers, but we did see elephants, and this wondrous waterfall near the border between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

 

 

As you can see from the map below, our travels east were farther east than my travels west, so I have technically gone all the way around the world.

 

 

The photographic subject that I have taken that was farthest far away is probably the same as most photographers.

 

 

How far did the other headbangers travel for their far far away shots to start the new year this week. You can find them in my sidebar links.

 

By the way, my header shot is none of these, but how do you get far far away?