Our World - Birthday time

Marianne's nephew turned 60 and we attended the surprise celebration this past Saturday. The celebration was organized by his wife and sisters and hosted by his older sister in the edge of the Virginia mountians.

 Food, family and friends

 A serenade by his sisters

Gifts from his grandkids

DJ at work

Sky Watch - Moon and clouds at dusk

July 24, 2012

PhotoHunt - Song storage

How do you store your songs? Above is one of Marianne's boxes of 45's from her teenage years - still playable! (Our player is newer - it will do LP's, cassettes and CD's.) Below is grandson's song storage device. Granted it does a lot more than her box, but hers cost a lot less and still works after 50+ years.

Sky Watch - Lightning

There was a storm approaching as I was on the way home Wednesday afternoon. I pulled off the main road to get some shots of the approaching dark clouds. Lightning appeared with several rapid streaks in succession. I watched through the view finder and hit the shutter when I saw a streak. The camera captured these two streaks.

Our World - Let the games begin

Our eldest grandsons arrived yesterday and card games began (after dinner). Marianne is teaching Michael Russian Bank, a double solitaire game. Chris rests after the ride  from SC. Both will forego (somewhat) video games for old style card and board games while with us. Also in the plan are outdoor trips to the lake and maybe a museum or two. Next month the two youngest grandsons will be here for a visit.   

PhotoHunt - Dancing in the street

Two years ago, the American Traveling Morrice, a group of Morris Dancers, performed in Frederick. For more info (and photos) see earlier post of the group.

Sky Watch - Moon and clouds

On July 2 (the evening before the full moon) I spotted clouds approaching the moon and went to grab my camera. By the time I was ready the moon was obscured, but shortly reappeared.  

PhotoHunt - Zany farmers

A nice harvest of beach balls. (I think the polar bear was piloting the boat.)

Sky Watch - Hot sun and storms

Last Friday the sun left us very hot. And at night a line of thunderstorms roared through the region leaving trees down and power out across a wide area. Our damage was minor (see below) and our power stayed on. But a million and a half businesses and homes were not so lucky. Some will not have power until this weekend. It is still hot with temps near 100!

Light & shadows - Morning shadows

Our World - Kitchen update

We have now enjoyed our new kitchen for a little over a month and are very pelased with the results. Above is the old kitchen cleared out (except for our morning coffee) just before work began. Removing part of a wall opened up the kitchen to the dining room and more light. A single hanging globe light was repace by recessed ceiling lights, And Marianne has her pantry well stocked. And the cats have there special drinking and dining area.