Year End Review

This will be the last post for 2007. I set out to try and take one picture everyday for the entire year. I didn't quite make it, but that is okay. I posted 216 pictures, which is pretty good for me.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this little venture, but I was pleased with the result. Although it would have been nice to post a picture everyday, I am happy with the quality of the pictures I did post.

This project helped me to think beyond the normal pictures of the kids and our everyday life. Some of them weren't very inspiring, but many of them came out very nice.

What will 2008 hold? Time will tell.

Happy picture taking to all my Project 365 (366 this year) partners.

Gracie the Dog

Gracie enjoying the new snow

Redpoll

There has been a flock of Redpolls in our yard this winter. They are an occasional visitor to our yard and we are hopeful that they will stay for the rest of the winter.

Eggs

Our "ladies" are doing a great job in the henhouse and we are getting 10-12 eggs a day now. There is nothing like fresh eggs...yum!

Pond in Winter

We are trying to keep our fish in the garden pond this winter. (Can you see him in the bottom of the photo...little orange streak in the water?) We are using the pump and keeping a fountain of water spraying to keep some of the water free from ice. So far it is working well, but we will see when the weather gets very, very cold.

Christmas Slippers

Some of the girls received these cute slippers on Christmas.

Sun and Ice

The ice hanging off the eaves makes very interesting formations.

Branches

We have had some very windy weather of late and our old maples do a lot of shedding. I like to think of it as God doing his pruning.

Handprints

Bessie hand prints on the trampoline.

Orange Sunset

Lovely sunset on our way home from the library.

Ice

We have had some very cold weather recently. After a brief warm up and rain, the cold weather blew in and most of our back year looks like this.

Steeples

This is a little city where I went to high school. There are seven churches in this pictures. Six of them have traditional steeples and one has a more Gothic castle look to it. There are a couple of Catholic churches, a Methodist, Congregational, Baptist and Episcopal.

Train Trestle

Train trestle over a flood control canal.

Hanging On

Pretty much all of the leaves have fallen, but there are one or two trees around that just refuse to give up their colors. This tree was especially brilliant.

Turkeys

Almost everyday, we see turkeys in the field across the road. This was part of a flock of about 20 birds.

Shimmers

As the sun shown through the window and onto the wall in the family room, the heatwaves from the woodstove danced along the wall. It was very, very interesting to watch.

Fungus

I discovered this beautiful fungus growing on our pool fence.

Late Fall Bloom

We have had a nice run of unseasonably warm weather. Several perennials in my garden are still hanging on. This Simplicity Rose blessed me with this lovely bloom.

Golden Trees

Everywhere you look right now you can see lovely trees of yellow, gold, orange and red. This is a favorite times of the year.

Flying Geese

We are seeing the geese fly over daily. They love the corn field across the road which has been chopped. When they fly over low, you can hear their wings whistle. I love living in the country.

Fall Colors

The trees are in full color right now. There are still a few trees that are green, but most have some color and it is beautiful.

Crosses

As I waited at the church last evening to pick up Bessie from a youth activity, the sunset, blue sky and clouds made a wonderful scene. I caught the three crosses silhouetted against the dimming light.

Mist in the Valley

Saturday morning, early, we headed out to visit friends in Maine. As we hit the top of Hogback Mountain, the sun was coming up and the view was gorgeous. The fog had settled in the valleys and fall colors were lovely. Brian stopped long enough to let me take a few shots.

Simple Wonders

The kids have a great fascination with the new washing machine, especially Dan. I can often find him in this position watching the clothes go back and forth. Oh, to find such wonder in the simple things.

Moon Over Wing

The moon was coming up yesterday evening and as we were leaving the balloon fest. I thought this looked interesting over the wing of the LC130.

Clowning Around

Just clowning around in a hot air balloon.

Ripples

We recently went geocaching around this reservoir. It was a gorgeous day and I caught this kayaker paddling across the water. It was so peaceful.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

This little guy was crawling across our picnic table. After some research, we have decided it is a Banded Tufted Tussock Moth...that is a mouth full. He was very pretty.

Golden Tinge

We are getting into one of the loveliest times of year in the northeast. The trees are taking on a tinge of gold and will soon burst into color. The nights are getting cold and the days are warm and wonderful.

Reflections

I love my garden pond. (I'm pretty sure I've said that before! ) Every time I stop there is something to enjoy, this time it was the lovely reflections of the bright blue sky.

Summer Gold

We are still getting corn out of our garden. It was planted later than usual and it is nice having fresh corn so late in the season.

Little Piggies

I wonder where all these little feet will travel in their lifetime.

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon is a very nice fall blooming shrub. This particular variety is a double bloom and is a lovely pink purple shade.

Soccer!

Soccer season has begun!

Summer Bounty

We are getting to the end of our summer harvest. It has been quite dry the last few weeks and a lot of the vine crops have started with wither. We have a lot of tomatoes and corn still coming and our pumpkins are ripening nicely. Each year we try and do a little better with our garden and this summer's yield has been good.

Scavenger Hunt

The other day I did a scavenger hunt for the kids. I asked them to find various things from around the yard, ferns, moss, leaves, bark, I even threw in a dead insect and they were able to find a few. They had a lot of fun and I was pleased with their perseverance with finding things.

Moth

This little guy stopped and rested on my computer screen. He stayed there for quite a while. Thankfully he was towards the top of the screen. so I didn't have to bother him.

Reading Program

Our library has a summer reading program for children and for adults. Gabe participated in the kid's program. He had to read at least 20 minutes a day, 6 days a week and each week he could pick a prize out of the box.

For the adult program (high school and older), you list the books you read for a given time. For every three books you read, you put slip in this watering can listing the books and your name.

At the end of the summer, they hold an ice cream social for all participants and have a drawing for several prizes. The prizes have been good...Barnes and Noble gift cards, gift certificates to local merchants and nice gift baskets. Bessie and I have both won prizes over the last two years.

Tonight is the drawing and I can't wait to see if we've won anything or not! :-)

All Eyes

Bessie has been working on several dissections this week to finish up her biology book. Today she was doing a fish and she had quite the captive audience. The other kids were so interested in the whole thing. At one point Dan said, "Oh, wow!".

Harvest Time

We are seeing lots of tractors, combines and balers around our area. It is harvest time in the northeast. Some farmers, like our neighbors, chop their corn and use it for silage. Others, use combines and just harvest the ears of corn. Either way, the kids love watching the machinery doing their job.

Signs of the Season

Yikes! I am seeing more and more leaves tinged with red, orange or yellow. Fall is just around the corner. I am not ready for summer to be over.

Tomatoes

We are getting a lot of tomatoes from our garden. One of the wonderful sights of summer are all the red beauties lining our windows.

Logo from VBS

Local Reservoir

Trillium

Seed head from a Trillium

Thunder Showers

The skies finally let loose this aftenoon and we had some wonderful thunder and lightening and rain. The air cooled off a bit, but not too much. We needed the rain and I'm sure the plants are sighing from the refreshment.

Pink and Purple

Purple gay feather and pink bee balm

Golden Skies

Everyday seems to bring a different sunset. This golden sky seemed hot just like our weather.

Baby Pumpkin

We have several of these nice little pumpkins growing on the veins. We will have a nice crop of pumpkins by fall.

Water Lily Blooms

The water lily has these lovely pink blooms. My water garden is not very big, but it is one of my favorite parts of the garden.

Corn Silk

The corn across the road has started to show silk. This particular corn has a wonderful red color silk.