Close-up

It's almost time for one of these. We use them more here in Europe than in the U.S. What is it?

Psst!

Wanna hear a secret? Actually, wanna SEE a secret?

I am a skin-care ho! And the picture only includes things I use weekly. I have scads of other stuff I bought that I didn't like or didn't work the way I expected it too etc.

The funny part is that I had no idea this was unusual. My grandmother was also a skin-care afficionado. So at least I come by it honestly!

Spring Closeups

It has sprung, even though I didn't want it to yet.


What is left of my Hyacinth's...I weeded/dug/rearranged and who know where the bulbs are now!


Rose bush leaves already!


And only in NC...a Dandelion...hmmmm

Springy close-ups

The first sign of Spring in my yard is definitely finding blossoms on our nectarine tree. I had to trick my camera into taking this one, so we could see it REAL close-up..

Next. . . while tinkering around outside, thinking of things to photograph, I saw something in a new way... can you tell what it is??



why... it's the edge of a Hydrangea leaf. I honestly never realized they were spikey!

Spring is Here in the ATL

I'm slow to do this one. But this is what Atlanta looks like in the spring:

Pollen! (That's my windshield.) If you have allergies, Atlanta is not the place to live. My car is glowing with yellow pollen.

And,

It's rumored that these trees smell like sex in the spring. Those are Georgians' words, not mine.

Enjoy!
T. Budnik

Signs of Spring

Finally....



Noticed these lil buggers this morning. Not sure what they are since we moved inlast May but I suspect these are tulips. Also looks like someone has been munching on them already.

Bridges

This is a bridge. And a boat.





This is a bridge. On a boat.





And this is a bridge. On a boat. Going under a bridge.

Suggestion...

So I thought maybe for another challenge we can do....dirty little secrets! What do you indulge in that maybe you wouldn't let the rest of the world know? You know take it where ever the sound of the question leads you, except maybe your bedroom (I mean I would like to get to know you all but I think that might not fly on this blog ;) ). Well I am off to photograph my secret, let me know if you all are interested.

Another Close-up

The opportunity for another interesting close-up presented itself to me. So I took advantage.

I was baking, sort of....

Ta da! Rice Krispie Squares. Haven't had these in years. Ummm, excuse me for a minute....I think I see my name on one of those...

Floating Bridge

I grew up in a city that had 2 intersecting rivers, so to me it seems normal to have a few bridges. Right now, I live across the lake from the city proper, so I deal with The Bridge on a regular basis. This is the only bridge across a fairly long lake, built at the narrowest point; it's just under 1 mile long. Here's a view of the bridge from my balcony:

Here's another view, taken from the top of the mountain on which I live. Because the lake is so deep, there's a section about 1/2 mile in length which floats on pontoons. This is the only floating bridge in Canada. (My MIL insists that the bridge, which she has yet to see in person, cannot be a floating bridge because concrete is too heavy to float. She tells us that it must be a suspension bridge.) In order to let boats pass through, there are 2 raised sections - 1 on either side. The section on the left side of the picture has a portion that lifts to let tall sailboats through.
Some pictures taken while driving across the lift bridge
It's charming to have to wait for a sailboat to pass by the first time. After a few times, though, you wonder what the hell people are thinking when they decide to go under the bridge during rush hour.
This is the section of the bridge on my side of the lake. As you see, there are 3 lanes. The direction of traffic in the middle lane alternates about twice an hour. When this bridge was built, it was big enough to accomodate traffic to and from the sleepy little town. But in the last 10 years, there has been a population explosion, and delays in crossing the bridge are common. At rush hour, it may add 10 minutes or so to one's drive. But come summer, when the snowbirds return and the tourists arrive in droves, it can get pretty hairy - it wasn't unusual to add an extra 45-60 minutes to my drive home because of congestion going across the bridge. There is an online bridge cam site which allows you to see what traffic is like in either direction. Unfortunately, there's not really any other option to get across, unless you drive 45 minutes north to the top of the lake, and then drive for 45 minutes down a windy 2 lane road that runs along the other side of the lake. I got a fair amount of knitting done this summer while stuck in bridge traffic.

Here you can see one of the spans of a new bridge, which is in the process of being built. It will have 5 lanes. The old bridge is near the end of it's life span, so it is going to be demolished once the new bridge is completed. The projected completion date is summer 2008. Which will be long after we are gone. The general consensus is that taxes and house prices on our side of the lake will go up significantly once the new bridge is completed.

I've enjoyed being able to see the water from my car window as I cross the lake everyday. A little flash of nature in the middle of my commute.

Up close and personal

Something strange for sure........stiff and white and in plain sight




Don't know what it is..........













what a snoozer!

Close up...

Can you guess what it is?

YEP....FLOWERS!!!

My beautiful son had his daddy put "flowers for mommy" on their grocery list, and they left them on the dashboard of the truck for me to find after work. Man that makes a day brighter don't you think?

Spring!

I didn't think I'd be able to find a sign of spring here that was any different than the muddy driveway (because that's a definite sign of mud season ... er, Spring), but it's been warm(ish) for the last couple of days (highs in the 40s), and we see grass - a definite sign that spring has arrived.

Now, we're going to take our first walk around the neighborhood since October :).

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Close up coils

What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs and makes a slinkity sound?

A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing, Everyone knows it's Slinky.

It's Slinky! It's Slinky! For fun, it's a wonderful toy. It's Slinky! It's Slinky!It's fun for a girl and a boy. It's fun for a girl and a boy.

When googling Slinky, I discovered it's Slinky's 60th anniversary! I like the old school metal ones so much better than the plastic ones. As a kid I could never get mine to march down the stairs like they did in the commercial. Maybe two or three steps on a good day. And, how many of you ended up with a hopelessly tangled mess when Slinky ended up on the bottom of the toy box?

close up and personal like

I know you all know all about this... most of you are the knitterly types...


what is it?? Well, it's the finally finished socks!

Sign of Spring

When you live in an area where the weather is nice most year round, it's often hard to tell when the seasons change other than Target putting out the Valentine's or Christmas decorations but in the area where I live, for a all too brief month or two, the hills all around turn all shades of green. This makes the morning commute a little more tolerable:

Spring! Finally!

From top to bottom we have Ornamental Flax, California Red Poppy and Crocus; all harbingers of Spring in my garden. Hard to believe barely two weeks ago they were all covered with more than 30 inches of snow.

Spring!

I have no idea what spring is like in New Jersey (in fact I'm a little sad it's spring after being jacked out of winter having been in Texas--I'm SICK of summer weather!)

But I do remember a major sign of spring in Alaska!

In Alaska they don't have a lottery. Instead they bet on things like when ice on the Nenana River is going to melt.



When I was growing up every spring break we would buy our Nenana Ice Classic tickets and make our guesses. Obviously, we never won, but nothing said spring like Ice Classic tickets!

All you have to do is guess the date, hour and minute that the ice on the Nenana River (a small town just a smidge south of Fairbanks) is going to "melt." When it breaks enough, it tips a tripod they set up each winter and it stops the clock it's rigged to.

Of course, you have to make sure you account for earthquakes and such too tripping the tripod early.

Sign of Spring...such as it is.

The garden gnome has finally made an appearance! Think it's time to get rid of the Christmas ribbons? (Which had new life as Valentine's ribbons.)

Those Golden Gates

Last Fall, we had several visitors at work in from around the world and took one afternoon to tour San Francisco in an open air bus. Luckily, it was a warm, sunny day and the City was beautiful. It's quite fun to view a familiar place from the tourist's perspective.

Close Up

Can you guess what it is?

Yum! Cake! they didn't turn out as pretty as I owuld have liked - but they were good!

Up Close

I'm finally settled again and ready to jump back into "Do You..?"

So for my close up I present:



Yeah ok, pretty easy to guess, but I simply love this...



...window in our new dining room. My five year old son calls it the "churchy window."

Close up....

Hiya! Still around!!

Do you know what this is???

Still wondering........








Well, it's this! A Pineapple Votive Holder that hubby actually picked up on one of his trips.


Keeps the flame very safe... ;)

It's Sprung!!

Ok, I thought I'd never get to this post! I watched as budding flowers and snow swept landscapes were posted, and hoped for a sign... from spring. And then today happened! Not only is it the glorious new and improved first day of daylight savings time, it is also the day spring sprung!

First, I spotted this in the flower bed.... daffodils to come...



then... a crowd gathered on the bank of the Rock River to behold the ice flow...



Spring has sprung! Yippee!!