SkyWatch Friday

SkyWatch Friday offers the chance to share a bit of your world each week! The changing sky makes a wonderful subject!

This past week I was finally able to capture skies after work.

Be sure to visit the wonderful skywatchers here.

Countdown to Christmas

Rowena of "Warrior Girl" has begun a challenge to countdown to Christmas, in a creative way.

This takes me back to the yearly Advent trees I created with my children. Each day would open to an activity that we would do together. We decorated the tree, baked cookies, made ornaments, visited Santa, made a wreath, made a gingerbread house, just to name a few of the activities we did.

I had read a story by Madeleine L'Engle,"Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas" many years ago and I always loved what they did to prepare for Christmas.

There were always several advent calendar: the homemade tree for our activities, a felt one I made with a tree -ornaments were pinned on each day, and a chocolate one for each of the children.
Each day was special and always ended with a Christmas story.
The joy and anticipation of the season has been missing for a couple of years. I went through the motions. Losing my Mom made celebrating very difficult.
This year though, I feel the need to countdown daily, and try to bring that joy back. A time to anticipate the Lord's birth and share love and peace.

Today is my daughter's birthday. I always called her my Christmas baby - now she is a young woman of 26! Where has the time gone!
Dec. 1 was always a time to celebrate her birthday. It was the first window opened. Tonight we sang happy birthday to her and we talked for a while. I love you dear daughter!

I also sent off gifts of ornaments for Louise Gale's swap and a Secret Santa gift as well. Making those gifts and sending cards has begun the building of lovely feelings.

We received our first Christmas gift today - a tin of cookies. A nice way to start December.

Check out Rowena's blog for her Creative Countdown to Christmas. I will be doing an activity a day, sometimes creative; but no matter what, it is a chance to build joy.

ABC Wednesday - T is for talented artists

This week at ABC Wednesday, T takes centre stage!

The artist this week is:

Tom Thomson

Thomson is my favourite artist. Though not an official member of the Group of Seven he is always associated with it. His paintings are full of the rugged north.

 

His death is still a mystery - did he drown or was he murdered?

For more information on this fascinating artist check out the following:

Here is a chronology of his life.

Here is a quick summary of his life through Wikipedia.

Information about a new book about the mystery of his death.

Be sure to visit the other participants here.

A Month of Photos

As November ends, it is time to look back on this month of photos taken as part of 365 Days of Photos. Madeline Bea began this challenge several months ago and I joined in. Sometimes it is a challenge just to find a subject for the day, let alone the time. But most days the sky or shadows or nature provides a focus.

Here are a few of my favourites over the past month (some have already been posted before):

Taken just tonight:

Other favourite skies:

Christmas Cactus macro:

Signs of Fall:

Shadow Shot Sunday

Shadows were not too evident this week - lots of cloudy and overcast days. Now we have snow today! A sprinkling so far but the ground is white.

So I am turning to some shadows I have not included in the past year.

The stone wall by the Grand River in downtown Cambridge.

Shots from the Simcoe Fair:



Another photo from the "Knit the Bridge" project, again in downtown Cambridge

Be sure to check out this wonderful meme of Tracy's, at Hey Harriet!. Shadows make such interesting subjects!

Sky Watch Friday

Time to look to the skies - in all their different displays, from sunrises to sunsets, from greys to blues, with and without cloud.

I am turning to clouds/skies I captured over a year ago.

Be sure to visit the other participants here.

ABC Wednesday - S is for Some Artists

ABC Wednesday is a fun meme that has you focusing on a letter a week. This week it S we are looking at.

I was surprised that there were not more S artists that I knew. Soooo - here are 3:

Georges Seurat: (1859-91) a French post-Impressionist painter

Alfred Sisley : (1839-99) a painter born in Paris, of British parents, and was an Impressionist landscape painter

John Singer Sargent: (1856-1925) an American, who painted hundreds of portraits, mainly Paris

 

Be sure to visit all the participants here.