Shadow Shot Sunday!

Get out the magnifying glass, get into your best sleuthing clothes and start prowling your environment looking for those wonderful, but sometimes elusive shadows. This fun and challenging meme is hosted each week by Tracy over at Hey Harriet! Click on the icon, sign up and show us how clever you are! The year is winding down -- again! I'm quite sure that once I reached 60 I started having at least two and maybe three birthdays a year!! Time flies whether you're having fun or not! But for the most part I have had fun and I still am! Here are some of my fun shadows from over the past year!

Weekend Reflections

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James each week beginning Friday at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. It's another wonderful way of opening your eyes to new and different kinds of beauty.  We are severely short on sunlight this week and my car is dead and gone and I'm now a hiker! So, I'm having to be extremely clever and/or inventive to find reflections. But I did find an interesting one -- I thought.  This first one is a neighbor's tree seen through our kitchen door that has a glass window and then that is reflected in the window in the breakfast room!! What I love about it is that it looks like a tree growing in the clouds and looking out it's own window! Ok, Ok, I have a vivid imagination, what can I say???

A plant reflection at the Sanctuary before the car died.  I'm still not sure what all the little white specks are, but they were all over the plant and on top of the water.

Ugich Konitari has left a new comment on your post "Weekend Reflections":

An exponential stoppage
of pistons
in a frenzy
inside geriatric cylinders,
a rotating stop
of the gearbox
and wheels,
she takes
a deep breath,
as she steps out,
wearily,
patting a tired car....

A whisper,
like a message,
and the GPS
voice
intrigues her....
"Hi ! Sanctuary here !
.....
I've watched you
so many days,
its like,
I know your car;
so do the turtles,
and the ducks,
and some very curious trees,
bending to see you
through the water.....

As
for the pollen
and milkweed seeds,
do these young folks
ever listen....
they're all over the place !

And, of course, sun rays on the water -- also taken earlier.

Sky Watch Friday!

 Time to share your skies, the beauty over your world, the clouds, the colors! Sky Watch is hosted each week by Klaus and the Sky Watch team of Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and me. Join us and the many people from all over the world who share theirs with us each week! Click on the icon and sign up today! We had a beautifully sunny, warm day today -- well, until about an hour ago! Back to grim and gray! But I have to admit that usually even on grumpy days there will be an hour or so of lovely clouds and beautiful colors during the sunset and here are a few.

Man was made at the end of the week's work, when God was tired.  — Mark Twain

Life should begin with age and it's privileges and accumulations, and end with youth and it's capacity to splendidly enjoy such advantages.  — Mark Twain

A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.  — Mark Twain

We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.  — Mark Twain

I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.  — Mark Twain

I became a newspaperman. I couldn't find honest employment.  —  Mark Twain

Smile, It's a Beautiful World!

I owe you all a huge apology for being so unthinking!! This photo was sent to me by a friend who had received it from someone else and it was just so amazing I wanted to share it with you and it never occurred to me at the time that anyone would think I could catch something this perfect, but I should have said so to begin with!  It is an amazing pic, and I'm not that good a photographer. I'm glad so many of you enjoyed it and thanks to whomever did take the pic -- there was no name associated with it.

Again, I do apologize.

Who said God didn't have a sense of humor?

Some Humor for Wednesday!

Why men aren't allowed to take messages!!

And how about these headlines! Makes you wonder about newspapers, huh?

Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter  
This one was caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and they called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this.  It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!!  They put in a correction the next day.     
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says  
      No kidding, really? Ya think?  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers   
       Now that's taking things a bit far!  

  -----------------------------------------------------------  
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over   
       What a guy!    
---------------------------------------------------------------   

Miners Refuse to Work after Death  
 No-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so's!  
------------------------------------------------------   

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant   
See if that works any better than a fair trial!  
  ----------------------------------------------------------  

War Dims Hope for Peace   
 I can see where it might have that effect!  
 ----------------------------------------------------------------  

 If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile  
   Ya think?!  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures   
      Who would have thought!  
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide    
They may be on to something!  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges   
      You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?  
  ----------------------------------------------------------  

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge   
     He probably IS the battery charge!  
----------------------------------------------   

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group   
Weren't they fat enough?!  
-----------------------------------------------    

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft   
That's what he gets for eating those beans!  
 ------------------------------------------------   

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks   
       Do they taste like chicken? 
****************************************  

  Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half   
       Chainsaw Massacre all over again!  
  
****************************************  
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors   
       Boy, are they tall!  
 *******************************************   

And the winner is...   
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead   
    
     Did I read that right?  
 
  

MicroFiction Monday

Susan at Stony River Farm hosts Microfiction Monday. She posts a picture and you compose a story in 140 characters. You can click on the link under the title to get further instructions. To help you along she has posted a wonderful link that counts your characters for you! How great is that! You can get the counter at Design 215.

This meme is easy and it's fun! Thanks, Susan for hosting.

And here's the picture for the day!

This is your idea of the perfect honeymoon place? An ocean and an iron fence?
What's for food?
Food? I thought we were gonna live on love!

139 letters
Hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas! I surely have! As some of  you know, my oldest daughter, Robyn, whom I hadn't seen in seven years, surprised me with a Christmas visit and I've had such an incredible holiday! She's here for another couple of days, so I may be slow to get to your blog, but I will!! Have a great week and a very Happy, Prosperous New Year!!!
Sylvia

ABC Wednesday - O!

Got your dictionary out? You ready to play with the letters? It's that time again! ABC Wednesday is hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt and the ABC team: Denise, Annelie, Leslie, Nathalie, Joyce, Donna, Helen, Roger, Troy, Jay, Barb, Gattina and me!

Oh! Did you know that today is the O Day? Let's all go sit under the Oak tree and be Obedient to our Obligation -- in some cases Obsession, with the letter of the day. Can't be Oblivious to the Occasion! No time to be Obsolete or Obstinate! This is like the O Olympics! We're here to Offer wisdom to Others! To be Objective in our Observations! And these are some of my more Obvious Offerings for the O Day! O is for Olympians from ancient Greece, for Oranges, Ocelots, Oak trees, Opossum, Otters and Oriole!

And all the photos except the Otters are courtesy of Google!

That's My World!

That's My World is hosted each week by Klaus and the My World team, Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and me. Click on the icon and share your world with others from all over Our World! So! How is your world this week? Have you taken time to see the beauty there? What is it about your world that makes you smile or laugh or feel grateful for?  My world has shrunk this week as my car finally died -- I do mean DEAD as in no more personal transportation. But that doesn't eliminate the beauty of my world, it's just that the one I share with you each week is likely to shrink some! So, let me share some of what I had captured before the car's demise! And believe me, I'm depending on Mark Twain's humor, to brighten and add laughter to the day!

I must have a prodigious amount of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up!  — Mark Twain

Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.  — Mark Twain

A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.  — Mark Twain

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.  — Mark Twain

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.  — Mark Twain

Denial is much more then an Egyptian River.  — Mark Twain

Out of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most.  — Mark Twain

There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he less savage than the other savages.  — Mark Twain

MicroFiction Monday

Susan at Stony River Farm hosts Microfiction Monday. She posts a picture and you compose a story in 140 characters. You can click on the icon to get further instructions. To help you along she has posted a wonderful link that counts your characters for you! How great is that! You can get the counter at Design 215.

This meme is easy and it's fun! Thanks, Susan for hosting.

And here's the picture for the day!

Lots of booze, hot dogs and hot chicks! Great start for the night!
Hey, Ed, isn't that guy with the camera your wife's brother?
Oh, shit!!

Pet Pride!

 Well, the big day arrived! Mojo's new friend from Portland -- yes, like her Dad, she has a new friend, too! Anyway, they were visiting a couple of weeks ago and I finally got to meet, Stella!

And guess what they're waiting for?  Yep, you guessed it! A treat, of course! Mojo's Dad would have offered them almost anything to pose for a picture! You notice that I wasn't there! I don't beg for treats! Well, not all the time.