Goodbye to 2011! Happy New Year!

Goodbye to 2011 and hopefully hello to a great 2012! No photo today. I have had one of the worst years of my life this year; My Mom passing away very unexpectedly and Alan having to close his family business after 90+ years are just 2 of the things that happened. But through it all I have kept up with my blog & I am blessed to have a great group of readers & friends to vent at & be consoled by!

So here's a tip of my hat to all my friends, near & far--I hope to meet a few more of you in the coming year!   I hope to re do my blog in the coming month & have lots more great photos to share.
Enjoy!

Where is it?

Where's the snow? The turkeys are around, but the grass is green & it's fairly mild for this time of year! Mind you, I don't want alot of snow but a nice dusting overnight some night would be great! ( photos from 12/28/10 )

Blurb Books

Memories of Isla Mujeres by Ann L. Booth | Make Your Own Book

I made 2 books of our last Isla Mujeres vacations for friends for Christmas. Now that I have given the gifts I can blog about them! The ones I have done so far are personal with photos of our trips & friends, but I hope in the future to do some more generic ones--I definitely am going to do one after our next trip for me!

June Jaunt 2011 Isla Mujeres by Ann Booth | Make Your Own Book

One more month!

Til we go on vacation..to Mexico--can't wait!

Puppy's Present!

Rafe got a huge rawhide bone  that we cut in half--he would have knocked over something with it if it stayed whole!

Merry Christmas to All!

Photo that was used for our family 1950 Christmas card!  Love the yellow tinted hair!

Friday Flashback

 Only to last year!  I went to NYC last December with a friend & this is one of my favorite photos from the trip!  Above is the original photo and below is the one I enhanced--HDR.  Marry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all my blog reader friends!

The Stockings Were Hung..

by the chimney with care!  (Christmas 1950)

Wordless Wednesday

Macro Monday-ornaments

An ornament on the tree with lights reflecting off it!

Friday Flashback

Love this photo!  It's my sister, Judie & Santa; probably at Filene's or Jordan Marsh--1951

A Nearby Barn

Happened to see this as I was driving to Vasilow's earlier this week.
Just noticed this is my 800th blog post!

Trip to Vasilow's

On Monday I went to Vasilow's Confectionery, a shop in NY state owned by two fellow Islaholics, Jim & Kate.  It's about an hour from my house & a nice drive through some beautiful countryside.  What a great store!  I arrived right when they opened and started making my pile on the counter!

One of my friends usually goes with me, but was unable to this time, so I had a list of things to pick up for her & another friend.  First I spotted these large candy canes dipped in chocolate.

Then move on to theAlmost Isla section where I got chocolate discs and spicy peanut brittle!

I love the dipped ginger & apricots ( that's what's in the left corner)

And the truffles.......

lots of flavors.....

This chex mix is a different combination!

All kinds of yummy candies ; I just kept walking around picking stuff up!

No photos but I also got chocolate covered twizzlers and dark chocolate covered pretzels and several flavors of malted milk balls.

And already making plans to go back with Sandia before Easter.

Santa's going South for Christmas...to Mexico , of course!

I heard this on the radio a few days ago & had to come home & see if I could find a video for it. Wish we were going south for Christmas, too!

Macro Monday

 Went to Trader Joes a few days ago & they had awesome looking raspberries so I bought a box.  Got them home & I thought what a goos subject to try out my new lens on!

 here are the results!  ( And they were delicious!)

Going to Vasilow's today!  Pictures up later!

Maple Walnut White Chip Cookies

I signed up for a cookie( recipe) a day in December at Betty Crocker and have gotten a few great recipes.  made these cookies a few days ago.  Had  to look in a few stores to find the maple flavoring--found it at Target!

The recipe says makes 24 cookies, but I got 36  good size cookies. They have quite a few recipes that start with one of their cookie mixes as the base. 

And they are husband approved!

  Maple Walnut White Chip Cookies

from Bettycrocker.com

1      pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

1/2    cup butter or margarine, softened 

 

1       tablespoon maple flavoring

1       egg

1 1/2   cups white vanilla baking chips

1         cup chopped walnuts

• 1 Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, maple flavor and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in baking chips and walnuts.
• 2 Using small cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• 3 Bake 13 to 14 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to wire rack. Cool completely. Store covered at room temperature.

The Best Kind of Snowstorm

 The best kind of snowstorm is one where the snow falls overnight...

 Not alot comes down....

 it makes the yard look pretty & we don't lose power!

And the sun comes out & shines & melts it all!

Wordless Wednesday

Macro Monday

 Still trying out my new lens--this is what's left of weeds along the driveway!

Trying Out a Present ( to myself!)

 I bought a new macro lens for my camera & it arrived yesterday...so I decided I needed to at least try it out today!  All the lenses I currently use on my DLSR were purchased for my  film camera ( at least 20 years ago) & subsequently have fit the digitals that have come after it.  They still work but I wanted something better.  So I started looking around ... Found what I wanted on Amazon at a good price.

The cat and dog make good subjects for now--the lens is billed as a macro & good for portraits.  Can't wait to go out & take more!  i think you'll be seeing even more macros on here!

The Bison are within Range!

 Most days lately the bison have been in a back field, but this afternoon I went out for a few minutes & when I came back, 6 or so of them were in the front field.

 So of course I got out of the car to take some photos!   Enjoy your weekend!

Baking Today

 Was in a baking mood today --I just finished up  a total of 4 + dozen cookies!  Oatmeal chocolate chip
( above) and the unbaked peanut butter. 

befoe I di the baking I cleaned part of the cellar--I've accomplished quite a bit today!

On Kelly's Pond

 I was driving through town yesterday & spotted these birds all lined up on a rock, so I turned around & parked & got out to take a few photos.  the vivid setting on my camera makes this water a little strange looking--see all th estreaks of purple in it?

 Are they seagulls?  We live a few hours from the shoreline, but some do end up here.....passing through on their way somewhere else!  To my Mexico friends--doesn't this look like the black whales on Playa Norte?

So Colorful!

We had Thanksgiving dinner with friends and there was a beautiful bouquet of lilies on the appetizer table.  This color is gorgeous!

Doubles!

Another photo of butterflies at magic Wings in Deerfield, MA.  it's hard enough to get a photo of one because they flit around so much, so capturing 2 is great!