Five Favourites

Hear ye, hear ye, tomorrow is December 1st!
Let the mischievous games begin.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

"We each design the world around us, 
with our very own selections of  this and that ingredients.  
So, be gentle with your recipe, 
and always, heavy with your own spices!"

# 1   FAVORITE

Seeing laundry but knowing mine is finished.

#2    FAVORITE

Not knowing where the next step will lead to.

#3    FAVORITE

Crossing an untraveled snowy bridge.

#4   FAVORITE

Reading not just between the lines but behind them as well.

#5   FAVORITE

Making things 

and eating well!

Six Word Saturday- Kiss the Sea on the Lips Why Not

YOU WON'T CATCH ME BLACK-FRIDAY SHOPPING

DO YOU?

SIX WORD SATURDAY

I PREFER TO CELEBRATE BLACK FRIDAY

NOT FOLLOWING THE CROWDS OF SHOPPERS

My bestie and I enjoy lunch and a movie.

We did break tradition momentarily this year.

We paid her niece a visit where she works, (unbelievable shop) and recently opened boutique in Wayzata, House of 365.

So many possibilities waiting to go home with me, Ha! Ha! and incredible designers I'd never dreamed of liking.  The lovely British owner and her daughter have impeccable, expensive taste.

But, I did go shopping, for dinner, and-

Don't you just adore my Black Friday purchase from my own local grocery store?

It truly cooks the most delicious, perfectly fried egg for sandwiches!

Almost forgot- Lunch!

Cov of Wayzata welcomes diners with Wayzata's downtown Lake Street on one side and Lake Minnetonka on the other.  There are railroad tracks which run along the lake as well and every time the train flies by, bells ring within the restaurant!  Delightful right!  I'm still trying to figure out how they do that.

I just adore the quote above.  In case you can't read it all, "To eat an oyster is to kiss the sea on the lips."  -Leonard Beck.

I had the most delectable salmon ever sitting on a mysteriously delicious sauce.

Yes, for me it was another delightful Black Friday and believe it or not, we saw Horrible Bosses ll, and seriously, my cheeks still hurt from laughing so much!  A perfect (slapstick) kind of movie to just get lost within.  

Ridicularius, Ghost Towns Don't Really Exist

Or do they?


"It's interesting, isn't it?  The chandelier, it reminds me of mushroom soup." -  Tennessee Williams


SEPIA SATURDAY

Did somebody mention Ghost Town?

Bodie is listed as a ghost town in the Bodie Hills, east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.  Really.

The ghost town officially became Bodie State Historic Park in 1962.

In 2012 Bodie's Foundation Administered 

Protecting Bodie's Future by Preserving Its Past

How Bodie appeared in July of 1962 was captured by

Ronald Partridge, Photographer

July 1962

Back in the day this thriving, adventurous town featured a fashionable Grand Ballroom for numerous occasions. and imported trees and shrubs just for the day during many Fourth of July Celebrations.

Main Street looking north, July 1962.  From left to right, Cafe, Old Fellow's Hall, and the Miners' Union Hall.  Bodie State Historic Park, Bodie, California.

J. S. Cain House, located at Green and Park Streets, Bodie, California.

Also J. S. Cain House

Living room inside J. S. Cain House

D. V. Cain House, located at Green and Fuller Streets, in Bodie.

Staircase inside D. V. Cain House.

Johl House on Main Street.

Methodist Church at Green and Fuller Streets.

Rear view of church.

Inside church.

Typical Miner's House in Bodie, California.

Are you wondering what Bodie was before it became a ghost town?

Bodie began as a mining town in 1859 after the discovery of gold, and naturally it moved quickly into be a sought after boom town.

More to follow on the original name, the people, "The Bad Man from Bodie (well-founded legend) and all about it declining from boom town to ghost town.

See you next week.

Thanksgiving Fences or Ice Scream Adventures

Ice Scream adventures it is.

I scream for ice cream, even during today's brief but measurable snow fall- we headed to the ice cream parlor!

Oh, yes it was grey, quite dull without even a drop of sunshine.

But we were there anyway!


GOOD FENCES

Just in time to celebrate winter!  

There we were on a stroll not along a beach but rather a snowy, Linden Hills in Minneapolis.

I truly was hoping to post just one more Good Fences post without, snow.

Everywhere, it was a blanket of freshly fallen pure white snow, upholstering the grounds in a fluffy wet fashion.

But, did I mention ice cream?

So yes, there was a beneficial means to our madness.

It was a blissfully snowfall kind of afternoon, that brought smiles and giddiness to all that ventured out, and stayed off the freeways.

Plenty of outdoor seating today.

Inside their fireplace roared with warmth, but there aren't any fences inside!

More seating just in case.  Can you spy the little sparrow in this picture?  When folks are gathered outside, they fly-in from everywhere with the hopes of treats for them.

Unspoken Language - of Columns and Rows

Yes, I took a picture of a picture! 

It was a frosty yet chilly morning (a weekend of winter camping) and I was caught on camera fully enjoying myself on this early morning in February, two years ago.

Oops, didn't show off enough elephant, for extra measure and snowbanks of luck for winter survival.

Of course, my offering for Carmi's columns and rows, are the most inviting column of trees.  A simple gift from nature.

It was a woodsy place with endless trails, and carried high hopes of our chance to discover the one elusive, white deer that wanders the grounds.

By the way, I keep this picture and elephant frame in plain sight all year long.  It's my mantra for surviving winter here in the Minnesota tundra!

"Nature is a temple in which living columns sometimes emit confused words.  Man approaches it through forest of symbols, which observe him with familiar glances."  - Charles Baudelaire

THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

Why not throw in this familiar to all- circle of rows for bonfire pleasures everywhere!

Another soul saver!  Wouldn't you agree?  

Day or night.

Life is a series of columns and rows, and all sorts of other angles.  But mostly, it's an inspiring delight begging to be noticed, and shared.

Snow What

It's amazing what a little rise in the temperatures can do!

THE MAG

"Snowflakes are one of life's most fragile things, but look what they can do when they stick together."

Snowstorm by Maurice de Vlaminck

SNOW WHAT

Blow, blow, Ye Olde Nordeast wind

 winter's laughing breath 

 comes a blowing-

once again

 Trees rejoice

swinging in the breeze

dance, dance, dance-

You treetop comedienne

Snowflakes fall from heaven

cranking up ye olde merry tunes of joy

swallow your eggnog-

hang ten

You've got this wild winter wave

Joyfulness becomes you

share your Figgy Pudding

tune out ye olde weathermen

You don't like the weather

wear rose colored glasses

bury your nose in roses-

dance again

Let your eyes twinkle 

with mirth 

feel your hearts be filled with joy

scream Amen, dance again

Bow your hats to Mother Nature

try living up 

to her doyenne way of joy

and dance, dance, dance again!

Heavy Mental Lens

Grab your cameras and let's take another Scavenger Hunt Sunday together okay?

"You would have to be half mad to dream me up."

Lewis Carroll

DOUBLE

Hello Mr. Turkey Man here- today we're celebrating Thanksgiving Dinner # 1 with all my children and their children.
Gobble, gobble, Gobble!

"I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."

  Lewis Carroll

But here's a look at my

FRIDAY

And 

Girl Scout Bowling for Mittens
Pizza and Bingo too!

"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on until you come to the end: then stop."

Lewis Carroll

MEMORIES

"Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Lewis Carroll

BUSY DAY

Don't be caught by time 

Keep your own pace!

"Who in the world am I?  Ah, that's the great puzzle."

Lewis Carroll

WHERE I STAND

Not a double take, just me Friday night, building memories of a busy day is exactly where I stand- right inside that looking glass!  

Six Word Saturday - When Life

Has Gotten You Down-

You know the days I'm referring to.  Those dog days of summer not, but rather those totally blue, grey sort of days.  



SIX WORD SATURDAY

WHEN LIFE HAS

GOTTEN YOU DOWN

DOWN

DOWN

GET UP, UP, UP

Solution # 1  Share your toys!

Go fishing!

Take a road trip, with children- wait...?

Always have lots of chocolate on hand.

Solution:  If it's too cold outside, try this- Daily doses of extremely warm and sunny places here.

Remember, there's always a blog or two to brighten one's day!

You might want to try Cloudia's blog.

visiting dear Cloudia's lovely blog from Hawaii here, contributes a quick fix!  She calls it, "Your Daily Hawaii Vacation" just a click away.


I sure do hope you enjoy your weekend and that if you celebrate Thanksgiving, have a very merry and delicious, thankful day with friends and loved ones.

The Lean Mean Dating Machine-

The lean mean romance machine entails- a dose of Vehicular splendor?


THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

Live from the dog groomers, love at first bark!

"How can I get her to notice me?"

Sometimes, our vehicles are best suited to be- love connections!

Good Fences - Hiding Winter

What you see can be misleading.  Why you ask? Even though winter has arrived where I live, that doesn't mean I'll flaunt it.  My belief is that winter and Christmas magic should never arrive before Thanksgiving. Ever! 

GOOD FENCES

I shot the following fence photos in the hopes to hide any snow that surrounded them.  Except the last photo, which is precisely what my wintry world looks like!

Note:  Any and all, itsy bitsy white or glittery substance you may think you see, is simply, fairy dust!

Seriously, this next photo is how it should appear around here this time of the year.

But Mother Nature played a trick on Minnesotans this year and treated us to this instead.

Not that there isn't beauty in this freshly fallen white-stuff, it's just that it's likely to be here until spring of next year.  That's just too long a time to be sporting winter photos!