Tonight was the annual Holiday Open House at the George Eastman Museum. Matt, Betsy, and the three girls joined us, and although they are still reluctant to talk to Santa, we always seem to have a good time. Here’s a picture of the three girls (didn’t get a one where all three were looking at me, and no one was a bit blurry; I still haven’t found quite the right camera for this event!). Although there is a good one of me with Skylar and Ella and a good one of Tracy with Skylar. Madelyn just moves too fast for the available light.

But the real subject of this post is Sandie’s meme “Five in Five“—take as many photos as you can in five minutes and choose five faves. I took five minutes before the girls arrived to photograph some of the many gingerbread houses on display. They range from rudimentary to quite elaborate. Skylar and Grandpa enjoy the scavenger hunt that is always a part of this event. Here are five of my favorites this year.

This is one of the most elaborate; I took three photos of it from different viewpoints, and they all were lovely.

The church was lit up inside as were several other gingerbread houses this year.

Lots of detail in this one; I love the windows with the wreaths and window boxes, and the lovely pine trees in the yard.

Another really lovely gingerbread “house” that was also lit inside.

Not as elaborate, but sweet and lovely.

Thanks to Sandie for hosting another year of the 5 in 5 meme. It took a little sleuthing because I didn’t tag all the posts, but I did participate every month this year—but rarely on the 5th of the month which I hope to be better about next year should we be lucky enough to have Sandie continue to host this meme in 2019,

Heavy winds knocked lots of leaves off the trees here earlier this week. Today is another breezy, cold day, but the snow we had yesterday has all disappeared and the sun is out. We spent two nights in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario this week, leaving on Wednesday afternoon and arriving home yesterday afternoon. The colors there are still a bit more intense. They must not have gotten the high winds.

Usually we stay at the same bed and breakfast, but they are closed for the season, so we took advantage of a mid-week Fall Special at a high-end inn we usually cannot afford. It was lovely. The courtyard there was filled with beautiful autumn color and seemed like the perfect spot for joining in with Sandie’s 5 in 5 monthly meme.

I had several more photos from which to choose, all taken within the five minute limit for this challenge. I must admit, I’ll be sad to see all the color disappear!

Once again I’m late to the party! I missed a couple of opportunities so this week on a walk down a city street, I challenged myself to take five photos in five minutes. It’s not a block with much beauty–a row of multiple family homes, some woods, a school and a hospital, but I managed to find five pleasing subjects in less than five minutes.

As you can see we’re still waiting for the leaves to change color. These red leaves are among the very few reds–most of the colored leaves are a pale yellow. Not sure what has caused the delay, but I’m thinking the colors may be disappointing this year. I’m joining in with Sandie for her 5 in 5 meme. It’s one of my faves, despite the fact that I almost never managed to post on the fifth! Fortunately, she gives us until the 25th to get our post up. Click on the link to see a charming sculpture and read the backstory about launching lifeboats with the help of horses during the the late 1800’s.

The fifth of the month always takes me by surprise, and although Sandie gives us to the 25th to post our five photos taken in five minutes, I think it’s fun if I manage to do it on the 5th of the month as well. This month it paid to be late because this weekend the field of sunflowers just south of us is at its peak, and the weather was perfect. I drove out just before dinner last night, and although I managed to get photos without other photographers, there were lots of folks, some with professional photographers, getting photos of themselves with the sunflowers.

This first photo also qualifies for two prompts on the Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt: #10 Field of Plenty and # 20 Mellow Yellow. I’ve already posted images for those, but I like this one a lot better.

Off to link up to Sandie’s meme: Five in Five.

I always enjoy the challenge of Sandie’s Five in Five meme, and this month represents five years of her meme. I’ve only known about it for the last two or three, but I do try to participate whenever I can. On rare occasions, I even get it done on the 5th of the month. Not this month. But by the time we left Nantucket this week, I had a couple of options. These five were actually taken in less than five minutes as the ferry pulled out of Nantucket Harbor on its way to Hyannis. We were supposed to be on the 2:45 ferry, but it was cancelled so we ended up on the 5:30 ferry. The light for photos was probably better, although we did miss our dinner reservation in Sandwich, MA.

Approaching the lighthouse at Brandt Point.

Looking back at Nantucket village.

A closer look at Brandt Point Light, established in 1746, automated in 1965, and still in use.

Rounding the point, and looking back at the town.

And the beautiful sailboat accompanying the ferry out of the harbor.

It’s pretty hard to say good-bye to this beautiful place. We had gorgeous weather after our rainy arrival, and had so much fun with our son, daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters. 

It’s been twelve days since I posted. It was an unintentional break, and I do have plenty to share from the #100DayProject, but not today. It was raining on the 5th, and I couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to get out for five shots in five minutes to join in with Sandie’s Five in Five monthly meme. Yesterday was gorgeous, though still very cool for June, and I managed to take and edit the photos, but ran out of time to write a blog post. 

Last month I posted five shots of the emerging signs of spring in Evanston/Skokie while we were visiting Sarah. This month I’m sharing photos from our yard and garden. Once I had a selection of shots to choose from, I realized I had five in different shades of red. 

First, some stunning dahlias. We have two good-sized pots of them on the front porch, and they are blooming profusely.

For the past several years, I’ve tried unsuccessfully to grow lupines in my cutting garden. When we were at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I noticed they had planted lupines in many of their containers. We now have lupines in three different containers—two in the front and one on the patio. Of course, after doing that, the lupines from last year showed up in the cutting garden for the first time. I am thrilled, and have a beautiful vase with lupines and snapdragons in the living room.

Two years ago, we planted this beautiful red rhododendron on top of the wall to the side of our house. We’re thinking of moving it away from the house a bit, hoping it will have more room to spread out.

Much to my surprise, I found this clump of carnations blooming among the weeds in one of the beds that has yet to be cleaned out. I’m hoping they will spread out over the years to come.

Last year, I found this amazing plant at one of the garden stores. It was already quite large, so I called Tracy to see if we could find a place for it in our shade garden. This year it is close to 5 feet tall. I know I have the name of it somewhere, but can’t put my fingers on it. I know this is #5, but here’s a close-up of the blooms.

You can check out what other folks have found for their 5 in 5 right here.

I hope to be back with more consistent posting soon. When I look at the calendar for the last two weeks, I’m not surprised that blogging took a back seat to all that has been going on. The rest of June, however, doesn’t look much different. We have a house guest who arrived on the first and will be here until Monday. Next week is the annual “week at the lake” for Tracy’s family. We’ll only be here for part of that before heading out to Chicago for our last visit before Sarah and her family move to Racine, WI where she will begin tenure as a co-pastor (with a friend!) at a Presbyterian church there. We’re going out to help with Caleb and Hannah while Adam is away for a week, and hopefully, help organize and purge for their move at the end of the month. 

I don’t often manage to do my five photos in five minutes on the 5th of the month, but I lucked out today taking a walk on the most beautiful day we’ve had so far this spring. Granted we’re in Chicago, not Rochester. But nearly every yard is filled with beautiful flowering bushes and trees. So, joining in with Sandie, with her Five in Five meme.

I admit to being spoiled. It was not easy to edit these photos on my tiny laptop after being used to editing on my iMac! All iPhone photos. Hope it’s as beautiful where you are as it is here.

Saturday night before we went to bed, Tracy brought in the basket of violas I had purchased earlier in the day. An ice storm was predicted for Sunday, and when I saw the basket of flowers sitting next to the snow shovel, I just had to take a photo.

There were a couple of positives that came out of it all: we didn’t lose power, and I finally had a subject for this month’s Five in Five meme hosted by Sandie.

Yesterday as we were getting ready to go to the belated Easter celebration at my brother-in-law’s I hopped out of the car with my iPhone and took a bunch of photos of the ice-encrusted plants and stone wall.

These photos are a far cry from the ones Honoré posted a day or so ago from Washington, D.C.  We aren’t expected to see temperatures much above the high 40’s all week so I think flowering trees and beautiful tulips are still in our distant future.