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SNAP: Views From My Windows

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On Monday we drove up to Niagara-on-the-Lake to pick up a watercolor we ordered and had framed. It had been a month since we’d been there last, and I was surprised to see that most of the leaves on the trees along the Thruway had fallen. The predominant colors were faded yellow and brown. Not so here in town yet. Our proximity to Lake Ontario buys us another week or two, so when I looked out the living room window yesterday I was struck with how much color still remains. 

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From top left: the view out my kitchen window looking to the west. You can see the new brick sidewalk here, and the hanging plants and yellow mums that still have not succumbed to a heavy frost. Top right: out the kitchen window looking north across the street. You can see a bit of the new landscaping here. The grass probably won’t fill in until next spring, and then I’ll do a big sidewalk/landscape post. It’s very different from what we had before, and I love it. Bottom left: out the living room window looking south. Most of the color here is yellow and a bit of orange. Out big Japanese maple which has bright red leaves has lost most of them already. Bottom right: out the hall window looking west. I’m guessing our bright red maple will be leafless within a week or so. But I’m so grateful to have had such a mild and colorful fall. Often by now, we’re like the Thruway, brown and dreary.

Linking up with our fine hostess, Helena, for the weekly SNAP of 3-4 related photos.

SNAP: Fall in Niagara-on-the-Lake

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Monday I wrote about our weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but I like this collection of photos from the weekend. Since I’m thinking about putting all the SNAP collections from this year into a photo book, I want to document our travels as well as show four related photos for Helena’s meme. One of the photos here is similar to one I posted on Monday, but the rest are new.

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Every fall there is a wonderful display of pumpkins and fall flowers arranged around this carriage near the golf course (upper left). The upper right photos is of the sailboats moored along the Niagara River. On Saturday, many of them were on the water both in the river and on Lake Ontario. I loved the colors of the tree against the bright blue sky (lower left), and the lower right photo shows the patio of the Lake House where we ate lunch on Saturday afternoon. 

Memorandum Monday

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Sneaking in at the very end of Monday for a wave to Sian and other memo keepers with a look at their weekends—and perhaps a bit of learning something new. We had a particularly lovely weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake with our friends. The weather was truly amazing—almost summer-like, and we enjoyed every minute of it. 

On our way into town, we stopped at one of the local parks along the Niagara River, and I hopped out to take a few photos.

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I loved the door and the brick work on this house at the edge of the park.

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We arrived on Friday afternoon, and had tickets for an evening performance at the St. George Theater downtown.

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Typically we get tickets to the musical production. This year’s was Sweeny Todd, and all of us had already seen it. It’s a bit dark for a second take, so we decided on one of Shaw’s plays, Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Frankly, it had been quite a while since we’d seen one of his plays, and we’d forgotten that they can often be a polemic–which this one certainly was. We were hoping for a bit of humor, but none was to be had. The acting and sets were, as always, first rate, but we think we’re done with Shaw as a playwright. 

Fortunately, Saturday held much better experiences. We visited a new winery, recommended by our bed and breakfast hosts, called Big Head. The wines are a little pricier that some, because they are made with the appassimento process of drying the grapes before pressing them. This is the second winery in the area to use this process. We discovered Foreign Affairs quite a few years ago. Both wineries produce wonderful wines, well worth the increase in price, especially since we save them for a special occasion. I love the logo for Big Head.

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We made a stop at Foreign Affairs as well to pick up two bottles of Sarah and Adam’s favorite wine, and discovered something new in the front of the winery.

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The owners found this huge moose in a yard in northern Ontario, along with a whole collection of like-sized animals. The moose is one of the Canadian animals featured on their wine labels, so he found a new home.

Nearly every fall, I get a wonderful photo of grapes hanging on the vines. We didn’t see any grapes on any vines at any of the wineries. Finally I asked, and discovered that because the summer had been so hot and dry, the harvest had just been completed. And yes, it was earlier than usual.

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Here you can see Lake Ontario beyond the vineyards. I liked the reflection of these same vineyards in the winery window.

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It was so warm, we were able to enjoy lunch on the patio at Lake House.

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And although we chose to eat inside, it was still warm enough at night to eat outside if you preferred.

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Regardless of the weather, and our satisfaction with the theater, we always have a wonderful time in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We’ve been going with our friends for over 15 years now, and we’ve yet to tire of it. 

 

 

 

SNAP: The Architecture River Cruise

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Tracy and I spent a long weekend in Chicago about seven years ago. Number 1 on our sightseeing list was to take the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise. We purchased our tickets ahead of time, but it rained as hard as I can ever remember the day of our cruise. They sail rain or shine. The tour guide was wonderful, but the tour was a bit of a disappointment in terms of getting any photographs. This year we bought our tickets the night before, and it was a perfect day, sunny and warm enough to sit on the upper deck of the boat. Our tour guide from the Architecture Foundation, Harry, was exceptional. How anyone could remember all the dates, architectural firms, and history without ever referring to a note is beyond me! 

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I’m sure I have enough photos to make a small mini-book, but I’ll probably just add a page of photos to the Project Life pages for last month. In the last seven years, new buildings have gone up, and if we take the tour again in another seven years, the skyline will have changed again. It’s absolutely fascinating, and if you’re ever in Chicago, don’t pass up the opportunity to take the tour.

SNAP: The Terracotta Warriors

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When we were in Chicago in May, we happened to see advertisements for a special exhibit at The Field Museum, China’s First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors. I’ve long been fascinated by this amazing creation, and we decided to make seeing it a priority on our next trip. We were not disappointed. China’s first emperor commissioned the creation of an entire underground empire made from terracotta to guard his mausoleum. It is estimated that there are over 8,000 life size terracotta figures in the area surrounding his mausoleum. The Field Museum has a small collection of those warriors, archers, chariots, and horses on display with other artifacts from that time period (475-221 BC.)  I would love to see them in person, but that’s highly unlikely, so I was delighted to have time to explore this exhibit. Emperor Qin Shihuan (247-221 BC) was also responsible for the building of the Great Wall of China. Should I ever visit China, those two sites would be high on my bucket list. Here’s a peek at the exhibit.

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In the photo on the bottom left, behind the terracotta soldiers, you can see a photo of a part of the underground empire. I had no idea that the area that is open to visitors in China is just a fraction of the emperor’s tomb. The actual tomb has yet to be excavated.

Afterwards, we spent over an hour in the Evolving Planet exhibit, but we just touched the surface of all there is to see in this fabulous museum.

This was one of many highlights of our week in Chicago. Sarah’s Installation was one, of course, and so was my meeting with Alexandra from Art, Scrap, and More. I discovered Alexandra’s blog through Sian at From High in the Sky. I love how bloggers connect with one another, and meeting Alexandra in person was such a delight! Next week I’ll be sharing another highlight of our day in the Windy City for SNAP.

 

SNAP: Early Morning Walk

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Debbie and I usually meet at 7:30 in the morning at Schoen Place in Pittsford to begin our walk to Bushnell’s Basin. It’s about a 5 3/4 mile walk. Now that autumn has arrived, the sun’s just coming up as we meet. The light last week was really lovely, so I thought a few photos (all taken at the beginning of our walk) would make a good SNAP collection. 

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I got the idea for the SNAP collection as I was sitting in my car waiting for Debbie to arrive. I looked across the parking lot and saw the sun coming up, and couldn’t resist walking over to take a photo. The rest were taken right at the edge of the canal on the sidewalk near the shops and restaurants. The last one appears to be later than the others, but it’s just a difference in light looking down the canal from the other direction. As soon as you leave the village, the path is no longer paved. Not much other than the amount of daylight to tell us that fall has arrived. It’s just beginning to cool down, but we’ve still had a lot of very warm days.

Linking up with Helena and the other SNAP collectors!

SNAP: The Birthday Party

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Skylar turns five today, and there’ll be a dinner tonight with just family. On Saturday she hosted a birthday party for her friends and classmates (and their parents and younger siblings). It was a wonderful event, and everyone, including the birthday girl, had a great time. Coming up with a SNAP collection for Helena’s meme was easy this week!

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Skylar greeting friends at the front door, the birthday girl getting her face painted, Ella and her dad with Ella’s balloon “dolly,” and blowing out the candles on the cake.

Of course, there had to be a special birthday card, and the September Simon Says Kit was just perfect for it. It arrived with scratch-off stickers, bright patterned papers from Doodlebug, and the perfect birthday balloons and sentiments in the “It’s No Secret” stamp set.

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I totally forgot to take a photo before I added the scratch-off stickers, but under one it says “Love You” and under the other “You Rock.” I colored the balloons with Copic markers and added glitter to each one with a Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle pen. 

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The colorful sequins are also from a previous Simon Says Card Kit. Hope your week is going well; mine is going by much too quickly!

 

SNAP: Wildlife on the Trails

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This week’s SNAP collection is a series of photos snapped while I was walking. Three were taken on the Erie Canal Trail, and the last one was taken from the pedestrian bridge over the Genesee River on my way to class last week. So technically, it’s not a trail.

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I was amazed at how long the deer in the upper right photo stood looking at me while I snapped away on my iPhone. The photo on the bottom left was a really lovely scene, and it was another time when I wished I had had my big camera with me. Evidently the new iPhone 7 will have a much improved zoom capability, but I’m not planning on upgrading my phone anytime soon. The day I saw the blue heron, there was also an egret and a “line” of ducks perched on a log. The egret was too far away to photograph, and none of the duck photos was as sharp as I would have wished. Another problem with the iPhone when you’re trying to take a photo from a pretty good distance away.

Linking up with Helena and the other avid SNAPPERS.

SNAP: Stairs at the RISD Museum

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On our way home from Nantucket, we spent a day in Providence, Rhode Island. It had been nearly 40 years since we’d last been there, and we knew a lot had changed. We had a wonderful day, shopping on Hope Street, browsing on Thayer Street (the Brown University College Town), and spent two hours at the lovely Rhode Island School of Design Museum. It has a large permanent collection spanning from antiquity to contemporary art, and we enjoyed it all. As we walked from gallery to gallery, I was taken with the variety of staircases, and took photos of many of them with a SNAP collection in mind.

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Here are a couple more shots from Providence.

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They’ve done a beautiful job of restoring the waterfront.  I’d love to return some day to see the Waterfire display. Sadly, it wasn’t scheduled for the Saturday evening we were there.

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Here you can see the braziers along each side of the river which are lit during Waterfire.

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This is the view of downtown Providence from Prospect Terrace Park.

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Providence is the capital of Rhode Island, and although I had another closer photo of the capital building, I preferred this view. 

Linking up with Helena and other SNAP enthusiasts.

Summer Scavenger Hunt: August Edition

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As I expected, I found quite a few of the items from the 2016 Summer Scavenger Hunt while we were on vacation. Some of them are duplicates of items I found earlier, but I couldn’t resist adding them to the collection. All together I’ve found 20 of the 21 items, and both alternatives. I still need a photograph of twins (#17), but have two possibilities, and there are still a few weeks left before the official end of summer. 

So without further ado, here are this month’s photos:

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A skeleton (#3) – found at the Whaling Museum on Nantucket. Notice the difference in size between the skeleton and the whaling boat beneath it!

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A book read during 2016 (#4) – I’ve read 31 books so far this year, 12 since the start of the scavenger hunt. This was one of the most recent ones. 

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A porch (#5) – in ‘Sconset, Nantucket

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A camper (#6) – I was hoping to find a cuter one than I found in July, and here it was on the Thruway coming home from vacation. I’d love to see the insides.

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Bicycles (#10) – I never tire of photographing bicycles. The last one is the one I rented in Nantucket,
parked at the weather station near Altar Rock, the second highest point on Nantucket.

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Fresh produce (#11) – at our favorite farm market

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A buffet of food (#14) – We went to the most amazing buffet on Sunday when we were in Nantucket. In addition to the dessert table and salads,there was a raw bar, and a table of hot entrees (all covered so not a very exciting photo).

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A family gathering (#7) – here we are at the buffet on a porch overlooking Nantucket Harbor

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A team logo (#15) – I’m auditing a class this fall at the University of Rochester. When we were there last week trying to find out about parking, I got this shot of their team’s logo.

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A map showing a trip taken during the time period (#16) 

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 A photograph of you with a newspaper from the time period covered in the hunt (#21) – My least favorite item on the hunt every year! I picked up a copy
of the local paper in Nantucket. It was first published in 1821.

You can find the original post for the Summertime Photography Hunt right here.

 

SNAP: Views from the Cape and Nantucket

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Only two of the three lighthouses on Nantucket are easily accessible. To reach the third, you need a special pass, which evidently is not that hard to get, but there wasn’t enough time to follow through. I have multiple views of the other two; one near ‘Sconset (upper left), and the other near the harbor in the town (bottom right.) The view through the door was taken at the Woods Hole Historical Society on the Cape which has a lovely collection of artifacts in a small museum, and this shed next door which houses a variety of boats and boating paraphernalia. The bottom left photo is of the oldest continuous working mill in the United States. We drove by it on Nantucket multiple times, but it wasn’t until the last day that I finally got a photo of it. 

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I’m linking up with Helena and other SNAP collectors today. I’m buried under a huge project which has turned my office/studio into a disaster area. Hopefully, I’ll be done by the weekend and back in business again

5 in 5: August

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Each month I like to participate in Sandie’s 5 in 5 photography meme. I was quite sure I’d be able to come up with five photos in five minutes somewhere on Nantucket, and it proved easy to do. I finally chose these five from the village, Siasconset, commonly referred to as S’conset. On earlier trips to Nantucket, Matt had sent me photos taken with his phone, with the comment, “You’d love it here, Mom.” And indeed, I did. The village is very small—a lovely market, a delicious sandwich shop, and a small cafe and wine shop. The rest of the village consists of quaint cottages, all shingled, all with beautiful flowers. Some of the cottages were built in the early 1700’s and are still in excellent condition. Later in the day, after these photos were taken, several of us walked the Bluff Path, and I’ll share some photos from there later. Along the bluff, overlooking the ocean, are much larger and more elaborate homes, equally beautiful. 

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In the last photo, I love that you can look through the window and see the ocean beyond. It seems like a pretty idyllic place to spend a summer!

SNAP: Boats in the Harbor

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We’ve just returned from ten days visiting Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Providence, Rhode Island. It’s been years since we were on Cape Cod or in Providence, and we’d never visited Nantucket. Betsy grew up with summer vacations on Nantucket, and their family goes each summer. They’ve invited us every year for the last three years, but this was the first time we were able to join them. There’ll be more SNAP collections, and probably a couple vacation posts once I finish editing the many photos we took. I cut the number in half yesterday, but still have a ways to go. 

Nantucket is simply beautiful, and the weather was hot and humid most of the days we were there. We spent a lot of time on the beach with the grandchildren, and had a wonderful time. There were lots of possible collections for SNAP, but this week I decided on four of the photographs of boats in the harbor. 

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The upper left photo was taken in Woods Hole, MA, the rest on Nantucket in various places. Nantucket is sometimes known as the “Gray Lady” because it is frequently socked in by fog. There were only a couple of mornings when it was particularly thick, but the afternoon we drove out to Madaket it was also foggy as you can see in the upper right photo. 

2016 Summertime Scavenger Hunt

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It’s July 31st, and time for the July edition of Rinda’s Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt. 

The first item on the list was a “wild heart-a naturally occurring heart.” I wasn’t sure where I’d find that one, but one morning while I was sitting on our patio, I looked up and there they were on our Morning Glory.

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Matt and Betsy have a fabulous deck (#7), and while Sarah, Adam, and Caleb were here we spent a lot of time there. That week turned out to be a good one for scavenger hunt photos.

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It was also the site of another family gathering, # 11.

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The three grandchildren had lots of fun at a local splash park one day, so here are a couple entries for #9, “someone playing in or around water.” (Think I’ll have some more for this one when we get back from our summer vacation.)

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One night we went out to eat, and Adam and I shared a carafe of sangria, #29, “a seasonal cocktail or drink.”( It was so good, I made a pitcher of it this weekend when we entertained our bridge group.)

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One absolute “must” on Sarah’s list when she visits is a trip to Abbott’s Ice Cream. Their chocolate almond soft ice cream is terrific. We decided to go to the Abbott’s on Lake Ontario so Caleb could ride the carousel there (last year’s item), and we walked along the beach afterwards, and I got #2, “a footprint.”

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The reason that Sarah, Adam, and Caleb chose the first week of July to visit, was the arrival of Madelyn Tyler. Although I posted this photo earlier, I didn’t mark it as a scavenger hunt item. It’s one of the alternates, “baby.”

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The next two photos were taken at our local grocery store: #17 “fresh produce,” and #18 ” a cart full of groceries.” This was my shopping trip before our family party early in July so it’s the fullest cart of the summer, I’m sure.

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I found #9 on a walk along the cottage road at Honeoye Lake a week or so ago, “a camper.” I’m hoping to find a cuter one along the way, but at least I’ve got it covered.

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Earlier this month I posted #13, “the moon,” as a SNAP meme, #12 , “a window” and the other alternate, “a lighthouse,” as part of my Memorandum Monday post. That leaves me with seven items left to find in August and early September. Doable, I hope!

 

 

SNAP: The Brickyard Trail

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Recently the town of Brighton, where we live, opened a new nature park and trail. Round trip, it’s about 1.75 miles, just the right length for a short and pleasant walk. I’ve walked it several times already, and have enjoyed it. It’s called the Brickyard Trail because it traverses a wetland that was once the site of a large brick making facility. I haven’t taken photos of it yet, but about halfway through the trail there is a wonderful interpretive site that talks about the huge numbers of bricks once made from the clay in this area.

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This week’s SNAP collection are four photos from my walks on the trail.

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Linking up with Helena’s meme, SNAP, that asks for three or four related photos. It’s a great way to look each week for something new to photograph.