last skywatch for july

please click on photo to see more detail



taken one morning at the farmingdale train station recently around 5AM. the sun was just about to come up. as I remember it, this is pretty much how the sky looked. people were waiting on the platform and it was extremely quiet.

today is skywatch friday, if you'd like to see more skies from all around the world, please go here, thanks to klaus and his team, sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy and louise.

christmas in july

please click on photo to see angels and other pretty things up close



remember this tree from last christmas? I don't know why I think of christmas every july but I do. maybe I'm happy not to have to think about shopping for it for another few months. I once read a book with the same title as this post. the idea was to make sure to give to a local charity during this time of year since many charities receive much less now than at other times of the year. hmm...makes me think it may be a good time for me to drop off a bag of groceries at my local food pantry.

beautiful light

please click on photo to see amazing beauty up close



have you ever gone picture taking in the early morning sunlight? every once in a while I get the chance and usually the first place I head to is my garden. this is what I found there the other day, the echinacea flowers with lots of sun shining on them. I felt like I discovered a secret treasure as I snapped away disbelieving my good fortune, wondering how I got so lucky and why weren't there one hundred other people next to me doing the same.

today is abc wednesday thanks to mrs. nesbitt and the letter for the day is B. please go here to join in the fun.

more seaweed

please click on photo to see water tower details



I love this photo because it has lots of clues about what goes on at robert moses beach. I'm not crazy about cars driving on this beach, but the tread marks form an interesting design. see the pencil/water tower in the background? the best part, other than the ocean, is how people can take a walk along the shoreline. personally I believe walking on a beach is good for the soul.

this is a part of my world. to share a part of yours or just see more of others, please go here, thanks to klaus, sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy and louise.

lost dog

if you click on this photo the sign is much easier to read



after the recent passing of our beloved kitty sylvia, my heart sank when I saw this sign posted all over the town of farmingdale. losing a pet is difficult enough, losing one and not knowing what may have become of a dear pet, I think, is worse. please, if anyone knows anything about this little doggy, please call the number listed above.

robert moses shadow shots

please click on photo if you'd like to see seaweed details up close



yesterday was a perfect day for a day at the beach. the sun was shining and the water wasn't too cold. the best part was being there with our son and twin nieces. I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching them play in the ocean. unfortunately the water was rough so the lifeguards were kept busy pulling people out of the rip tides. the lifeguards are pretty amazing to watch as they fearlessly charge into the surf for a rescue. needless to say our son and nieces were only allowed in the water up to a certain point.
today is "shadow shot sunday". I took this photo when I discovered a mass of seaweed clumps while walking along the beach.

thank you tracy from hey harriets shadow shot sunday meme. please go here if you'd like to participate or see more shadow shots. have a great sunday everyone.

old westbury pond in the rain

please click on photo to see raindrops on the pond up close



as it was pouring buckets thursday, I decided I'd check out the pond on the way home. not surprisingly I found it was as beautiful as ever, even with all the rain. remember the pond in the snow and in the autumn? never mind, we shouldn't be thinking about that with so much summer left to enjoy!

sky over route 109

please click on photo to see more sky details

otherwise a dreary part of road had it not been for this gorgeous sky, thanks to the natural world. if you'd like to see more beautiful skies or if you'd like to participate with your own piece of sky, please go here.

thank you klaus and your skywatch team, sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy and louise.

hydrangeas in rockville centre

rockville centre has some of the most beautiful larger homes on long island. if you click on this photo, you can get a better look at the hydrangeas. notice the pretty blue sky? it was a glorious day yesterday compared to all the rain we had on tuesday.

awash with rain

flooded, covered in water. that would be long island as it rained most of yesterday. much of the rain being huge downpours like the type that an ordinary umbrella can't protect you from. if you click on this photo you can see just how wet the rain really was. if you click here you can see other representations of the letter A. so what do you think, has your summer had an extraordinary amount of rain?

a big thank you to mrs. nesbitt, host of the abc wednesday meme.

new york, new york...

I really got a kick out of this license plate I found in the parking lot at the mall. it looks to me like someone is proud of their new york accent. recently while visiting wisconsin, quite a few of the natives enthusiastically commented on my accent. one lady seemed quite proud that she identified a "real" new yorker, as if I were an entirely different breed of man. this always amuses me because unless someone is from the deep south or another country, I usually don't notice a difference between my accent and theirs.
what about you, are you conscious of other people's accents?

this is a small part of my world. to see other parts of this great world, please go here, thanks to klaus and his team, sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy and louise.

seagulls at robert moses

if you click on this photo you can see the seagulls sitting all in a row on top of this small building. you can also see one flying in, getting ready to take his rightful position. I love this beach. where is your favorite beach?

shadows on the beach

please click on photo to see subtle shadows up close



if you click on this photo, you can see the lifeguard's rowboat with the name robert moses on it. we went to the beach yesterday around 5 o'clock. I was surprised it wasn't more crowded. as I lay down resting on our beach blanket I couldn't help notice the symphony of noise around me. there were crying babies, people yelling and people laughing. somehow the waves crashing on the beach seemed to drown out all the noise to a comfortable level.

today is shadow shot sunday. if you'd like to see more shadows, please go here and visit the great hey harriet blog thanks to tracy.

lilies with hydrangeas

please click on photo to see lilies and hydrangeas up close



I've never seen these planted together before. and here I thought I had such a good imagination, making up a pen name that no one has ever thought of! I should also mention the delicate lavender flowers are part of a hosta plant. do you have a favorite flower?

sky at JFK

please click on photo to see more cloud detail



thanks to my son ian for getting this shot monday as I drove into jfk airport to pick up the hubster. getting there, the traffic was unbearable. yet after seeing the huge sky against the wide open spaces, it was definitely worth it.

to see more lovely skies, please go here thanks to klaus and his skywatch team sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy, and louise.

summer squash

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are these leaves ginormous or what? if you look closely you can see the very weight of them are causing some of their stems to bend at forty-five degree angles. this is the first summer I have given up trying to grow vegetables. I grew tired of my "crops" rarely yielding more than two or three of anything. thankfully I am still semi successfully growing herbs and flowers since I so do love to play in the dirt. remember the cucumbers I showed you last summer? this squash is from the same garden. so, have you ever grown a summer garden?

zen at the beach

please click on photo to see third seagull flying



zen, according to wikipedia, is often simply called the path of enlightenment. I would say these two birds are definitely on that path, wouldn't you? today is abc wednesday and today's letter is Z.

please go here to see other Z representations, thanks to mrs. nesbitt.

a message

desperate to assuage our grief, we left our house sunday at 5 PM for a walk on the beach. this is what we found. my husband's beloved brother Paul died suddenly two and a half years ago. he loved cats. when Sylvia passed away saturday night we all felt she was with him. tell me, what are the odds?

RIP Sylvia

please click on photo to see pretty girl up close



once a feral young kitty found in our window well with her mewing kittens, it was at least a year before she would let us get close enough to pet her. what we didn't know then, was that Sylvia adopted us. over the next 9 years she found her way into our hearts by filling them with many happy memories, memories we have been sharing since we found her lifeless on the street last night. Sylvia seemed to take great pride in watching over her dominion, our home. I am sure she was waiting for us last night just like she always did. this picture shows her sitting on one of her favorite lookouts, this one facing our side door and kitchen window so she could keep watch as we entered and exited. we are missing her terribly right now.

so who wouldn't want a Nikon D80?

please click on photo to see this cutie up close


support the lance armstrong foundation, while buying a raffle ticket and you may be the recipient of a brand new nikon d80 camera compliments of the generous pioneer woman and her friend elden. please go here asap and buy a raffle ticket since the drawing will be this monday. in other words, time is running out! you must however, enter the contest through pioneer woman's site here where you will also be able to read the heart wrenching but truly incredible story of a woman fighting for her life as she battles cancer. I am not sure I know anyone who hasn't been affected by cancer one way or another so I thought if even half of my readers decide to buy a ticket, that would amount to a sizable donation for an important cause to us all. and if we're lucky, maybe one of us will win. and even if we don't win we'll still win, right?
I almost forgot to mention, pioneer woman donated an added bonus with the camera called adobe photoshop CS4.

skywatch in plainview, new york

please click on photo to see more puffy cloud details



as I walked to my car in a parking lot in plainview, I couldn't help but notice the huge expanse of clouds in the sky before me. the view was such that I needn't look up to see the massive puffs of white cloud as they floated by. the one pictured here on the right reminded me of one I had seen at the exquisite "about new york" blog a few weeks ago. perhaps they are cousins? what does this cloud look like to you?

to see more lovely skies, please go here thanks to klaus and his skywatch team sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy, and louise.

1953 mercury

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I know this car is a 1953 mercury because that is what I read on the license plate, lucky for me, eh? check out those white wall tires. do you like old cars?

nice lawn...

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seriously, this is not something you see everyday on your neighbors front lawn here in the suburbs of long island. the good thing is, construction is usually a sign of a good economy. so what do you think financially speaking, are things getting any better?

this post is a part of abc wednesday, thanks to mrs. nesbitt. today's letter is Y and yellow begins with Y so, here you go! for more Y representations, please go here.

like a barn

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doesn't this house remind you of a barn? it never used to be red. I think the owners had a vision when they recently put up the new siding on this house. and I have to say, I think it was a great idea to redo this house in red. don't you?

if you'd like to see more illustrated stories from other parts of the planet, please go here, thanks to klaus & his team, sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy and louise.

rambling rose

please click on photo to see roses up close



our roses bloomed a little later this year. last year I posted them in full bloom in mid june. here is what they look like as of this very morning. please go here if you'd like to see other beautiful blooms. so, are you off from work today, or were you off last friday?

this post is a part of "today's flowers" meme, thanks to luiz , denise, pupo, and valkyrien.

long island cherry pie

actually I am just calling it that because I made it and I live on long island so I figure it qualifies. I got the recipe off of the pie plate my mother in-law gave me years ago and I got the cherries from the cherry tree in our backyard. I wish I had the time to make another one!
today also happens to be shadow shot sunday. please notice the shadows in the photo above, and if you'd like to see more shadows, please go here. thanks to miss tracy from hey harriet, creator of the superb shadow shot sunday meme.

new england clam chowder...

please click on photo to see old glory in all its glory


long island style, is here at bigelows and it's delicious. I love sampling whatever anyone else I am with happens to have on their plate, but I always have to order the clam chowder. happy fourth of july everyone!

first skywatch of july

please click on photo for more detail



finally, we have been having some real hot summer weather. though it's still raining quite a bit in between the bursts of sunshine. in fact a lot of my potted plants have died of root rot from being over watered by all the rain. on the plus side, a neat side effect of all this unpredictable weather is some awesome evening skies. this one appeared right before a wicked thunderstorm blew in.
if you'd like to see some more beautiful skies from all around this planet, please go here.
I hope everyone has a long weekend starting today.

special thanks to klaus & his skywatch team, sandy, ivar, wren, fishing guy and louise

a clean bus

if you click on this photo you will see many different messages. my favorite is the one that says, this bus uses clean air technology. today's post is my contribution to think green thursday generously sponsored by rambling woods. please go here and check it out.

brooklyn eatery

please click on photo to see paintings up close


I wish I knew the name of this restaurant or at least the artist's name who painted the pictures hanging inside. does anyone know? I am fairly certain it is in brooklyn heights. do you believe today is july 1st? what happened to june?