This and That: A Blog

The past few nights have gotten quite cold (for here), 26° last night.  Forecasts are to be warmer nights this week though.  Here are some photos of the pretty frosts today. You've seen the deck crack ice crystals from other years, here are this year's!  You'll probably see them again if they get more pronounced and bigger. The Turkish sage (not Jerusalem sage, which it is often mistaken for) has fuzzy leaves that look nice frosted. Here you can even see the little fuzzes! Something enjoyed a few bites!  Or, one bite out of each leaf before they uncurled. "Ice" is one of Mickey's vocabulary words, and he looks forward to chomping down on the ice in the outdoor water dish! Enjoy your New Year's Eve!  

  Now that Christmas has come and gone, here are some of the items I thrifted to give as gifts, and some I got as gifts.  I know my audience, and they don't mind thrifted items, and they know I don't either!  You can find some nice gifts to give in thrift stores, or online sites.  This little glass bluebird from St. Vincent de Paul was tagged as Fenton, but I don't think it is. A bird house or feeder boot from Goodwill.  This beautiful twisted Murano style rainbow ribbon sculpture came from a yard sale. 1950s birds perched on pinecones planter. The back part, the planter part, is a nest.  It's a Japanese import of the sort that was sold in stores such as Woolworths.   A new cat toy from the Goodwill Bins.  Baby Cat isn't big on toys, not like Benny was.   A few of Mickey's gifts were thrifted.  The red grinning dog has the red and green checkered body.  Each check has its own squeaker.  That's from the Bins.  The...

 There was a short window of sunshine on Saturday morning, so Mickey and I went to the park.  It was only 10:00 am, so while sunny, very cold.  But, Mickey hadn't been on a walk in a long time due to rain.  He has a yard to run around in, which he does, right through the puddles, but a walk in the park to sniff around is special.  I took pictures of more than mushrooms, however I took a lot of pictures of mushrooms, and they were new kinds I'd not seen before!  So, the other things have to wait.   Peziza repanda , Recurved Cup or Layered Cup. These have already matured.  Apparently they are so unnoticeable earlier that most people don't even notice them.  I think I would have, I walk along this area of wood chips with my nose to the ground!  There are very, very few photos online of the immature ones.  They were good sized, the bigger ones about 4". In the same area were these unidentified mushrooms.  The second photo may show ...

  Sunday Stamps : V V ase, Still Life with Crystal Bowl , by Roy Lichtenstein (looks like a v ase to me!) USA 2023 V olcano, Galeras Columbia c.1954 V icuña   Peru c.1952 Only four letters left!  Next week is W . 

  Skywatch Friday   The sky was striped a bit before sunrise the other morning. Have a nice weekend.  It's supposed to rain here... again.  It's been raining a lot.  

🎄 MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄 Fittingly, the theme for this week's Thursday Postcard Hunt is Christmas!   1911 c.1930s - 1940s when bright colors, " Golly, " and humorous winks at " curses " would have been popular.  c.1905 c.1910 - 1915 1911 This one is interesting due to its cancellation advertising the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. One of my favorite postcards of all of my postcards!   c.1908 - 1910 printed in Germany A traditional nativty combined with figures from European folk customs. There's a hunter in his traditional dress with his German dachshund and several dead animals. A boy has brought a live animal of some sort in a cage.  Then, a mother with three children are wearing 1880s - early 1900s clothing, and have brought a tree for Jesus' first Christmas.   It may be Joseph hiding in the shadows, or a shepherd.   It just all makes such a strange nativity!   Hope you have a very Merry ...

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge It's the festive time of year!  Happy Christmas Eve!