179/365

Jumbo Jenga

Several months ago I posted another image of this jumbo benga that's located in a play area in downtown Abilene, TX.  The location used to be a restaurant with an outdoor eating area that now has several games for people to interact with.  

This time I passed this place, it was all in shade which made for a better image.

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Chain and Lock

This chain and lock is on some heavy particle board that covers the glass windows that used to be part of a bakery in downtown Abilene, TX.  Right now the building seems abandoned, but it's apparently taken care of by being covered over with the wooden boards.

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Downtown Plant Decor

Downtown Abilene has been revitalized.  There's a lot of decor around.  This plant is just one of several in a row surrounded by rocks.  It's really a beautiful sight.

176/365

Cold Coffee

When I was little and didn't drink coffee, my father would drink iced coffee in the summer.  I never tasted it~~I don't think he put any sweetener in his drink.

As I got older and started drinking coffee in college and after that as an adult, I tried this cold coffee from a shop that's very popular in eastern upstate NY.  I drink hot coffee sometimes, but my drink of choice is this iced coffee.  When I was back in upstate NY a few weeks ago, I treated myself to this drink because they don't make them here in Texas, sad to say.

I surely do miss those drinks!!!

175/365

Wall Decor

In one of the places I visited today, this wall decor just caught my eye.  I love the color and the simplicity of it.

174/365

Photos

When I was still living in upstate NY, some friends and I would take a fieldtrip once a week to a town.  We each had a list of photos to take. Once we got there, we would separate for about an hour to get the photos on the list, then meet up for lunch and discussion about the images we got.  

It was a lot of fun seeing what we each got for the same prompt.

Before I moved there was going to be an art show, so I framed some of my images and left them with one of my friends.  She was kind enough to keep them all these years and when I saw her recently she showed me the pics.  There were originally 9 of them, but I only wanted 6.

Here they are.  They're on the wall in my dining area.  Three are from upstate NY and three are from where I live now.  

When/if I move, I'll have a lot of careful packing to do.

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Tall, skinny bookcase

My parents had this bookcase in their place before they both passed.  I always loved it so, in spite of the sadness of them being gone, I was happy to get it.  

I have way to many books right now because I belong to a bookgroup that meets once a month and many of the books were obtained through used book sites and they only cost a few dollars.  I don't purchase every book we read, just the ones I think I'll want to keep.  Sadly, I keep too many of them, but I love to read and I often read a favorite book several times.  

I need to STOP buying books.  There is, after all, a library in town.  We'll see how that goes.

172/365

Extra Bedroom

I live in an apartment that has 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms.  I could have chosen an apartment with one bedroom/bathroom, but I like the extra space.  

My town is building an AI center and there are sooooo many extra people here doing the building and the work, ugh.  Apartment prices have gone up (because people are greedy) and so have trailer park sites and the cost of homes has gone up.  

Last week I found out that I can have a roommate who is working for one of the hospitals in town.  She'll be here for the week, but only for 4 nights because she's going home to her family in another town each weekend.  She'll get the other bedroom/bathroom and I'll get help with the rent. 

I hope this works out.   

171/365

Throw Pillows

Several years ago, my friend had these pillows made for her living room by someone.  When I was visiting her recently, she asked me about them and then she put them all on the couch and I took a photo of them.

I think they're so pretty~~green is one of my fave colors and I love the brown couch.

We finally remembered who made them.

170/365

Wooden Quilt Square

A painted quilt square is located on a building in upstate NY.  

169/365

Window Grafitti

I was in town this afternoon and one of the vacant buildings has large windows.  One of the windows had this graffiti painted on it.

Abilene is know as the Storybook Capital of the United States, so they have a lot of Winnie the Pooh graphics scattered around as statues and graffiti.

168/365

Items in a Box

Several years ago I became interested in this concept of putting items in these boxes because I wanted to do my grand kids in the boxes.  I practiced with these still life items before I photographed the kids.

I found this image in my files.  (the kiddos in the boxes came out really good)

I didn't do kids in a box this year~~my daughter just had a baby late in the year and the weather didn't cooperate much.  Hopefully I'll be able to do a photo in the spring.

167/365

Two Painted Faces

There's a fairly new shopping center on the other side of Abilene and in the parking area are several places where the trash is picked up by trucks.  The trash receptacles are surrounded on three sides with stone walls that are painted so they become part of the decor.  This is one of the walls.  

What a great idea to decorate the trash areas like this.

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Grandma and baby

My daughter is crazy about the little one.  

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My great-granddaughter with her grandpa

The little one made the rounds with the adults she knew while we were on the boat.

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Granddaughter and Great-granddaughter

We went to the lake today.  It was overcast and just the right temperature for a ride on the boat.

The little one was getting tired so she was snuggling with her mom.

She just turned one last week. She's adorable but I haven't seen her enough for her to be used to me yet.

163/365

Two Rivers

These two river converge at this spot.  In the lower left corner there's a dock for loading boats into the river and a picnic area.  

162/365

Spanish Church

This beautiful Spanish Church is located on one of the side streets in Amsterdam, NY.  

161/365

Defunct Phone Booth

This phone booth has been at the boat launch for years.  One year there was a lot of weeds and flowers growing on it, but this year, not so much.  I can't believe the booth is still there, but it's a reminder of days gone by.