Winter Fog

81/365

Where I live, the closest Starbucks is inside a Target store.  It serves the same items and has the same logo, but it's totally missing the ambiance.  

The next closest one is about 40 minutes away.  It's a stand-alone shop, and it has some of the ambiance that Starbucks is known for, but it doesn't have any outside seating for the warmer seasons.

On my way home from the granddaughter's soccer game this morning, I stopped at that stand-alone Starbucks to get an ice-coffee. I wasn't going to get any pastry until I saw....wait for it....their seasonal

Cranberry.    Bliss.    Bar!!!

If I had had my computer or kindle with me, I would have made myself comfortable and settled in for a while to enjoy the coffee and bar.  But instead, I spent some time photographing my goodies and then got in my car and enjoyed them while driving home.  It wasn't the same, but the bar tasted just as good.

Our temps today were a balmy 45 or so.  As a result, there was fog all over and since the next "assignment" for my photo group is 'Dreamy', I pulled the car over, grabbed my trusty point-and-shoot and did the best I could.  I really wanted to get out of the car and stand in the middle of the road, but it was raining and I didn't want my camera to get wet.  Maybe next time.

The Making of a House

80/365

My grandchildren have very full social calendars.  Between their schedules and mine, it's almost impossible to get together with the 3 of them at one time.  (Forget the oldest one--between sports and working, he's never available--but would an 18-year-old want to hang out with us anyway?)

So today the all the stars aligned and we were able to spend some time together.

Making.   Gingerbread.   Houses

Now you have to understand that I'm not a "crafty" person.  I usually run screaming out of the house when someone mentions doing some kind of artsy/craftsy project. But you also have to understand that I'm desperate for activities to do with these little people.  So it was I who came up with this idea.

Youtube made it look so easy.  I'm here to tell you, though, that it's not.  (Jacob agreed with me, as you can see in the photo)  But we persevered and they each wound up with some semblance of a Gingerbread House.

And they had fun, which was really the main objective anyway.

VICTORIAN STROLL IN TROY, NY

79/365

Every 2nd Sunday in December, Troy, NY holds an annual Victorian Stroll.  It's one of the few cities in the area that holds it during the daytime.  Besides being a lot of fun, it's a tad warmer during the daylight and it's a great place for wonderful photo ops.

A friend and I decided to go today.  It was, by my uncertain calculations, the 14th day of cloudy, dreary skies, but for photography, it was perfect.  No precipitation and the temps hovered around 32, so all in all it was pretty tolerable.

Walking into Troy from the parking area we first saw this monument to the Viet Nam War.  It's really beautiful, so we spent a few minutes there taking some photos.

Frosty the Snow Man was a big hit and a lot of children we getting their pics taken with him.  None were crying, as they often do with Santa, I guess because  Frosty has such a happy face. 

There's nothing like attending an event like this with a fellow shutter-bug...

This juggler was on stilts doing her act, but I'm such a nut about getting close-ups I forgot to get her full length. 

I don't know what these folks were doing, but it was some kind of reel with the sticks and they were really enjoying themselves.

Santa and his elf were happy to pose with the passers-by.  They started playing shortly after this mom and girl left and they were really good.

They weren't too bad at hamming it up for the "tourists" with the cameras either.

I played around with this image to try and make it look a little vintage.  I like the results.