091/365

Frog Decor

I was leaving a friend's house today when I noticed this cute little frog decor in the front yard of the house next door.   

090/365

Tree Trunk and Hydrant

One of my photo prompts was Lone Tree.  While I was looking around for such an object, I saw this tree with the fire hydrant in the background.  

I just thought the composition was interesting and there are times when I get desperate for an image of some kind.  I like the little touch of orange color in the background.

089/365

Meter Guardrail

Throughout town there are meter units that have guardrails in front of them to keep them safe from car traffic.  I've never seen anything like this in other places I've lived.  

088/365

Clean alleyway

While walking around downtown today to find a photo op, I passed through this amazingly clean alleyway and decided to grab a photo of it.  

There's often graffiti on the walls, but seldom is there trash on the ground.

087/365

Dragonfly

I bought this dragonfly for my car quite a few years ago.  

I've never even considered changing it out for another piece of decor.

I just love this one.

086/365

Farm Fresh Eggs

The price of eggs is ridiculous.  It's a conspiracy that they've killed so many of  the chickens and the price of eggs has skyrocketed.

Someone from church brings eggs to our SS class and anyone who wants them can take them, free of charge, So... not only are they free, but they're beautiful. What a blessing.

085/365

Antique Rake

On  a ride down a country road, there was an area where there were many pieces of antique equipment on display.  The gate was open so we walked around to look at the equipment.  

084/365

Abandoned Country House 3

Another beautiful weather day.  A friend and I spent the afternoon driving around looking for photo ops.

We came upon this abandoned house.  Sadly we couldn't get any closer because of the locked gate and the barbed wire, but I think the image  looks great anyway.

083/365

Weathered Santa Decor

This moon with a sleeping Santa  is a piece of decor on a downtown business in Abilene, Texas.  I've never seen it before but I made the image in the early spring, so it looks like it's left out all year.

I didn't even see a sign indicating what the business is.

I think this is so cute.  

082/365

Graffiti With Pole

In the alleyway downtown that's painted, this pole isn't painted.  It's too bad they didn't paint the pole the same colors as the wall it sits in front of.  

081/365

Sign at Zoo

This afternoon my daughter/grandkids and I went to the Cisco Zoo for an outing.  The weather was beautiful (maybe a little warm).  The Zoo was in operation between 1920-1930 so now there's just walking trails and the remains of animal enclosures along with several abandoned cabins that were rented to people wanting to stay on the grounds of the zoo property.  

We spent time walking the trails on the property at the opposite end from where the animal enclosures are.  Obviously, there's a Balancing Rock nearby.  I got a laugh out of the sign.

The kiddos had a great time and they were very sad when we said it was time to leave.

080/365

Concho County Courthouse with Markers

The Concho County Courthouse is located in the small town of Paint Rock, Texas.

The Second Empire Style structure was completed in 1886 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The markers are slightly out of focus so as to draw attention to the building itself.

079/365

Alleyway Artwork

I was walking around downtown Abilene this afternoon waiting for my meeting to begin.  There's an alleyway that's been recently painted with beautifully colored graphic designs.  

I made a few images, so I post this one today.

078/365

Dog Graffiti on Business Wall

I was early for my hair appointment today so I spent some time walking around town looking for photo ops when I saw this beautiful dog painted on the outside of an abandoned building.  

077/365

Downtown Grain Silos 3

In a downtown area of Abilene, along the railroad tracks there are several different grain silos.  I honestly don't know why I love to photograph them as much as I do, but here ya go.    

076/365

Shakelford County Courthouse 2

This beautiful building is the Shakelford County Courthouse located in Albany, Texas.  The photo was taken on a winter day, so the grass is brown and the trees are bare although there's a beautiful blue sky in the background. 

When the trees are in bloom it's much harder to see the structure.  There's a pretty gazebo in the yard at the corner of the courthouse building and off to the right side of the building near the sidewalk there are two stone tablets with the 10 Commandments on them.

075/365

Lesser Flamingo

Just inside the zoo entrance there's an enclosure with Lesser Flamingos.  They're called Lesser Flamingos because they're the smaller of the flamingo birds and they skim the water with their beaks to find food instead of inserting their faces into the water.  They also seem to be a lighter pink.

They're just as beautiful as the larger variety of flamingos though.

074/365

Jungle Bounce House

This afternoon the weather got really beautiful so I decided to make another trip to the zoo.  I didn't realize that there was some event going on there. There were a lot of families there with their kiddos and presentations happening throughout the zoo grounds. It was so good to see all the kids having such a good time.

This bounce house was right inside the entrance.  I've never seen one like it before, so of course I had to make a few images of it.  

73/365

Counted With the Stars

I belong to a bookgroup that meets once a month.  The book that we're reading this month is this one.  It's a story of the 10 Plagues told from the point of view of an Egyptian woman who becomes a believer.  I couldn't put it down.

The writing is wonderful and I'm going to get other books by this author.

If you're looking for a good book, check this one out.

72/365

Grant Teaff Statue

For the first time ever, I was on the inside of the campus of McMurry University in Abilene, Texas.  I saw this beautiful sculpture of Grant Teaff, former head football coach from 1960-1965.  I only had my cell phone with me but I think the image came out okay anyway. 

71/365

Branch Photo

I went to visit someone in a small senior living complex and this beautiful branch photo was hanging in one of the hallways.  I couldn't get a photo of it without the light reflecting in the upper left, but the framed image of bare branches is just lovely.  

70/365

Baby Quilt in the Making

My granddaughter is having a baby girl~~my first great-grandbaby.  

(I don't know how all that time has passed)

I decided to stay home this morning in order to work on the quilt.  I have plenty of time, but I really want to get it finished and check it off my list.  

The pattern doesn't include a border around the outside, but I think I'll add one so the quilt will be a little bigger.  Now I have to go to the fabric store and find something that will coordinate with what I've already made.  

Nothing is ever as simple as you think it will be.

I hope my granddaughter likes it.

69/365

Abandoned Firehouse Side Door

The side door of an abandoned firehouse in a small town in Texas.

68/365

Abandoned Businesses

This is a block of abandoned businesses in a small west Texas town.  I wonder if someone is paying taxes on these properties? 

67/365

Rural Mailboxes

Hmmm, wonder how many of these mailboxes are in use.  They look kind of abandoned.  There is a number on one of them that I removed, but the others look not so good.

For some reason, I love these mailbox groups when I see them.

66/365

Kids on a Trampoline

I have permission to post this image.  I saw these 4 littles playing on the trampoline and I asked them to stand in a line and jump when I gave the signal.  The littlest one kept landing on her bottom as the others were jumping.  She didn't seem too upset, and the others were having great fun showing off for me and my camera.

065/365

Hiking Boot in Snow

While in Fairbanks, AK, I went to Pioneer Village one day.  I was adjusting my camera to see if it was focusing ok and I took this shot of my hiking boot.  For some crazy reason, I really like this shot. It might not say what venue I'm at, but it sure says I'm in winter weather.

064/365

BW Abandoned Business

In a small town in Texas there's a single block where the business are abandoned and in bad disrepair.

This building had an upstairs but there's no evidence of the 2nd floor left except the indication on the wall.

63/365

Car Dealership?

I've seen this type of building in many towns, but they've all been abandoned or used for some other business.  Wonder what they were originally.  Kind of looks like a car dealership or car repair place.  In any event, they're interesting.

This building is located in Paint Rock, Texas, Concho County.

062/365

New York State Capitol Building

This incredibly beautiful building is the New York State Capitol Building in Albany, New York.  The city of Albany is the state capital.

Construction took 32 years and was completed in 1899.  It was constructed by hand and cost $25 million.  It is part of the Empire State Plaza and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

061/365

Downtown Church

A high key winter image of a church in Abilene, Texas.  

060/365

Concho County Courthouse

This beautiful courthouse is the Concho County Courthouse located in Paint Rock, Texas.  I'm glad I had the chance to photograph it today, since once the trees leaf out, this view of the building wouldn't be possible.  

The building was built in 1886 and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.  It was built of limestone in the Second Empire Style.

059/365

Woman on Billboard

This billboard is located in north Abilene, Texas.  I can't remember what the billboard is advertising, but it probably is for some woman's cause.  I thought it was interesting and I really liked it when I cropped the words and the woman.

058/365

Painted Fish

This  painted fish is seen on an outside wall of an abandoned 

tackle shop in north Abilene, Texas.

057/365

Roadside Mailboxes

Barely hanging on.

056/365

Drinking Soda

I was wandering around a part of town I don't usually go to with a friend and we came upon a barely used Mexican restaurant.  It had this poster on one of the outside walls.  It's obviously old and worn, but I love the faded look of it.  

055/365

A Building Renovation

This might have been a school once upon a time.  Not sure, but it's been under renovation for many years.  It's seems like it's almost done and it's really beautiful but I don't know what the finished structure will be.  

I think it's really beautiful.

054/365

Gear Sculpture

This gear sculpture is just outside an electric company that has a beautiful mural on the wall on the south side of downtown Abilene.  

53/365

Retro mailboxes in a Retro Post Office

Small town Texas post office with these beautiful mailboxes inside the lobby area.

52/365

Bare Winter Trees

A tree line along a service road not far outside of Abilene, Texas.

51/365

Headstone

On the way home from our photo journey today we stopped at a cemetery and spent some time there looking for military headstones.

It was quite a large cemetery. We only searched one corner of it for stones that were of military members.  Sadly we also saw some headstones of babies, some who died at birth, some who were months old, some who were around two.   The heartbreak that the parents endured must have been awful.

When I saw this stone I cried...and I honestly couldn't speak for a few minutes when I saw the others.

50/365

Large Pond

Texas trivia: 

 There is only ONE natural lake in Texas but this is not it.

Although there are over 7,000 lakes in the state, only Caddo Lake in east Texas is natural.

In comparison, NY state has over 7,000 natural fresh water lakes.

Alaska has 3,197 named lakes and about 3 million un-named lakes.

A friend and I took a photo field trip today.  We were driving down a service road along one of the main highways looking for a photo op.  We stopped to photograph something else, but when I turned around I saw this partially frozen pond.  The temp was about 36 today, but in the previous days it had been in the teens and I guess it wasn't warm enough today to melt all the surface ice.

049/365

Structure at Pioneer Park

This log cabin structure is located within the gates of Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska. 

It's currently shuttered during the winter, but is still an imposing building.

I liked the red sign on the otherwise brown building.

048/365

Grace Museum Advertisements

There's a museum in downtown Abilene, Texas called The Grace.  It's a wonderful little museum and there's a playroom for the littles on the top floor that's quite impressive.

Outside and behind the building is this wall of advertising and to the left there's a parking area for guests.

I just thought this was really good looking so one day I made several images.  I like the others I took, but this is the one you get to see.

047/365

Backyard Sauna

Seen in the backyard of a home in the hills just outside of Fairbanks, Alaska on a cold winter's day.

046/365

Lone Tree

My photo club assigned topic for Jan was Lone Tree.  It was difficult to find a "lone" tree that looked interesting, so I just scrapped the topic and entered other photos.

The Jan meeting was canceled for some reason that didn't make sense to me and rescheduled for another month, so I guess I have another chance to enter that topic.  While walking around downtown Fairbanks, I saw this tree, and others, that were separated enough from other foliage to fit the topic.  

I thought this tree looked beautiful, so I tried to capture it, but there are still buildings and cars showing.

Really......it's just a snow covered fir tree, nothing special so I'm not sure I'll enter it.

I just think it's pretty against the gorgeous blue sky on a cold winter day.

045/365

Chasing Aurora

There was an incredible display of the Aurora lights last night.  My camera was acting funny so I missed some really good images, but I'm happy with what I got.

044/365

Unknown First Family Sculpture

This beautiful sculpture of a native unknown first family is located in 

the Golden Heart Plaza park in downtown Fairbanks, Alaska.

043/365

Museum of the North~~University of Alaska, Fairbanks

This beautiful building is the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.  It's a gorgeous building and I've taken many photos of it in various seasons.  The large bricks are intended to mimic bricks that an igloo is made of.  

042/365

A Hand Up

This sculpture is located in a park in downtown Fairbanks, Alaska.  A Hand Up is a tribute to Walter Harper, a 20 year old Athabascan who was the first person to reach the peak of Denali, the highest peak in North America in 1913.

He's seen offering his hand to help others reach the peak.

The sculpture was created by Gary Lee Price.