Clouds Rolling In

This past Monday afternoon while waiting for my sister Louise to go over to our sister Phyllis to play cards, I watched these beautiful clouds rolling in and took the photos below with my cellphone. I just knew I would save them for today's Friday Foto Friends. Thanks to Blogger I was able to post them Monday evening to show up now.

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This morning at 9am I'm scheduled for an EchoUltrasound text. Hopefully I'll hear good news as I never had any problems with my heart. I consider it part of my yearly test. I just hope they'll let me know what they see. A little prayer won't hurt either ;)

If you're interested in joining the Friday Foto Friends you can visit Debbie by clicking on her name. Until my next posting dear friends be blessed.

Unconscious Mutterings And More

Here's this past week's Unconscious Mutterings meme. I really enjoy doing this meme for It's fun for me. All you do is answer with the first thought that comes to your mind for each question. Usually one word answers will do. I usually answer tongue in cheek. :-)

I say ... and you think ...?

1. Basketball ~ Not a favorite
2. Traffic ~ Jam
3. Phoenix ~ Bird in flight
4. Tapping ~ On the door
5. Young man ~ Becomes Old Man (LOL)
6. Hulk ~ Big and Green
7. Whiskey ~ Not my cup of coffee!
8. Market ~ Place
9. Career ~ Retired
10. Family ~ Ties


Now hopefully you'll try either on your own blog or answer here in comments.

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My Sister-in-Law and Brother
Josie and Joe

Tomorrow my younger brother comes in from San Jose, CA. to visit for a week. It's been three years since he and my SIL were here last. It will be wonderful to see him again. I'm only sorry my sister-in-law couldn't come with him. I'll probably not post again until Friday. So until the next time dear friends, have a day of blessings.

My Love Of Books

I was always an avid reader and used to read 2-3 books a week. Although I've slowed down in my reading, it's still one of my favorite pass times. I found an old question book meme that I had posted a few years back and I see my answer would still be the same.

  When growing up did your family share your love of books? If so, did one person get you into reading? And, do you have any family-oriented memories with books and reading? (Family trips to bookstore, reading the same book as a sibling or parent, etc.)  When I was a child, reading books were the way to go for enjoyment. I had no real influence as I just loved to read and at Christmas and my birthdays my aunts would always give me books. First and foremost was and is The Bible.
I grew up with all the great classics like Dickens, Cristie, Austin, Tolkein, Lewis, Verne, etc.. and I still enjoy reading them today. My father used to love anything science fiction and I remember sneaking his books at night and reading them in my room after everyone was sleeping.

Do you read? What is your favorite book or books? Let me know what books you like to read if you do. And until next time be blessed.

This Week's Reading For Me

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Well the first weekend of summer is here and most schools are closed and children are home for the next 2 months and this means many days at the beach or parks for family and friends gatherings. Make sure there are lifeguards stationed at the beaches and lakes. Better safe than sorry.
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I hope it's a happy and blessed weekend and the weather holds out. Until the next time dear friends enjoy.

Friday Foto Friends Train Tracks

Not having anything new to post I thought I would repost an early one. Anyone that knows me, knows my love for trains and seeing empty tracks at different times and seasons brings out the artist in me. There is something about those empty tracks that are beautiful besides being forlorn and lonely. I can almost hear the distant whistle and rumbling train coming down these lonely lines. Come take a trip with me to see the beauty in empty tracks with me. Tell me what you think when you see them.

The Fog and Tracks of Georgia

The Empty Track of Mt. Pocono, Penn.

The Rails and Rainbow of Nashville, Tenn.

The Sunset Tracks of Secret Pass, Nevada

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Just a quick reminder: I lost all my followers. Pretty please dear friends follow my blog again. Thank you. And thanks to those who did. It's truly appreciated.

If you're interested in joining the Friday Foto Friends you can visit Debbie by clicking on her name. Until next time dear friends have a lovely weekend.

Wednesday's Poetry Day #6

Years ago living in a Cape Cod type house we had many treasures stored in the attic. Many things saved of my children, their father and myself. Remembering this I wrote a poem not really of my memories but memories of many others who stored treasures in their the attic.

Treasures In The Attic

What treasures can I find today
As I rummage in the attic up above
What treasures will I find today
Many saved and definitely loved

In the far corner stands a mirror
The black stained glass cannot hide
The image in the background of
A faded gown of a long ago bride

On the side I turn to see before me
The wooden sailboat on the stand
A wonderful hand crafted sailboat
Surely made by an artistic hand

My eyes wander to the corner wall
There an old tattered trunk I see
Filled with loving memories of old
Children's clothes folded carefully

Oh what treasures I have found today
While I rummaged through the place
Oh so many memories of days long ago
A tattered trunk and faded gown of lace.

Toni Taddeo ©

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The painting is by John O'Brien (June 2, 1951- October 24, 2004). He created a unique style, which has become known as "contemporary romantic realism. Click on his name to visit his site.

Just a reminder: I lost all my followers. Pretty please dear friends follow my blog again. With that said I hope you enjoyed rummaging through the attic with me. Until the next time my friends, have a day of blessings.

Tuesday's Simple Woman's Daybook

I thought I'd do a shortened version of the Simple Woman's Daybook for today. I haven't done one in awhile so here goes.

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... it's 5:00 am and dark and quiet. Street lights are still on. We had such strong storms yesterday that did damage around the area. The rain and wind along with thunder and lightening was so forceful you couldn't see your hands in front of your face. More than 1,600 people lost power after heavy rain, wind and thunderstorms pummeled Columbia County on Monday afternoon. Thank goodness I didn't.

I am thinking... about my Tai Chi exercise class I had yesterday. It was fun with 10 other women participating and I'll be participating every Monday and Wednesday morning. The instructor is a woman named Jenna. She was patient, friendly and so easy to follow. Tai Chi is such a graceful and peaceful exercise and those who couldn't stand too long were able to sit or hold on to a chair for balance. It's an 8 week course and I'm looking forward to participating. I'm surprised as how much I enjoyed it.

I am wearing... a comfortable knit tunic, slacks and slipper sandals right now.

I am creating... this post entry right now. I'm happy with my new blog and graphics.

I am going... to try and get some sleep after I finish writing this and putting it online. I seem to be sleeping less and less lately.

I am looking forward to... tomorrow's exercise. Not much else planned

Around the apartment... Nothing to do as I do my household chores early in the morning, every morning. It's easy when you live alone.

One of my favorite things... To do is relax with a cup of coffee and maybe create some new graphics or write a poem or read a book. Right now I'm reading another Mary Higgins Clark mystery titled I've got you under my skin.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Aside from Monday cards with my sisters  (we played last night)  and tomorrow's exercise I have nothing really planned. I'll just wait and see what turns up.

Today's photo... is a just because I like it. LOL!

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Hmmm, just noticed I lost all my followers. Pretty please dear friends follow my blog again. Not much else to post and so dear friends have a day of blessings.

Tai Chi For Me??

My apartment complex has started free Tai Chi lessons twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. My sister Louise who exercises and walks daily and moved here with her hubby in my building has signed up along with unsure me. LOL! I say unsure because I can't stand for long nor can I walk for long with my bad knees. But they supposedly am doing it for us "older" folks.. My body may be old but I have the mind of a 30 year old and think okay! I'll try it. I found two photos of seniors participating in classes. The first one is how I imagine most seniors taking the class.

Now this next photo is how I imagine the way I'll be participating. If so, I'm all for it.LOL!!

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Photo Of The Day

I couldn't resist posting this one

How many of you have taken or are taking Tai Chi lessons and do you like it? Let me know by leaving a comment and I'll let you know how I make out in my next post. In the meantime dear friends have a blessed day ahead.

The Art Of Lighthouses

Ahhhh, another wonderful original painting. This one is titled "Seascape With Lighthouse" by Charles Codman (circa 1800 – 1842) who was a noted landscape painter of Portland, Maine. His art is featured at the Portland Museum of Art as mature, fine early American landscape painting. Codman began as a decorative painter and had no formal training but eventually produced mature works of romance and beauty. His work was "discovered" in 1828 by the contemporary art critic, John Neal (1793–1876).

Here is one of my own poems that I think goes well with it.

The Water's Guiding Key.

There you stand so silently
at water's edge so proud and tall,
A majestic light that warns
of coming danger unforeseen by all.

The darkened rolling waters
with thickened fog in the night,
Is lost of danger and distress
when soon appears your guiding light.

Now all is safe and calmness
rises from the roughened sea,
And once again your shining light
becomes the water's guiding key.

Saving lives and boats from distress
and many dangers unforeseen by all
As you proudly light the darken sea
so keep on standing proud and tall.

Toni Taddeo &copy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's all there is my friends. I leave you with this quote by ~Charles Simic~ "Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships"...   Until next time be blessed.

Friday Foto Friends ~ Manhattanhenge 2017

Next month New York City has the opportunity to experience what's known as Manhattanhenge. The phenomenal moment when the alignment of the sunset with Manhattan's grid. This will happen July 12, at 8:20 p.m. E.D.T. and July 13, at 8:21 p.m. E.D.T.

One of two days when the sunset is exactly aligned with the grid of streets in Manhattan. Clear cross streets include 14th, 23rd, 34th. 42nd, 57th, and several streets adjacent to them. The street grid for most of Manhattan is rotated 29° clockwise from true east-west. Thus, when the many pedestrians that show up for this, line the street  (and take photos)  and look down the center line of the street westward towards New Jersey and the Hudson River, they can see the full solar disk slightly above the horizon and in between the profiles of the buildings. The most popular spots are 42nd Street, with its flashing signs, as well as 57th, 34th, 23rd and 14th Streets. There you will see people bobbing in and out of the crosswalk, hoping to snap the perfect sunset. Because you have to be in the middle of the street to see Manhattanhenge, remember that safety comes first.

I wish I was there to be able to see it. But I can only see it in photos. If you're interested in joining the Friday Foto Friends you can visit Debbie by clicking on her name. Until next time dear friends have a lovely and blessed weekend.

Our American Flag

Today is Flag Day and I thought I would post some known and little known facts about our American Flag. Long may she wave.

A Star for Every Colony

There have been 27 official versions of the American flag, starting with the first one in 1777 which displayed 13 stripes and 13 stars (for the 13 original colonies). When Kentucky and Vermont joined the union, the flag took on two more stars, so that from 1795 to 1818, 15 stripes and 15 stars graced the flag. It was this version of the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to compose “The Star-Spangled Banner,” during the battle at Fort McHenry. Anticipating a crowded field of stripes, lawmakers decided to honor each new state with a star, and leave the stripes at 13, after 1818.

Why Red, White & Blue?

Historians aren’t sure why the U.S. flag was designed in red, white, and blue, but if you’re wondering what it means, look to another great American symbol: the Great Seal of the United States. The colors of the Great Seal, which was created in 1785 (two years after the original flag design), were adopted from the American flag, according to U.S. Government documents. Consequently, the significance of the colors was retrofitted for the flag from the explanation for the seal given by Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress in 1782:

“White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the colour of the Chief, signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.”

The Flag’s Sleep-Wake Schedule

According to Federal flag laws and regulations, the flag should be displayed from sunrise to sunset (unless there’s inclement weather). That said, for patriotic effect, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day as long as it’s “properly illuminated” while it’s dark out. Want to catch the flag in its nighttime habitat? The U.S. flag is flown 24 hours a day, by either presidential proclamation or by law, at these locations:

Fort McHenry, National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland
Flag House Square, Baltimore, Maryland
United States Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima), Arlington, Virginia
On the Green of the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts
The White House, Washington, D.C.
United States customs ports of entry
Grounds of the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge State Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

The Origins of “Old Glory”

In 1824, a sea captain from Massachusetts named William Driver bestowed the nickname “Old Glory” on his American flag, which crowned the main mast of his ship and had been sewn for him by his mother and other female admirers. After he retired from seafaring and settled in Nashville, Tennessee, he continued to proudly display Old Glory outside his house. Legend has it his 10-by-17-foot Old Glory withstood numerous Confederate attempts to deface it during the Civil War, and that Driver flew the flag over the Tennessee Statehouse once the war was over. In 1922, Driver’s daughter, Mary Jane Roland, presented Old Glory as a gift to President Warren G. Harding, who then gifted it to the Smithsonian.

Here's wishing all Americans a Happy and Blessed Flag Day. Hang up or out a Flag today. Until the next time dear friends, Have a day of blessings.

Travels Of The Unusual

Every once in awhile I travel the world  (through the internet)  and look for unusual structures like trees, houses, strange art, etc. And can't get over the things I find. Here is my latest unusual find from around the world I thought you might enjoy along my travels with me. Click Photos to view larger.

This Swiss hut incorporates various technological advances that make it over 90% self-sufficient
in terms of energy needs.

Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Turning Torso is the tallest residential building in all of Sweden. From the bottom to the top, the building twists a full 90 degrees.

This "table-top" addition to the Ontario College of Art and Design sits over 25 meters above the ground. It received the "Award of Excellence" from the Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Awards, the highest architectural honor bestowed by the city of Toronto.

Sopot's Krzywy Domek, which despite its appearance is a largely typical office building, is considered one of the seven wonders of tri-city region encompassing Sopot, Gdańsk, and Gdynia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I guess my art and wondering mind loves to look for anything unusual. {G}..I love this kind of stuff. Hope you enjoyed seeing it too. Until next time be blessed my friends.

Dreamers & Treasures

Again I'm featuring a painting of one of my favorite artists Mark Shasha. He is an American artist and also an author, illustrator and educator. His subjects are often familiar and are usually inspired by the textures and light found along the New England coast where he lives and works. This oil painting is simply titled, "Sea Of Dreams".

Here is one of my own beach poems I thought fit well with the subject.
Treasure By The Sea

As the warm sun covers the seashore
with its sweltering bright and hazy light
And all around above the flying seagulls
coo and dance together in lazy flight,

Watching, I sit upon my beach chair fanning
my face with both my sunburned hands.
And listen to the soft rushing sounds
of breaking waves sweeping over the sand.

"Mommy! over here" he called waving to me
"Hurry! come and see what I have found."
And as I walked over to where he stood
I could see a shining object on the ground

"Isn't this neat!" He said to me as I finally
reached the spot where my little boy stood.
And holding out the round object he waited
as I replied, "I'd like to hold it if I could."

"Sure you can Mommy, but only if you give it back,
cause this is my treasure to put in my sack"
I smiled as I shook the sand out of his crumpled hair,
and said, "you found it first and that's only fair."

And as we walked back to the spot where we stayed
I smiled and remembered when on a beach I had played,
as a child with my brother and where we too had found
a round shiny sand dollar sticking out of a sandy mound.

Toni Taddeo ©
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That's all there is my friends. I leave you with this fitting quote by ~Pierce Harris~ "Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things"...   Until the next time dear friends be blessed.

Friday Foto Friends ~ Morning Light

Favorite Photos of mine taken in early morning light. I'm partial to sky photos especially when they are so pretty and colorful. The first one with the church was taken at sunrise, the other two at 5:00 am.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~If you're interested in joining the Friday Foto Friends you can visit Debbie by clicking on her name. Until next time dear friends have a lovely and blessed weekend.

Wednesday's Poetry Day #5

Looking forward to the "real" summer weather in my area and remembering what real summer weather was like growing up in the city. Remembering those days made me write the following poem although the area where I came from wasn't exactly like my poem. That was more the inner city area.

Summer In The City

Summer in the city and sweltering hot is the sun
Fire hydrant water is gushing through the street
Laughing, splashing, jumping and having lots of fun
It's the city children's way of beating summer heat.

Fanning themselves with make shift paper fans
Mothers watching while sitting on the front stoop
As music blasts from somewhere up the stairs
Older kids gather across the street in a group.

While up above us the subway train rumbles to a stop
Workers coming home from their daily down town grind
Stopping at the candy store opened down the block
For a cooling drink leaving the working day behind.

Summer in the city and sweltering hot is the sun
As fire hydrant water gushes through the street
Laughing, splashing, jumping and having lots of fun
It's the city children's way of beating summer heat.

Toni Taddeo ©

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Hope you enjoyed my "Summer In The City" poem. Until the next time my friends, have a day of blessings.

Senses & Wishes Again

Thought this was worthy of a repeat: Here is an old meme I had spotted on an online friend's blog a few years ago. Skimming through my old entries on my flash drive I thought I would post it again. Besides the senses I thought I'd include 14 wishes for you.

5 Delights for Each Sense

I love the taste of…
*Freshly Made Coffee*
Lemon Meringue Pie
A Good Pizza
New York Cheesecake
Fresh Warm Italian Bread

I love the sight of…
Children Playing
Sailboats on a Lake
Autumn in New York
*Soft Rain Against my Window*
Our Family Get Together's

I love the feel of…
A Newborn Baby in my Arms
A Soft Breeze
Hugs From My Kids & Grand Kids
Silk Sheets & Pillows
*The Shore & Sand Under my Toes*

I love the smell of…
Fresh Coffee Brewing
Warm Cookies Out of The Oven
New Blossoms in Early Spring
The Air After a Soft Rain
*Wood Burning in a Fireplace*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My Wishes For You

I wish for you the warmth of the sun
I wish for you peace when day is done
I wish for you the joys of life
I wish for you freedom from strife
I wish for you twinkling stars at night
I wish for you they always shine bright
I wish for you no ailing days
I wish for you no moody ways
I wish for you a childlike curiosity
I wish for you through their eyes to see
I wish for you true friends galore
I wish for you to always meet more
I wish for you a close family's love
I wish for you a faith from above

These are my wishes for you my friend
And of course I wish they'll never end.

Poem By Toni Taddeo ©

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I hope you enjoyed my senses and wishes as much as I've enjoyed sharing them with you. So, dear friends until the next time, be blessed.

Friday Foto Friends ~ Mark Shasha Painting

I thought for today's Friday Foto Friends I would feature a painting of one of my favorite artists Mark Shasha. He is an American artist and also an author, illustrator and educator. His subjects are often familiar and are usually inspired by the textures and light found along the New England coast where he lives and works. This is one of the oil paintings from his site titled fittingly, "A Day In June ©". Beautiful isn't it!

What I love most about his paintings is that they almost look like photographs. They are so realistic.
By the way, that's a water fountain statute in the left background for those who wondered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~If you're interested in joining the Friday Foto Friends you can visit Debbie by clicking on her name. Until next time dear friends have a lovely and blessed weekend.