12-of-12: September 2010

Hello from the new home of my 12-of-12 photos!  I'm approaching my 2-year anniversary of 12-of-12 participation and decided after last month's submission that I no longer wanted my 12 on a separate blog from my main site.  SO... from now on, please visit me (and my 12-of-12 shots) here.

For those of you new to the 12-of-12, it's a fun photography project started by Chad Darnell that goes something like this... On the 12th of each month, you post 12 photos that represent your day.  You do this for all 12 months.  There are other rules (more like guidelines), but you get the gist.  Visit Chad's site to learn more or see photos from other 12-ers around the world.

September's 12th falls on a Sunday, so the hubby and I planned a full day with (hopefully) lots of photo opportunities.  We were not disappointed.  Even with a bit of rain in the morning, we got a TON of shots... so many so, that I'm totally breaking the "rule of 12" because I couldn't shrink my set any further.

So without further ado..

12:12am at home

 Last night we watched 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' with Jack Nickolson.  Interesting film.  I didn't realize how long it was.  It was 11:45pm when it ended.  Since I'm not usually awake this late, I had to stay up a little longer to get an early shot on the 12th.  I felt this was a good time for today's project.

9am at home

Good morning!!  Had a special treat this morning for breakfast... Cranberry Honey Oatmeal bread/toast with our coffee.  YUM!  It tasted extra nice after my somewhat soggy and chilly bike ride.

1pm in Fredonia, NY

It's Concord Grape season in Western New York, so that means a road trip to Fredonia to Lasecki's Farms (a small family farm, the kind we like to support).  We got our grapes from them last year and they were AWESOME!  This year we learned that we could PICK OUR OWN!  We grabbed a couple baskets and some shears and into the vines we went.

Look at these beauties.  They smell heavenly and taste even better.  (So sorry this isn't smell-o-vision, folks).

3pm at Evangola State Park, Irving, NY

Our road trip continued up Route 5 to the park and beach!  No, 65-degrees & windy doesn't really make it a normal beach day, but it was PERFECT for the pups.  The beach is closed for swimming which means dogs have a chance to romp in the surf.  This is the south cost of Lake Erie.

The hubby and I had dueling cameras today - he was taking a picture of this tree when I snapped mine of him.

After our walk on the beach, we did a bit of geocaching!  Here are the kids relaxing (crashed-out) after their hike (with their find, of course).

On our way out of the park, we saw this cool old covered bridge.  I don't know the story behind it, unfortunately.  I couldn't help playing with the "antiquing" effect in iPhoto.

Mr. and Mrs. Whitetail Deer wished us farewell as we headed home.

8pm at home
Dinner's done, time for one more 'to do' before sitting down to publish my 12-of-12.  Turning those fresh-picked grapes into jam.

A View from the Porch
Last night's and today's rain prompted mixed feelings... kind of a bummer to not have a super sunny day for picture-taking, but we were so happy because we REALLY needed it.  It's been a dry, dry summer.  Not much change in the yard since last month... but didn't want to leave this shot out of the series.

It's 9:45pm now.  It's been a great day, but now I'm ready to relax and enjoy the last hour-or-so of the weekend with the family.  Hope you had a great 12th - see ya next month!