12-of-12: December 2011

I wasn't sure I'd get this 12-done today.  BUT, I HAD TO!

Today marks the end of 12-of-12 creator, Chad Darnell's, 12-of-12 Project. He's got a ton of new stuff on his plate and can no longer produce this monthly photo event.  I participated for the first time in October 2008 and the 12-of-12 has been a pretty regular occurrence since then.  I've really enjoyed playing along and thank Chad for starting it all.  (This may not be the end of the 12-of-12, maybe just hosted by a different person... stay tuned).

So as I mentioned in my first line, I wasn't sure I'd be able to complete my 12-of-12 this month.  It's Monday, after all.  But it wasn't the day of the week that worried me... after I got a few miles from home this morning I realized I forgot my camera.  OOPS!  But, I compensated by using my iPhone.  All of today's photos were taken on my phone, edited, too.

7:30-8:30am - Buffalo, NY
Here I go... off to work!

Approaching  Buffalo, on the I-190 Northbound

New Courthouse (*and some Occupy Buffalo campers)

8:30am - I arrive at work, The American Red Cross, Buffalo

786 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY

How lucky am I to call this place my new "home" - I started my new job with the Red Cross a few weeks ago.

My view to the left

My view to the right

4:45pm - Heading home
Just  before the sun sets I arrive at my car, while it warms up, I snap one last shot of the former Clement Family Mansion.

5:30pm - at Home
Lots of puppy chores to do tonight - clean ears, trim nails, etc - but before I do that, I grab a little treat (my last reminders of my trip to Hawaii)... ya gotta love the name "Island Hula Yummies"!!

A little aloha in every bite!

7pm
Nails & toes are done... time to refill the bones & return them to the freezer for tomorrow morning.  (each kid gets one when the hubby leaves for work - there's one more hidden in the house somewhere, gotta find that sometime)

nom nom nom nom nom nom

The "new guy" - Brokk - he's been with us for 2 weeks

The princess, Mackie.... who loves peanut butter (and her new little brother)

7:30-ish

Time for a little TV...

Can you guess?

I thought this shot was pretty cool, even tho you can't tell what it is....

until you see this screen

So, that was my uneventful day in pictures.  I was hoping to get one more of the kids hanging out together, but they decided to do other things while I watched TV.  Hope you're having a good December so far - Happy Holidays & Happy New Year.  Hope to see you in 2012!

... oh, the 12-of-12-of-2012... such an exciting thought!

12-of-12: Fail

I had such good intentions to complete the 12-of-12 yesterday... but also a HUGE to-do list.  The to-do list won, unfortunately.

BUT... I did get a couple interesting shots in first thing in the morning.

6:30am @ home - The moon was beautiful!  My camera focused on the trees, but I still like the effect.

7:30am, leaving home - My sister asked me to watch her kids for the morning, so off I went to her house.  This is a shot of the same hill you saw in October... far fewer leaves and, yes, snow on the ground.  (We got about an inch Thursday night).

See the moon?

.... and that's the end of my 12-of-12. (frowny-face)

There is A LOT happening in my life in the next couple weeks which I suspect contributed to my lack of inspiration this month.  You'll hear all about them in future posts... hold tight till then, I'm SURE there will be plenty of pictures to make up for those lacking today.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend... see ya next month for Chad's final installment of the 12-of-12.

12-of-12: October 2011

Fall is in full-swing here in Western New York... the leaves are changing to beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows.  We've had beautiful summer-like weather this last week... until today.
Today, we had drizzle that turned into rain.
BOO!

Oh well, I think I still got a few nice shots that show you how awesome our fall foliage looks right now.

But first..
6:30am
Time for P90X: Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X.  I'm totally loving this program this time around (first did it in 2009).  Today is Day 10 & already I'm feeling stronger!

Self-portrait thanks to the camera's self-timer

9:30am
Okay, workout done; now on to the fun stuff...
  Even with a little rain, the ski slopes are beautifully colored.

You definitely want to click on this image to see the full-size view

Old Glenwood Rd, look at those REDS!

Time for a little shopping.
Off to the Farm...

'Tis the week for pumpkin picking

...  and Farmer's Market!

It's been an excellent year for apples

I could not believe my eyes... $5.00 for these stunning Mums!

Noon-ish
My parents met me at the market, and they brought me presents!  My totally talented father made these gorgeous redwood tables for my back deck.  I'm SO excited to use them... and bummed that today's rain made that impossible. 

Thanks, Dad!

While I snapped photos of the tables, the little princess sat on her thrown with her new pumpkins and mums.

Mackie in her favorite spot

Oh.  Guess what else the rain brought down....  LEAVES!  

You'd never guess I cleared off the driveway just a few days ago.  Do you see it?  

Where's the driveway?

3:30pm

Off to the Library!  

I haven't been here in a while and WOW have things changed.  I got myself a new library card and selected a few books... but what blew me away was the "check out".  You simply put your books on a scale-looking thing and the titles automatically pop up on the computer screen in front of you.  Amazing!

I'm ready for Book Club!

6pm

My friend & neighbor had to be away from home most of this afternoon & evening so she asked me to stop by and feed her dog and the two she was babysitting.  No problem!    Lucky for me, these three would rather play in the warm, dry house than outside in the cold rain.  So I brought the camera along.

Sitting pretty:  Chestnut, Shadow, and Teva

... and then the insanity begins.

Once everyone was back in their crates, tummies full and ready to relax, I made my way back home... but not before I snapped a quick shot of "the aftermath".  

Your "baker's dozen" shot of the day

For more 12-of-12 info and photos, check out Chad Darnell's site.  Hope you had a good 12th - see ya next month!

Autumn Days

Welcome Autumn!

 

12-of-12: September 2011

I wasn't sure I'd complete my 12-of-12 today.

I spent much of the morning doing a brick (bike/run) workout, so I was tired.
Plus, I was all "snapped" out from taking pictures at the Dirty Girl Mud Run on Saturday (click here to see those).
Plus, it's Monday, and I didn't really have anywhere "special" to go... until I decided to take my puppy-girl for a walk in the park.

Sprague Brook Park in Glenwood, NY is a gem.
It's huge.  It's beautiful. And, most days, it's so peaceful.

Today was no exception.

Being a Monday, we had the trails almost entirely to ourselves.  We walked along at a leisurely pace and tried to capture some of the unique aspects of "our woods".  Here's what we found...

Eastern Newt

Coral Fungus

"Thumb Tack" Mushrooms

Cute & Fuzzy Fungi

First Fallen Leaves

Trooping Funnel

Mossy North Side

I hope you enjoyed your walk in the woods with us.  Come back next month when the leaves promise to be in their full Fall splendor!

Thanks, Chad Darnell, for starting the 12-of-12 Project!

12-of-12: August 2011

What a day!

We had a plan (picked out a couple good geocaches to go after) 

and then our plans got all turned around.

But that didn't seem to matter, we had a great time and took some amazing shots!

We also broke the rules for the 12-of-12 this month...

Two of us were snapping photos (the hubby and I).

We took a TON of shots (171 for the day)...

  and we couldn't edit them down any further.

So we figured, since we're making up our own rules today....

  and since there were two of us, you get 24 photos!  :)

If you want to get more info on the 12-of-12, 

visit Chad Darnell's site, he's the one who started this fun little project.

So where did we go and what did we do?

We spent this afternoon "lake hopping" around New York's Southern Tier.  

We traveled through Cattaraugus & Allegany Counties, at first looking for geocaches... 

then just looking for cool places to visit.

BTW... for each photo below, you can see a full-size version by clicking on it.

To hunt our first cache, we stopped at the Harwood Lake MUA (Multiple Use Area).  Harwood Lake is a 34-acre man-made lake used for flood control in Cattaragaus County.  The website says there are mowed paths... but except for this first entry into the park... there wasn't much mowed.

Trail?

Once beyond the tunnel of brush, we found this guy...

Eastern Kingbird

The nicely mowed trail soon ran out...

I'm 5'4... these Joe-Pye Weeds were HUGE!

And we could no longer see a path to the cache we sought.  

So, we bushwhacked through the tall weeds till we came to an opening...

and found Harwood's Meadow

A gentle Monarch Butterfly

and Bumble Bee

on thistle

What's this?! A dog on a bale?

loving the tickle of the grass

... finally arriving at Harwood Lake!

The skies weren't really than ominous - just the clouds playing tricks.

  We had blazing sun not moments before the 1st photo was taken.

From here, we visited Lime Lake in Machias, NY.  The lake is almost entirely inaccessible to non-homeowners, so we were only able to catch a glimpse of the area.
Be sure to view the full-versions of these next three shots... SO MUCH DETAIL you don't want to miss!

Dragon Fly

Lily with Honey Bee

Two bees or not two bees

 We skipped the geocache in Lime-Lake, thus ending our caching plans.  

So we pulled out our trusty map and said "Where should we go next?"

then... "Hey! What's this place???"

We had found the Hanging Bog Wildlife Management Area

... and off we went.

On our way, we met these beauties...

... then we arrive!

 Hanging Bog Wildlife Management Area, New Hudson, NY

Look closely at the letters of this sign...

What's a Hanging Bog, you ask?

 After parking the car, we walk over to the bog.

About a million frogs go flying into the water as we approach (I'm not kidding).

The Hanging Bog

Bog Frog - got one!

Lily Pads

We wandered around the bog for a bit, then decided it was time to head for home.

This last shot is of Rushford Lake in Rushford, NY.  

It's another lake that is hard to get to unless you own lakefront property in the area.  

But if you take Slusher Hill Road out of Hanging Bog WMA, you'll get this awesome view.

Rushford Lake

 

That was our final stop of the day - our lake-hopping adventure coming to an end.  

Thanks for sharing our 12th with us.  Come back next month and see what we're up to then!