Mosaic Monday: Yellow and Purple

As much as I complain about winter, I love the change of seasons. On these last days of August, the fields around us are filled with purple asters and thistle, and yellow goldenrod. They signal the end of summer, and the beginning of cooler days and nights.

And they are the perfect color combination. :)

These shots were taken last week at Willowwood Arboretum. If you are ever in the area, it is definitely worth a visit. It's a wonderful place to take pictures, stroll about the gardens, or even have a picnic. :)

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.

thank you

Many thanks to all of you who left me words of encouragement on Wednesday. My daughter and I had our cry on Wednesday night (well, really early Thursday morning) and when my husband and I said goodbye and drove away from the campus on Thursday, it was OK.

Of course, all bets may be off by this weekend, but we'll see. ;)

On a completely different note, I stopped at Willowwood Arboretum earlier this week and snapped a few photos of the late summer garden. I'll show them to you next week, but I just wanted to post this one today. Old stone buildings are my favorites. Isn't this one gorgeous?

Tomorrow

My daughter is leaving for college tomorrow.

I know it sounds silly, but it doesn't seem real to me yet that she will be gone after tomorrow. But I'm sure that by tomorrow night, it will be all too real, and I'll be missing her like crazy.

And although I know in my heart that she will have fun and learn to live without me, I also know that there will be a big hole in my life starting tomorrow.

Mosaic Monday: Queen Anne's Lace

After a very rainy and cool spring, we have endured a dry and torrid summer here in my part of New Jersey. Officially, summer continues for the next few weeks, but already it seems like we are looking forward to cooler temperatures and the golden light of autumn.

I've been fascinated by wildflowers this summer, especially queen anne's lace, or wild carrot. If you follow my other blog, In a Soft Light, you are probably sick of the sight of them. lol But I just love the flowers, and especially the seedheads that are so frustrating when they stick to your dog's coat. I think the architecture of tiny struts is quite beautiful, especially when they are all curled up.

So here are a few of my favorite queen anne's lace shots.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.

I Feel Pretty

Good morning, dear bloggers! Well, at least it is morning here as I write this. I went out for breakfast this morning with my dear friend, Robin. She had the most beautiful bracelet on, and it got me thinking about jewelry.

I tend to like the idea of jewelry, and I'm lucky to have some pretty pieces that my husband has given me over the years, and some vintage brooches and bracelets from my mom. (One of them is pictured above.) When I get dressed to go out though, I will put on jewelry, then take almost all of it off, except for a necklace. I just feel too dressed up. I think maybe that is a habit from my childhood, when I was quite the tomboy.

So my question for you is this: Do you wear a lot of jewelry, or just a few sentimental pieces, or none at all on a daily basis? Inquiring minds want to know. ;)

*********

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, where I will definitely not be wearing jewelry. ;) Mr. Linky will be up by 8:30pm Sunday, Eastern time. Looking forward to seeing you all!

Oh, deer!

First of all, I apologize for the quality of these photos. It was getting dark outside and I had to really crank up the ISO so they are really grainy. But I wanted to show you our resident deer, or at least one of them.

It all started when my daughter spied a three-legged deer on the front lawn. She felt so sorry for it, so asked me if she could throw out some stale bread from our kitchen.

In another week or so, the three-legged deer appeared with two fawns (one of which is shown here), and my daughter was asking for my credit card so she could go to the supermarket and buy bread for the deer.

Now they wait for her to get home from work and she feeds them from the front steps.

What is wrong with this picture? ;)

Edited to add: My daughter will be going to college next week, so the gravy train will be over for these critters. They look upon my garden as their own personal salad bar, so I'm not crazy about them although I have to say that they are beautiful creatures.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Today is my husband's 54th birthday. I think we'll have cupcakes. :)

Honey, if you are reading this, Happy, happy birthday!!!

Mosaic Monday: Down the Shore

I'm so glad to welcome you all back to Mosaic Monday! Last week we took a little jaunt "down the shore," as we say here in New Jersey. For the most part, the weather was beautiful, and I spent a lot of time just walking and enjoying the sights that are so very different from my home.

Three of these shots were taken from the car window as my husband drove, and the beach cabanas and the gingerbread house were taken on a walking tour of Cape May. We spent a lovely afternoon browsing in the shops and having a wonderful lunch in this town with it's beautiful Victorian architecture.

And came home with a few t-shirts and a sunburn. Actually, my daughter also came home with an intestinal flu. :( And it may be my imagination, but I'm not feeling too great tonight myself... but let's think nice positive thoughts...

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.

Doing Nothing

Just popping in for a quick "hi" and to tell you that I have been busy doing nothing for the past week. And it's been wonderful. lol

Actually, I've been working on some portrait photography for my portfolio. If I can get enough practice under my belt, I'd like to try my hand at doing it professionally. But that's a long way down the road. In the meantime, I've been rearranging some things around the house, thinking about stripping the wallpaper in the kitchen, and wondering if I can renovate the bathroom. I'd love to get my washer and dryer up from the basement. So strictly speaking I guess I haven't exactly been doing nothing.

Anyway, I'm going to let all these thoughts percolate for another week or so. I'll pop in during the week, and hope to see you all again for Mosaic Monday on August 15th.

Mosaic Monday: Vintage Summer

Just some vintage summer images for you today -- some from our favorite park, one from a nearby pond, and some from our backyard. This has been a record-breaking summer, with temperatures well above normal for way too long. Hopefully, the heat will begin to break soon and August will be cooler.

I'm honestly at wit's end trying to think of things to post lately -- not sure if it's the heat or blogger's burnout or both -- and I'm thinking of taking a week off to recharge the batteries. So, there will be no Mosaic Monday on August 9th, and I will only be posting sporadically for the next two weeks. Maybe that will give me some time to gather material and come up with some interesting posts. :) In the meantime...

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.