In Memory of…

Today here in the United States we set aside this day in memory of those who lost their lives in war. Now mind you, this is not to be confused with honoring veterans, which is celebrated on Veteran’s Day in November, which honors those who have served and are now discharged from our military. It seems that some in our media have confused the two, even including those still serving.

In loving memory to those who fell in battle and lost their lives, today we honor your memory!

My Uncle and his flight crew

My Uncle Jerry enlisted in the Air Force at the tender young age of 19. On December 25th 1944 my Grandparents received a telegram informing them that his plane was missing in action. One year later, they were notified that his plane was shot down over Hungary. German records had recorded the event. Only one survived and it was not my Uncle.

To all those who lost their lives in the military service for our country, we honor you today.

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In Memory…Marianne Beacham

With a very heavy heart, and tears in my eyes, I wanted to let you know that I will be taking the week off from blogging due to the loss of a very special family member: Marianne Beacham.

Celebrating 90!

Marianne was my husband’s mother, and she was my friend.

We just celebrated her 90th birthday this last holiday season. We will miss her greatly!

To Marianne: I loved you and you will always remain in my heart! Thank you for being my Mom too! This post is for you!

In memory…with love!

Until I return, I wish you well!
Barb

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Many Thanks to You!

Wow! I have once again been honored with yet another Audience Choice Award from the viewers at LetsBeWild.com, and I have also been honored to receive the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award! I am overwhelmed! Thank you for these awards!

From the Let’s Be Wild, Wild Weekly Photo Challenge #24, Reflections, here is the award!

Audience Choice Award – Challenge #24

And the winning photo…

The Grand Tetons

Please do take some time to check out the other winners from Challenge #24 by clicking here! There are some truly amazing photos by some very talented folks!

A huge thanks goes out to Chole Barker from It Starts with a Picture! Thank you for bestowing this honor on me! And here is the award:

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

The rules of this award:

▪ Provide a link and thanks to the bloggers who nominated you. Check and done!

▪ Answer 10 questions. And, the questions are:

1. Your favorite color? — Blue
2. Your favorite animal? — The Elephant
3. Your favorite drink? — During the day – water; at night: Cranberry Vodka, or a really great glass of wine!
4. Facebook or Twitter? — I am not really into either as I would rather talk to my friends the good old fashioned way, by phone!
5. Your favorite pattern? – Zebra stripes
6. Do you prefer getting or giving presents? – Giving!
7. Your favorite number? – 3
8. Favorite day of the week? – Thursday as it is the end of my work week!
9. Favorite flower? – A beautiful, fragrant yellow rose
10. What is your passion? – Food and Photos!

▪ Nominate 10 blogs that you find a joy to read.

I cheat on this one! Today, I would like to pass this on to a few women bloggers who have some really incredible blogs that I really enjoy! In no particular order, they are:

Sharla at Catnip of Life

Penny at The Why About This

Lisa at Zeebra Designs and Destinations

Joanne at What’s on the List?

Christine at Somethingville

You are all winners and writers of some truly enjoyable blogs!

▪ Provide links to the blogs and inform the recipients they have been nominated. Links are above and I will notify them as soon as I publish this post!

▪ Include the award logo within your post. Already done!

Thank you to all for the awards! Congratulations goes out to those who I am bestowing this award upon! Welcome to the Sisterhood!

Thank you for stopping by today! Have a happy Monday!

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January of Years Past Revisited Again

I have been waiting for the rain to let up so that I can do my Wild Weekly Photo Challenge.  There is no sign of it stopping, so I decided to re-post this blog from the past…

I wanted to end the month of January with photos of memorable moments from years past. Winter this year has been non-existent not only in December, but this month as well. We have had a total of around 11″ of rain this season, and by now we should have over 20″. I miss the rain, and tonight we will be getting trace amounts. I am hoping that the remainder of the winter makes up for the lack of precipitation. Come back with me to visit January’s past:

A 2008 snow scene from my office window

A 2008 view of redwoods and vines

Black Oak Leaf takes the stage in 2009

Ice on a wood rail in 2009

Frost on our glass patio table in 2009

Roads after a typical storm 2010

The road back to my house 2010

Ice Crystals pop up out of the ground 2011

Corn snow in 2011

Water frozen in the bird bath 2011

We are hoping that we see similar scenes here in the coming February and March of this year! I am hopeful that I will be able to post photos of this year’s winter season for you with snow!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great Friday!

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The Bells of Arcosanti

As promised, today’s post features the amazing bells, which are all works of art, at Arcosanti, located in Cordes Junction, Arizona. The sales of these bells supports Arcosanti. Each of the bells are unique in color, and the designs are truly amazing and they are well displayed! So let’s wander through their gallery of bells!

A work of art!

And another!

100 bells

Hands

The wolf and the man in bells

A unique design

A bell pattern up close

The lady in the bell

The phoenix rises

All of these bells have wonderful soothing tones. And the pricing is reasonable.

They also create amazing tiles, which are used in some of the rooms. Check these out!

Tiles

If you would like to find out more about this unique place Arcosanti, just click here!

Thank you for the visit! Enjoy this last day of 2012!

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Combining Architecture and Ecology

“In nature, as an organism evolves it increases in complexity and it also becomes a more compact or miniaturized system. Similarly a city should function as a living system. Arcology, architecture and ecology as one integral process, is capable of demonstrating positive response to the many problems of urban civilization, population, pollution, energy and natural resource depletion, food scarcity and quality of life. Arcology recognizes the necessity of the radical reorganization of the sprawling urban landscape into dense, integrated, three-dimensional cities in order to support the complex activities that sustain human culture. The city is the necessary instrument for the evolution of humankind.” Paolo Soleri

We came upon this man’s vision in the desert in Arizona, located in Cordes Junction. It is called Arcosanti. Using his philosophy as stated above, which is from their website, he designed a prototype, which sits inside the gallery of bells that supports the project. Here is the prototype:

The design

Here is what the structure looks like today. I stitched this photo together from 5 separate shots as the area is so large, so be sure to click on the photo to increase the viewing area!

The structure today

Now if you go back and look at the prototype, the completed areas are featured in gray.

So let’s take a walk around the area shall we?  The next shot is a side view of the main building.

A side view of the main building

Here is the same building from below.

Looking up at the main building

Let’s take a look at the dome from down here…

Inside the dome

And a gratuitous shot of the staircase inside the building…

Stairs down

Stay tuned as tomorrow I will feature what sustains this place – Bells!

Thanks for visiting today and have a wonderful Sunday!

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Dreaming of Gingerbread Houses…

Here in the U.S. when we think of Christmas we think of the grandeur of the trees, the lights, the gifts that we give to others, and we think of Gingerbread Houses! What would Christmas be without a house made of gingerbread, frosting and candy? I found the spirit of the holiday at Bucky’s with their annual Gingerbread House show, and I thought to myself what a perfect thing to share with you my readers! In this post you will see all kinds of Gingerbread Houses. I salute the honoring of this tradition, and the imagination of those who constructed the wonders I am sharing with you today!  If you really want to see the detail, click on the photo to enlarge it, and then use the back arrow to take you back to this post…Enjoy! We start off with Winnie the Pooh and Piglet too! Two of my most favorite storybook characters!

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet too!

What could be more perfect for the foothills than a log cabin made of pretzels with a roof of Triscut crackers?

The log cabin made of Triscuts and Pretzels!

I thought this one was really good too. It is Rafiki from the movie “The Lion King” presenting Simba.

Rafiki presenting Simba to the world

This gingerbread creation of course had to include those rascally hyenas!

Bansai, Shenzi and Ed – the hyenas from The Lion King

Wandering along in this little village of gingerbread, I come across the abominable snow man!

The abominable snow man!

Now let us take a look at another part of the village…

The village of Gingerbread

Of course there was the lion and the lamb!

The lion and the lamb

And let us leave off with a message from Santa…

Santa’s message for the day

Did all these gingerbread and candy creations make you hungry? I am heading off into the kitchen! I hope that you have a most amazing day today! Thanks for the visit! Again, happy holidays!

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Happy Holidays to One and All

No matter what holiday you celebrate at this time of year, I wish to you and yours a joyous holiday season filled with love, well being, and may the new year be a prosperous one for you!

Happy Holidays!

My best regards to all! Hugs and love – Barb

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Newtown, CT – We Mourn Your Loss

This mornings news was not of what good is being done in the world, but of yet another massacre of innocents, the youngest five years old. In Newtown, CT, here in the U.S., a 24 year old killed his mother before heading off to the local elementary school where she had worked and he killed 27 people, 18 of them children.

This rocked me to my core. I do not have children of my own, but there are many of our young that are most precious to me. I sit here crying for the all of those lost on this tragic day, and my heart goes out to all who lost a loved one and to those who were injured in this senseless act.

I ask that you give yourself a moment of silence and offer up a prayer for not only those who lost, but for the damage this has done to the very young.

To the families affected by this tragedy, I mourn your loss with you. This is for you and for all the victims on this tragic day.

In Memory – Newtown, Connecticut 12/14/12

May those that have passed on rest in peace. To the survivors, may God heal all of your wounds of this day…

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The Beauty in a Christmas Present

I love the season of giving. And I get my greatest joy from giving to others. So Christmas and I, we are total buds! When I think about the presents, I think of how the gifts look under the tree. There is nothing like the smell of a fresh tree, and the sight of all those presents!

Presents under the tree

I just have to ask, why is it that the Mercedes doesn’t fit under the tree? Oh, wait! It does!

The Mercedes under the tree

Boy I wish that was bigger! Truth be told, I am not a Mercedes kind of gal…So here we are and the holidays are coming. There are gifts under the tree. Check out this Christmas gift! Now here is an awww moment – right Penny?

The Christmas Gift

Needless to say, this little gift was not for me or my husband… 😦 Flynn, a Pomeranian, came to visit our house along with his brother Jean Luc and mom Marcy! Flynn is a true beauty as a Christmas present! We are hoping that he comes back to visit with the rest of his clan! Jean Luc was a bit camera shy…and next time they come to visit I hope that I will be able to catch him for a photo shoot in all his cuteness!

So, for today, best wishes to you all and thank you for joining me on my blog today! Hugs to everyone and go out and have a wonderful Tuesday!

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