Wednesday, December 29, 2010
29.12.10 - Grapefruit
Yeah, so I am over 40. And, New Year's is approaching. In the grocery store yesterday, I did the right thing and bought some grapefruit. It has been years since I had a grapefruit. I know that they are good for you and I am sure that they are listed somewhere in the "New Year's Resolution Handbook". But, they just have such a bad reputation... sour, bitter, yucky...
Turns out I love grapefruit. Man, I have been missing out all these years.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Focus on Joy
My New Year's Resolution... a little early!
I know it is a bad habit to focus on the little nitty-gritty things that grind us down like a cheese grater on our face... but, I am going to keep working to change my habit so that I am focused on joy.
I know it is a bad habit to focus on the little nitty-gritty things that grind us down like a cheese grater on our face... but, I am going to keep working to change my habit so that I am focused on joy.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
19.12.2010 - Suicidal Snowman
Stop, Frosty! Don't go any closer! I know that your short life seems to lack meaning but you bring joy to so many. Don't do it, Frosty... please!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
17.12.10 - Basket full of stars
Stars at the Nurnberg Christkindl Market. It's hard to believe they could pack so much sparkle into so little space...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
12.12.10 - Bokeh Elephant
Well, another wekeend, another Christmas Market! Today, we went to the Nurnberg Christkindl Market. I see now why it is such a draw for tourists. The city is gorgeous and the Market had great food and beautiful things for sale. There were rows upon rows of every kind of decoration you could imagine... this one caught my eye at a booth selling Nativity Scene Animals. Ummm... perhaps the fact that an Elephant was present at the birth of Christ has been lost in translation?
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Candle Bokeh
This weekend, we hit the Christkindle Market in Strassbourg, France. It's one of my favourite cities and it was dressed up beautifully for the market. One of the highlights was walking into the Cathedral and hearing a Christmas Concert from a children's choir. Wow... I am definitely in the Christmas Spirit now! This pic was taken inside the Cathedral.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
02.12.10 - Carousel
'Tis the season to visit Christmas Markets in Germany. Tonight, we hit Frankfurt. Leif and I had a blast on the awesome, vintage, 2-storey Carousel. Three trips was all that I could handle! This is Leif enjoying the fastest horse on the whole ride.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
16.11.10 - You're so vane
Most of the churches in our area have rooster weather vanes on top... I have no idea why. This is the top of the Evangelik church in our town at sunset. Yes, the clock says 4:15 and the sun is going down. Argh... winter is on the way.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
14.11.10 - Autumn blossoms
On a walk through town today, I found these surprisingly spring-like flowers. Pretty shocking amongst all the dead leaves and washed out colours of late autumn.
Friday, November 5, 2010
05.11.10 - Happy Diwali
Today, we celebrated Diwali at school... Henna tattoos, candles, amazing Indian sweets... a great day!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
04.11.10 - Things are looking up
Nothing much to say on this one... the colours in this one make fall in Germany look good. Dark, cold, wet... ugh.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
23.10.10 - Eye in the Sky, Salzburg Cathedral
I was standing against the "do not enter" rope at the front of the Salzburger Dom and just caught a glimpse of the "Eye in the Sky" at the very top of the Cathedral. I watched for a while, but it didn't move.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
19.10.10 - Cable Cars in Bozen, Italy
Riding above the mountains in Italy, Leif only had one moment where he said, "I want to get off!" The heights were incredible, the views were unbelievable and there was a vintage train tour along the edge of the mountains at the top... perfect!
Monday, October 18, 2010
18.10.10 - Sunset in the Alps
We took a whirlwind trip through Austria and drove into Italy on a winding mountain pass through the Alps called the Hochalpenstrasse. We reached a height of about 2700 metres. Every corner brought a view more breathtaking than the last... amazing!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
09.10.10 - The Cafe at Schloss Braunfels
Another weekend, another chance to hit "Points of Interest" on the Navigation System and go! Today, we found Schloss Braunfels after a gorgeous drive through the hills... sun shining, fall colours everywhere... exactly what we all needed. This is a little cafe in the Courtyard of the Schloss. A great place to spend an afternoon.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
06.10.10 - Time for a Paint Job
Where were you at 1:25pm on Wednesday, October 6th, 2010? I know where I was... taking a pic of this cool clock at the Opel Zoo. Leif and I spent the day there walking, talking, checking out the animals and having a great fall day.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
26.09.10 - Krieg
Today was one of those days where we just punched the "Points of Interest" button on the navigation system and went. We found out that Hoechst (which is 5 minutes away from us) has a great old town on the banks of the River Main with a palace and a quaint little market square. It only took us 2 years to find it! This statue was at the edge of the Palace. I am thinking that it is some sort of statement about the ugly side of war. (Krieg means war... in case your German is as bad as mine!)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
20.09.10 - Revelation
Today, we visited Mainz and I took the leap of faith to start shooting in Full Manual. I had a chance to try some low-light stuff in the Cathedral there, mass was just over and the smell and smoke from the incense was hanging heavy in the air. The light was great and my learning curve was high. This was a shot of the Crucifix hanging at the front of the church.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
05.09.10 - On the Streets of Ruedesheim
We have all been sick and suffering from a bad case of cabin fever. So, we dragged ourselves into the car and went for a walk in Ruedesheim, a touristy town on the Rhine... in the middle of the Rheingau wine districe... gorgeous.
Somehow, "Mommy, would you stop taking my picture and get out of the way of the tourist tram that is going to run us over," looks a lot like, "Brother, can you spare a dime?"
Somehow, "Mommy, would you stop taking my picture and get out of the way of the tourist tram that is going to run us over," looks a lot like, "Brother, can you spare a dime?"
Saturday, September 4, 2010
04.09.10 - In the Fields
Today, we took a walk in the fields above town. I am still shooting on total automatic but I am loving the new camera. Leif was actually quite compliant (for once!) and I got a few good shots of him. I love the light and the look on his face in this one.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
25.08.10 - Run!
Leif and I went to visit the Gigasaurier Exhibit at the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt today. Not bad but they had a light and sound show with scary dinosaur noises that is now responsible for a little boy who has been out of his bed way too many times tonight! I played with the new camera and am pretty happy with the depth of field I got on some of the shots.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
21.08.10 - Vanilla in Black and White 2
Today is the "Summernachtfest" in Bad Soden. The streets are lined with bands, games and food. And, what's a festival without some ice cream? I took the chance to take my new camera out for a try. I think I'm in love!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
01.05.10
Today, we hit the Technic Museum in Speyer... vintage planes, cars, trains, etc. Leif loved going inside the Russian helicopter and the German submarine... both pretty cool. This is the headlight of a vintage Facel Vega.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
10.04.10 - Fury Tail Light
Today, we spent the day at a Technik Museum in Sinsheim. Planes, cars, motorcycles... so much cool stuff. We even had a chance to go aboard 2 Concordes. But, even in Germany, one of the coolest parts was the vintage American cars. Pink Cadillacs, Red Corvettes and this cool Turquoise Plymouth Fury.
Monday, April 5, 2010
05.04.10
Martin Luther's Study at the Wartburg in Eisenach, Germany - We took a trip today to Eisenach (my first trip into the former East Germany!) to see the Wartburg Castle. This is the study used by Martin Luther when he was in hiding here after nailing his "95 Theses" to the church door in Wittenberg. The story goes that he was often visited here by Satan and once he threw his inkpot, hitting the wall and leaving damage and an inkstain. The spot was visible for centuries after until vandals took small pieces of the ink-stained plaster home for a souvenir.
The sunlight streaming into the room gave me the feeling of an old Dutch Masters Painting.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
03.04.10
Hanau-Steinheim - Today, we went to the Palace Museum in Hanau-Steinheim to see the "Ice Age" exhibit. It was wild to see all of the animals of the age and to see all of the artifacts from civilations who have lived in this area. Amazing how much history is here. The Palace itself and the town were pretty idyllic. This is a shot of the tower from the gardens. A beautiful Spring day! The perfect way to spend Easter Sunday and to work off all of those little chocolate eggs!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Happy Easter!
We spent part of the day today dyeing Easter Eggs. I won't even talk about the entire bowl of navy blue dye all over the floor, kid and clothing. Hey, accidents happen. This is one that I made... an attempt at a little Batik.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
07.03.10 - Motorcycle Mayhem
Today, we took a cold and snowy trip to the Opel Zoo in Kronberg im Taunus. The animals who were not shivering in their indoor houses were begging for carrots. Leif had a blast regardless... he took his first solo run on the motorcycle go-karts. I rode with him the first time and then he was off on his own. Without me. And, doing fine. Without his mother. Yes, it hurt a bit that he could do it on his own but it hurt even more that I didn't get to ride. Come on, they're fun! And, I would have looked like an idiot out there on my own.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
27.02.10 - Spring!
Finally, the snow here has melted and the spring bulbs are peeking out. So refreshing. The months of dreary, gray, cole, wet, damp, dark (do I need to go on!?) days are finally over! Welcome, Spring.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
14.02.10 - Daffodil
Well, even if Spring hasn't arrived in Germany, the spring bulbs have. The stores are filled with hyacinths, daffodils and crocus, all bursting and ready to bloom. I guess if you can't have spring, this is a pleasant second.
I played around a bit with Macro and Manual Focus. Again, my camera is pretty limited in lower light situations and it gets pretty grainy pretty quickly.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
07.02.10 - Oldsmobile Super 88
Another Sunday... another chance to spread every toy car we own out on the carpet and build parking lots, racetracks, car washes, you name it. This is one of Thorsten's old (oops, vintage!) cars. It's not a "Dinky" car, it's a "Corgy" but it's just more fun to call it a "Dinky Car".
Sunday, January 31, 2010
31.01.10 - Sunlit woods
A wintery walk today with my family led us down a snowy path into the woods. I wish that I could capture the strength of the sun streaming through the trees and the sound of things melting in the sunlight. Ok, the feeling of wet socks I could do without.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
23.01.10 - Ice Castle
Today was a cold, dreary day in Germany. As I drove up through the mountains, the scenery was suddenly covered in thick frost. I stopped and shot the castle in Koenigstein. Believe it or not, this is a colour pic. It was just a gray, gray day.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
13.01.10 - Trip to Giessen
We did a field trip with my class at school to the Mathematikum Museum in Giessen, Germany and I caught a glimpse of this building out a window. So, I popped open the window and caught a shot. I can't decide if I like it better in colour or black and white.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
10.01.10 - Dusk at Koenigstein
Wow... dusk before 5 pm? On the drive past Koenigstein, the snow was blowing and the sky was getting dark. I can't wait to longer days with more light!!
Friday, January 8, 2010
07.01.10 - Almost forgot!
I almost forgot my picture of the day today. This was an 11:30pm quickie. It shows one of my favourite German words... a trick for remembering something is called an Esel-Brücke, which literally translates to a "Donkey bridge".
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
05.01.10 - Tunnel Vision
Cleaning up toys tonight spawned an idea... I was surprised when I saw an eye looking back at me!
Monday, January 4, 2010
04.01.10 - Sh-sh-sh-shattered!
Let's just say that this picture started with me explaining to my husband that Leif was careful and should be able to use the dish that goes under the gravy boat (of course, from the good china) to eat his dinner if he wanted to. Before you get the wrong impression, I was right. Leif was fine with it.
I broke it taking it out of the dishwasher.
Sh-sh-sh-shattered.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
03.01.10 - To J+H, wherever you are...
We spent some time today romping in the park... making snowmen, snowangels and blasting each other with snowballs. As we left, I saw this reminder of previous visitors to the park.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
02.01.2010 - The Rose
Well, I got my first bad shot of this year's 365 out of the way on Day 2. This was a dark, grainy pic that had no real redeeming qualities. But, I had fun playing with it anyway.
Friday, January 1, 2010
01.01.10 - Happy New Year!
On a New Year's Day walk near home, I saw this cork lying in the street. The celebrations here were crazy! The fireworks went on for at least an hour... nuts!
Happy New Year! I am starting another 365 project... hopefully, this one will get closer than last year's!
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