I enjoy a cup of green tea every day

Anybody besides me feel like they have entered a time warp? Geez - where in the heck did October go? Wait I know...it went *POOF!* Sometimes I am quite alarmed by the speed of the days going by; I can't help but wonder how much faster they can go since time passes more quickly as you age. Scary stuff indeed; so we're just not even gonna go there (how's that for a coping strategy? Ha.) Hopefully, the rest of you are not as freaked out about the fact that Thanksgiving is hurtling towards us at the speed of light with Christmas right behind (and eek ;o) I love this autumn photo. It was actually taken last year, but I never did get around to posting it. Remember the tragic accident that befell my old camera? This was right after I got the new one; I was experimenting very early in the morning (hence the mist) with some of the fancy-schmancy photo settings on my new toy (if you weren't here then or want a refresher, you can read all about that particular tale of woe and its happy ending here and here). They are - if it matters - two of my favorite posts (is it tacky to say that? Oh well, I can be tacky ;o)

Since we're there (at tacky) we'll just throw in some shameless self-promotion too and offer up a link to one of my Squidoo lenses. I did one for a non-profit challenge awhile back, and although we lost, it has some of my favorite ideas and recipes. I am always looking for new Fall/Thanksgiving recipes so I thought maybe some of you might be interested in them too (including the silly little turkey in the photo). The lens has a little of everything, so don't worry if you're not a genius in the kitchen (me either ;o) There are "real" recipes as well for those of you who like confectionery challenges; like a scrumptious white chocolate cake complete with cooked frosting. It's called Treats for the Tall and the Small if you'd like to pop on over and visit me in the kitchen - but don't forget to come back!

Look at this photo I took of Shadow the other night; isn't it wild? Sometimes I just can't take in all of God's handiwork; nor can I quite seem to capture its magnificence through the lens of the camera (not for lack of trying though, is it? ;o) We've had some unbelievable skies over the past week or so; I've probably taken a hundred pictures or more. Last Sunday evening was phenomenal. I made the mad dash back indoors to grab the camera, and when I came panting back up the hill I let out a "Holy cow!" (a favorite phrase *laugh*) at the spectacular range of colors splashed across the sky. I guess it was a little louder than I'd intended, as Shadow made a beeline across the pasture to see what all the fuss was about and this is what I got. Would you like to see a few more? Maybe we should have another giveaway (an itty bitty one this time). And DAISY? If you and your mom are reading this, I'm still waiting for your address from the last giveaway (unless you don't want it). 
Rules? Simply leave me a comment telling me which one of the following sky shots is your favorite and I'll pick the name from my commenters next weekend (I'll shoot for Friday night) and announce the winner Saturday or Sunday.  If you like my Autumn tree (the first pic), you are welcome to choose that one instead. The winner will receive a 3x5 or 4x6 print (your call) of the photo you liked best. I'll take the date stamp off first though; these came pretty much straight out of the camera. Sound good? Well allrighty then, here we go...
I named this one "Daydreams", because it was reminiscent of my childhood and those long afternoons spent laying in the grass gazing at the clouds in a brilliant blue summer sky;

Wasn't sure what to call this one; "Misty's Twilight" was all I could think of (and meh). If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to have them.

This one is "Twilight's Dawning". Doesn't it look more like a sunrise than sunset? If you look carefully at the colors, you can tell it is actually the setting sun;

Here is "Heaven's Purl" (did you know that purl is also a synonym for swirl, in addition to a knitting stitch? I didn't; I just learned that - yay ;o)

One more and I think we're good...Um, let's see. How about this one? It's one of my favorites. I added a piece of scripture to it from Isaiah 60:1 because it seemed to fit perfectly:

Holy cow! I can't believe I actually finished my post on time (and I'm not even late for anything *grin*). Have a blessed week everyone!

with my morning coffee...Huh??

Some of you may remember that about a year ago I got pretty torqued and fired the Fox (this post). Of course it didn't last very long; I love Firefox's browser. Happily, it was only a month or so before another couple of tweaks and updates solved the major issue I was having. One of my personal favorites is a handy little add-on program called "Morning Coffee" (found here). You can add sites that you regularly visit to pop up collectively on whatever days you choose. I have frequent posters like Snap-Edit-Scrap, Corner of a Cat's Mind and Mikael's Mania (among numerous others) set up to open every day, while folks (like me) who post less often can be set to open less often (once or twice a week, for example). It's not just for blogs, either. I've got the local weather, my email log-in page and the BC click site which helps fund mammos on there as well. I just click on the little coffee cup icon and the sites I have set for each day pop up all in a row across the top of my browser window. While they're busy loading, I'm off to the kitchen to fix my morning tea (Lipton's Raspberry with a big blop of that local honey - remember that post? mmmmm :o) For those of you who are like me [um, that would be spastically busy] it is an unbelievably handydandy little time saver/corner cutter.

You will never guess what I came home to the other day...patio progress! WaHoo!! DH found a little bit of extra time to work on it. Can you believe it? I even did a little happy dance in the backyard. Being periodically oblivious and all, it didn't occur to me until after said boogity bop to glance around and make sure I was by myself (and big duh for me). Thankfully I was; that would have been most embarrassing. Other than the horses, that is, who were all looking at me like I was completely whacked (which, of course, I am :o) In case you're wondering, this project has been dragging on for over a year and a half. Since it is attached to the house, we are not using non-profit funds but paying for it out of pocket. Because said pockets contain mostly cobwebs and lint, we can't just hire someone else to speed things up (we're the cheapest labor we could find and the only ones we could afford to hire *grin*)
With DH working 69 hours and 45 minutes (he maxes out at 70 hours/week) and tons of rainy and/or freezing cold weather, it has turned what should have been a fairly easy project into a ridiculous challenge. My dad came over last Saturday to help DH after work (DH's work, not dad) so maybe we will actually finish this [many unprintable adjectives go here] project soon. As soon as the power tools started, Taya materialized in Lady's stall (closest to the action). I am sure that it was simply a bizarre coincidence that she happened to stick her tongue out at me the moment I told her she could NOT have the drill that was laying just out of her reach (you can see it on the very bottom left in the photo). DD thought it was pretty amusing anyway. In case you are new to this, Taya has a major obsession with power tools (especially the auger) and shoelaces *laugh*. I have no idea why this is so, but it sure is funny sometimes.

You know, ever since I got that new camera I've been obsessed with photographing the sky...I wonder why that is? We're talking morning...

Noon...

and Night. Well, okay at least the early evening sunsets - y'all know I'm a terrible night owl (nodding off on the sofa like grandma at 8p.m. and how pitiful is that?? ;o)

Actually, I am still awake at moonrise - see? Oooooh it's so purrrrty!