You need a few clouds......

to get a sunrise like this.....

In spite of my need, desire and craving for sun all the time, truth is without the clouds- many of my favorite photos would be impossible!

Have a beautiful end to 2011 and an optimistic, joyful 2012!

Late December Photos

I walked and photographed the scenery on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas.  I got lots of gym time in yesterday so skipped the outside stuff.  I plan to NOT skip the outside today!!  :)


Here is a sampling of what Mother Nature had to offer!

Trail groomer in action

Hilgart farm

Smith Creek self portrait

Love the monochromatic landscape of winter

The homestead from a different angle

Ruger Baby dog

Pose for the camera!

Greg and Ruger

Snow shoe adventure!  Through the woods and over the logs!!

Favorite tree

December sunrise

Lola-girl is quite pleased with how much time we have spent outside with her this year.  She is enjoying the attention!  It is the least we can do to keep our little concrete gal happy!  HAHA!!  Love chatting with my girl.

Lola approves!

Until next time, find your joy!  And DEFINITELY be a joy giver!!

Christmas day- a little late!

Well, I had taken Christmas Day pictures, and then got so busy doing other things that I didn't post about the day!  So, I guess better late than never!

The picture of me is blurry, as the Mad Accountant took it, and I had to coach him on NOT moving the camera as he snapped.

And THEN this is the photo he took- nice and clear, but ..... uh.....

 Look who kept us entertained during this holiday weekend!!

And I do mean Ruger, but Greg can be entertaining as well.  At one point Ruger chewed up a twenty dollar bill-- Now how the 20 got on the floor into Mike's shoe is something you will have to ask The Mad-Accountant.  Weirdo.

We had a very nice day, actually we spent much of it outside!  Hope you had a an awesome Christmas yourself.  On to the New Year!

Some days it's just really easy to find your joy!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

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From my house to yours-

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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Be sure to find your JOY!!!!

Photo of the Day

I am so so excited!!

This morning, I checked my email and I found that I have been awarded the Photo of the Day by the website:  Capture Wisconsin.  I get nothing except a cool little virtual badge and my photo featured on one of the home pages for this website.  It is a real honor, as the level of skill and artistic ability on that website is superb!  There are a bunch of fine Photographers who submit to capturewisconsin.  It is a great site if you enjoy seeing scenes of all different sorts from our gorgeous state!

Anyway, I am very excited.  There was a lot of silent yelling and fist pumping going on at 5 am!!  :)  I didn't want to wake the Mad-Accountant up after all!

I took the Photo on Sunday morning during my walk.  I decided to go back the same route as Saturday, because there was actually some sun and I wanted a nice snow picture of the stone house and also my favorite tree.  The sun does add a lot to everything!  I climbed the hill next to the house and I was actually squatting right down in the weeds to get this shot.  Good thing I have quads of steel now!!  HA!!!

Have a great day everyone, and bask in the joys that are presented with you today!!!  I don't know about you, but I will be counting my blessings today!

Stone House in the snow

Procrastination......

So, yeah, it has been a little bit of an off day for me.  I slept really poorly last night for some reason- I REALLY do not know why, and I find it quite unfair as I have stuck to my regular routine AND it is the weekend..... So I am whining.  Also, we had company for the Packer game, which would have been GREAT had they freaking won.... which leads me to think of bad karma for some reason.  And I STILL do not have my Christmas cards out, part of the reason is of course our buddy procrastination, but part of it was the fact I was waiting to send out a couple calendars to people with their cards, and the calendars somehow got in a mail black hole over in the Twin Cities, and finally arrived after 8 days of being incommunicado.  Seriously!  It took 1.5 days to get to the twin cities from somewhere on the east coast, but it took from December 8 through December 17 to get to Park Falls???  I could have driven over myself and picked them up.  And now we are back to the fact that I am very tired from my rotten night sleep.
I did get a great walk in, both Saturday and Sunday, with some pretty fair pix, so here are those.  I think I am going to go to bed and feel rested for Monday.

Stone house- December

Hill and Dale

Velvety bark and whispering grass

Look outs

Frosty closeup

Lola and wreath

Naughty or nice?

Home for the birds

Hidden house

Pick up sticks

Chainsaw boy

Chainsaw boy, v.2

Chainsaw boy's art work

This is what I walked on today, great for contemplation and burning off chex mix!

Little cabin in the woods at dusk

Wreath and star

Lights of the wreath...

The day, though slightly off, can still be seen through joy-colored sunglasses!!  Until next time -- Be a joy giver!