Horatio

Leguan, you are such a talented photographer! Thank you again for taking the extra time to share your photographs. I need to visit my cousin in Baltrum. Perhaps I will wait until the summer. Glad to know that you are home for the holidays. This will be really wonderful! A visit home with family and friends, always recharges the soul. My holidays were quiet and filled with too much food. The first of the year is always the day I start on a diet to shed those extra pounds that I gained from November through December. In addition, I also make the promise not to eat so much the next holiday. We will talk to you in 2015, so I hope you had a great time home and we look forward to hearing from you.

My sincerest apologies...somehow I deleted my Merry, Merry Christmas post. Here it is again, belated, as I do not know what I did to delete it. I would like to wish everyone a most Merry, Merry Christmas! May you find a day filled with lots of love and happiness. Horatio

Hooray!!! So nice of you to stop in! Glad to hear that your Christmas haul is starting off on a positive trend! It can only get better! Absolutely, I do think that you need a new hamster friend. I got two new firends, Hoshe and Helike and only after about five weeks, Helike passed away suddenly. I do miss her quite a bit. She was one of the most beautiful and smartest hamster friends ever to enter my life. As for other news, get all the work hours you can, while you can. This just helps for later on down the road. I will be back to catch up.

LEGUAN!!!!!!! Thank you so very much for the phenomenal photographs!!! The sunset is my favourite!!! Do you know the island Baltrum, near where you were at the North Sea? My cousin lives there. I totally understand about your having to keep mum about your work. Please let us know when you are published and where we can find your work!!! You have our best wishes to get home safe for the holidays! The truck accident with the fire and rat poison created such a mess for everyone. I do understand about having to replace/repair the asphalt. My father owned an asphalt paving business, so I do understand this situation very well. We are thrilled to see that your life is going so well. It looks like you had a wonderful trip to the North Sea! I know it took quite a bit of effort to resize all those photographs, but we really appreciate everything you did do so that we may see the images from your trip. Thank you again. Have a most Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY HANUKKAH EVERYONE!!!

I did not go out shopping on Black Friday, too many crazies on the road. I did go to the gym and thought I was going to get killed before I made it the very short distance there. Some lady on her cell phone did a u-turn across six lanes of traffic, causing people to slam on their brakes in both directions. As soon as I got out of the gymI drove straight home, pulled my car into the garage and parked it until I had to go to the gym the next day. I guess the sale was in the opposite direction from where the lady was headed. On Cyber Monday, I did do some shopping, but not much. I missed a couple of the sale items I wanted, but I did go to the gym! I guess my priorities were not on doing Cyber Monday shopping. If you like doodle art... check out Kerby Rosanes. Great doodle artist!

Friday and yesterday were more days of feasting... oh my!!!

Okay... what a day Thanksgiving was. Glad to know that this holiday only comes once a year!!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving... we have already started having holiday treats. OH NO!!!! I really do not like the holidays... too many goodies to indulge in and I have no willpower whatsoever. Today, holiday cookies, which were yummy and hot blueberry pie with vanilla bean ice cream. Tomorrow, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie with hard sauce. I am in such big trouble!!!!

I predict a white Christmas!!!

TBFOF!!! I see you!!!

My friend's got married on Manhattan Beach, California on the 14th. The wedding was held on the beach. It was really great! Afterwards, we headed to Disneyland for the wedding dinner. Here is a photograph of heart on the beach before the couple arrived. The bridal bouquets. Here is a picture of the wedding cake after the first piece was cut. And the first piece of cake on the plate.

TBFOF!!!! Welcome back!!! As always, we love your photographs, even if they are edited for Instagram. :-) Thank you for pulling over to do your editing! Our paths seem to be crossing!!! I noticed that you posted from Manhattan Beach on the 15th. You are not going to believe this, but I was at a wedding held on Manhattan Beach on the 14th!!!! Oh my goodness! I can not believe we are so close, perhaps even seeing each other without knowing it! Cedar City... did you go up to Cedar Breaks? Were you able to stay there for a bit and do some hiking? It appears that you zoomed your way across America. To fill you in on some details... Ohio has some beautiful countryside. Which is not along the interstate. After Utah, which way did you head? Did you take I-40 into Los Angeles? We are thinking of looking for a place in Westwood, down the street from UCLA. I have a friend who has a condominium there, and we would like to live in that general area. Manhattan Beach would be a nice place to live, but there is no way we could afford to live there. TBFOF, really need to stay in touch. Perhaps the next time I am out your way, we can get together for coffee.

This past week, I decided to get a fish eye lens. The decision was a tough one and I wanted to think about what I would be taking pictures of and how many times I would be using this lens. If not the fish eye, the other option was a better telephoto lens. So, I spoke with a really terrific lady at Nikon and she told me how to do both! WOW!!! She suggested a teleconverter and the fish eye lens. This way, I could get the benefits of two lenses!!! The teleconverter would go onto my telephoto lens and I would get the benefits of a much longer lens. Now, I am waiting for the fish eye lens and the teleconverter to arrive. On Wednesday, we are flying to Los Angeles for a wedding. It is pretty exciting. My friends are getting married on Manhattan Beach! Pictures of the wedding area will be posted upon my return. They asked me to take pictures and I suggested that they hire a professional. Made me way too nervous to take the most important photographs documenting someone's important event. So, I said I would attempt to take some photographs along with the photographer to see if anything comes out okay. Phew!!!

Leguan!!!!! How wonderful to see you again! Lava tubes are so interesting!!! How fortunate you are to have gotten to see one! Congratulations on the extension of your project!!! Very, very impressive!!! Please do keep us posted on how it finally turns out. July is really, really close. I hope that you get everything completed that you hope to do. WOW!!! A collaboration with some of the people in the department of a Nobel Laureate?!?!?! Wonderful!!! I would love to hear all about this collaboration, when you are permitted to talk about it. Those microscopes must be incredible. You would love to have those in your lab! Berlin, Hamburg, are two cities I have been to. I lived in Berlin for a while, and loved it. Do you know Baltrum in the North Sea area? My cousin lives there. Beautiful area! The other three cities, I have not visited. I suppose they are beautiful! Making a good friend is always nice. I would love to see her photographs. Sorry it did not work out one way, but the other way is even better. It would be great to go to a motorbike museum. Where was this? I see you really enjoyed yourself. Mushroom picking... I would have to have someone check to make sure that I picked only good mushrooms and nothing poisonous. LOL. What a fantastic way to enjoy your weekend!!! Had some computer problems, all self-induced. OUCH!!! I was out of commission for a bit. The only way I could do things was via the iPad and iPhone. Now I am back and very happy that my laptop is running without any operator induced problems. As for here, just the same old thing. Not much is new. I am having lots of fun taking photographs, but I am not very good. It takes me 1000 shots to come up with one good picture. I am working on a better ratio, but the learning process is not as fast as I would like. Friends of mine are getting married and they asked if I would take pictures, I tried to decline, but they said I could not decline. Lots and lots of pressure. My plan is to use a video along with my camera. Double the chance of coming up with one good photograph. I just cannot miss any good shots. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! My plan is to head to Germany for a couple weeks in the spring. I am looking forward to seeing my cousin, then travel around within Germany. Perhaps we can meet for coffee and if I come closer to summer, a bike ride. I will keep you posted on my plans. Must run and get some work accomplished. I will be back tomorrow.

Memphis in the rain... great for plants, bad for being outside. Everyone is planting for the winter, johnny jump-up and pansy plants. I was thinking about planting some, but the rain is "dampening" my plans.

A couple photographs of the petrified trees. You cannot tell from the photographs, but the some of the trees are sixty or seventy feet long and over four feet in diameter.

Finally some photographs of the petrified wood. I am so impressed with all the beautiful colours.

Here are a couple of flowers that grow throughout the park and a small creek.

Here are a couple photographs from the Petrified Forest National Park. What a fantastic park! It is against the law to remove any pieces of rock/petrified wood from the park. If you want a piece of petrified wood, you can purchase pieces from many of the stores outside of the park. I bought a couple pieces.

Has anyone ever been in a lava tube? Today I am going to be able to see the inside of one in Utah! I am really excited to take this adventure. On Wednesday, I drove from Memphis, Tennessee to Cedar City, Utah. As I was passing through New Mexico, I saw many remnants of lava flows. Here is one, right along the Interstate. Up close to another lava flow and a piece of lava.

Yesterday I decided that I needed to take a look at possible new family members. Whilst I was at the local pet store, I met a very nice boy who was interested in hamsters. The day ended up becoming a most wonderful experience. He picked out a beautiful blonde and white hammie and I was able to give him some hamster stuff and some initial guidance. This hamster is going to have a wonderful new buddy and the young man will have a new best friend!!! What a great new family this adorable hamster has had opportunity to join. Overall my day was a huge success!

*wonders what various members such as Arkcher, Hoops and Schimmislick are doing these days*

Yesterday, I was one of the first people to receive their new iPhone 6!!! My choice was for the straight 6 not the larger 6 Plus. I use my iPad and did not see a need for the larger iPhone. This new iPhone has been designed to be very sleek and very thin. Quite nice!!! There are some really terrific new features, so I look forward to learning all the things this iPhone can do!

That is wonderful!!! What a compliment to know that you art will be with her forever!!! I think that is a higher compliment than someone buying a piece of your art. You are unable to remove the art from your body as you would with art on the wall, if you become tired of it. You have to feel so very, very good about this!!! Would you please post pictures of the designs? I would love to see them. Garage sales... what a great way to get rid of unwanted stuff. I have gotten where I do not want any more stuff as it complicates your life. Art work... yes, knick-knack thingys... no. But now Apple products... that is a totally different thing. I did buy the new iPhone 6. Not the Plus as it is too big for me. The smaller iPhone 6 is much easier to hold up to your ear if you do not want to carry ear buds or a bluetooth ear piece. Outside my back door I have the cardinal group who stop in for breakfast. The highest count I have had at one sitting is seven. These birds are so lovely and I get to see the parents and children in all stages of development! It is so much fun to watch as their feathers turn into the brilliant red. We have a large variety of birds, squirrels, chipmunks and a carnivorous pitcher plant. Yesterday I happened to be watching as the pitcher plant trapped a fly for dinner. I actually felt sorry for the fly. Penny... it is always sad when you lose a friend. Hopefully you did not sell her cage at the garage sale. You can disinfect the cage and prepare it for your next hamster.