Around The House

This week I haven't had a chance to capture any truly great shadow shots, just a few photos of some everyday shadows from around the house and office.


The first one is a simple shot of the fan in my office. (This is a must for me these days, those darn hot flashes are gruesome without my trusty fan). Every afternoon the sun shines through the window and makes this great shadow on the floor.






This is my back door at home. Want to play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe? The sun drew us a board!!















And, my last photo is the storm door's reflection on the wall in my front entry way. I really hate this storm door, but it does make a pretty neat shadow on the wall.

Hope you like the pictures.

And, be sure to hop on over to Hey Harriet and check out others Shadow Shots for this week.

Wordless Wednesday

Parenting Dilemma

We have a dilemma in our household that would be really beneficial to receive a bit of guidance or input from others with. It is a parenting issue and my husband and I seem to be at an impasse at resolving. So he asked that I put it to my Blog and FB friends in the hope that we could get others views on our situation. Comments would be GREATLY appreciated!!

I guess I should start with a bit of background. Our household consists of my husband, myself and my daughter (now age 16) with my stepson (age 13 in Dec.) visiting 3 weekends of the month and anytime he is out of school. Except for soccer season when he visits only on weekends he is not playing soccer (which usually means one weekend a month).

The dilemma started last December when I was readying the house for our Christmas get together with my family. I was cleaning and generally putting everything in its proper place. I had asked that the kids clean their rooms and put all of their things away.

My daughter did so, but my stepson did not. A couple of days before our get together I cleaned his room, putting all his things away and even going so far as placing storage containers and a large basket into his closet to help him KEEP his room clean going forth. I sorted his sports items into one container, GI Joe items into another, misc. toy guns into yet another container, matchbox cars and misc. items into the last container and all his army men and vehicles into the basket. Making his closet organized and easy to keep picked up. I also organized his board games at the top of his closet; placed his PS2 games and books in the cabinet beside his desk, all organized and easy to access; hung or folded his clothes and put them in the closet or the chest of drawers; placed a mesh cube near the closet to hold his dirty clothes; vacuumed his floor; made the bed; and dusted the furniture. I spent a good two hours on this room and it was spotlessly clean.

Then, the evening of our get together, he was playing with a remote control car and torturing our little dog. The dog was terrified of the car and he kept chasing the dog with it. After being told to stop several times my husband took the car away. This upset my stepson and he headed off to his room. After a few hours my husband went to check on him. The boy said that he was bored and looking for something to do, so he dumped all of the items from every storage container and the basket onto the floor. He had received a thousand piece build-a-car set for Christmas and had dumped every bit of it onto his dresser. He had eaten pistachios in the room and the shells were thrown all around the room. You could literally not walk through the room. I was frustrated that he had trashed the room. And felt that he should have to clean the mess himself. The build-a-car set was the only thing that was picked up before he left on this visitation.

So for the next few visitations this subject was a source of much distress in our house. He would visit, the messy room would be mentioned, but it never got touched. He also would leave his things outside in the yard causing them to have to be picked up by either his father, the man that mows our yard, or me.

On one visit, my daughter was voicing her frustration with having to keep her room picked up or not be allowed to do the things with her friends that she wanted to do, while the stepson was allowed to visit and do the things that he wanted to do and not have to touch his room. I reached the boiling point. I brought up the messy room and I raised my voice, yes, I yelled at my husband and the stepson. This sent the boy to his room crying where he called his mother. She in turn called my husband. He ended up taking the kid back home. Several phone calls were exchanged between my husband and his ex, it was a real source of distress for all. It was said that the boy did not understand what was expected of him and that he did not want to visit our house anymore. So for a few weeks he did not.

During this time, I put together lists for each child detailing the expectations of each of them. Both lists were then emailed to my husbands ex so that there would be NO confusion as to just what IS expected of both kids. The lists were discussed at his house with his mother and here on his next visitation. The day of his return to his mother, the room was said to be cleaned. His father did a quick check before heading out for the return trip. After they left I went into the room to put away some laundry. I opened the closet door and one of the storage containers fell out at my feet. The closet looked as if the items on the floor had been raked into the closet with some of the items being tossed into a container so that the closet door would shut. Some items had been shoved under the bed and into the cabinet. Pistachio shells were scattered behind the bed and under the desk. Dirty clothes were tossed behind the bed against the wall so as not to be seen when opening the bedroom door, others were tossed into the closet. Clean clothes that were hanging in the closet were also on the closet floor. Water bottles and Coke cans were sitting in the window and on the dresser. The room was still not clean and his things were still being left outside.

Visitations would come and go with the room and items outside being dicussed, but little was done to resolve the problem. If much was said about it the boy would call his mother and want to go home. I began to bring it up to my husband often, especially on visitation weekends. There just never seemed to be time to deal with it.

During the month of July while the boy was visiting for weeks at a time, I would mention the room and the things outside saying that if they were not putt away properly that I was going to do it myself and that there would be nothing left after doing so. I gave this warning several times giving the boy ample time to put his things away properly.

Finally, in mid August, I cleaned the room. I put everything into the storage containers sorting them as I had done before. But this time, I put the storage containers in the garage along with any item that I picked up out of the yard like his bike, electric scooter, basketballs, soccer balls and baseballs. I then bought a pad lock and locked the garage. I also moved his tv out of his room and into our bedroom, leaving the boy with pretty much a bed, dresser and desk.

The boy has had two visitations since my doing this. The first visit (Fri. to Sun.) he had brought his PS3 with him and my husband allowed him to hook it up in the living room after I had gone to bed the first night and to play it there during his visit. The only exception was in the evenings when all of us were in the living room and wanting to watch tv. On Sunday of this visit the boy was even allowed (by my husband) to play with a soccer ball outside that he said he found in the weeds. (My husband had been in the garage on Sat. doing some repairs and the boy was out there with him for awhile)

His last visitation upon arriving and finding the garage locked again the boy got a large rock and tried to beat the lock off of the door. After awhile his Dad went outside and gave him a baseball bat and some baseballs that were in the trunk of his car. The next morning I awoke to the sounds of the PS3 being played in the living room. And, again he was allowed to play it all weekend the same way he had the visitation before. Before leaving for his return trip home his Dad reminded him that he needed to pick up the baseball stuff outside. I mentioned the one laying in the back yard. And, after they left went outside and picked it up.

My husband is of the opinion that the boy has been punished enough and that I should return all his things to him. I on the other hand feel that there has been no punishment at all and that the things should remain where they are and that additional punishment should be added for his trying to distroy the lock.

We are asking you to give us your comments and views on this. It is a real problem in this household and we are both interested in what you have to say. PLEASE COMMENT!!! (either here or on FB)

A Walk Along The Lake

About a week ago I was driving home after visiting a local Flea Market. I decided to stop by the Moutardier Resort and Marina. I was traveling in the area and hadn't been there in a long, long time.
It was a beautiful day, just right for taking a walk along the edge of the water.
So I grabbed my camera and off I went.


I started my walk on the gravel path and came upon a small bridge. Of course, when I saw the shadow the bridge's railing was casting, I couldn't resist taking a picture. The path lead me to a childrens play area, with slides and swings. And, from there I walked down to the edge of the water.

The lake's edge has large rocks that are perfect for walking along. I think the view is so nice.

As I walked along the water's edge I saw the fishing deck and decided to walk over and take in the view. I approached the deck and saw the long shadow of the railing and the trees being cast on the deck and in the water.

There was a little boy and his Grandmother sitting on the deck fishing. The boy was about 4 or 5 and was so excited that he had caught the first fish. He told me all about it, describing just how and where he had cast his rod and how hard it was to reel it in. (If you look really close you can see them sitting on the deck on the right hand side of the picture.)

As I started to leave I saw one of the little rental cabins almost fully covered by the shadow of the tree in the front yard. Another photo opt for a shadow hunter.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and if you would like to see more Shadow Shots, then follow the link to Hey Harriet and see what others have posted this week.

This Week In Shadows

This week my daughter went to the Courthouse to take her driving permit test. (which she passed) While I was waiting in the small waiting area outside the testing room, I looked up and what did I see.....a beautiful shadow. So I had to grab my camera.




Of course by the time I got my camera out and focused on my subject, the sun went behind a cloud and my shadow began to fade. I managed to get a pretty good picture after waiting a moment or two.







I took this picture while walking back to the office from the bank. I had seen the shadow in the archway several times while making this walk, so this trip I took my camera along.

I hope you enjoy the photos and if you would like to see more Shadow Shots from all around the world head on over to Hey Harriet and see what others have posted this week.

Signs of Fall

It is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we were having 90 degree days, but with the temperatures falling, we are definitely seeing the signs of Fall.

The pictures below are some of the things that I have noticed while driving over the past few days.




Soybean fields are turning yellow and soon will be ready for harvest.
They sure do make the view quite pretty as you drive by.










Corn crops are ready to be harvested and made into feed or flour or whatever.

(I tried to get a picture of a field being harvested by combine, but couldn't safely get the picture. Too much traffic.)






Leaves are beginning to change colors and to fall from the trees. (Although our hot summer with little rain has made a difference in the leaves, they aren't as pretty this year.)

And, the last hay crops are ready to be baled and stored for the winter.

FYI: All these photos were taken safely, I pulled off the roadway to take the pictures.

Shadows Along The Roadway.

All this week while on my way home, after dropping Lindsey at school, I have noticed the shadows on the rocks cast by the rocks on the opposite side of the roadway. So I grabbed my camera and took these pictures.

The first picture shows the rocks on both sides of the road. I am just approaching the shadows.

The second picture is a bit better view.

The third picture shows the shadows as I turn between the rock formations onto another road.

And, the last picture I took while my husband was driving home one afternoon.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

If you would like to see more Shadow Shots, head on over to Hey Harriet and check out what others have posted this week.

Shopping With My Daughter

Michael, my husband, has a house that he is readying for sale in Louisville and had to be up there on Sunday to coordinate some of the fix up and repairs. He also wanted to attend his son's soccer game that afternoon. So Lindsey and I decided to take advantage of his trip to do a little shopping. Lindsey loves shopping, and she actually knows St. Matthews and Oxmore Malls as well as she knows Greenwood Mall. Michael dropped us off at the mall and was off to do his errands.

We arrived at the mall shortly after it opened and decided we were hungry. We really didn't have a taste for anything in the food court and we remembered walking past The Cheesecake Factory on our way in. We had never eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, so we decided to give it a try. The line wasn't too long and our wait was only about 15 minutes. We were quite impressed with the selection of foods on the menu. It was hard to decide what to pick. We finally decided on Grilled Chicken. Hers plain and mine with the works plus avocado. It was really good. More than either of us could eat. I highly recommend The Cheesecake Factory!!!

After eating, it was back to shopping. We were able to find several items that we liked. A few of them were bargains, which made me happy. Lindsey was happy because we found her some things that are not available in our mall.

It was a nice day.

After The Rain

It has been a rainy week, with some heavy showers of rain at times. I think I have had to be out and about everytime Mother Nature has decided to give us a downpour. I had several errands to take care of early in the week, and I got rained on. I took my daughter shopping one evening and got rained on. Went to the bank today, and once again, got rained on. But, each day I was able to get some nice pictures after the rain.



My first picture is one that I took on my walk back from the Court House. There was a puddle at the back of our building that was reflecting the grass and rocks that are at the foundation of the building as well as the bricks of the building itself.

This next shot was from our shopping trip. I was waiting outside the dressing room while Lindsey was trying on clothes and I noticed the light above the dressing room and how the chain on the light was casting a shadow in two different directions. Of course, I had to take a picture to post for this week's shadow shot.




As we were leaving the mall we noticed how beautiful the clouds were. The sun was beginning to set as the sky was beginning to clear. It made quite a pleasant view for the drive



This morning after my trip to the bank, the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to shine. As I was taking the dog out, I noticed the raindrops still on the grass. So I came inside and retrieved my camera to get a few shots.







I tried to get a close up shot of one of the raindrops, but my camera just didn't want to focus on it.




Peanut did not like that I was outside without him. He wanted to be outside too. He kept moving the blind on the door to see what I was doing.









I thought he looked so cute peeking out at me.



I hope you enjoy the pictures. And, if you would like to see more shadow shots, then head on over to Hey Harriet and check out what others from around the world have posted.

Our Search For The Keebler Elves

Today Michael, Lindsey and I decided we were going in search of the Keebler Elves. So off we went, along with our dog, Peanut to find them.
We began our search by driving to Shanty Hollow Lake, we had heard a rumor that they were operating their newest factory out of a tree there. We were hoping to find it along with Ernie and his gang of cookie baking elves.


I took along my camera to document our search. The first picture is of the lake from the parking lot at Shanty Hollow.

The next shot is the beginning of the trail that leads into the woods.








We followed the trail and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the woods as we went along. We had heard that there was a waterfall somewhere along the trail, so we were hoping to see it too.


Along the way we passed several large rocks, or groups of large rocks. This one in particular was interesting. It had sections that looks like it was a piece of rotting wood, instead of rock. (As you can see in the next picture.)
















As we were walking along, we happened upon a group of butterflies. They didn't want to move off of the path. They just flaped their wings and sat there. Until Peanut got a little too close, then they decided it was time to fly off.


A bit further down the trail we found ourselves walking along side a swampy area. It was actually kind of pretty with all the shades of green in the water and surrounding the edges.





This must be a popular spot to visit, this tree sure seems to have had a few visitors.



We thought that Peanut must have gotton a wiff of cookies baking. He decided he wanted to lead the way. He was definately enjoying the smells and critters in the woods. He was very interested in the little frogs and lizards he encountered along the trail.


Then finally, we found it!! The Keebler Tree. We knocked and called out for Ernie, but got no response.

We were disappointed, but decided to go a bit further down the trail in search of the waterfall. We had no luck with that either. So we headed back.


Once we got back to the parking lot, we walked down to the boat ramp and walked along the path at the edge of the lake. We saw several nice fishing spots and I took a few pictures of the lake.

We had a nice walk and enjoyed the view.

Maybe next time those elves will be there.

This Week In Shadows

On my way to the office this week I passed by this shadow and, of course, had to bring out the camera and snap a picture. I think the little fence is neat in itself, and that it makes a nice shadow too.

I have to admit that I do enjoy looking for shadows and reflections when I am out and about.

I was heading back to the office after having lunch, when I noticed this reflection in the van parked next to me. I loved the way that I could see the beautiful blue sky and white fluffy clouds not only in the window of the van, but also in the side mirror. So once again, I reached for my camera.



I hope you enjoy the pictures and if you would like to see more beautiful Shadow Shots from around this big beautiful world, head on over to Hey Harriet and check out this weeks pictures from others.

A Simple Little Shadow

My Shadow Shot this week is again from the office. This is the view from my desk. Most mornings the sun cast this shadow on the floor. You can also see the trash can through the window.











The next shot is, of course, a closer view of the trash can, with it's shadow on the sidewalk.

Last, but not least, is the same shadow as the first shot, but from the outside looking in.

Not real exciting shots, just some of the everyday shadows in my world.

Hope you enjoy, and be sure to check out some of the other entries over at Hey Harriet.

Shadow On The Road

I was looking out the window at the office and I noticed this shadow on the roadway. I thought to myself, "What an odd shaped shadow to be cast on the roadway", "Where is is coming from?", so I grabbed my camera and snapped this first shot from inside the office, (you can see the screen in the picture). Then I had to investigate what object was casting this shadow on the roadway.

I went outside and once the traffic cleared I took a few more shots. It was a long shadow and was hard to get the entire thing in the shot.

It reminded me of a tennis racket.

However, this particular shadow was beeing projected on the roadway from the electrical wires hanging overhead. I guess it is some sort of connector for the wires. I took a close up and then panned out to show the connector and the wires it is joining.

So this is my Shadow Shot for this week. I had fun capturing these and am glad that participating in Shadow Shot Sunday has given me a different way of viewing the shadows that I encounter from day to day.

Shadow Shot July 24, 2010

For my Shadow Shot this Sunday, I would like to share a couple of pictures from one of my favorite places, Ponce De Leon Inlet Light Station.

It is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the view from the top is absolutely beautiful.

This picture was, of course taken from the top of the lighthouse looking down at the Inn Keepers house and Museum.

In these next two shots I was trying to get a picture of the frensel lens on display in the museum, but also captured a reflection of the lighthouse in the window.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Haven't posted a Sunday Shadow Shot for a long while. So I thought I would do so today.

This is a picture I took in July of 2007 while in Savannah. It is the tree shadowed walkway leading to the beautiful fountain of Forsyth Park.

Maybe next week I will post a better Shadow Shot, but this will get me back into posting the shadow pictures. I hope you enjoy!!