Corner View: Rain, Rain

... go away come again another day.  Rain is this week's topic. We had some rain last night, but it was too cold outside to take some photos, so I decided to stay in by the fireplace.

Today, I went with a couple of new photography friends, Margie and Paul to St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and managed to catch a few raindrops instead.

I like the way the some of the raindrops fell on her face.

Splash over to Theresa's blog to see the list of our corner view friends and to view more rain. Thank you Susanna for the great topic this week.

Have a golden day my friends!

Hugs,

Joyce

xo

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

"Happy" Monday!

Our weekend was full, we had dinner with friends, decorated our tree and I spent yesterday with my mom. I was in bed early last night and slept like a baby through the whole night.

Have a golden and happy day my friends!
Hugs,
Joyce
xo

Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude.

~ Joseph Wood Krutch~

A Year Ago...

 G and I were in Florida to share in the celebration of our friends Brittany and Doug's wedding. Happy Anniversary my friends!

Two wonderful artists I consider dear and close to my heart helped to make Brittany and Doug's day memorable with their talent.

Patricia with PVE created these beautiful illustrations of the day. Her talent and big heart always amazes me.

Caroline with Paloma's Nest is the talented artist behind the original heirloom ring bearer bowl and a proud supporter of Kiva.

Both of these gals have touched my heart, with their talent and their kindness for others. There still is time to visit their shops to find a special gift for that special someone in your life or stop by their blogs to say hi. 

As I write this post today I noticed it is Nov 22, a month from today G and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary. It seems only like yesterday we were young and taking that walk down the aisle. Where does time go?


Have a golden weekend my friends!
Hugs,
Joyce
xo

“In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

where no one sees you.”

~Jalal ad-Din Rumi~

Corner View: Taking A Different Perspective

Some would say the photo below looks messy or full of trash, I see it as inviting and vintage. Really, how many barns have a sofa in it? To give these vintage pieces a second chance is as if bringing a bit of yesterday into today. A sofa once, the pride and joy of the lady of the house, rescued from the curbside now sits proudly in her new spot. A sofa that holds memories, stories and secrets. A lawn chair, rusty and I'm sure has seen its better days. Could have been a favorite chair for the man of the house, where he would sit under a tree on a Sunday afternoon, after church and picnic, reading the Sunday paper or sharing a beverage or two with his buddies.

 To find out more on different perspective, visit Theresa's corner to find the list of our cv friends. Thank you Dana for this week's topic!

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I would like to share my first "what I'm thankful for", YOU for taking time out of your day to visit my little corner and your wonderful comments and kind words, they add a ray of sunshine to my day and for sharing your everyday events with me. 

I hope you have a wonderful day spending it with family, thinking of past Thanksgivings, enjoying the day with each other and creating memories for tomorrow. For those without family or a table to share may your hearts be full. 

Have a golden and blessed Thanksgiving my friends near and far!
Hugs,
Joyce
xo

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

A Short Week But A Busy One

... full of planning, preparing and list making. 

I hope you manage to take a moment for yourself.
Have a golden day my friends!


Hugs,
Joyce
xo

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.

~Author Unknown~

A Full Weekend Ahead

We have a busy weekend (starting today), but yet relaxing if that makes any sense. I know two things we need to do for sure

a walk among the trees with Mr. "Bo"jangles. Hmmm... what was the other thing?
Oh yeah and I need to wash my car!

Have a golden weekend my friends~
Hugs,
Joyce
xo

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

~Jimmy Dean~

Corner View: Anything Goes

This week anything goes... so I’m going to pretend to be staying in this little space on wheels, where I can daydream.

Can't you almost smell the fresh cool air and a pot of coffee brewing on the stove?

To see more of anything goes visit Theresa. Thank you Ninja  for your topic this week.

Have a golden day my friends!
Hugs,
Joyce
xo

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still

~Dorothea Lange ~

When One Door Closes Another Opens...

Have you found yourself at times standing between a close and open door?

It was my friend Gregg that led me to the door of blog world. From this blog it led me to your doors to share your lives and to form friendships. We share one another’s happiness, we except one another for who we are, we send words of encouragement, when sadness strikes we carry one another, there is no room to judge only embrace just like good friends do.

Not only has many wonderful and dear friendships developmented through my little blog, but again with the help of Gregg, I reconnected my love of the camera. My little camera has tied together all the things I love and has led me to fun opportunities.

For example, my camera and I (Gary too!) went to Florida to capture the wedding of our friends Brittany and Doug’s wedding (gosh it almost a year already), to taking photos of family and friends, food photographs, photos of a wonderful nursery farm (this is for another post) and sharing with you my daily life through my lens. There is so much to learn in photography, and I hope to continue to grow and deepen the love I see through my lens. Besides with all this learning it will keep my brain active and alert (I hope).

Thank you Gregg (Lisa and Kris too!) for always being my biggest cheerleader as I have tried many things to see what I wanted to do when “I grew up”! I believe I found it!

Do you have a cheerleader in your corner?

Have a golden day my friends!

Hugs,

Joyce

xo

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us

~Alexander Graham Bell~

Butterfly Kisses

Today would have been my sweet butterfly's birthday. They say time eases the pain, but it is days like today I miss him so much.

My dad used to love his birthday (as much as I love my birthday), so today I will celebrate his day. 

Have a golden weekend my friends!
Joyce
xo

Love is like a butterfly: It goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes.

~Author Unknown~

Corner View: Autumn

I love the colors of fall, all the shades of red, orange, yellow and green.

Even when the trees are bare of all of their color.

To see more Autumn around the world with our corner view friends, visit Theresa's blog. Thanks B and Skylar for this week's topic. Autumn is one of my favorite seasons.

Have a golden day my friends!

Joyce

xo

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree

~Emily Bronte~

When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like A Big Pizza Pie,

... that's amore!

A couple of months ago our friend, Brittany opened a new restaurant in town, called

Slyce, a brick oven pizza place. 

She asked if I would come over and take a couple of food photos.

Isn’t this oven a piece of art all by itself?

We had a great afternoon taking photos and sampling the food.  Thanks to Chef Gary and his Sous Chef Brian, I was so full I had to come home and take a nap!

Have a golden day!

Joyce
xo

My idea of feng shui is to have them arrange the pepperoni in a circle on my pizza

~anonymous~

Happy Friday: No Soup...

on the stove today, but a quick and easy dish

Sautéed Sausages with Grapes and Balsamic Glazed Onions! You can find the recipe HERE. I'm not much of a meat eater, but Gary is, so I always like to make sure I have some kind of vegetable or salad as a side dish. 

Have a golden weekend my friends!
Hugs,
Joyce
xo

I like to cook good meals, especially when I have a lot of time.

~Ekaterina Gordeeva~

Corner View: Famous

This week's corner view theme is famous. The only thing I could think of, at this time of night was the geese in the forest preserves.

There are so many around this time of year. I swear they have invited their children, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc... The ponds and grass are full of these feathery friends. 

They have been famous for getting a bit territorial and for leaving wonderful packages, I have managed to step on from time to time in the grass. I don't mind because I do enjoy watching them. Plus I always make sure I have a roll of paper towels in the car. 

Thank you Don  for this week's theme. To visit more famous things, places and people stop by Theresa's  blog to see the list of our corner view friends.


Have a golden day!
Joyce
xo

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.

 ~Lao Tzu~

Plan VS. Carmel Apples

 I notice as the weather changes my eating habits do too. Does yours?

I keep a bowl on our table full of apples, pears and bananas. There is something about a good crispy apple during the cooler seasons. Of course once in awhile a Carmel apple hits the right spot. I don't normally keep a tray of Carmel apples sitting around. This tray was our treat to bring for our annual Halloween gathering in the neighborhood. I was trying to think of a healthy treat, but at 160 calories verse 50 calories for a plain apple, not sure how healthy they were, but they were good.

Have a golden November 1st!
Joyce
xo

It is remarkable how closely the history of the Apple-tree is connected with that of man.

 ~Henry David Thoreau~