Dia de los Muertos Festival

First it's a photo shoot at Oak Hill Cemetery, now I am having a ball at the Day of the Dead Festival!  I guess the Cemetery in Montmartre is next.  Meanwhile this was my first time to attend this wonderful event , and I'm so glad I did.  Bare Hands Gallery on Richard Arrington Blvd. South, hosted this 6th Annual Dia de los Muertos Festival . The festivities started at 1:00 and lasted into the night. Oh my, it's an eyeful!!!  I took about 100 photos in a very short time. One day's post is NOT going to get the job done.  I couldn't begin to capture it all or choose the one or two I really want you to see.  To quote Strangetastes, " A photographer's buffet." Consider today's offerings your appetizer! 

Top Photo:  Isn't she fabulous?  I couldn't stop snapping photos of her.  There were many folks young and old dressed as skeletons and other spirits.  

Bottom Photo:  One of the many shrines for the dearly departed.

The Tune du Jour is "A Taste of Honey" by Enrico Serenade

PARIS COUNTDOWN....13 DAYS!

My thanks to my friend Snap at Garbriola, BC Daily Photo for the Kreativ Blogger Award.  This time I would like to pass this  award on to all of my wonderful photographer/blogger friends that stop by and have taught me so much. Merci mes amis!!!!  In keeping with the award criteria I will however share 6 things that make me happy:

1.Being retired and the opportunities it has afforded me

2. Time well spent with family and friends

3. Photographing my precious grandchildren

4. Being able to volunteer my time and talents

5. Art/museums

6. Paris

My special thanks to Snapper whose photographs continue to amaze and inspire me.

Discover Enrico Serenade!

TWO THINGS CHALLENGE: Texture/Pattern

This week's Two Things Challenge is Texture/ Shapes.  My top photo is obviously TEXTURE, a shag bark tree common in Birmingham. Isn't it just great?  You want to run your hands all over it don't you!  SHAPES, well again I am really stretching for this one.   The shapes of these crape myrtles at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens formed such a graceful ailee ( yes I know it needs an accent mark but i couldn't find it when I changed to French!) in the late afternoon sun.  For more interpretations of the Challenge this week click here.

100 Stranger Challenge

Several days ago I featured a street portrait that is part of my 100 Strangers Challenge.   Some of you expressed an interest in finding out the specifics.  I am including Flickr's official site so that you can read all about it.  As I stated, I decided I had enough on my plate so opted to just do a personal challenge and not actually join the Flickr group.  D.C. Confidential has jumped in and is getting her toes wet with some fine examples.  We simply share our latest efforts from time to time.  I have been keeping track of mine in a Web Album,  and have now added them to my Photography Web Site as well.  Let me know if I can help in any way.  The more the merrier!

The Tune du Jour is...."Autumn" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons

PARIS COUNTDOWN....14 DAYS! ( That's just TWO weeks!)

Discover The Vivaldi Orchestra!

CDP THEME DAY -BOOKS

Today is Theme Day for 178 City Daily Photo participants around the world.  I love this day because I can hardly wait to see how each and everyone of this creative group has interpreted the theme.  This photo is from one of my favorite Birmingham hot spots.... Reed Books, The Museum of Fond Memories.  I have posted many photos here and here.  It is the most sublime jumble of memorabilia and books that you could ever hope to uncover!  This photo is from a tiny room that is WALL TO WALL books just like this.  As a former teacher the best advice I could ever offer parents is this..... read to your child, listen to your child read,  encourage them to read, talk to them about they/you have read,  let them see YOU read,  read together!  Got it? READ, READ, READ!!!!

The Tune du Jour is " I've Got A Crush On You" by Rod Stewart and Diana Ross.  Oh I do LOVE this one!!!

PARIS COUNTDOWN... 15 DAYS

Discover Rod Stewart!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Autumn Bistro

The nice thing about living in the "burbs" is that you can run to the grocery store and then make a quick left at the Botanical Gardens to catch a few quick shots.  I walked around for about half an hour and enjoyed the warm late afternoon sunshine.  The last roses of summer are fading, but some still beautiful and  sweet smelling (see below).   The leaves are almost ready to put on a grand show in the very near future.   I especially liked this scene with the sprinkling of golden brown leaves all around.  Oh,  I'll be back!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

OK, I haven't dressed up for Halloween since about the 7th grade.  That said, in a weak moment I let Wayne talk me into being Natasha to his Boris today. We are both so O.L.D. that we forgot until a while ago.  In case you are wondering, YES,  Natasha and I have similar figures! In fact we look very much alike except for hair color of course. Now who wants to be Bullwinkle??? Anyone???

The Tune du Jour is  "Young at Heart" by Frank Sinatra.  Why you ask?  Because going to Paris really is a fairy tale come true!

PARIS COUNTDOWN....16 DAYS!!!!

Discover Frank Sinatra!

A Stranger No More

As many of you know, I have embarked on an unofficial "100 Strangers Challenge".  The object is to help photographers feel more at ease at approaching strangers and asking to take their photo.  It's daunting I can tell you.  The hardest part of the  challenge is that you must have some type of interaction with the subject.  You MAY NOT sit in your car and snap photos from afar!  Hence the challenge.  I have shared a few with you along the way, but today I want to highlight one that is very special.  Meet my friend Herman.  He is a character for sure, but he is also a proud man that I consider myself lucky to have met.  Somewhere on that hat is an Olympic pin that I shared with him.  He accepted it as a token of our friendship.  He returned the favor by saying, " You  can take my picture, now."  The bottom photo is one of a series of photographs of hands that I hope to share as a series in the future.  Herman.... thank you for allowing me to make your portrait.  You are a stranger no more.

The Tune du Jour is " You've Got A Friend" by James Taylor

PARIS  COUNTDOWN.... 17 DAYS!

Discover James Taylor!

Welcome to Birmingham, Leonardo!

It's not every day that you go to the Bimingham Museum of Art and bump into the master himself!  Several weeks ago the museum threw a Family Day and look who showed up?  Leonardo da Vinci schmoozed with the kids and greeted visitors as they came in the front door!  Everyone in town is excited about this special collection of his drawings that have never before traveled as a collection from the Biblioteca Reale in Turin.  The works include one of his most celebrated notebooks, the Codex on the Flight of Birds and 11 other important drawings.  The exhibit is unusual in many respects.   Because the drawings are small and detailed ( you can actually see each and every stroke of his stylus) , the viewer is allowed to get extremely close with a magnifying glass.  This invites a very personal experience between the observer and the artist.   The room is kept darkened somewhat with a chilly temperature of 62 degrees F.  To highlight the theme of the flight of birds and some of his horse drawings, the museum invited the Birmingham Zoo to bring birds which everyone enjoyed seeing in the Sculpture Garden and horses from the Birmingham Police Department were a favorite in front of the museum.  In addtion, art activities were provided in the main lobby area for the kids.  What a great way to introduce children to the wonders of art and make them feel comfortable visiting our museum.  

Tomorrow,  I will be a volunteer inside the exhibit for the first time.  It will be a very chilly 3 and a half hours, but getting to view the drawings as much as I'd like is a good trade off I think!

Postscript: Grazie to my friend Fabrizio, who taught me that he is referred to as Leonardo, not da Vinci. He explained that "da Vinci" merely means that he is Leonardo of Vinci.  

BELOW: Art Birds!

The Tune du Jour is " Per Te" by Josh Groban

PARIS COUNTDOWN.....18 DAYS!

Merci beaucoup to my friend D.C. Confidential for sharing the BFF AWARD!  You have raised the bar for me in so many, many ways,  and I thank you for that.  You are talented, articulate and passionate about what you believe in. I hope to follow your example my friend.

Discover Josh Groban!

Let Us All Eat Cake!

 My daughter Kathleen and I almost share a birthday.  Hers was yesterday and mine is tomorrow, so I thought we might celebrate in the middle today!  I stopped by Angels Cakes and Confections in Crestline Village and photographed these gorgeous cakes. Well,  I know they are wedding cakes, but let's pretend.  Not only did they rearrange the shop for my photo "shoot", but I got a delicious cup of coffee as well. I am including  a portion of the gelato selection so you can have some with your cake.   Happy Birthday Kat!  Oh,  and the number of candles on our cakes?  Well, my lips are sealed, what about yours,  Kat?

And my present you ask?? Well I am giving myself a grand one this year. I won't be able to open it till around 9:30 a.m. on November 17th in Paris!

The specialty of the house is a delicious caramel cake.  It's a southern favorite.  I might need one of those when I return from Paris to lift my spirits!

PARIS COUNTDOWN ...19 DAYS!!!

The Tune du Jour is one of my very favorites, " The One I Waited For" by my dear friend Michael Dulin.  Who else would I ask to play at our party???

A special THANK YOU to Petrea and Dusty Lens for your most appreciated BFF Awards.  I so enjoy your friendship and your wonderful photographs and posts each and every day. 

Discover Michael Dulin!

Soccer, A Kick in the Grass on an Autumn Afternoon

I must confess that I am of the "pre soccer" generation.  I didn't grow up playing it.  Well that's an understatement, I hardly played Kick Ball.  It's only been in the last 20 or so years that I gave it much thought.  Now it's all the rage in Birmingham,  and our Chappell, age 5, is finishing up a rather stellar season.  I got to photograph the last game for these two Vestavia Hills teams yesterday.  What kind of a Mumsie would forget her 300mm lens????? I will blame that on fatigue.  That said,  I did the best I could with 8 cute 5 year olds running all over the field, and spilling over into the adjoining field as well!  As I said , I don't know much about soccer,  but I don't remember 3-4 coaches all out on the field ....well "herding cats" again. My daughter Kathleen was one of the coaches/herders.  She said that it's needed to help keep them "on track".  Well that's the truth!  You might notice that there are boys and girls on the same team.  When did that happen???   In the end, they had a terrific time, showed great sportsmanship, worked as a team,  and to my untrained eye, looked pretty skilled!   Congrats to our Chappy and her teammates for a great season!

The Tune du Jour is "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas & The Papas

PARIS COUNTDOWN....20 DAYS!

Discover The Mamas & The Papas!

The Falling Leaves......

Yesterday, I spent a wonderful day at Sweet Peas Garden Shop showing some of my photographs at their open house/art show.  The best part???  Spending the day with some very dear friends and enjoying a crisp, breezy autumn day seeing old friends  and making new ones.  Of course I couldn't  pass up some incredible photo opportunities.  Today I include two. Which is your favorite?  The top photo is taken of a bird bath .  The colors and reflection caught my interest.  The bottom photo was shot straight up through my very favorite southern tree, the dogwood.  I am thankful for this lovely day well spent!

The Tune du Jour is "Autumn Leaves" by Willie Nelson .  I love his version!

PARIS COUNTDOWN..... 21 DAYS !!!!!!

Discover Willie Nelson!

Wall Art

I love this wall.  It makes me smile every time I visit Sweet Peas Garden Shop on Linden Avenue in downtown Homewood.  You've been here before as well.  You all admired their fabulous pumpkin display for quite a while as my header and here.  Today I will be showing my photographs right here at an art show and open house.  There will be chili, beverages, music and  you can stroll the grounds and gift shop for fall plants and gifts.  My local readers of this blog, I hope you will stop by and say hello tomorrow.  I would love to meet you in person. ( The time: 11:00 till dark today)  

A very Happy Birthday to our friend  Abe Lincoln at Brookville, OH Daily Photo.

Bon weekend everyone!

The Tune du Jour is "The Sweetest Thing I 've Ever Known"  by Juice Newton

Thanks Jay Gilbert for helping me find this one!

PARIS COUNTDOWN.... 22 DAYS!!!

Discover Juice Newton!

The Grande Dame

Photographer's Rule # 1 ..... NEVER leave your camera at home.  If  I had today, I would have missed this fabulous lady!  Another "museum" shot.  I get at least one every week, I promise.  There I am being the cheerful but not terribly knowledgable exhibit greeter today,  and I look up and this lovely lady,  along with some of her friends came right by me.  After I told her how gorgeous she looked in that spiffy hat with the bright green feathers,  I flew downstairs to get my camera.  They were having a birthday luncheon for one of her friends in the museum cafe, and I  knelt by her chair ( I was prepared to grovel) and asked if I could take her picture. She cheerfully agreed and made sure I got her new handbag in the shot.  She asked me what I would do with it,  and I told her with any luck at all she would be on the internet by morning.  She laughed and said she didn't even HAVE the internet!! Thank you Miss Terry for making my day.  By the way, her friend told me she's quite spirited.  I already knew that! 

The Tune du Jour is for you Miss Terry - "The Way You Look Tonight" by Rod Stewart

PARIS COUNTDOWN .....23 DAYS!

Discover Rod Stewart featuring Chris Botti!

Grazie!

An urn of luscious fall colors from The Arbor. Enjoy!

Yesterday, I was totally taken by surprise when I received the "Blogging Friends Forever" Award from  Blognote,  who posts each day the most remarkable, professional photographs of his beautiful hometown, Arona,Italy - aronaeverday.blogspot.com   Grazie Diederick, my friend.  I am honored to be chosen by you. 

Next it is my turn to give the award to 5 bloggers following the next rules. ( I didn't like this part. It was incredibly hard to choose just 5!)

1. Only 5 people allowed

2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.

3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

 I added a 5th.  I chose bloggers that had not been previously honored with other awards in order to "spread the love"!

After a great deal of thought,  the envelope please...............

Bandung Daily Photo - Eki Quashay Akwan

Pensacola Daily Photo - PJ

San Francisco Daily Photo - Burd Zel Krai

Arradon Daily Photo - Alice

 Yankee in Belgrade - Bibi

A fine group of talented photographers and writers, but most of all friends whom I have enjoyed learning from and getting to know.

The Tune du Jour is a bow to Blognote.  "Caruso" by Josh Groban.

LATE BREAKING NEWS!  I just heard from our friend Marley at Cheltenham Daily Photo

 and Tash at Palos Verdes DP, that they have  also given me the honor of this award. I gratefully accept but have asked them to let someone else choose the 5 blogger friends in my place. Thank you Marley and Tash!  

Question: Do these awards make my head look big????

Discover Josh Groban!

Tout au bout!

On Monday, I  posted a photo of the beginning of the walking  trail at Jemison Park in Mountain Brook.  Alice of Arradon, FR Daily Photo requested, "tout au bout".  Since I am writing this in the evening, and all of my French blogging friends are fast asleep halfway around the globe, I am going to attempt to translate:  at the end!  Excusez moi if it's not quite right.  When this post goes up,  I will be snoozing,  and they will be at their computers and will hopefully offer corrections if needed.  Regardless, here's the lovely end of the trail.  Not the Pont Neuf or the Seine, but a photogenic stone bridge with Shades Creek slowly running through it.  So there you have it- a lovely and peaceful ending to a glorious autumn walk this morning!

The Tune du Jour is one of my very favorite soundtracks... "Prince of Tides".

You might want to stay a while and hear it to the end.  You're welcome to you know!

PARIS COUNTDOWN.... 24 DAYS!

Discover Instrumental!

Remembering

My friend Mary insists that when in Paris, we must visit one of the cemeteries.  I have been dragging my feet,  but went ahead and put it on the short list, which is getting longer by the day!  I still was feeling a little uneasy about the idea , so I asked my photography buddy Bill, to go with me to Birmingham's oldest city cemetery, Oak Hill.  From the smaller photo you can see that it sits on a hill overlooking downtown Birmingham.  Established in 1873 it is the city's first and oldest cemetery.  Most of Birmingham's founding fathers and their families are buried here.  While walking around we discovered many gravesites of Civil War soldiers, in fact most of the burials here precede the 1930's.  I enjoyed photographing  some of the very interesting details on many of the markers.  Here is just a sample.  I think I am ready for the cemetery in Montmartre now. Remembering......

The Tune du Jour is  Bach's "Air" played by Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion

PARIS COUNTDOWN...25 DAYS

Discover Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion!