Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 30: Glasses

All clean, stacked and ready to be filled at my very favorite breakfast spot.  For me, before 11 a.m., that would be a large fresh orange juice.  After 11 a.m., Coke please, no ice.  The only thing better than a favorite restaurant, is friends to enjoy it with. 

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 29: Photographer's Choice

 

There are several chapels at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.  Driving past one of them, the light coming through the far window was perfect for this image of perspective layers; the Gothic structure of the window, the stained glass, the medallion in the window, the silhouette of the chandelier and finally, the window on the other side.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 28: My Sunday

My Sunday, once I get off Facebook, will be spend catching up on writing book reviews and, hopefully, finishing another blanket for Stitches from the Heart.  This will be the eighth blanket I've made for them this year. 

Stitches from the Heart is a wonderful charity where we make baby items (blankets, hats, booties, clothes) and donate them to over 1,400 NICU centers and hospitals across the U.S.  The group is also on Facebook and on Ravelry.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 27: Earth

No matter how often I fly, I am fascinated by watching the earth pass beneath me.  I love watching how the terrain changes from cities to towns to great expanses of wide open areas.  From flat plains to tall mountains.  From populated to long, single roads.  I wonder at the people who live in each place and long to stop and chat with them.  Flying only makes my love of road trips more keen.  But most of all, flying makes me realize what a wondrous place is our Earth.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 26: Childhood

The Roberts women have always been independent and on the road.  Whether by ship, plane, car, bicycle or tricycle, we're always ready to see what can be seen.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 25: Life is....

your own adventure story.  There may be moats to cross and dragons to slay but sometimes it's good to raise the drawbridge and just relax.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 24: Inspired by Mary Casset

Trying to do a photograph in the style of a particular artist is such an interesting challenge.  At first, I wasn't certain how I'd pull it off.  Going through a catalogue of Casset's work, much of it was mothers with infants.  That wouldn't work.  Then I came across this; a mother teaching her daughter to crochet. 

Thankfully, my dear friend Priscilla and her very lovely daughter Sarah agreed to pose for me.  We did laugh a bit because Cilla is strictly left-handed so teaching her right-handed daughter to crochet would, in reality, be a definite challenge.  But it's all about the art.

With the help of on-line programs PicMonkey and BeFunkey, I think it came out rather well.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 23: Woodgrain

As one who loves antiques, I love wood; the warmth and grain speaks to me.  Two of my favorite woodgrain patterns are quarter-sawn oak, as in my drop-front desk, and burl.  This little empire-styled chair with it's original needlepoint seat cushion, is a prized possession.  I love the pattern in the burl back.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 22: Blurry

Shadows fascinate me.  They are real but insubstantial.  They are there, but change moment to moment.  They can bring clarity to objects, but are blurry due to distance and the surface on which they fall.  They show us the world in shades of greys. 

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 21: Fire

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 21: Fire

Christmas 1986 on Damuth Street in Oakland with my buddy, Si and my long hair.

 

 

 

 

Si came to me as a stray when I lived on Manila Street in 1980.  Originally, he was so skittish, even when I'd go to the door to feed him on the front porch, he'd run.  Slowly, he'd just move down the stairs and wait until I'd go back inside.

When I moved to Damuth Street later that year, I wasn't certain he'd stay with me.  I was amazed that my ex-, was able to entice him into the carrier and bring him to our new place.  The house had a cellar, where we opened the crate, as we already had two indoor cats.  For a couple days, I thought he'd gone away.  Instead, I found he'd discovered an opening to outside and, sure enough, he was there.  But he'd appear every morning and night as I fed him at the top of the stairs. 

Slowly, oh so slowly, I gained his trust, first being able to touch him, then pet him, then having him stand in my lap.  It took years where we'd spend time together on the cellar stairs with my other two on the other side of the doors.

The winter of 1983 was very cold and very, very wet.  As I went to feed Si one night, he looked sadly into the main house as I opened the door and I just couldn't stand it any more.  Trusting to hope, I welcomed in into the house.  Wonderfully, so did Pamela and Sidney, my two black cats.

I'll never forget that first night when all three slept on the bed with me.  Sweet Si gave a moan of pure pleasure, stretched, and rolled off the bed.  Oops!  I brought him back up and there were the four of us.  At first, he would still go outside during the day and come in at night.  As he grew older, he spent more time inside, only going out at sunset.  Even then, he'd be out long enough to sit on the porch rail and watch the sunset, then come back in.  Once I showed him, he could see the sunset from the back of my big rocker, he stayed indoors all the time.  Who know cats could be romantics?

In the winters, I'd light a fire in this wonderful 1921 Craftsman fireplace--I so loved this fireplace--when I'd get home from work on Friday night and keep it burning until Sunday night.  The three cats would do their classic rotation with one having first position until they'd get too warm, moving away and the next would take their place.   

I was blessed to have Si with me until 1997.  As best we could estimate, he was 20 years old when he passed.  Pamela had died a few years before in 1990 when she was 19.  Sidney passed away also in 1997 at 19 years old.  I often think he was so sad at losing his two best friends, Pam and Si, he decided to re-join them. 

Although I had other cats while living on Damuth, that house and my pure enjoyment of that fireplace will always also bring memories of Pamela, Sidney and the sweet Si.

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 20: On My Mind

As much as I shall always miss Boston, the past few days my mind has been on my old place where I lived.  For the better part of 5 years, I rented the right side of this house built in 1830 at 324 Main Street in Watertown, MA.  My heart goes out to everyone there, but I'm glad I wasn't there this week. 

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 19: Button(s)

Photo-a-Day - April 2013 - Day 19: Button(s)

Sadly, these buttons are getting a lot of use as I change between news broadcasts.  But they also let me watch Doctor Who!