Saturday Stuff

I have no idea what church this is in Baltimore, it's just one that I saw while sitting at a stoplight while on my way to someplace and I snapped a quick picture of it.  I could probably drive around Baltimore for days just taking pictures of steeples and spires and still not get them all!

Last night just before midnight Amanda and I drove up to the top of Plain Hill Road here in Norwich to find a dark place to watch a bit of the meteor shower.  We saw a few but I think we saw more planes; apparently Norwich is directly underneath a very busy flight pattern!

In an unexpected turn of events, Jamie will be flying up this way on Monday rather than after the end of the month as I had expressly desired.  Rather than come here and deal with the whole drama of Amanda's last two weeks before college, she's going to stay with my son and daughter-in-law at their home in Rhode Island until after August 28th.

I am eternally grateful to Mike and Laura for not just taking Jamie in but also for being able to pick her up at the airport in Providence as my ex booked her on a flight without consulting with me first as to my availability to pick her up and she's flying in smack in the middle of my 16-hour shift on Monday.

I could do a lot more mumbling and grumbling about the whole thing but he reads my blog and I've already been accused of bad-mouthing him all the time and telling untruths so I'm not going to say another thing about it other than I hope Jamie has a safe flight, manages to find her connecting flight in Philadelphia, and doesn't get too bored waiting there for 3 hours.  And yes, I'm biting my tongue!

On a completely different note, I'm going to ask all of you for prayers and good thoughts & wishes for my blogging and real-life friend Callie Ann who has been in the hospital for what was supposed to be a short stay but which has turned into a lot longer and a lot more complicated stay.  She originally went in for pneumonia but ended up being put on a ventilator and now her kidneys are failing, too.  Her friends have been keeping us updated on Facebook but it hasn't been good news so far so I'd appreciate if you'd all send up a prayer or a good thought or whatever it is that you do when folks are in need because Callie Ann could use them all.  She's a true nut and a wonderful gal and I'm real worried about her.

My cousin and I had a nice trip over to Newport, Rhode Island yesterday to check out Fort Adams (which I thought had more of a Civil War history but was wrong about).  I've got lots of pictures - as if I didn't! - and will get around to doing a post one of these days once I finish up Baltimore - which may take awhile at the rate I'm going!

That was my first trip to Newport and honestly, I wasn't all that impressed but that's probably because I'm just not into places that are crammed with tourists.  I think if I ever go over again I'd like to do so during the off-season.  I wonder if this means I'm turning into an unsociable curmudgeon?

Tonight I'm planning on being quite sociable as Amanda and I have been invited up to my friend and much-appreciated handyman Andrew's house for a cook-out.  He's doing chicken, squash, and corn on the grill and that sounds delicious!  Amanda doesn't like squash or corn but that's okay - I'll eat her share!  Hmm, I wonder if I can talk him into letting me try one of the Yuengling ales I brought back up from Baltimore for him??

I hope everyone has a nice Saturday wherever you are and whatever you're doing!

A Picture Story

Thanks to my friend Callie Ann in Oregon, I can now say that I have sold not just one but three of photographs! Granted, it's three prints of the same photograph but even so - woohoo!

Awhile back Callie Ann left a comment on the post I did about the old Broad Brook Dairy - Rusted Remains of Days Gone By in Preston - stating that she would like to buy a copy of the picture that I took of three rusted milk trucks as she thought the picture would like great on her grandson Jack Pepper's bedroom wall. I told her that I would be happy to have a copy made and sent to her and all she had to pay for was the cost of the copy and the shipping and handling.

Recently - thanks to Star - I found a great place for prints that uses this really cool metallic paper that makes pictures really pop and their prices are beyond reasonable. This isn't a paid post or anything like that but I can't say enough good things about iPrintfromHome.com and their service, their quality, or their prices and that's where I wanted to have Callie's print shipped from. Before I could place the order, though, she told me she wanted three 8x10's of the picture so that she could also give one to her grandfather who used to be a milkman and would appreciate the rusted relics in the photo.

I told her that the prints would cost $2.40 a piece and that shipping and handling for the whole order was going to be $3.00 but, because she's a sweetheart, Callie sent me a bit more than that via PayPal so I guess that I can now officially say that I have sold some of my photography and even made a profit on it! I sure hope that her grandfather and Jack Pepper like their pictures - I have no idea what Callie plans on doing with that third one.

While on the subject of my pictures, another friend from work who also happens to be a blogger, Rob, had a birthday last week and I gave him a framed 10x10 shot of a picture I took of the railroad trestle over the Yantic River. I had the square print made at iPrintFromHome.com and thought it added a unique perspective to the shot while the metallic paper almost give it a 3-D look. All in all, I was quite pleased with it.

Rob has been crossing a lot of bridges lately in his life - including his 21st birthday - so it seemed kind of appropriate to give him a bridge of his own to perhaps not cross but simply look at. He told me it looks great on the living room wall of his new home so after Callie gets her prints and hangs them up, I'll have stuff on the walls of three other homes other than my own! Well, actually four if you count the picture of the historic Green School in Canterbury I gave to my cousin (who is the President of the Historical Society in Canterbury) for her birthday. Hmm, I wonder if this qualifies me as a real photographer now??

Too bad I couldn't figure out how to make a good profit selling pictures; I'd much rather spend my spare time behind the lens of my Nikon than behind the microphone at the dispatch console but alas, I shall not be quitting my day job anytime soon! Besides, my crews would miss me - I hope!

Looking at the Sky on Friday with Tisha

Last week my friend Tisha at CrAzY Working Mom ran into a bit of a roadblock with the folks at Skywatch Friday (they didn't like her writing posts about things like diet supplements and the like) and hence "Looking at the Sky on Friday" was born. If you want to join in there are no restrictions that I am aware of unless you post pictures of naked people looking at the sky on Friday - I think that might be pushing the envelope just a little!

My picture for this week is one of the sun rising over Norwich as seen from the parking lot where I work which I obviously took a little while ago as the sun hasn't risen over Norwich much at all this week and it certainly didn't rise this morning either! Come to think of it, I wasn't in the parking lot at work this morning either and, unless I want a face full of rain, the only looking at the sky I'm going to be doing at all this Friday is via pictures!

Speaking of looking, I attempted to give my blog a more Christmasy look by drawing Santa hats and passing out candy canes to the residents on top of my header. You'll notice that even the squid got one! As you can tell, I'm definitely NOT the artiste in the family but considering I did the drawing with Paint and the thumb-mouse on my laptop I don't think it came out too bad. Of course, now you can see why I never participate in Doodle Week when it rolls around! Hey, Claire, you paying attention here?!?

Oh ... and while I'm on the topic of Christmas ... I had a little fun over at Elf Yourself and thought I'd post the results of that here so you folks could enjoy a chuckle or two and maybe be inspired to go on over and create your own Elfin' fun!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Whew! All that dancing has worn me out! I'm darned lucky I didn't throw my back out! Ah well, may beautiful Friday skies be above you wherever you may be!

Happy Birthday to Callie Ann!

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You didn't think we were going to get out of September without at least one more birthday, did you? This big Happy Birthday wish goes out to Callie Ann of Scrappin' With Life!
Go on by and give some birthday wishes to one of the sweetest brats in the Blogosphere!