Nothing like a ride to the beach…
Sunday Stills #Sweet-Weekly Smile All in One
My Weekly Smile and Terri’s Sunday Stills all together! Terri has chosen the word sweet for us to interpret in any way we choose. Here’s what’s sweet for me and also made me smile,
My husband’s daughter came into town from Chicago and came to visit last night. You may be asking yourself why I would say this is sweet? Sounds like a pretty typical thing to take place. I wrote last year about the relationship my husband had with this daughter here. In case you do not want to read that post, the short of it is after not seeing his daughter for 18 years, and having never met her 5 children, they came to visit us a year and 1/2 ago.
Back to sweet, and smiles. Last night we went out to eat, and I so enjoyed spending an evening with 3 of the 5 very sweet grandchildren. (2 couldn’t make it) Engaging, funny, outgoing, interesting and interested, what a sweet time we had and full of laughs and smiles. And oh so very sweet for my husband to see his daughter and spend time with her.
Pull Up A Seat Challenge
The boardwalk along the ocean in Bradley Beach, NJ is lined with benches. Many have been donated by people who have inscribed them with messages or in memory of loved ones.
These benches along the boardwalk are for concerts or lectures offered by the town.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Rest
Nothing like a good book and a bench with a view for a well deserved rest from the work week.
One Word Sunday: Culture
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Refugees from war-torn Europe began to stream into Brooklyn during and after World War II, including the Hasidim whose populations had been devastated in the Holocaust. Certain areas became home to a large population of adherents to the Satmar Hasidic sect who came to the area from Hungary and Romania. When visiting Williamsburg, you take a step back in time. Men wearing traditional Hasidic garb, women wearing wigs or wigs covered with a hat, and dressed modestly. All part of their culture.
A wedding ceremony being held out on a street in Williamsburg. 
Women watching
The bride and her friends
Out on the street
Nurturing Thursday
W/P Challenge: Bird Feeders
Growing up we had a bird feeder hanging outside the kitchen window. We kept a list of the many different birds that came to visit, and this allowed me to learn at a young age the names of many birds. My father was an avid bird watcher and took me along with him on his bird watching trips when I was very young. As an adult I hung feeders in our backyard, and kept a list so my step daughter would get to know the birds that came to visit. She surprised me one afternoon when she was about 10, calling me to the window telling me a brown headed cowbird was outside. She was right! An exciting moment for both of us, as she had seen this bird only once before. I was happy she had identified it. Watching birds from my window is one of my favorite past times. I find it both fascinating and calming. They are wonderful creatures.
We attached a feeder to our garden window one winter, and had daily entertainment when a female cardinal came everyday to eat. Others tried to get in to her private restaurant but were usually foiled.
You lookin at me?
Wordless Wednesday
On the Hunt for Joy Challenge: Sit in the Sunshine
Nothing like the feeling of the sun’s warmth on one’s face.
and coming prepared for a day of sitting in the sun. Full disclosure: I never sit in the sun, but always under an umbrella.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Cat
I had two cats before I was married. Yofie was my first- a beautiful gray and white cat. A few years later I rescued Shotzie from a dumpster, he was a kitten standing on a danish eating it. Good company for me in those days, easier than dogs as I could leave them alone all day while I was at work. Cats are curious by nature and more connected to people than some give them credit for. The following photos are over 30 years old, their quality shows from the scans- but I thought still worth sharing.
Wordless Wednesday
A Great Blue Day
Sunday I went for a walk in a park about 15 minutes from home. I had been there years ago, but had forgotten there was a waterfall, which came as a pleasant surprise. I approached the waterfall and saw people standing looking towards it, then, this is what I saw
A great Blue Heron! When I see them at my local pond they fly as soon as they sense my approach. This beauty did nothing of the sort. He actually began to walk in my direction, more focused on finding lunch then on me and my camera.
listening and looking 
Got him!
Down the hatch!
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How wonderful it was to stand and watch him!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Summer Scenes
For me, summer means the beach. I try to get there as often as I can, once at a minimum, but I try for twice a week.
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On the Hunt for Joy Challenge: Week 3: Jump For Joy
Race ya down the boardwalk!
RDP Friday: Macro
Sunlit Birds January Squares
Tuesday Photo Challenge :Trees
The topic for Frank’s challenge this week is trees. I would like to share a story about a tree.
My grandparents owned a summer home in Southampton, NY, a two hour trip from their home in Queens. I was their first grandchild, and my grandfather decided to plant a tree in his front yard after my birth, calling it “the Lisa tree” When I was about 5 my grandparents sold the house and moved to a new home a few miles away. They dug up the tree and took it with them, planting it on their new property. The tree flourished and grew, and stood outside the window of the bedroom I slept in when I visited. Needless to say, it outgrew me in no time.
My grandfather passed away in 1998, and the house was sold. The new owners tore it down. An enormous modern house went up on the property. A few years ago I was in the area and I stopped by the new house. The owners were very welcoming and gave me a tour and allowed me to walk around the property and take pictures. The new house bore no resemblance to my Grandfather’s home, it was only when walking up the lawn that overlooks the bay that I felt any sense of nostalgia. As I came around the side of the house, to my astonishment I saw the Lisa Tree still standing. I told the present owners the history of the tree, now more than 60 years old. A tree with a name.
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RDP Wednesday: Goodbye
Whenever we visit our Aunt, she never lets us say good bye only at the door. After the kiss and hug, as we walk down the steps from her apartment, she goes to the window and always waves good bye. Always. We turn as we head down the path to wave good bye and blow a few kisses, and tell her once again that we love her. Every time.
Schoolhouse Lights # January Squares
I was tired of the ugly fluorescent fixture in my kitchen, collecting bugs inside, and water stained from a flood in an upstairs bathroom that had leaked into it. I have an old kitchen, with a breakfast nook and corner cabinets built in 1932. We have painted the cabinets and wallpapered, (twice since living here) and this year I changed the cabinet hardware to retro green glass bin pulls. In keeping with the older feel, I found lights on the internet, they are called “Schoolhouse Lights” and ordered them. I love them!
Nurturing Thursday
You must conquer yourself before you can conquer anything else…
Theatre Lights in January
Theatre Lights for #January Squares
Crossing Lights in January Squares
Skylight Square in January
Tuesday Photo Challenge :Transport
The mighty tugboat, transporting another vessel.
A Day In The Life 
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