tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63604271965223651442012-01-31T16:23:47.671-07:00An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous TravelGetting around the world when it's very often difficult getting around the house.Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.comBlogger9071100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-25599878491691063902012-01-31T11:41:00.000-07:002012-01-31T11:41:27.047-07:00Cupboard love, "C" for ABC Wednesday
All photos
from Google
"Cupboard love" is an English phrase referring to affection that is given purely to gain a reward.The term derives from the way in which a cat will give the cupboard, which contains its food, superficial "love" (which is not normally exhibited) when it wants to be fed.The phrase is most often applied to human activity, for example when a child will say "I love you so muchKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-33911875796121014832012-01-30T20:59:00.000-07:002012-01-30T20:59:57.093-07:00For Real Toads: Open Link, January 30genetic memory:is it real?I went to Scotlandwith Momand Dadand the rest of the mob.no onefelt itexcept me, and I didas soonas thewe got off the plane.I’m here,I said,I’m in Scotland,I’m homeand I can feel itin my bones.*I had nothing for Open Link Monday this week. I’ve been researching a subject dear to my heart—a kitchen renovation—and have therefore been distracted, but I read some submissionsKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-8124555315885625892012-01-30T13:20:00.001-07:002012-01-30T16:34:19.186-07:00Our World Tuesday: a 6th birthday partyAn exciting event this past weekend was the 6th birthday party for grandson Liam.
Dick was fortunate to have had a business meeting in Edmonton on Friday, so he was able to be in Red Deer for our third grandson's birthday.
*
Yes, January birthdays in Alberta generally involve snow, tobogganing, ice skating, bonfires, and hot drinks as well as balloons and cake.
Congratulations, Liam, only 10 moreKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-74498975381765892942012-01-29T21:03:00.000-07:002012-01-29T21:03:54.388-07:00Mellow Yellow Monday: Costa Rica
© Photos by Kay Davies and Richard Schear, 2007
Posted forMellow Yellow Mondayhosted each week by Drowsey Monkey.To see other mellow yellows from around the world, please click HERE!Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-5096216851666273362012-01-29T10:34:00.001-07:002012-01-29T10:35:39.990-07:00Magpie Tales: Kandinsky, 1921*
Wassily Kandinsky, 1921
Each week, from Willow Manor, comes a picture or photo to inspire us to write.
That's it: to write.
Easier said than done, as a matter of fact. There are no restraints imposed by this meme. That's why I love it sometimes, and hate it other times, depending on my muse, the state of my health, and other factors.
This week is Mag 102, and I'm going to give it my best shotKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-29873395932153218402012-01-28T23:58:00.000-07:002012-01-28T23:58:52.962-07:00Succinctly yours: tree, bicycle, hibernateEach week, a photo is posted at the blog Grandma's Goulash for the Succinctly Yours meme. Grandma's daughter Calico chooses a word of the week before she sees the photo. This week, her word is hibernate, but I couldn't fit it into my 140-character mini-story.One hundred and forty characters? Yes, including punctuation and spaces! We could also write a short story about the photo, using 140 words,Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-76565430088618368522012-01-28T12:53:00.000-07:002012-01-28T12:53:25.265-07:00For Real Toads: Daryl's photosI have long been a fan of Daryl Edelstein's photos of New York. I think one of the things I like most is her sense of perspective. She can give any old thing a new angle: making it shine, making it jump, making it sing.
Fireblossom has offered us not one, not two or three, but fifteen of Daryl's photos and asked us to choose one as inspiration in today's Weekend Photo Challenge at the writers' Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-20900395856643353212012-01-27T21:08:00.001-07:002012-01-28T10:18:27.256-07:00Saturday Photo Hunting: dark
Very early morning, Kizhi, Russia.
Midnight in Moscow.
Fort McMurray, northern Alberta.
From our back yard, southern Alberta.
Posted for this week's theme "Dark" at
Saturday Photo Hunting
hosted by our friend Gattina in Belgium. Thanks, Gattina!
© Photos by Richard SchearKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-20300770772706527482012-01-27T19:20:00.004-07:002012-01-27T23:01:55.769-07:00Definitions, meanings, ego and confusion
Photo by emdot on Flickr
It seemed to me there had been entirely too much confusion between the words "democracy" and "capitalism" lately, so I decided to look them up, in case I was wrong. After all, I was wrong about something else, earlier today, so I thought I'd check this out.I chose, for purposes of comparison, definitions from the online Oxford Dictionaries, surely the contemporary Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-79668356889461498132012-01-27T15:13:00.005-07:002012-01-28T17:43:21.719-07:00Wonderful reflections: would you believe......my husband got a photo of this sunset...
...reflecting on our dog as well as on the fence beside her?
Posted for James at
Weekend Reflections
and for
Camera Critters hosted by Misty Dawn
and also for
Pet Pride hosted by Lindy's buddy Bozo in Mumbai, India.
Lindy says, "Look at me, Bozo, all lit up like a Christmas tree, but too late."
*
Lindy's golden curls really shone like gold in theKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-9072180379468771152012-01-26T19:08:00.000-07:002012-01-26T19:08:19.077-07:00Book Blurb Friday: pink flower photoEach week, Lisa Ricard Claro hosts Book Blurb Friday at her blog Writing in the Buff. Lisa posts a photo (this week by the terrifically talented Tammy Goodsell) to inspire writer-bloggers to think of a novel with this photo as the book cover. Then, we are asked to write a "blurb" to sell the book, using no more than 150 words.
Here is my submission of 144 words:
Author Wickie Peidya has Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-87113253350393512312012-01-26T13:44:00.000-07:002012-01-26T13:44:32.369-07:00SkyWatch Friday: Christmas cloudsAs January is fast fading into February, we'll take one nostalgic glance back to Christmas, 2011, with these decorative cloud photos.
© Photos by Richard Schear
Posted for SkyWatch Friday
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-46539468683532302582012-01-25T18:44:00.000-07:002012-01-25T18:44:55.665-07:00Thursday Theme Song: and they call it...
And they call it
Puppy Love,
just because we're
not just teens.
Tell them all I am so glad
That I now have my puppy one.I walk each day my walk with you,
Our walks are all such fun.
How can I,
How can I tell them
This is Super Puppy Love?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuG_fTwoUoU
Posted for Hootin' Anni's
musical meme
Thursday Theme Song
Thanks, Anni!
This is our favorite meme.
© PhotosKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-86498474843730496732012-01-25T10:45:00.000-07:002012-01-25T10:45:17.040-07:00For Real Toads: Nazim HikmetKenia introduces the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads to the person and the works of Turkish poet/revolutionary/martyr Nazim Hikmet.
*
"Hikmet's imprisonment in the 1940s became a cause célèbre among intellectuals worldwide; a 1949 committee that included Pablo Picasso, Paul Robeson, and Jean Paul Sartre campaigned for Hikmet's release.“On November 22, 1950, the World Council of Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-61620898331508912602012-01-24T10:38:00.000-07:002012-01-24T10:38:45.920-07:00ABC Wednesday: B is for Brugge, Belgium
My intrepid photographer and his long lens capturing other tourists in a small boat.
© Photos by Kay Davies and Richard Schear
Theatrical release photo from Wikipedia.
After seeing the 2008 comedy crime drama In Bruges starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, we were determined to visit this lovely city in Belgium. We enjoyed the movie but we enjoyed the scenery Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-58427625499489386252012-01-23T19:42:00.001-07:002012-01-23T19:43:31.540-07:00Magpie Tales, and Real Toads: Hoppek's "Ever"
Boris Hoppek "Ever"
in parts of China,
as in Japan,
housing space has become scarce—
homes
and beds
are becoming
smaller
and smaller—
with
some beds requiring seatbelts
to protect the sleeper
Posted for Willow atThe Mag 101(formerly Magpie Tales)and Kerry atOpen Link Mondayfor the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real ToadsKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-16149146241020084742012-01-23T13:29:00.002-07:002012-01-23T17:52:51.136-07:00Our World Tuesday: a year in the life
I'll leave it to you to guess which seasons these photos represent in southeastern Alberta, Canada.
Posted for
Our World Tuesday
© Photos by Kay Davies and Richard Schear, Alberta, 2011/2012
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-92020396208331647812012-01-22T20:49:00.000-07:002012-01-22T20:49:34.341-07:00Mellow Yellow Monday: Las Vegas yellowsOne year, Dick's company trip took us to Las Vegas. There were plenty of things to photograph there, and an amazing number of them were yellow, some much brighter than others.
© Richard Schear photos
Posted for Mellow Yellow Monday
hosted each week by Drowsey Monkey. Thanks, Drowsey!Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-60343817655901991292012-01-22T15:58:00.003-07:002012-01-22T19:09:27.965-07:00Saturday's Photo Hunting: animals this weekI'm a bit late for our friend Gattina's Saturday Photo Hunting, but I couldn't make up my mind what to do. The theme this week is animals, and of course I immediately think of Lindy, but I wanted something different.
I've decided to show you these animals (and a couple of people) we saw in Russia last summer. These shots are taken from the deck of the river cruise ship Viking Surkov after our Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-27048146587064985972012-01-21T23:58:00.001-07:002012-01-21T23:59:53.872-07:00Succinctly yours: bluster
Photo provided as prompt
Oh, yeah? If you think I bluster, Buster, wait until you hear me nag, you old nag!
Posted for
Succinctly Yours
the weekly meme at the Grandma's Goulash blog, when Grandma chooses a photo, then her daughter chooses a word of the week without seeing the photo.
Writer-bloggers are invited to write a 140-word short story about the photo, or a mini-story using 140 Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-48374497203739033892012-01-21T19:07:00.000-07:002012-01-21T19:07:22.314-07:00For Real Toads: photo prompt, M. Bednar
© M. Bednar photos
Kerry presented the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads with three photos by talented poet/photographer Margaret Bednar, and I found it difficult to choose which picture to use as a prompt for my own poem. Kerry also featured one of Margaret's poems and it is lovely.
I finally decided to use two of her photos as inspiration, and to share this one of the Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-68134094964124684642012-01-21T11:23:00.001-07:002012-01-21T18:04:19.959-07:00Camera Critters and Pet Pride with Grommet
Lindy, caught in soft focus, is looking mellow while visiting two of Dick's daughters and our three young grandsons, ages 8, 6 and 2, in Red Deer, Alberta, earlier this month. In the background (and below) is our granddog Grommet, a Jack Russell Terrier who used to be full of bounce but is much more mellow now that he is also 6 years old. He and Lindy really just ignored one another after their Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-8582442785308002252012-01-20T14:42:00.000-07:002012-01-20T14:42:31.325-07:00Another one from my friend
© Maryann Brown photo
This mixture of golden reflections and shapely shadows comes from my friend Maryann, a Californian now living on the beautiful Oregon coast. She spent Christmas in California with her children and grandchildren, and couldn't resist capturing this cell-phone shot of the sun's rays bouncing off windows and onto a parking lot in Santa Rosa. A golden gift for Christmas, for Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-89070877460698698132012-01-20T11:37:00.004-07:002012-01-22T13:29:30.273-07:00For Real Toads: nonsenseWhat a wonderful way
To start out my day
Of poetry-writing and dishes.
Thanks go to Laurie
And here is my story
Which doesn't contain any fishes.
By definition, it doesn't have to make sense. It is nonsense, the word of the day offered by Laurie for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.
*
It took me a while to get used
To the books of the late Dr. Seuss.
It's true. I had never Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-57244230306555675922012-01-19T19:45:00.000-07:002012-01-19T19:45:54.459-07:00Book Blurb Friday: a couple near water
Each week, Lisa Ricard Claro presents Book Blurb Friday at her blog, Writing in the Buff. She offers a photo (this week from the camera of Sioux Roslawski) for us to imagine as the cover of a book. Then, writer-bloggers are to imagine the book itself and write a blurb for it, a blurb to turn browsers into buyers. However, there's a catch: the blurb must be 150 words or less. It's a challenge, Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-75567271628362464852012-01-19T15:36:00.001-07:002012-01-19T17:31:43.401-07:00SkyWatch Friday: sunset, Red DeerThat would be the city of Red Deer, Alberta, blog fans, not a herd of red deer looking at a sunset. Dick and Lindy and I were in Red Deer recently to see two of Dick's daughters and three of the grandsons. Lindy behaved so well at the Red Deer Lodge, and Dick was pretty good, too...he took these photos of the sunset!
I love the layers of colors between the trees (above).
© Photos by RichardKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-23097747692363963312012-01-18T17:29:00.001-07:002012-01-18T19:26:04.782-07:00Thursday Theme Song ...is hard to do
© Photo by Richard Schear
Raking up is hard to do...our eldest grandson, Kayen, several years ago, but he still has the same great smile! He raked up this pile of leaves, then hid in it until his dad came along, and jumped up to surprise him. As Neil Sedaka would say, "Down, Dooby-do. Down! Down!"
*
Down dooby-do down down
Dig myself in the leaves down down—
Don't take the lawn away from me,
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-11324510269894699002012-01-18T12:51:00.000-07:002012-01-18T12:51:48.153-07:00For Real Toads: the TanagaFor this week’s poetry format challenge, Grace has presented the writers’ group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads with a style originating in the Philippines and called a Tanaga.
“It is similar in nature to the Japanese short forms of haiku or tanka. Most tanagas were passed down orally. They are claimed to be one of the oldest form of poetry in the Philippines,” says Grace. “We'll be working Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-11243111866320244782012-01-17T11:14:00.000-07:002012-01-17T11:14:25.138-07:00A is for Arnhem: A Bridge Too Far
On 17 September 1944 thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines. Their goal: to secure to bridges across the rivers in Holland so that the Allied army could advance rapidly northwards and turn right into the lowlands of Germany, hereby skirting around the Siegfried line, the German defence line. If all carried out as planned it should Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-3541969183941353472012-01-16T23:58:00.000-07:002012-01-16T23:58:07.797-07:00Succinctly yours: woman on benchEach week, a photo is posted on the blog Grandma's Goulash, and writer-bloggers are invited to write a short story about it in 140 words or less, or a short-short item of 140 characters or less, including spaces and punctuation.
I'm running late this week but I'm going to try for the 140-character option.
Here are my three submissions:
*
The woman sat, dreaming happily after her lunch. LittleKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-17684869808780183982012-01-16T17:25:00.000-07:002012-01-16T17:25:34.644-07:00Our World Tuesday: we missed the deerWe often have deer feeding at our ornamental crabapple tree when there's snow on the ground and the weather is very cold (it's -21C or 5.8 below zero F today) and some deer did visit last night but we missed them.
Looking out the new window in the door by my desk, I could see the footprints in the snow. Too bad we didn't see our visitors.
Above, the wind just about filled in the footprints Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-41098571701000685502012-01-16T11:00:00.000-07:002012-01-16T11:00:27.012-07:00For Real Toads: Madrigals and RondelaysIt is Open Link Monday for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads and Kerry invites us to post something unspecific. It would be difficult to find anything less specific than this poem I wrote in the middle of the night, and found on the table this morning. I rather like it, even if it ain't art.
Of Days and Rondelays*when the soft is on the kittenand the warm is on the dogwhen Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-10475262253242459092012-01-15T23:31:00.000-07:002012-01-15T23:31:53.935-07:00Mellow Yellow Monday: taxi in Quito, Ecuador
© Photo by Richard Schear, November, 2006
We laughed when we woke up our first morning in our Quito hotel, which was in the former British embassy, and looked out the front window of our room to see a familiar picture of The Kentucky Colonel.
There were many mellow yellows around The Colonel and his bucket-hatted young admirer, but this taxi was a far-from-mellow yellow, undoubtedly for Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-37006379806909898902012-01-15T13:03:00.000-07:002012-01-15T13:03:47.886-07:00For Real Toads: the open gate
not a real toad
Kerry has featured poet-photographer Isadora Gruye, with one of her poems and three of her photos this weekend for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.
Isadora's poetry and photos are hauntingly beautiful, leading me to drop my Pollyanna attitude briefly to make way for some haunting reality. The idea came to me at first sight of the photo below, and the form of Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-78843849216421113382012-01-15T11:51:00.000-07:002012-01-15T11:51:28.265-07:00Pet Pride: one shoe off and three shoes on
© Photo by Richard Schear
Hi, it's me—Lindy!
I'm slim, and I'm trim, and I'm lovely, so if I want to let my dad carry one of my snow boots for me, it's okay. I've been around cyberspace long enough to know I have a few fans, perhaps more than a few, so I'm not proud. I know we'll go home, where my mom will have a hissy-fit about my poor, sad, cold foot, and she'll make sure my dad gets all theKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-7254970839157038842012-01-14T20:46:00.000-07:002012-01-14T20:46:55.506-07:00Shadow Shot Sunday: White Rock, BC
'Twas the end of November
But along the west coast
No snowflakes would flurry,
Green shadows we'd boast!
I stayed at a friend's house, with a shadowy deck, before carrying on down the coast by train to visit a friend on the Oregon coast.
I admired the flowers still hiding in shadowy, sheltered spots under the trees.
Evergreens and ivy alike produced their own kinds of shadows to lure my camera.Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-90412006483965176442012-01-14T13:37:00.000-07:002012-01-14T13:37:07.195-07:00Camera Critters: raggedy-eared rabbit
Has someone been nibbling on the ears of this cute little snow bunny?A bucktoothed suitor, perhaps?
Posted for Misty Dawn'sCamera CrittersThanks, Misty!
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-44270224357457436712012-01-13T21:19:00.000-07:002012-01-13T21:19:15.521-07:00Saturday Photo Hunting: joyOur friend Gattina in Belgium has selected "Joy" for the theme of her Saturday Photo Hunting this week.
It wasn't easy choosing joyful pictures to post for this weekend. Anyone who has seen my blog has already seen the most joyous photo I know: our dog Lindy rolling on the ground. I've chosen a few, including another one of Lindy rolling on the ground!
Above, youngest grand-nephew chasing Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-33485999394579951402012-01-13T20:11:00.000-07:002012-01-13T20:11:33.539-07:00Reflections of fire
No, Dick and Lindy didn't witness a house-fire on their walk. The sunset, however, as reflected in these windows, might have alerted more than a man and his dog.
Posted for
Weekend
Reflections
hosted by James in California.
Thanks, James!
© Photos by Richard Schear
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-74972367999180627722012-01-13T19:51:00.001-07:002012-01-13T20:08:11.481-07:00Book Blurb Friday: graffitists defeatedEach week, Lisa Ricard Claro features Book Blurb Friday on her blog, Writing in the Buff. She posts a picture (this week by her husband Joseph Claro) which we are to imagine as the cover of a book. Of course, then we have to imagine a plot for the book (that's the hard part) and write a blurb of 150 words or less to convince browsers to become buyers. That's not always so easy, either.
Joseph Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-41059347067454877892012-01-13T14:57:00.000-07:002012-01-13T14:57:29.845-07:00For Real Toads: dangerousPoetry is a very dangerous word.—Tom Waits
Marian’s musical prompt today for the writers’ group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads features the song All the World is Green by Academy Award-nominated singer/songwriter Tom Waits. His lyrics are wondrous.
Marian included the above quotation from Tom, and it reminded me of the times in my life when poetry had a death-grip on my mind.*
poetry is Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-8068218075511084382012-01-12T13:31:00.000-07:002012-01-12T13:31:22.097-07:00SkyWatch Friday: over the prairie
© Richard Schear photo
Nothing flashy for this week, just an evening sky across the prairie. We haven't had snow for a while, but we have flurries in the forecast for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, the temperature hovers around freezing, but doesn't stop Dick and Lindy's regular walk over by the coulee. Today on the way home, Lindy met a chihuahua. She was not impressed.
Posted for
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-60682950567955980822012-01-11T19:22:00.003-07:002012-01-11T23:22:59.562-07:00Thursday Theme Song: this one's for Anni
In keeping with the flower theme from the Wednesday writing challenge at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, I'm featuring a song that's had a long and colorful history in the US, particularly in Hootin' Anni's Texas.
*So, for Anni's musical meme Thursday Theme Song, I give you the version I remember best...of...
The Yellow Rose of Texas
(Mitch Miller, 1955, hear it here)
There's a yellow rose in Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-83462039251960214352012-01-11T13:05:00.000-07:002012-01-11T13:05:03.592-07:00For Real Toads: by any other nameI missed yesterday's Open Link Monday with the writers' group, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, but today's challenge is to write an unusual poem about flowers, trying to avoid clichés.
Here are the definitions Kerry provided, along with the origin of the word cliché. I love it, fitting in as it does with my typographical background. Jinksy, for one, will understand why I couldn't resist.
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-67582056713825173532012-01-10T17:36:00.000-07:002012-01-10T17:36:41.934-07:00Z is for Zebras, Zip-lining, and, of course, Zoo
Z in the sky here in Alberta
Z is for Zip-lining, which Dick tried in Jamaica a few years ago. I did not try it. I didn't even watch him trying it. The instructor took this photo of Dick looking somewhat dubious, while I was miles away doing something much safer.
And Z is for Zoo, a subject about which I could go on and on and on!!
In the top photo are some Zebras dining at the San Diego Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-54497630009257664332012-01-09T20:24:00.000-07:002012-01-09T20:24:37.906-07:00For Real Toads: the Isle of SkyeYesterday, Kerry presented a pictorial prompt for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. She offered as inspiration a photo, a painting, and also prose by the artist Ken Simm, featuring Whooper Swans on the beautiful Isle of Skye in Scotland.
It is my great hope to visit Skye one day, but, in the meantime, I do have photos of Canada Geese taken here in southern Alberta by my own Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-14077398135975050372012-01-09T18:20:00.000-07:002012-01-09T18:20:52.176-07:00Our World Tuesday: where's Lindy?
There was lots of snow and hoar frost in our world early in January.
This dog was waiting for Lindy.
He remembered seeing her in December, but she wouldn't look at him then.
There she is! There's Lindy! She's investigating something in the grass,
and she still won't look at her not-so-secret admirer.
Posted forOur World Tuesday
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-77040105702877008732012-01-07T20:07:00.000-07:002012-01-07T20:07:13.521-07:00Pet Pride: Lindy with her Kong
When Lindy's mom and dad go out for a couple of hours and leave her in the nice big fenced back yard, they give her a treat to keep her occupied for as long as possible. She stays busy for quite a while when her red Kong toy is filled with peanut butter. Here, her daddy gave her the Kong, then peeked at her from behind her favorite tree to get some photos of the peanut butter process!
PostedKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-6558552757125275462012-01-07T08:55:00.000-07:002012-01-07T08:55:51.886-07:00Camera Critters try to foil photographer
"Look, there's that guy and his yellow dog again!"
"Oh, you're right, there they are!"
"Come on, let's get out of here before he starts taking photos of us."
"I think it's too late to avoid that."
© Photos by Richard Schear
Posted for
Camera Crittershosted every weekend by Misty Dawn. Thanks, Misty!
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-12084960280081047312012-01-06T21:00:00.000-07:002012-01-06T21:00:35.747-07:00Saturday's Photo Hunting: tree branchesI didn't realize it until today, but our friend Gattina in Belgium has a photo-hunting meme with a different theme every week. This week's theme is tree branches. I do love trees!
This photo was taken on New Year's Day, when we had both snow and hoar frost on our ornamental crabapple tree.
Five days later, we have no snow anywhere, and there's none in the weather forecast until Tuesday, although Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-66348692960868628872012-01-06T17:35:00.001-07:002012-01-07T20:35:49.708-07:00Stairway Reflections and Shadows, Antwerp
© Photo by Richard Schear
This fascinating winding stairway in Antwerp isn't something I would care to climb! However, during our spring cruise in Belgium and The Netherlands with Viking River Cruises, my husband knew I'd love the stairway's shadows and its reflections in the doors, as well as other reflections in this shot of Belgian brick architecture. There are even shadows and reflections Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-3112987900556210592012-01-06T15:36:00.000-07:002012-01-06T15:36:25.423-07:00For Real Toads: my inner animalToday a feisty lady known as Fireblossom has challenged everyone in, or near, or even curious about the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads to write about our own animal within.She mentioned some words which are magic to me. One is "sloth"! I connected with my inner sloth long ago, and have blogged about it twice, once in 2009: http://unfittie.blogspot.com/2009/12/Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-32326864476520622102012-01-06T13:58:00.000-07:002012-01-06T13:58:00.949-07:00SkyWatch Friday: interesting clouds near here
© Richard Schear photos
When Dick takes Lindy for her late-afternoon walk,they often find interesting cloud formations as the sun goes down.
Posted forSkyWatch Friday
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-61118992034503269052012-01-05T18:49:00.000-07:002012-01-05T18:49:53.346-07:00Book Blurb Friday: snow, tree and house
Each week, on her blog Writing in the Buff, Lisa Ricard Claro hosts Book Blurb Friday. Lisa invites writer-bloggers to take a close look at the photo she has provided (this week a picture by Tammy Goodsell) and imagine it is the cover of a book for which we've been asked to write a blurb (maximum 150 words). Each blurb should convince book-browsers to become book-buyers.*
Deep South, Deep SnowbyKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-7942062253768578682012-01-04T22:54:00.000-07:002012-01-04T22:54:49.624-07:00For Real Toads: objects of reflection
The lamp beside my desk,
Kay Davies, photo.
Ella's challenge for today:Art of Assemblage
For the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Ella tells us about a book she just read, by poet/artist Annie Lockhart who builds collages of found materials she calls "Objects of Reflection". Ella asks us to look around us, to see the things we love, the things we collect, the things with which Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-72777609881292561892012-01-04T17:12:00.001-07:002012-01-06T11:08:19.062-07:00Thursday Theme Song: you're the...With apologies to the wonderful, late, great Nat King Cole, I've messed with the lyrics a bit here, rather nonsensically, just to go with a photo my husband took some years ago when we were in Quito, Ecuador, on our way to the Galapagos Islands.
Wikipedia photo
Our hotel in Quito was the former British Embassy, and I chose it for that reason, as well as its proximity to streets where we could Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-45224372223340848792012-01-03T10:45:00.000-07:002012-01-03T10:45:18.426-07:00ABC Wednesday: Y is for Yaroslavl, Russia
Reminiscent of the photos of elderly Russian grandmothers we used to see during the communist era, this lady would not, under the paternalistic Soviet government, have been required to sell flowers on the street. Here, her posture belies the brightly colored frilled papers holding her floral offerings. The change from communism to capitalism has not been ideal for many Russians.
A sign that Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-33210508237119504692012-01-02T14:03:00.000-07:002012-01-02T14:03:38.262-07:00Our World Tuesday: snow and hoar frostPosted for Our World Tuesday. Here's what our world looked like Jan. 1, 2012.
Snow
Hoar frost
Snow on the ground, hoar frost on the branches.
Hoar frost, close-up.
Snow on the evergreens, hoar frost on the deciduous trees.
© Photos above by Richard Schear, January 1, 2012
Wikipedia photo
Hoar frost (also called radiation frost or hoarfrost or pruina) refers to the white ice Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-54120747391615052402012-01-02T11:53:00.005-07:002012-01-02T12:38:54.640-07:00For Real Toads: Open Link MondayIt's the first Open Link Monday 2012 for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. We are invited to submit a poem, old or new, in any style we choose. In my case, my old poems no longer exist (except for two I memorized, and have already submitted to Real Toads) so this meant writing a new one.Here, watching the snow melt on the first Monday of the new year, I realizeHow Sad I Feel Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-66897612431920032642012-01-01T20:23:00.001-07:002012-01-01T20:31:52.712-07:00Mellow Yellow Monday: Yaroslavl, Russia
We visited a wonderful public market in Yaroslavl
Posted for Drowsey Monkey's Mellow Yellow Monday
Please click HERE to see other mellow yellowsfrom other mellow bloggers.
In the foreground, the back of my head wearing the hat I bought in the public market.
It's air-conditioned! (The hat, not the open-air market.)
© Photos by Kay Davies and Richard Schear
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-58698954445013661682012-01-01T11:23:00.001-07:002012-01-01T11:25:18.968-07:00For Real Toads: create a new formFor the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads:
-
Just because one member of the group decided to create his own poetic form, a new form he called Orion, Kerry has decided to challenge all of us to create our own verse forms, of up to 15 lines. To create them, and then to name them.
-
Sigh.
It is late at night, and midnight looms. I'll finish this tomorrow.
*
Okay, I'm back, and it is Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-45382767950477034442011-12-31T23:07:00.000-07:002011-12-31T23:07:10.224-07:00Succinctly yours: dinosaur memoriesEvery week at the blog Grandma's Goulash, writer-bloggers find a photo to inspire us to write succinctly, which means something like "brevity squared". We can write a short story of 140 words, or a short-short item of 140 characters including spaces and punctuation.
There is also a word of the week for us to include if we can. This week's word is memories, which didn't fit into my poem, so I hadKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-40188835713184770992011-12-31T15:14:00.000-07:002011-12-31T15:14:14.750-07:00Pet Pride: batting her eyelashes
"Come on, Dad, let's go for a walk. Let's go now. It's almost time for the sun to set. You know how you love sunset photos. Let's go!" says Lindy, batting her long eyelashes at her daddy. Lindy's mom and dad sometimes wonder what she likes best: food, or a walk, or a ride in the car.
"There! Now isn't this better? I'll rest here while you take your pictures, then we'll walk some more!"
*
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-85764106753198565862011-12-31T12:35:00.000-07:002011-12-31T12:35:35.771-07:00Shadow Shot Sunday 2: Yaroslavl, RussiaWe will always remember the lovely Russian city of Yaroslavl, near Moscow. Soon after we returned from our Waterways of the Czars cruise, there was a terrible and tragic accident which cast a shadow of sorrow across Russia. See my post about it HERE!
We hope 2012 brings fewer shadows and more sunshine to all hearts.
Posted for
Shadow
Shot
Sunday 2
To see other shadows from around the world, Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-41229658016421180502011-12-31T10:18:00.000-07:002011-12-31T10:18:10.979-07:00Camera Critters: YaroslavlIt hasn't been easy for me to post photos from the city of Yaroslavl, Russia. We hadn't been home very long after our Waterways of the Czars cruise when that city's entire ice hockey team was lost as their chartered plane crashed into the bank of the Volga River. It was a terrible tragedy for the people of Russia, and for hockey fans the world over. Some of the players were well known in North Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-73208360867107002512011-12-30T18:37:00.000-07:002011-12-30T18:37:26.067-07:00Weekend Reflections: Yaroslavl, Russia
This is the spot for 'selfie' shots of my intrepid photographer!
Imperial Porcelain
© Photos by Richard Schear
Posted for
Weekend Reflections
hosted by James in California. Thanks, James!Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-69877080311778039652011-12-30T15:04:00.001-07:002011-12-30T15:08:53.666-07:00For Real Toads: New Year challengeMary has a new challenge—Mary’s Mixed Bag—for the writers’ group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, and for her first Friday, which is the last Friday of the year, she has chosen “Ring out the old, ring in the new” from the poem In Memoriam by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892).Two of Tennyson’s lines called out to me:Ring out the feud of rich and poor,Ring in redress to all mankind.I’ve written a Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-65575193908274192552011-12-29T19:18:00.000-07:002011-12-29T19:18:08.679-07:00Book Blurb Friday: white flowers on bush
Every week, Lisa Ricard Claro, at her blog Writing in the Buff, invites writer-bloggers to look at a photo she has provided, imagine it to be the cover of a book, imagine the contents of the book, then write a "blurb" of no more than 150 words to convince browsers to become buyers.
This week's photo is one I took in May of this year, when spring finally came to southern Alberta. The flowers areKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-89839389871789173142011-12-29T14:30:00.000-07:002011-12-29T14:30:55.871-07:00SkyWatch Friday: one photo says it all
© Photo by Richard Schear
Our Southern Alberta sky turned the color of a harvest moon this week, for the last SkyWatch Friday of the year. My intrepid photographer, with strict orders to bring me new photos of Lindy, went walking with the long lens on his camera—perfect for this year-end sunset, not so good for a dog at the end of a leash.
Posted forSkyWatch FridayTo see how the sky is ending Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-19173561587159392982011-12-28T12:45:00.005-07:002011-12-28T14:07:07.832-07:00For Real Toads: Bossa Nova beat, Kenia's challengeKenia's challenge for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads is inspired by the poems of South America's Vinícius de Moraes whose Bossa Nova song Girl from Ipanema won a Grammy Award in 1965. I remember 1965, I remember the song, and I remember the Bossa Nova—almost primal with its insistent South American beat.
Kenia challenged us to go out, or look out; to observe a person; then Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-62892637000690858772011-12-27T12:49:00.000-07:002011-12-27T12:49:06.510-07:00X is for Xylophone Soloist in MoscowOne of the most energetic musicians we've ever seen was this amazing young percussionist performing with the Russian Folk Orchestra Moskva when we visited Moscow during our August vacation.
He played a traditional wooden xylophone (the Greek word for wood is xylon) so fast, and moved so fast, and so did the conductor, most of our photos of them were out of focus (see second photo).
© RichardKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-12855762893944164812011-12-26T17:07:00.000-07:002011-12-26T17:07:49.332-07:00Our World Tuesday: a new outlook on lifeI may have mentioned (I'm sure I did) I have a new window. It was ordered for my birthday at the beginning of the month, and arrived last week. A nice young man cut a hole in the door beside my desk, and installed a sealed window unit with built-in magnet-controlled venetian blinds. Ah, the ancient Venetians never imagined anything like this, I'm sure, and it brightens up the room considerably.
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-77356078498520658042011-12-26T12:28:00.000-07:002011-12-26T12:28:13.703-07:00Boxing Day LadiesKerry is back, and so is Open Link Monday for the writers' groupImaginary Garden with Real Toads.Today, in many countries including Canada, is Boxing Day.The exact origins of Boxing Day are lost in the mists of time, but this is the version told to me by my grandmother when I was a child:
on Boxing Daythe ladies finetook boxes of food to the poorof course they satin carriageswhile servants Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-53442870477522929862011-12-25T16:35:00.001-07:002011-12-25T16:36:35.271-07:00Shadow Shot Sunday: no snow shadows todayI've had to go to my archives for Christmas snow-shadows because Christmas Day is dull, dreary, and warmish (+7C, almost 45F) with ice melting on the road in front of our house. Now that I have my new window from which to see them, the deer aren't coming to eat our ornamental crabapples because there is plenty of grass available for them. Tomorrow promises to be sunny, with slightly lower Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-20788006071958664272011-12-25T13:33:00.004-07:002011-12-27T15:50:37.792-07:00My wonderful Christmas book from JudithEvery writer-blogger ought to read this book. Better still, every writer-blogger ought to own this book. Amazon seems to have it on special (see link) but, if you can't afford it, ask your public library. I didn't even know it existed until I took it from under the Christmas tree and unwrapped it. I haven't read past the back cover, the inside flaps of the dustjacket, and the Foreword, but I'm Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-64583911847001054032011-12-23T18:52:00.001-07:002011-12-23T19:22:20.822-07:00Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Smile!
'Tis the
season
to be
jolly!
from
Lindy
and all her reindeer relatives!
Produced by Kay Davies
with Lindy's portrait by Richard Schear
and thanks to someone who sent the reindeer
to someone who sent it to someone else who sent it to us.Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-77573204633182545682011-12-23T16:15:00.002-07:002011-12-24T12:57:07.334-07:00For Real Toads: ecstaticLaurie's word for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads to use in a poem this week is: ecstasy. She gave three dictionary definitions for the word, including a chemical formula, for which I was unable to find a use in my poem, although I mention a chemical change near the end.She also challenged us to write the poem in five minutes. Five minutes? No way.To tell the truth, Laurie, I Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-29671885368485050302011-12-23T11:01:00.001-07:002011-12-24T10:34:15.010-07:00Camera Critters and Weekend Reflection
© Photos by Kay Davies
Posted for James'sWeekend Reflectionsand for Misty Dawn'sCamera CrittersThere's at least one critter (or more) and one reflection (however small)in every shot taken early this month on the Oregon coast.
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-69056951233703007422011-12-22T18:21:00.000-07:002011-12-22T18:21:12.780-07:00Book Blurb Friday: colorful storefronts
Photo by Kathy Matthews
Each week, Lisa Ricard Claro, on her blog Writing in the Buff, posts a photo and asks writer-bloggers to think of it as a book cover. Once we have imagined a book with the photo on its front cover, we then write a "blurb" of 150 words or less, to convince browsers to become buyers.
Here is my submission of 150 words, not including the title or the author's name.
Like Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-2771741144300329602011-12-22T16:02:00.002-07:002011-12-22T16:48:13.333-07:00Sunset from our yard December 2011
From our back yard, with the neighbor's truck in the foreground.
On Dick and Lindy's walk, minutes earlier.
© Photos by Richard Schear, December, 2011
Posted forSkyWatch FridayKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-91979133849833284582011-12-21T19:28:00.001-07:002011-12-21T20:32:09.332-07:00For Real Toads: an aubadeGrace's prompt today for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads is for an aubade, partner to a serenade. It is a morning farewell poem, with no restriction as to rhyme or meter. Merry Christmas, Grace!
*
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go,
Santa's bag needs filling up,
Hi ho, hi ho.
*
I've got my paint brush and my list
And I'll be back before I'm missed,
Hi ho, hi ho.
*
I'll Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-68673083251818251922011-12-21T09:46:00.000-07:002011-12-21T09:46:33.525-07:00Thursday Theme Song: muddled Xmas medleyI use the term Xmas advisedly, because these are not Christmas carols,
they are merely Christmas-season songs.*Some of these I mangled myself, others have been muddled by other people,and the last one was written by an expert.
Posted for Thursday Theme Song*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up1t5siifEwHave a hummy, drummy Christmas,Underneath the mistletoe at night!Six white bloomers, http://Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-67771863737188234662011-12-20T16:33:00.001-07:002011-12-20T16:36:21.673-07:00Watery Wednesday: Yaroslavl, Russia
When we went ashore from the Viking Surkov to visit the city of Yaroslavl in August, I realized I had forgotten to wear a hat. Fortunately, our first stop was at a public market, where I found just what I was looking for—a shady, air-conditioned chapeau. Our next stop was near this fountain, where I could rest in cool comfort while my intrepid photographer wandered off with his camera.
© Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-21327146231128424742011-12-20T10:50:00.000-07:002011-12-20T10:50:39.099-07:00W is for White Rock on "my" West coast
© Photos above by Kay Davies
Photo from Official White Rock Page, on the See Vancouver BC website,by Maurice Jassak, showing "the white rock" on the right, and an Amtrak train passingthrough White Rock on its way from Seattle, Washington, to Vancouver, BC.
On my recent trip "home" to White Rock, BC, where I lived and worked for many years, I had lunch with two friends from college days in a Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-9482724664970201582011-12-19T18:23:00.001-07:002011-12-19T19:36:11.456-07:00With Real Toads: open link cinq
Kerry has left us alone for a week, with Marian to make sure we aren't, to use Sherry's word, obstreperous. What can I do to get into trouble now?
It is Open Link Monday for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads and we are invited to share a poem, old or new, on any subject we wish. Aha, but it has to be a poem, said Kerry, before jumping ship and turning the tiller over to MarianKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-17830765934537401672011-12-19T13:02:00.000-07:002011-12-19T13:02:41.926-07:00Our World Tuesday: birds, snow, deer, Lindy
© Photos by Richard Schear
Above, a magpie digs in snow, looking for food. Below, starlings in non-breeding plumage sit under our crabapple tree. We never use the fruit, which is very small, preferring to leave it for wildlife to eat in very snowy weather.
Above, deer can be seen in our small town, or even in the city next to us, but are usually found near the coulees (below) Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-89049106596499211692011-12-18T21:04:00.000-07:002011-12-18T21:04:44.764-07:00Mellow Yellow Monday: yellow grass in Oregon
© Photo by Kay Davies, December, 2011
The yellow light of late afternoon makes the yellow grass and green leaves near the Oregon dunes turn to gold.
Posted forMellow Yellow Monday
Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-73934731261193827662011-12-18T17:57:00.000-07:002011-12-18T17:57:39.268-07:00For Real Toads: parental guidance suggestedI'm pretty sure I have no under-age blog followers or even under-age Facebook friends, but my subject today might spark a bit of indignation. I'm hoping it sparks indignation of the right kind, of course, but don't read it if you think you're going to get annoyed with me.
Robert Burns
I don't jump up and down and get real controversial about a lot of things any more except the biggies: War. Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-19041502013291600602011-12-18T14:04:00.000-07:002011-12-18T14:04:59.506-07:00Magpie Tales 96: his shadow on her
Friedlander photo, 1966
The teacher stood firmly with her back to the entrance door, barring the boy with the pointed hat, as his shadow fell on her.
"You can't come in here any more, you are too old for this school. You have to go to the high school, or you have to go home. I can't have you disturbing the younger children."
The teacher tried to smile as she spoke, tried to look authoritative Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-73505547499201343152011-12-17T23:27:00.002-07:002011-12-18T00:02:17.009-07:00Succinctly yours: nimble
SNOWMAN AND MOM
His mother had named him Jack, and he never forgave her. His friends teased him, “Jack, be nimble! Jack, be quick!” but he was neither one.
139 characters, not including title
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Posted forSuccinctly YoursHosted by Grandma's GoulashEvery week Grandma posts a picture and, along with it, the word of the week, chosen by her daughter Calico who has not yet seen the Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-57250833590546222392011-12-17T17:47:00.011-07:002011-12-17T17:50:32.884-07:00Shadows contrast during visitVisiting longtime friends at their comfy yellow house just outside my home town of White Rock, BC, I was struck by the contrast of light and shadow on their lawn and under their eaves. Small birds had emptied the feeder, but crows sat on a wire, hoping for the crusts of bread my friend Ruth and her husband Harmen often throw them.
© Photo by Kay Davies
Posted for
Shadow Shot Sunday 2
hosted byKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-10303978395211818212011-12-17T17:25:00.000-07:002011-12-17T17:25:51.083-07:00Pet Pride: no pride when my dish is empty!
There's no yogurt in my white bowl. There are no vegetables in my red bowl. Sure, there's some water in the green bowl, but who wants water? I prefer soup. It's just as wet as water, but it tastes better.
Posted for
Pet Pride
hosted by Lindy's good buddy Bozo in Mumbai, India, at Pets Forever.
"Hi, Bozo," says Lindy. "I'm sure glad you're home from the dog hospital, you and your big heart. It'sKay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-84253584050686628372011-12-17T15:10:00.001-07:002011-12-17T17:28:51.452-07:00With Real Toads, and Weekend Writers 50I'm posting this song/poem for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads and also for Weekend Writers' Retreat, hosted by Grandma's Goulash.
Marian's musical challenge on Real Toads featured a young (to me, but probably not to him) Canadian songwriter/singer Ron Sexsmith.
Canadian singer/songwriter
Ron Sexsmith
I listened to his song Strawberry Blonde and found it very moving and Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-64879685727686561452011-12-17T13:06:00.000-07:002011-12-17T13:06:19.460-07:00Camera Critters on a Russian box
I cropped the photo above to show the critters without any distractions, but the reflections in the original below prove it is a glossy lacquered box, made with talent, love, and care by a Russian artist. We saw so many of these fabulous boxes on our Russian holiday in August, we never did decide which one we wanted, so came home with none, much to my regret.
Posted for
Camera Critters
hosted Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-45479755646559776712011-12-16T12:14:00.003-07:002011-12-16T12:20:44.522-07:00Weekend Reflections: to tree or not to tree?That has been the question for the past ten years, because my husband and intrepid photographer, Richard Schear, isn't interested in Christmas, having been born into and brought up with Jewish traditions. In fact, we have sometimes deliberately scheduled our travels for late December. But, yesterday, Dick cheerfully went through the trap-door and down the ladder into the cellar (something I've Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-69462954461879922412011-12-16T10:27:00.000-07:002011-12-16T10:27:23.373-07:00Book Blurb Friday: the Dow droppingEach week, Lisa Ricard Claro posts a photo (this week by her daughter Christina Claro) and asks writer-bloggers to think of the photo as the cover of a book. Then, she says, we are to write 150 words or less for the "blurb" on the back of said book, phrased in such a way as to make browsers become buyers. Then we are to link our submissions to Lisa's blog Writing in the Buff, for
Book Blurb Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-40692114560063822342011-12-15T16:28:00.004-07:002011-12-15T23:43:26.179-07:00Oregon's beautiful skies, part twoDuring my visit this month with my friend Maryann in the US state of Oregon, I saw skies of many colors, and chose an assortment of blue ones to share here today. But don't believe everything you see, it can rain there, and often does.
That isn't land on the horizon, those are clouds. Once you're past the points of land jutting out from the mainland, you won't see land again until you see Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-76646555552850648832011-12-14T18:52:00.000-07:002011-12-14T18:52:33.795-07:00For Real Toads: epistle challenge Kerry's challenge today for the writers' group Imaginary Garden with Real Toads is an epistle challenge. An epistle, in its original meaning, is a letter.Kerry has asked us to think of writers and characters in literature and then to take "into account the voice of the writer and the identity of the receiver." And she continues: "All the rest is poetry." Ah, Kerry my girl, you don't know Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-67983782676559640072011-12-14T12:46:00.000-07:002011-12-14T12:46:46.717-07:00Succinctly yours: diligentThe people of the town were diligent in volunteering to search for the missing boy. Every fifteen minutes, another group would walk across the grass toward the forest, their downcast eyes on the tracks left by his tricycle.*38 words
Each week, a new photo is posted at Grandma's Goulash, as a prompt for writer-bloggers to write a story about it in 140 words or less, or 140 characters or less, Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360427196522365144.post-86066625280010315592011-12-14T12:35:00.000-07:002011-12-14T12:35:17.028-07:00Thursday Theme Song, here comes...
Here comes the sun, dear sunflower,Here comes the sun, and I sayIt's okay.
Little magpie, 'twill be a long, cold lonely winterLittle magpie, 'twill feel like years since spring was hereWait for the sunWait for the sun, and I sayIt's okay.
Dear sunflower, the birds returning to the fencesLittle magpie, it feels like years since skies were clear.
Fun, fun, sun, here it comes.
Dear sunflower, I Kay L. Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.com7