Last Day of 2012

More sunset beauty to close out the year! Happy 2013 everyone!

More sunset beauty on a cold, snowy, grey day.

Going back to Dec. 3rd for this sunset shot. I snapped this picture in the field beside our house.

Say Goodbye to Christmas!

I meant to post these before Christmas, but with the hustle and bustle, I didn't get around to it. These are my Christmas bokeh shots. You can click on the link to find out just what bokeh is. I had fun doing these and I hope you enjoy them.

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas everybody! Hope you got to spend it with those that you love!

Bullet up to no good under the Christmas tree.

Happy Birthday to my awesome hubby, Terry! He turns 56 today. Born on Dec. 21, 1956 in Manchester, TN. We didn't think we were going to get to celebrate his birthday today, what with the world ending and all :0) Love you T!

Another breathtaking December sunset. These pictures were taken on Dec. 12th.

“Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.”~ John Lubbock

Our cat, Bullet, in black and white with selective coloring.

This picture was taken on Dec. 13th from our deck looking toward the hill. The bright light on the hill is the cross lit up for Christmas.

"The universe is wider than our views of it." ~ Henry David Thoreau

This is one of the favorite shots I took the night of the meteor shower! What I would love to do while Terry is off during Christmas is to go out in the country and take some night shots. We may have to do that.

Sissom Family Christmas 2012

Yesterday we celebrated a Christmas/Thanksgiving combo with my hubby's family. Terry's mom called it Thanksmas :0) This is their gorgeous Christmas tree.

Here's the entire Sissom clan. From the left, me, hubby Terry, Caitlin Ashcraft, Cindy Ashcraft, Rob Ashcraft, Jenna Sissom, Daniel Sissom, Terry's mom, Evelyn, his dad, Leighton, Shelley Sissom, Denny Sissom and Nathan Sissom. A wonderful time was had by all and the food was delish!

I took this shot last night while I was out looking for meteors. It was the peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower. It was so cold, but it was worth numb fingers and toes. I got to see 5 meteors. Problem is my camera wasn't pointing in the right direction. That streak you see in this picture isn't a meteor, but a jet flying by.

Some of our Christmas tree decorations to help get you in the Christmas spirit. Hard to believe the big day is less than two weeks away!

O Christmas Tree

Last year we had a real tree, this year we opted to get one of the so called "half trees." We weren't sure how it would look and it takes some getting used to, but we love it! It's pre-lit and looks even better decorated. It looks real and doesn't take up a lot of space, which we like. We also have access to our back door. That was a big plus as well. Our cat Bullet loves it too. He loves to sleep on the tree skirt.

Side view of our "half tree." I told Terry we probably could've gotten a real tree and cut half of the limbs off and get the same effect, but that would've been too much work :0)

Kay, I got inspired by the picture of the Christmas wreath you posted on your blog http://kayranft.blogspot.com/2012/12/day-three-hundred-forty-three-2012.html. I took an old wreath that we had and redid it. I'm happy with the way it turned out! Thanks for the inspiration!

T took these sunrise shots the morning of Dec. 7th.

“Sunrise doesn't last all morning, a cloudburst doesn't last all day, seems my love is up and has left you with no warning. It's not always going to be this grey. All things must pass, all things must pass away.” ~ George Harrison

I just had to share another sunset picture from the other day. I can't remember when the colors where this gorgeous! I never can get enough sunsets or sunrises. Speaking of sunrises, Terry got some great sunrise shots. I'll post some tomorrow.

Bring me the sunset in a cup

Bring me the sunset in a cup,Reckon the morning's flagons up
And say how many Dew,
Tell me how far the morning leaps—
Tell me what time the weaver sleeps
Who spun the breadth of blue!

Write me how many notes there be
In the new Robin's ecstasy
Among astonished boughs—
How many trips the Tortoise makes—
How many cups the Bee partakes,
The Debauchee of Dews!

Emily Dickinson

Our Yoshino Cherry tree all decked out for the holidays!

Cross on The Hill

This cross is on a hill near our house facing Interstate 40. The cross is lit up from Dec. 1st to Jan. 1st each year. The cross has been there as long as I can remember. I love when it's lit up for the holidays!

Beautiful Dec. 3rd sunset courtesy of God. I took this shot in the field next to our house.

Alien Cat

I took this picture of our cat, Bullet, sitting in our bedroom window the other evening. He looks like some kind of space alien :0)

A very Happy Birthday to my Aunt Joy Brown who turned 98 years young today. Family and friends celebrated this milestone with a party at Helen's Restaurant near Gainesboro, TN. Aunt Joy entertained us with a tap dance and a song or two on her Casio keyboard. She is such an inspiration to everyone who knows her. I love her to the moon and back!

Bare Tree in Sunset

I'm loving these gorgeous late fall sunsets that we've been having the past couple of days!

The Man in The Moon

Full Moon. November 29, 2012

Congratulations Tigers!

Congratulations to our Gordonsville Tiger football team for winning the 1-A Championship today in the Blue Cross Bowl! We beat Hungtingdon 21-20. Me and Terry attended the game this afternoon as well as the entire town of Gordonsville it seemed. It was a nail biter, but we won a hard fought game. First time the Tigers have been state champions since 1984!

This afternoon's beautiful sunset!

Dark Sand Cascades on Mars
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA Explanation: They might look like trees on Mars, but they're not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. The above image was taken in 2008 April near the North Pole of Mars. At that time, dark sand on the interior of Martian sand dunes became more and more visible as the spring Sun melted the lighter carbon dioxide ice. When occurring near the top of a dune, dark sand may cascade down the dune leaving dark surface streaks -- streaks that might appear at first to be trees standing in front of the lighter regions, but cast no shadows. Objects about 25 centimeters across are resolved on this image spanning about one kilometer. Close ups of some parts of this image show billowing plumes indicating that the sand slides were occurring even when the image was being taken.

Stars

 

How countlessly they congregate
    O'er our tumultuous snow,
Which flows in shapes as tall as trees
    When wintry winds do blow!--
As if with keeness for our fate,
    Our faltering few steps on
To white rest, and a place of rest
    Invisible at dawn,--
And yet with neither love nor hate,
    Those stars like some snow-white
Minerva's snow-white marble eyes
    Without the gift of sight.

Robert Frost

Stars and Clouds at Dusk

Dreams in the Dusk

Dreams in the dusk,
Only dreams closing the day
And with the day’s close going back
To the gray things, the dark things,
The far, deep things of dreamland.

Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,
Only the old remembered pictures
Of lost days when the day’s loss
Wrote in tears the heart’s loss.

Tears and loss and broken dreams
May find your heart at dusk. 

Carl Sandburg

Our Japanese Maple tree is a sea of red. Beautiful!

More Thanksgiving Outtakes

Thanksgiving 2012

Our family had a most excellent Thanksgiving. My sister, Jane, and her hubby, Don hosted this year. The food and fellowship was awesome! I have the greatest family in the world and am so blessed to have each and everyone of them in my life!

Thanksgiving group shot outtakes :0)