Granite Palace

Click on pic, to enlarge

Granite? Hmmm... Looks like a lot of brick, to me.

Palace? Well, it's not a palace. That's for sure. But I suppose there's something to be said
for aiming high. ,-)

******

Need olives???

Back to Roma's. They have much yummy food, there. But these olives caught my eye. And they just "cried out" to be photographed. ,-)

When we got to the check-out, and I told the cashier that I took a picture and would put it on my blog... And gave her a slip of paper, with this blog URL on it, so she can look and see... Her eyes got very wide, at first. Granted, it does sound odd, to have this older woman and her granddaughter come in and say; "I put your produce in a blog, which can be read world wide." -gigggles- But she actually did know what a blog is! So, maybe, she is reading this.
-waves to her-
And if she's not awfully familiar with how blogs work, I'll say that to see the picture larger, click on it. And to see my previous post, about Roma's, click on the 'Roma's' word up there, which shows up in Red. :-)

******
Update...
A net friend has started a photo blog, and hasn't been able to get the CPDB button installed yet. But she put such a beautiful photo up today, of a majestic scene, near her. That I want to ask you to please click here and take a peek.
Please and thank you.

******

Not mine, but....

Not my Garden Gnome, riding on his frog.
This little guy seems to be holding a frog, and wondering what to do with it...

As I said, he's not my Gnome. But he's for sale. He could be somebody's Gnome. Do you think you would like him to be your Gnome? ,-)

******
Thank you for all the suggestions I was given, in comments, on my last entry!
And also thank you, to those who didn't have a suggestion to leave. I'm happy to know that I am not the only one, who isn't totally 'geeky' about cameras. :-)

******

Too "yellow"

A reflection, but it has an over-all yellowish tint. I don't care for it. I liked store windows better, when taken with my old camera.

And night photos don't please me as much as my old camera, either. The lights look too bright. They don't have the soft color of photos with my old camera. In night photos, I _want_ a 'yellowish' tint. But a soft, more warm one. Not a green-yellow, like is in this photo.

See? Not yellow/green, in one taken with old camera, a while ago.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Other than keep reading the instruction book, that is. ,-)

Did I? Did I? Did I?!?

Did I capture 'sparkles'? On the snow...?
.

The sun is shining on newly fallen snow. I was trying for a follow up to the tracks entry. Since the tracks had been covered, this morning, by some snow showers.

But when I downloaded the photos, instead of just plain new snow covering, it looked like I could see 'sparkles' on the surface. And so I kept cropping and cropping and they seem to show up more. I am sooooooooooooo excited! You can't believe how excited I am! Wow! Did I capture sunlight, sparkling on freshly fallen snow cover?????

********

Tracks... Many tracks...

Many animal tracks, on the snow. We haven't had new snow cover here, in a while. But the temps stay cold, so the snow doesn't melt. So therefore,
the animal tracks just keep accumulating.

***

Breathtaking...

Would you look upon breathtaking photos of Winter, in a garden surrounding a home? The lovely effects of freezing fog. And the Winter wonderland of frost crystals on the bare bones of the garden, which was provided by several days of below zero temps. Blue needles on the cedar, which glittered and shone, as if Jack Frost had scattered a dusting of icing sugar, with a wave of his magic wand. Frozen and frosted spider web.

This lady has a gorgeous blog of her Barleycorn Garden, all seasons of the year. But this Winter entry just blew me away. Please click and look at this entry. You may want to go back, for more. :-)

And please tell her that Mari-Nanci sent you. :-)

***

From here, to there...

Our city is built on uneven ground. There are small hills, in some places. So it's necessary to have stairways, here and there.

Probably most people drive around town, not needing these steps. But I hope there are some who use them. Especially these above, which go from a street where there is parking, up to the main street. Where people shop and work.

****

Some "bling"!!!

"Bling" ~ The imaginary "sound" that is produced by
light reflected by a diamond.

The above, was seen in a window display. I think this could be called a
"Bling Lamp," for kid's rooms. Maybe...... It's bright anyway! :-)

******

Passageway...

Just a passageway at night. There are more steps, farther 'in the distance'... but the lights seem to hide them. I am standing on the store level. The steps lead up to a parking area, behind.

I know. :-( A very "blahhhhhhh" photo, compared with yesterday's flowers.
But, it is still Winter around here. I'll try for more color, again tomorrow.

***

In January... Do you remember?

In January...
Do you remember...
a Poppy in the Summer sunshine?

.
In January...
Do you remember...
Hydrangeas blossoms, in Summer rain?

***

Wild...

What's that saying... "Wild horses couldn't drag me away..."
I think at least one of these, could drag anyone, anywhere.

And yes, they are quite big!

~*~

Talk about a 'cold shower'...

No birdies will be taking a bath in... And no water will be bubbling out of...
this Bird Bath Fountain, today...

As they do, in Summer...
.~~~~~~

Need to sit down, for a minute?

This piggie makes quite the garden bench, doesn't he?
He's certainly not going to scare anyone away, like the lion though. In fact, if he does anything, I think he will make everyone smile. Or even make them giggle out loud. ,-)

~*~*~*~

Need protection?

Do you feel in need of some protection? Perhaps this lion would take care of the need.

.Then again, look how peacefully the girl with the urns, is gazing at the lion. Hmmmm, maybe he isn't so fierce, after all... ,-) I do love him though...

~*~*~

Very different entry today....

A very different entry for today. A sad, sad, sad entry.

I've showed this sad carriage house before. Here and here. -sigh- And you can read the 'why' of it... in those entries.

But to us, there is no valid 'why'.

Plus, 'to add insult to injury' as they say ~ It is right across the street from this carriage house, which _is_ being lovingly restored.

~*~

Where did I go, today...?

~*~*~*~
Where in Saratoga Spgs., did I go today???

~*~*~*~
To "The World's Best Dentist"!!!

Of course...!!!
~*~*~*~

~Click on photos, for larger view~

Return to the renovation...

As usual, click on pic, to enlarge

I love this old carriage house. An old and reclusive couple lived there. For years, it has been not well taken care of. Sad for the house. Time moves on and they have left and it was purchased by the present owners of the big house, for which this originally, was the place the carriages and horses were kept... Truly a carriage house.

Happily, these new owners wanted to restore it. {and have the money to do so} I was thrilled to hear about the restoration plans, from the big house caretaker. I got to know him, and he is really thrilled with the whole project as well. He was happy to take us through it, way back last winter, when it had only been gutted. And he told us, the plans for it.

This was an entry I made in March of '07. Another, showing more work done, by April. The end of April, I posted these photos, showing side and back views, at that time. I was lax, all summer and didn't take photos. But now, it's getting close to being done. The inside has been redone and painted also. Now I need to "mozy down" there and talk to the caretaker again, and try to be taken for a tour of the inside, yet again. :-)
~*~

More coming...

More of this 'white stuff' coming, Sunday night into Monday.

Will I have learned how to really capture snow flakes, by then???

>,-)

*~*~*~*

Almost a theme today... Restaurants/Pubs

{Below} You approach the old building, which originally was a real Firehouse.
This below, is the outdoor patio eating area, in Summer time.The building now houses both a restaurant and a rug store.

Approaching the restaurant entrance...
The door in... Yes, it's open, but the ambiance is very dimly lit, so to speak.

Theme of Reflections...

More, on the theme of Reflections...

And no, those little white things are not snow. They are reflections of tiny white lights, nearby. Decorations outside a restaurant which shares the old building with the rug store... Into which these windows look. I'll show the restaurant, at a later date.
.

Just a Winter sunset...

Just a Winter sunset....

But I'm back blogging again.

Thank you to all who commented your good wishes to me,
while my Gray Box of Internet Connections, was having a "nervous breakdown."

^-^

Can't post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not able to post for a while. We have Internet Connection and working computer, but some 'black box' has had a 'nervous breakdown,' or some such. ,-) I'm not techy enough to know the right terms.

~~~

But what it means is that I can't use my computer for a while.

~~~

I'm visiting someone, and using their computer, to make this entry.

~~~

So no posting of photos {or anything} for me, till this is straightened out.

~~~

Sorry.... Mari-Nanci

More Aliens... ,-)

Remember Alien Eyes? This time, it sort of looks like the Alien is feeling the cold. His 'eye' looks like it's shivering. ,-)
~~~

Winter sky...

Winter sky in late afternoon...

"The Secret Life of Minerals"

We love living in The City of Springs. But there are drawbacks. Mineral residue. Above is a shot of the inside of a pan, in which I have boiled lots of water. {My "home made humidifier." I hate the real things, since they are hard to keep totally clean. And unless that's done, germs can grow in them, and be spread in your air.} So, I simmer plain water on the stove.

But this is what the pan looks like, when it's not had the mineral residue "scraped out" of it, in a few days.

Needless to say, this is an inexpensive pan and will be discarded, when Winter is over and we no longer need to put humidity into our air.
~~~

A world of white...

More *marshmallow.*

'The best of..."

-sigh- It looks like I missed the theme day, of the first of the month, again. :-(

But... Better late than never...

.
And I choose my very first entry, on this blog. Long before I tried to join this
Daily City Photo Blog...
.
Which entry, I then called "The Lady In The Snow."
.

'Whipped Cream'

This snow looks like Whipped Cream, 'plopped' on top of dessert...

,-)