Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Three!

"On the 12th day of December, the third post came to me.
With time to just sit and 'be'!"
today's sunrise
Today I finally got a whole day at home to get some things done. At the top of the 'time-sensitive' list: write our Christmas letter. Thoughts of what I wanted to share from the year have been percolating in my head, but Rick's health crisis put everything – including a family update – on 'pause.' Now that he's stable, I felt comfortable proceeding so I can get our Christmas cards out. I want to mail them tomorrow when I go to the office job – but first, a blog post!

Last weekend was a whirlwind of activity and photo fodder. On Sabbath Brian's handbell choir played at another church, followed by a potluck there. Then we drove out to Silver Falls State Park, where the bell choir had been invited to play in a Christmas Festival. It was foggy when we arrived, and I got excited about the photographic possibilities of shooting South Falls (the only one I could get to in the attire I was wearing) in those conditions. We walked through the woods and past some of the buildings where Christmas crafts were being staged for the public until we got to the viewing area, but the falls was barely visible.




But while awaiting the bell choir's turn at performing, the sun broke through the fog and trees just enough to give me some spectacular shots!



The musical groups played in a big, heated, circus-type tent with holiday decorations and more craft stations around the edges. I didn't notice until after shooting these that the tent's red and white stripes were festively reflected in the bells!


Sunday was a long slog of travel and events. We left early to drive an hour and a half north to our Christian trailriders' Christmas party, then the hour and a half back to McMinnville where I caught the tail end of my former co-worker's memorial service while my guys headed home, then I drove 30 minutes out to my local dressage chapter's Christmas party. It was good to see friends, but after 12 hours I was ready to be home.

I knit this in just a few days (while waiting for Rick and doctors) for the first party's gift exchange,
and brought home this lovely antique salt shaker from the second party's gift exchange:

With more than half the turquoise skein left, I decided to knit another hat for my friend's daughter for Christmas. Her owls will have to have eyes, though. 😊

That's it for now from . . .

12 comments:

Michelle said...

How are your holiday activities shaping up?

Leigh said...

Michelle, you were so right about the photo possibilities! Amazing! Have to mention that Brian has become a very handsome young man. For holiday activities, I'm working on menu planning!

Retired Knitter said...

Striking pictures! First off, your son is grown. What a handsome man he will be (is?). Gosh. I remember him as a tall but skinny boy. And you are right. The pictures of the sun and fog were wonderful. And I love the pictures of the color reflected in the bells. You have a very good eye!

wyomingheart said...

Hi Michelle! Your photos are simply amazing and Awesome! The beauty that you capture is honestly stunning. That picture of the sun coming through the trees is like a burst of heavenly, angelic energy. I appreciate you sharing those with us.

Susan said...

Spectacular photographs, as always! I love that owl hat and the color is divine. You certainly packed a lot into a day! I'm glad you finally got a day to yourself - more or less.

Anonymous said...

Your photos are amazing. I love the bell reflections especially. I started off ahead of the game with my holiday to-do list but am now, sadly, behind. Ugh

Retired Knitter said...

So skipping the Robot challenge works on Pop Up Blogs - yours and mine - but on Embedded Blogs - there is no way to skip past it - no little block that asks for follow up emails, and if you just hit publish, it backs you up to the challenge again. So frustrating. I did send a message to blogger. Who knows if anyone monitors those emails, but thanks for the tip.

Jeanne said...

Wow! Good thing you had hoped to get some good photos! You got some really fantastic ones!! Were they taken with your cell phone? They're really impressive. Do you even do prints and cards with your photos? Naw! You don't have time for that kind of thing, right? :)

Michelle said...

Thanks, Leigh! Brian IS kind on the eyes, but then again I may be biased. Still working on character, though! I should give some thought to a heart-healthy menu....

Thanks, Elaine. I'd like to say I intentionally captured the color reflected in the bells, but it was a happy accident. ;-)

I was so wowed by the light coming through the fog and trees, wyomingheart; I'm just glad I could catch a decent representation!

Susan, I'm beginning to think you like ALL colors. I knew you like orange and all shades of green; didn't expect you to love turquoise!

Oh well, better to start OFF ahead than behind, right, Ruth?

I found that out about the Robot challenge on a blog last night, Elaine; so aggravating!

Yes, Jeanne, all photos were taken with my iPhone 8. And sometimes I do have prints and cards made.

Jeanne said...

Hey, if you decide to make some prints of some of those photos from Silver Falls, namely the ones of the sun shining through the trees... Please let me know!! Those are incredibly beautiful. They're what I call goosebumpers!

Michelle said...

Jeanne, I often take advantage of Shutterfly special offers, sometimes for prints. Can you tell me what you would like more specifically?

Jeanne said...

Michelle, I'll write an email regarding the photos!