Snooping Around.....

A new gift for me is this Snoopy sculpture. He is a small happy guy created with the same material as the Jim Shore pieces. I like his race track flag patterens on his ears

Snow on my Geece....

It is lightly snowing and there is some ice.  I had my oil changed and I received a free car wash. Once out on the streets it was very dirty again.

Getting into Position.....

Our grand daughter is getting ready for a cell phone as she plays with a musical toy. She presses buttons and can hear different songs.

I am back......

We had a nice visit with our kids and grand kids. We arrived home on Friday evening. All three grand kids have grown since we last saw them a few months ago. All three photos show you no direct eye to eye contact. I don't know why but I will be sharing more photos of them looking directly at the camera.

Moose......

The moose did travel to Maine and arrived before Christmas. It was nice to get it there before the crowd of packages.

Christmas Day....

a child is born. Christ Jesus is his name, born in a lowly manger. 

A Child's Gift.....

He has the soft furn and soft mane too.  He is headed to the home a a few small children.

A Year Ago.......

An archived photo of my outside deck tree.  The naturally lighted moon is in the sky. The other glow in the sky is actually a light from the tree sticking out from the top of the tree.

No Elf....

There is no elf on these shelves. The dolls are all lined up and on display.  When we were first married I found the pink doll for sell at a fancy shop. It was made or sold by Gorham. After about six years of Christmas dolls the company stopped selling.  That is when I had to start buying the larger ones. Now with a house full of dolls I have stopped buying them.

Relax......

He is the only one that is relaxed in this mall. People are starting to panic and will do so for the next three days. We have a pile of things to do but we do always get it done.  Our shopping is mostly done with a couple of small things for a friend yet to buy. Wrapping, Christmas cards, and resting in what ever order we can get them in for today.

Friday, Friday.....

The end of the week is a promising one, as the sun does shine over all the blocking objects. I can see the subtle reflection of sunlight on the neighboring houses. It is getting closer to the date when the earth starts to tilt back again.

LEGO O LEGO.....

An archived photo taken by my son of AJ and his lego creation. It is time to go out and find a new one for the grandson. We have two boys and a girl to buy presents for and it is always a challenge.

Sparkle.....

Only the smallest ornaments are used on this tree.  The tree is small and the size of the ornaments makes it look great. I used to display this tree on the dining room table but it has moved up to be placed on an antique commode.

At the Park.....

Collections of Glass.....

Antique canning jars with my oldest ornaments. Some are shiny brites but most of them are not. They have weathered and some color is coming off of the older ones.  It is a tradition for me to display them upstairs at this time of the year and they sit on a bookshelf next to my desk the rest of the year. Memories of my parents and also my late brother which I collected after they were gone. Good memories and bad memories seem to rrear up at the holiday season.

Traditional Red........

Village Train.....

Angel World.....

These are the two newer angels of my wife's collection. Both are holding candles with the manger scene in the background.

Thursday's Shots......

The evening shot lets me show that the lights are now on inside the buildings. The streets a little vacant but that is a less busy area for the city.

With this being a barn I guess we could put some farm animals in front to this.  We would have to put a fence around them though to keep them in the area.

In Storage....

I was down in the basement clearing things for the furnace man. I glanced  up and though these things deserve some recognition. The ceramic pieces just sit up there but they seem safe there. I do use one like that to hold a vine. All of them have openings in which I could plant something.
The second shelf is leftover things I made while I was teaching school. Most of them could be tossed but not right now.

The Winter City.....

The sun is coming up over the new winter city. The new area for the houses works well with lots of space. We still had to put larger houses on another set of tables.

It amazes me as to how many boxes that are required to store these things.  I still have one item that we just can't find. It may show up under a batch of garland in a box still in the basement.

Old Fashioned......

The one green acorn ornament is old.  It was from my wife's family ornaments. That one acorn inspired the creating of the antique tree with old small decorations.

Evening Moon....

The camera pulls in the actual view of the moon. I was amazed as I looked up while in Israel that  the moon looks the same all around the world.

Leftovers....

Things that are scattered on the table ready to be moved to a display location or left us find something like a hook to hang up the small wooden ones.

Shiney Reflections....

A low light photograph messes with the focus but the reflections of trees are numerous. At night we can stand inside the sun room and see dozens of trees in all directions as the glass reflects on itself like many mirrors.

It's a Start.....

It is a beginning of the placement of ornaments. Three boxes later it is getting to look better than this. The visual will be better, though I did find one more box of smaller ornaments to go onto this tree. We both like the decorating of trees but we are pacing ourselves as it can't be done all in one day. I have not started with the two glass blown ornaments collection. 

Softer Kind of Clouds......

A great show of the sunlight reflecting off of the clouds in the north. The colors are better than the ones in the the actual sunset.

Sunrise in the City....

The left side of the horizon was the best looking part of the sunrise. The clouds are giving off good textures and color. 

The sun is coming up behind our neighbor's house now so the glow isn't the same anymore.

Flowers in the Desert......

The climate in the background shows that it could be like Arizona.  The difference is that it is not as hot in Israel this time of year compared to Arizona.

Wind Blown Prairie......

Snowball flowers is an old fashion name for these hydrangeas.  My wife's cousin called all white ones snowballs but I don't think this one would have been.  The season of summer is definitely gone as it seems like a long time ago when I cut these and put them in a vase of water.  As they started to dry a little I dumped the water and there they are in the same vase.

It isn't a heavy snow and it sounds like it will melt away tomorrow. We did have threats of tornadoes at our old place last night and the wind is still blowing today in the 50 mps. Wind chills will be very cold  all morning. I will have to warm up the car a little before we take of this morning.

Stone Patterns....

Stonework of a former street of the city in Jerusalem. A building has been built up on stilts above the area.  The building is probably a five story one and only when you take the stairs down that you can find a few thousand year old street of an very old city.

Shaggy....

The old place looks pretty rugged as the leaves are almost gone. No snow on the ground anymore but I did my first shoveling of snow up there a couple of weeks ago. It is a shaggy looking photo and I guess I liked it because of that.

Next Season.......

These are archived photos as I do not have any Christmas boxes out at this point.  We had a discussion of the future of Christmas trees but it was just talk so far.

Work of Art by Della.....

It follows the turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls with jelly. It will be the best for last with a good cup of coffee. Then there will be leftovers for another couple of days.

More Red Flowers.....

Flowers in bloom at the Mount of Olives area. Walking down the hill, big hill, and one is at the Garden of Gethsemane.  Centuries old olive trees that were restarted from branches of the original trees thousands of years ago.

Walking on Stone.....

The stones on the temple mount are old.  King Solomon built the mount and placed the first temple on this site. That was two thousand years plus  ago. The photo just happened and I like how our young guy on our tour Andrew walks around with his red Under Armor shoes on the historic site. The woman across the way all wear different dress and shoes.  People from so many countries were touring this city.

Cool Monday Morning......

It is a similar view from yesterday's sunrise.  Snow is coming on Tuesday and weather people are saying it could be tough driving over Thanksgiving. I haven't seen the national weather map but I bet tomorrow we won't look this good. I will mow up leaves one more day today and then that will be my last chance to get them taken care of them.

Stars and Bucks......

In Jerusalem there are few to none with coffee shops. But one or two of these creative businesses are out there selling coffee.  I had heard about these shops but while we were walking up one of the endless hills to visit a church in the Jewish sector I snapped this one photo. I am glad it was in focus. They drink Turkish coffee at restaurants. I was glad to get back to my coffee por making many cups of coffee to drink.

This part of the city was leveled and destroyed to keep the Jews from ever returning to the area.  In the 1967 war, the Muslims were pushed back and out of the area. Building began then to restore this city. The whole area is just west of the temple mount. Lots of the buildings there are built on pillars above ancient ruins. Since 1967 it  has been restored, built to look like a traditional Israel city using traditional materials and styles.