"Christmas" is due tomorrow

Next week: "Surly".

/rl

Mike's "Wind"

You've all seen the front of my clock, a couple of different weeks.  Here is something else from my grandfather that you need to wind.
Its one of the pocket watches that he used while he was a bus driver to make certain the bus was running on time.

Cory's Wind

Looks like two people read this week's topic as "wind", whereas I read it as "wind". Subtle difference, eh?

This is what the wind blew in for us this week: six or so inches of snow. It actually started last week, but continued this week: the lab was closed on Monday, had an early dismissal on Thursday, and a late start on Friday all due to snow. But at least it looks pretty for Christmas!

Ryan's "Wind"

My parents need to wind their clock occasionally:



/rl

Fred's "Wind"

The bear says, "What am I doing among all these silly toys?"

"Wind" is due tomorrow

Next week: "Christmas" (or "Holidays", "Hanukkah", "Kwanza" as appropriate.)

/rl

Mike's "Bear"

While spending my lunch hour at the Dollar Tree last week, I ran into these bears, hung up like a bunch of carrots.I only had my phone with me, but thought I better get a quick pic in case I didn't make it to the zoo this weekend. I forgot about gummy bears...

Ryan's "Bear"

Bears are in short supply around eastern Nebraska. There are a bunch in the Henry Doorly Animal Prison, but I didn't have a chance to go visit them.

Instead I found glowing demon candy bears...



This week or next we will have another player posting. Fred lives up in the Minneapolis area, wrenches on a Triumph Spitfire occasionally, and had a camera around his neck when I met him.

/rl

Cory's Bear

Some bears like fish, others like berries, and at least one likes hunny. This one prefers coffee and pancakes for breakfast though.

Next week: "Wind"

"Bear" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Darkroom"

This is a stretch... it's a screen capture rather than a real photo.




/rl

Cory's Darkroom

This is my digital darkroom, where I do all of my photography playing (among other things). I didn't actually start playing with cameras until the digital age was among us, so I've never had an actual darkroom. I think this way is much easier for me.

Mike's "Dark Room"

I'm going to dwell in the past with this one.  In 1979 I bought an old Federal enlarger at a garage sale and had a makeshift B&W darkroom in my parents basement.
Of all the film reels and tanks, paper, lights I had, this lens for the enlarger is all I have kept. I'm a lens hoarder.  It must be good for something.

Next week: "Bear"

Tomorrow: "Your darkroom (computer)".

/rl

Cory's Stretched

I ended up taking this picture in the wind during a snowstorm, and it didn't come out as pretty as I had planned. However, it does show what I wanted: one of my favorite parts of little parking lot Christmas tree yards is the lights that they stretch between poles so you can see them. It looks very festive.

Ryan's "Stretch"

Stretching the truth....



/rl

Mikes "Stretch"

I'm using one of those stretchy things to strengthen my inner core.
My personal trainer is helping by making sure I keep my feet flat on the floor.

Next week: "Your darkroom (computer)"

Stretch(ed) due tomorrow.

/rl

Mike's "Fowl"

I was amazed how many businesses use water fowl for their mascots.  Crane Coffee was one option.
Another was:  "AFLAC!!!"

Ryan's "Fowl"

What can I possibly say about this photo?



No, really. What can I say?

/rl

Cory's Fowl

Every year as far as I can remember, we've made hand turkeys for Thanksgiving. They started out pretty simple, but as we've grown up we've gotten more creative with them. Here is this year's collection of hand fowl, complete with two little ones on the right. Maddy had help tracing hers, but colored it herself. Emily also needed help tracing hers, and then she ate the crayons instead of coloring it.

Next week...

Next week's topic: Stretch(ed)

"Fowl" due tomorrow!

Mike's "Cupcake"

This is the cup...
I'm afraid Michigan took the cake.  (I love my little light tent for topic emergencies such as this!)

David's "Cupcake"

Sonya was asked to do a review of Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle for a friend's food blog, which was a happy coincidence with this week's theme.

I'll post a link to the review after it appears but for now, 1) Wild Yam (including marshmallow fluff topping); 2) Red Velvet Cake; 3) Carrot Walnut; 4) Samoa; 5) Peanut Butter & Jelly; 6) Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

Fun theme.

Ryan's "Cupcake"

Studying for a test... no photography or baking this weekend.

/rl

Cory's Cupcake

Deep in the night, a terror strikes the oven: ZOMBIE CUPCAKES.

Of course, there's only one way to get rid of them.

Next week: "Fowl"

"Cupcake" is due tomorrow!

/rl

Cory's Fall

The colors of Fall came and went a few weeks ago around here, and we're moving into Winter weather. But for whatever reason, this snake didn't get the message about finding a nice place to sleep. Instead, he was hanging out right outside my door yesterday, waiting for me to step on him when I came out. But I saw the trap quickly enough that I was able to safely move him into this nice setting of rocks and fall leaves.

Ryan's "Fall"

Fall in Nebraska:



/rl

Mike's "Fall"

I went out looking for fall color last Sunday.  Its a little harder to find in Nebraska than you think.  The rural areas are mostly winter hardy trees like ash and cottonwood that are mostly yellow.
Some neighborhoods have great color, but then your having to fight traffic, and avoid looking like a detective.  If you drive down 90th or 84th right now from Center to Dodge there are some great scenes, but its hard frame a shot from the car and go back and get it with the camera.  So I settled for parks, this one in Ralston.

Next week: "Cupcake"

"Fall" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Mike's "Eve of all Hallows"

On the day before Halloween, my son and I went and snooped around an old farmstead that has been vacant for 50-60 years.  It is on the county line between Holt and Wheeler counties.

This is one of the few houses I have seen up there with a basement.  The water table is kind of high.

I love to take pictures of things that are in a state of decay, and this was good place for that.

Ryan's "Halloween"

Proper Halloween candy:



One of Jenny's neighbors gave that to her. Odd.

/rl

Cory's Halloween

Los Alamos holds a pumpkin glow each year for Halloween, in which people and organizations put their pumpkins on display on the lawn outside the art center. We stopped by to see them this year, and this was one of my favorites - I really liked how wide the mouth was.

Next week: "Fall"

"Halloween" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Thread"

1"x20, I think...




/rl

David's "Thread"

Sonya is practicing her special effects makeup skills on me again for this week's theme. She's getting to be quite amazing.

Cory's Thread

Lis got a KFC bucket full of thread at a garage sale a while back, and some of it were on these pretty wooden spools. This particular one had never been used before, so I figured it was a good candidate for this week's topic.

Mike's "Thread"

Barbed wire is the thread on our farm.  Between 12 and 16 miles of it define the borders of it.
Probably another 15 divide the fields and pasture.

Next week: "Halloween"

"Thread" is due today.

/rl

David's "Moo"

This is one of the bulls on my father-in-law's small ranch at the end of our road.

Ryan's "Moo"

One of Omaha's old steakhouses:



/rl

Mike's "Moo"

The South Omaha Stock Exchange Building is very different than it was even ten years ago, and the area surrounding it is nothing like it was when I was in high school.  When walking around the grounds, however, I can still hear the faint "mooing" of the cows that were in pens surrounding this building.
Even in 1980, the parking for this building was in a garage across the street where the basement level were cow pens.  It was not uncommon for a wedding party to celebrate in the lavish ballrooms on the top floors, while being surrounded by thousands of cows who were soon to meet their doom as a tasty steak!

Cory's Moo

Remember Gerber Baby? She's been growing lately and is now a full-fledged little kid, but that won't stop me from trying to use her for some easy votes. Here she is wearing her cow pajamas, and everybody knows that cows say "Mooooooooo".

Next week: "Thread"

"Moo" is due tomorrow!

/rl

Q's knob

Currently my middle finger looks like a knob. Full disclosure: an x-ray tech shot the original image and my doctor, who seemed amazed by this break, shot a picture on my phone so I could show it off.

Mike's "Knob"

I can't believe I just typed that in for a title.  Once again one of those topics that leave so many options, you can't decide which.
We passed this play ground equipment walking the dogs.  I think its supposed to be an airplane.  If you look closely at the center of the photo, some of the controls that have knobs on them are just painted in.

Yes, I am am still pretending I have a Russian camera.

Cory's Knob

This is the knob that lets me choose between any of five forward and one backward gear on my car. The car itself is a 2004 Golf, which I suppose explains why the knob looks faintly like a golf ball.

Next week: "Moo"

"Knob" is due tomorrow.

The topic bucket is due for a refill!

/rl

Mike's "Repair"

It's not hard to look around the home for things we have to repair.  I wanted to get out this weekend, but didn't get out of the yard with my camera.  This is our back porch which received new railings this summer.  Sandra bought the parts and painted, and I put in new metal balusters.
Yes, I have been a little fascinated with "lomo" lately.  I found a great plugin for Gimp.  It also hides my repair flaws!  Before we repaired the stairs they looked like  >> this <<

David's "Repair"

V & L Motors General Repair, also in need of repair. This is an old repair shop off the main strip through Bernalillo, NM.

Cory's Repair

Since winter tends to come kind of early up here in the mountains, Lis decided to built a little greenhouse to go over here tomatoes this year in an attempt to stretch the season a little longer. Alas, we had a big wind storm one day last week, and the next morning the greenhouse was gone. I found it on the other side of the house later in the day. Clearly, it is going to need some repair before it is used again.

Next week: "Knob"

"Repair" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Cory's Hand

HAND AM TASTY NOM NOM NOM.

(Not actually Cory's hand)

Ryan's "Hand"

Kelcey, and her hand, in the act of the vandalism Cory mentioned:



/rl

Next week: Repair

"Hand" due earlier today!

Mike's "Hand"

Taking advantage of a beautiful day, here in Omaha, I went downtown.  I photographed the sculptures that the Lauritzen family put up.  They have big hands, and they have "cow hands" and... well then...  I ran across these hands at the Zorinsky Mall, and knew I found my topic picture!

Though I keep promising myself to not take pictures that exploit the homeless, I squeezed one into the corner.  Today he is one of the 99%.

David's "Hand"

"I've got funny hands."

This seemed like a non-obvious take on this week's theme.

Ryan's "Sock"

Sorry for last week's lack of posting. I was mourning the loss of my camera.

This is what socks do to my ankles:



Perhaps next week I will do better. I've decided that my camera is not broken... it just lacks duct tape. Hopefully that will get me through the upcoming trip to New Mexico.

/rl

Cory's Sock

Los Alamos has its own little tiny airport, complete with one runway and a little shack that serves as the terminal. I hear it is very exciting to fly out of - it is built right on the edge of a mesa, so if you were to just drive off the end of the runway you would already be several hundred feet in the air. Here's the sock they use there to keep the wind's foot warm. It looks like he wasn't using it when I took this picture.

Mike's "Sock"

This is our "sock transporter".  If you put an even number of socks and run it on low heat for sixty minutes,  one of your socks will be transported to a parallel universe and a new one will appear.
Sometimes, by pure chance, you might get one of your own socks back.

"Sock" is due tomorrow

Next week: "Hand".

/rl

Mike's "Stable"

I love taking pictures of horses. It literally rained all weekend until the hour before I went to set up for the open mic. I should have taken a picture of my stable of players there!
So I found a stable of horses inside the house. I need to start getting my pictures done before the weekend.

Cory's Stable

The next mesa over from me houses Los Alamos's stables, where horses, donkeys, and a few goats live. Maddy likes taking drives through them to see the horses, and the horses are probably perfectly happy to see her too. She let me come along for the trip this time so I could take a picture of a horse and its stable.

Next week: "Sock"

"Stable" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Oops...

Sorry - I just got around to putting up the poll.

On another note, it may just be Mike and Cory for a while. My camera caught a bad case of gravity poisoning, and will need to take a trip to the Nikon spa to recuperate.

/rl

Cory's Shutter

It turns out it is hard to take a picture of your camera's shutter. And thus, I present you with my house's shutter. If it weren't screwed to the house, this one might act in a similar way as the camera one, just a lot slower.

Ryan's "Shutter"

Putting on glasses while juggling a torch is a bit of a pain. Glasses with darker flip-down shutters prove useful.



A friend used this torch to blow the inner bearing races off my car's hub today. It's a good size torch for cutting railroad track - a bit overkill for Volkswagen parts.

/rl