Take Tuesday : Black and White

I have always loved the way black and white photographs of buildings look, so for this week's Take Tuesday Photo Series (links removed because it's no longer active), the theme for which was Black and White, I decided to go out and take some shots of buildings.

Eddie is a Crate Guy … oops, I mean a Great Guy

While I am taking a computer break this week, Eddie was not so keen on missing his turn on the blog! He so loves to visit with his on-line pals, and really appreciates how you all seem to love him. I'm pretty certain he loves you too, but there is a language barrier and I don't always understand exactly what he is saying.

He is really not one of those hidey-cats and is usually within our view, most often lounging in the cat-bed I made for him (posted about here).

Even when people come over he is right there checking to see who is here. My sister and I had a laugh recently when she came over. We were chatting at the bottom of the stairs when all of a sudden a little cat head peeked around the corner from the top of the stairs.

Anyway, the other day, Nick and I were asking one another if we had seen Gat. (One of his many nicknames). Neither of us had. It didn't take us long to find him though, and here are some pictures of the search.

This old milk-crate had found a temporary home on the landing, as we were moving some in our storage area. Somebody thought it was really cool.

Baby Squirrels

I know I've shown quite a few squirrel pictures over the summer, but I can't resist showing you these two little cuties. They would have been born this summer so are still babies (maybe the equivalent of toddlers?) and are so fun to watch.

To give you a better idea of their size, an adult was out there too, and these guys (gals?) were about half the size.

It’s Take Tuesday and the Prompt is Utensil

For Shakti and Nicole's (links removed because they no longer blog) “Take Tuesday” photo challenge series, this week's prompt Utensil, which I pondered over as I lay in bed the other night. I am a pretty big fan of vintage utensils and any visit to a thrift-store will find me clinking through every single knife, spoons and fork, to see what they have. I'm a sucker for anything with a star-burst or flower!I use my mismatched cutlery for serving things like pickles, sauces and spreads, and if you'd like to have a look at some recent finds, there are some pictures at the end.So since I had shown photos of those utensil treasures here before I wanted to go with something different for this Take Tuesday post.And since tea has been on my mind, as I am thinking that this winter might be the one during which I begin to actually enjoy the taste of tea. I know it is loaded with antioxidants so is good for me, and frankly, I am a little envious when I read about how much enjoyment people get from a cuppa. To date, I just don't get the appeal. No matter what kind I have tried and how I've taken it, I don't think it tastes very good, (except for iced-tea, which I love, but it's not very wintery).But this winter I plan to see the light on the tea front!I got started in the right direction when my friend gave me a package of fancy loose tea leaves. The best part was that I got to use this neat little vintage gadget that I bought on ebay a few years ago, when I last thought that that winter would be the one during which tea became my drink. We'll see if I'll have better luck with the enjoyment factor this year.

Rakes, Leaves and the Aroma of Autumn

I mentioned the other day that Nick and I spent some time out in the yard last week getting things ready for winter. There were leaves to rake, bushes to prune, plants to move and tulip bulbs to get into the ground. Oh yes, and there was some champagne to drink too. Mud on our boots, dirt on our gardening gloves and refreshments enjoyed in a fancy glass!

(It was actually bubbly brut (Segura Viudas) but we call it champagne regardless of whether the the grapes were not grown in the champagne region of France or not.)