Flag marker

I saw this little stone at the foot of a flag pole when my grandson and I were visiting the pumpkin patch.

Linking to signs, signs.

Metal chicken

I saw this poor guy standing outside of a local restaurant. Maybe he is still traumatized from that last hurricane that blew through here a couple of weeks ago.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

Pumpkin shopping

I enjoyed following my youngest grandson around one of our local pumpkin patches recently while he shopped for the perfect pumpkin. He picked out three and decorated them when we got home. We will probably be carving one into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween this week. I bought that little fairy door on the baseboard just above the pumpkins this past summer when I was in Ireland and it has been a big hit with my grandkids!

White Ibis

A White Ibis out for a stroll.

Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters, and The Bird D'Pot.

Taking off

I took this photo looking west just as the sun was setting.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Thankful

These photos show debris piles in and around my neighborhood as result of cleanup efforts after Hurricane Michael hit our area two weeks ago. Thousands of trees fell in Tallahassee during the storm damaging homes, blocking streets and pulling down power lines. My power was off for almost a week. These debris piles are all over town now, waiting to be picked up. It's a mess, but I am thankful that my house was not damaged and my family is safe. We were very fortunate compared to the communities just to the west of us.

Linking to Thankful Thursday.

Category 4

Posting now while I still have power. I woke up this morning to the news that Hurricane Michael is a now a category 4 and the strongest storm to ever hit our area. I'm in my house and as prepared as I can be. I am 40 miles from the coast and not in a flood zone. Just worried about wind and tornados. Nothing to do now except wait and hope for the best!

Hurricane break

I guess I'm going to be forced to take a blog break for the next few days because we have a tropical storm headed our way that is supposed to become Hurricane Michael later today. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but I'm worried, so I'll be busy preparing my house and getting storm supplies.

Waiting

This cute little pup was being very patient while its owner was ordering in the line in front of us at an ice cream shop. Maybe waiting for a taste?

Linking to Saturday's Critters and Camera Critters.

Sunset

The sun was setting behind the clouds when I took this photo while sitting outside watching my grandson perform with his high school marching band last Friday evening in Orlando.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Waterford Crystal

Our tour guide holding up one of the Waterford Crystal triangles that make up the Times Square crystal ball that drops every year at midnight on New Year's Eve in New York City. There are 2,688 of these crystal triangles on the ball.

While staying in Waterford, Ireland on our vacation, we toured the House of Waterford Crystal Factory and of course visited their showroom. It was hard to choose because everything was so beautiful, but I finally settled on the crystal perfume bottle shown in the last photo to bring home with me as a keepsake of our visit.

Grafton Street

We spent one morning shopping and then eating lunch on Grafton Street, a popular pedestrian only shopping area in Dublin. I had Irish stew for lunch at Bewley's Grafton Street Café, one of the city's most celebrated landmarks. It was delicious.

Linking to signs, signs.


Dan 😘

The Ring of Kerry

A few of my favorite photos from our drive around the Ring of Kerry on our vacation in Ireland. It's really hard to take a bad picture in this area because the scenery is so spectacular. The first three photos show Ballinskelligs Bay on the beach in the small village of Waterville. In the last photo, I zoomed in on a stone ring fort which can barely be seen in the center of the photo right before it. These circular fortified settlements are found all over Ireland and were built sometime before the year 1000. Most are in ruins, but I think this is one that was reconstructed on its original site.

Update: After reading one of the comments on this post, I realized that some might not know exactly what "The Ring of Kerry" is. It is a 125 mile scenic route through County Kerry that takes you through some of the most spectacular landscape in southwestern Ireland. It is also called the Iveragh Peninsula. If you travel the whole route, you will be driving in a circle, which forms a "ring" around the area. We started and ended in Killarney and it took us about 5 hours because we stopped for lunch and in a few other places to rest and take photos. Here is a link with a map and better explanation: The Ring of Kerry.

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures and Our World Tuesday.