a snowy day and NEW books i’ve read this week

Posted on by

Happy Tuesday!

On my to-do list today, since it’s my day off work, I wrote: “Go shooting” (as in go snap photos type of shooting). But the closest I came was to open my front door and take this pic of my neighbor’s yard with my phone. Because although this photo doesn’t really show it, white flakes are still coming down, and I’d rather hibernate by my fireplace today, haha!

So I’ve been listening to an audiobook while I worked on my “indoor to-do list”! I just finished “The Power of Fun”. My niece recently introduced this book to me when she posted about reading it and publicly wondered what it says about her since she’s reading the book instead of going out and actually having fun. But I’m sure she’ll put what she learned into practice, eventually. As I intend to do! One of the exercises in the book invited the reader to think back to times when they really had fun. The author pointed out that most of the time people have the most fun when they’re with other people. And as I thought of my fun times, I guess I tend to agree. The times when I laugh so hard I get a side ache is definitely not when I’m alone. Lesson learned. Although I typically have fun doing my solitary hobbies, it’s not quite the same as when I’m having fun with other people.

And here’s what else I’ve read this week (actually listened to…mostly on my commutes at 2-times the normal narration speed).

The year is almost over. My Goodreads 2022 Reading Challenge was to read 35 books this year. Well, thanks to audiobooks (at double-speed) I’ve “read” 84. Killed that challenge, haha! Some of my favorites this year were:

52 Ways to Walk by Annabel Streets

Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Kite Runner by Khaded Hosseini

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

My Name is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker PhD

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I love a good book recommendation, so let me know what I should add to my to-read list for next year! Have a great day! Stay warm if you have weather like us, and do or learn something NEW!

a NEW project finished up

Posted on by

Happy Tuesday! Well, it’s early December and my NEW Christmas PJs project is finished! Woohoo!!! I haven’t done Christmas PJs for a few years, but I thought I’d be ambitious, oh, maybe every 3-4 years…or maybe every 5-6 years, haha!

Here’s a text from my (adult) son in 2019:

I hope he and everyone else enjoys their NEW PJs this year, even though they aren’t onesies!

Oh, and since last December I wasn’t really in the blogging mode, I’ll share my NEW (now a year old) Christmas tree decorations. My good friend went with me to pick out the decorations. She’s THE BEST! I’m loving it…still. :o)

Have a great day! Do or learn something NEW!

another NEW photo challenge..Sunday Stills

Posted on by

Happy Sunday!

I love a NEW photo challenge because it encourages me to get out and shoot more…or at least flip through my recent photo files. I recently learned about the Sunday Stills Photo Challenge and this week’s theme is shades of brown.

On our trip to NC last month, I appreciated this fellow who was out in the stream fishing. It brought another point of interest to my photo. I figured his pants were a shade of brown, but many of the leaves were a shade of brown as well, so I chose this photo as my entry in the challenge.

Have a great day! Do or learn something NEW!

a NEW photo challenge

Posted on by

Happy Friday!

Here’s my entry for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Weathered Wood. Unlike Nora’s great post at norasphotos4u, where she posted a very interesting and educational weathered wood photo, I don’t know anything about this location. Sorry folks! I was simply out on a photo drive, just click, click, clicking away in the boondocks. It’s kind of near an old silver mine, so I could maybe make up a story for you. A post for another day, I suppose!

Have a terrific day! Do or learn something NEW!

a NEW photo for CFFC

Posted on by

Happy Saturday!

I’m reposting this photo for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bicycles and Motorcycles. I originally uploaded it A DECADE ago, in my first month of blogging. I had gone up the canyon to take fall foliage shots and captured this random guy, biking. Here’s the “Fall Colors 2012” post.

Have a great day. Do or learn something NEW!

OH!!! An update…after looking at other CFFC participants’ photos, I was reminded of this shot, which was still buried in my phone photos. Quebec was having a bike race the day my friend and I was boarding our cruise ship! It was really fun watching them whiz by!

an old photo but NEW update to my waterfalls bucket list

Posted on by

Happy Friday!

This is a photo from 2019, but I recently realized this waterfall wasn’t listed on my 100 Waterfalls Bucket List. My bad. It makes me wonder how many others I’ve neglected to include. I even had to Google New Zealand waterfalls to remember the name of it. {Shame and Lame! :o)

I like this photo because it shows perspective and how tall these falls are. Here is another, but closer up.

Have a great weekend! Do or learn something NEW!

NEW update to my N.P. bucket list

Posted on by

Happy Wednesday!

I guess I need to update my National Parks bucket list that I posted after our Mesa Verde trip. One National Park down, many to go! I’m at 16 out of 63. Oh boy…gotta get busy!

The photo above is of the Great Smoky National Park from near Clingman’s Dome. And here’s one with a little ‘smoke’:

The walk up to the top of Clingmans Dome is quite steep…here, wait just a minute and I’ll look up the stats….haha!

“The half-mile trail to the summit of Clingmans Dome is paved, but very steep. During the short hike, you will gain 332 feet, which makes the climb gradient almost 13%!” (per THIS site). On a clear day, you can see into 7 states!

The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, so now I can say I’ve been on a portion of that trail! (They kind of need new signage! :o)

I love thematic bucket lists! Checking off a list is strangely satisfying, right!?

Have a great day today! Do or learn something NEW!

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

Posted on by

Happy Monday!

As I mentioned yesterday, we recently traveled to North Carolina and I learned some NEW miscellaneous stuff while we were there. So, of course, I gotta share!

We were chatting with a local, and she mentioned the Brown Mountain Lights. She was saying her husband has seen them twice, but she’s never seen them. I had never even heard of them! Apparently, the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights have been appearing in the Linville Gorge area of North Carolina for hundreds of years. No one can explain them. Here’s a website with more info: CarolinaCountry.com. My great-grandfather lived in Linville in the late nineteenth century, so I’m curious to know if he ever saw them! Maybe you’ve heard of them if you saw the movie Alien Abduction. And here’s an interesting YouTube video about them.

The next miscellaneous NEW thing I learned in Asheville was how oddly shaped a lawn bowling ball is! It is very cool that the city of Asheville has provided a lawn bowling green in their public park. You don’t see that every day! One of the players at the park noticed our interest in the game and came over to explain and show us the balls they use. Let’s just say they aren’t perfectly round. The game is similar to bocce {i think}, but there are obviously some differences. If you’re interested, here’s a site that explains the game {HERE}.

This is the bowling green in Asheville’s Carrier Park, which has a fun history of its own. It’s a former speedway turned into a public park!

Oh, the miscellaneous NEW things you learn when you get away from your own neighborhood!

I’m not sure of the author of this quote…but I luv it!

“The best education you’ll get is traveling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences.”

Have a great day today! Do or learn something NEW!