Thursday, January 31, 2013

Walking With Benny and Solutions to the Previous Post

 If you like music trivia challenges and haven't already seen the previous post, please go there right now because today, I'm revealing what the twelve songs (plus the title song) in that post have in common. If you don't want to know the answer yet, stop right here and go to the previous post.

Answer:
For the rest of you, the common thread between all twelve songs is that the titles of the tunes are never mentioned within the lyrics of the respective songs. The titles for each are as follows:

1) My Back Pages by The Byrds

2) After the Gold Rush by Neil Young

3) Baba O'Rily by The Who

4) For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield

5) Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

6) Creeque Alley by The Mamas and the Papas

7) Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin

8) Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

9) A Day in the Life by The Beatles

10) The Weight by The Band

11) The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton

12) Danny's Song by Loggins and Messina

Title of the post: What's Puzzling You is the Nature of My Game is from Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones, and it fits the same pattern.

Unlike most songs, not one of these ever mentions the title in their lyrics.

I hope you had fun with it.

Somehow, I missed reading Lisa Says' comment on the previous post. Lisa is Frank's sister and she was the only one to guess the correct answer to the puzzle. Such a smart lady!

Now on to a few photos of  Benny.



Benny wait up
See that little speck of cuteness up ahead? I suspect that if you can muster up one shrill whistle, he'll come running. Go ahead and give it a try.




Benny come back
Atta boy, Benny!




Bennie branch
Our boy has found a branch and he's daring me to take it from him.



bennie branch 2
I feign a grab for it and he immediately takes off running with it.




benny branch 3
Of course, it's bigger than he is in some ways and it trips him up. Silly dog.



benny stick
Now that one is more his size. Look at the snow he kicks up with his enthusiasm. Gotta love that boy.


Thanks for stepping out with Benny and me. We'll have some more photos for you coming up soon.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

What's Puzzling You is the Nature of My Game

Just for fun, and because winter is long and boring, I thought I'd try something new for this blog post. Maybe not so new because I've done this sort of thing before but none of you fine people were coming around to read at that time, so for all intents and purposes, we'll say that it's new.

I'm still presenting some of my usual photos - because that's what I do - but they'll have nothing to do with the rest of the content.

The photos were snapped on two different days in lovely, late January afternoon sunshine.

Have a look beneath each image and you'll see a familiar (hopefully) lyrical snippet from a song. There are twelve images and twelve different songs represented. Can you figure out what all of the songs have in common?

First, you might want to discover which songs are represented (that's not the challenge, so feel free to allow Google to help you with that part) and then you might determine what they have in common.

I'm going to turn the moderation feature on just for this post, so your guesses will not appear for a while. Any incorrect or unrelated comments will show up as soon as I notice the alert. I'll post the correct answer along with the names of those who got it right (and the rest of the comments) in a few days. Have fun!




dried bud head
1) "Crimson flames tied through my ears."





milkweed pod almost empty
2) "All in a dream, all in a dream The loading had begun. They were flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun."





spotted grass
3) "Don't cry. Don't raise your eye."





milkweed pods empty2
4) "What a field day for the heat. A thousand people in the street."





snowy spindle berries
5) "I am yours. You are mine. You are what you are."





dried blooms
6) "McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher in L.A. You know where that's at. And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass."





milkweed hair and seeds
7) "The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands."





spiky frond
8) "Too late, my time has come. Sends shivers down my spine. Body's aching all the time."





milkweed pods empty
9) "Found my coat and grabbed my hat. Made the bus in seconds flat."





snowy twig
10) "Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"





milkweed pod hair intact
11) "Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles."





snowy sumac
12) "Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign."

Remember that comment moderation will be on just for this post. Your guesses will be published in a few days. Comments without guesses (or incorrect guesses) will appear as soon as I receive the notification.

So tell me, what do the above songs have in common?

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Shadow and Light

I'm falling behind with my blog visits again. That tends to happen every so often. I catch up eventually. I haven't forgotten any of you and will be around before TOO long. Thanks for your understanding.

No matter the time of day, sunlight and shadows give so many photo opportunities. Here are a few of them as they presented themselves to me over the past few months.

blossom and bug
This small morning glory-like blossom seemed to be sunning itself in the morning rays of early September. An unexpected surprise upon uploading this photo was that tiny insect near the upper edge of its petal.




spider web
My friend, Carol Anne and I were walking through a woodsy park at the end of September when she pointed out this spider web glistening in the sun.




sunlit roots
A beautiful mess of gnarly roots soaking up the water and the sun's rays on the opposite shore of the creek.




filtered sunlight
I like the distinct background colour change from one side of the diagonal tree to the other - from blue to yellow-green.




sun through leaf
Any time a leaf is back lit, the colour become intense. You might think the colour or contrast was bumped up but this is exactly how my camera saw this one.




touchmenot pod
A Touch-me-not seed pod, that is not even close to being ready to burst, back in September. Others were still in bloom, creating that soft, purple hue behind it.



touchmenots
Here's what the blossoms look like. You can see that some of the pods were still in their early stages.



hazy rays2
Lazy, hazy rays of sunlight streaming through the trees after an early September rain storm.




door curtain and reflection
The curtained window on the door of our motel room and its reflection in the mirror on the adjacent wall. The round-ish shadow was some sticker on the glass.




tomatos
Frank's neighbour kept us supplied with yummy tomatoes from his garden, this summer. These were the last of his kind offerings ripening on the kitchen window ledge.




decorative cabbage2
Still looking lovely in November, is this decorative cabbage snapped from behind its lacy leaves.




condiments
While on a house hunting trip back in September, Frank and I were having dinner at a family diner. Our table was facing the front door which happened to face west. Every time the door opened a stream of beautiful, amber sunlight poured into the diner and across our table. My meal was getting cold because I sat poised with my camera, determined to capture how it illuminated the condiments at our place setting. From right to left: My iced tea, mustard, salt (much of which is scattered across the table), pepper, ketchup and vinegar hiding over in the corner. What do you figure I had for dinner?




back yard sunset2
Early in November, but late in the day, Frank was sitting outside appreciating this beautiful sunset when he thoughtfully called me out to enjoy it with him. Thanks, dear!




back yard sunset
I hope you found my collection of shadows and light to your liking.

More photos coming up soon.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Musings

It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something.  ~ Charles Dickens

All of the following photos were taken in late November or early December while out walking near Frank's place. The weather was still quite lovely for the most part. That means no snow.. yet. Come join me, will you?



november creek
It only takes a little bit of late day sunshine for the creek's shoreline to light up in brilliant hues. This was a mostly grey day but the clouds parted briefly and obliged me.




beaver bites
It looks like our little friend has been busy. You know the one - long hair - toothy smile - Canada's national symbol. What his name? Oh yeah - Justin Beaver.



leaning tree arch
A partly-fallen tree creates an archway on one of the pathways near the creek.





milkweed seed
Milkweed pods begin exploding and peak in the autumn but some seeds still escape throughout the winter. These lovely, silken strands were warming themselves in the late November sunshine.





deep in thought
I tried tossing this little guy some peanuts but he appears to be deep in thought and oblivious to my presence.




peekaboo2
This one was more than willing to help me lighten my pockets by accepting some peanut treats.



mini nibbled shrooms
Someone else helped himself to these mushrooms. I had seen them the previous day but it was rainy and I didn't bring my camera on that walk. By the time I returned the next day, someone had nibbled the caps, but I still thought they looked pretty in the amber sunlight.





walk through woodsa>
Benny enjoyed exploring the wooded area up ahead.





seeds
A few tenacious maple keys were still clinging to a branch. I liked the colour contrast against the vivid blue sky.



creek edge
Sometimes it's hard to tell that this was late November. With that warm sunshine, deep blue water and still-living greenery, It could have just as easily been summer.

I hope you enjoyed our walk. I hope we can do it again before too long.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Maeve & Posts of the Week

At our recent visit with relatives on Christmas Day, my camera and I couldn't quite get enough of sweet baby Maeve. I hope she makes you smile, too.
maeve beautiful
Who couldn't fall in love with an angel face like this?




maeve twirl
Her big sister had been demonstrating some of her dance moves and Maeve made sure we knew she could do likewise.




maeve takes a bow
Bravo! Take a bow, tiny dancer.




maeve potatoes
What little kidlet doesn't love mashed potatoes?




maeve and furby
Maeve spent quite some time trying to figure out how this Furby worked.




Maeve-iPad2
And she was amazingly adept at tapping and swiping her way through her mother's iPhone.




maeve sweetie2
Isn't this a sweet Christmas angel? Dirty face and all.




maeve sweetie
I'm sure you can see her wings and halo if you squint.

Thanks for indulging me.

And now, without further delay, here are the Posts of the Week. The icon below is yours for the taking if if your blog post is named as a POTW.



 

A GOOD READ:

This first story, "Still Waters" is particularly special to me because the Auntie Minnie in the story also happened to be my own Auntie Minnie. Blog author Phyllis is my first cousin and Auntie Minnie was our grandmother's (my paternal, her maternal)'s sister:

Still Waters
by Phyllis
at Prompt Prose

Peace
by Sandy
at Writing in Faith
 

Coffee, Reflections and Music
by A Cuban in London
at Un Cubano en Londres



JUST PLAIN GOOD:

The New Year's Eve That Changed My Life
by Red
at Hiawatha House


A Different Point of View
by Pauline
at Writing Down the Words


PHOTOGRAPHY:

Sylvan Spirit
by Tammie Lee
at Spirithelpers

Happiness
by Daniel
at The Pixel Collective

Golden Apples of the Sun
by Louciao
at D
écolleté Glimpses



FUNNY:

by Bag Lady
at Bag Lady's Blather

Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
by Betty
at Bossy Betty



READER'S CHOICE


Recommended by: Dianne
by Marcie
at Daily Practice

 


Please drop by their blogs for a visit and leave a kind comment if you have the time. Also, please feel free to add your own choices (for any blog except this one) for a specific blog post in the comments section below, where others can see them.

Thank you