Friday My Town Shoot Out~ Weather

Today's theme is chosen by Emma, who has always been fascinated with the weather.  My photos will showcase weather from three different states.  Nevada, California and Oregon.  All of these photos were taken between November 23, 2009 and the present.

First up is rain, because I love rainy weather.

After the rainfall, night comes and dark clouds hover.

Then there is the fog for which I am terrified driving in. 

Fortunately, the fog in the next photo wasn't too bad for driving.

I've driven in much worse fog in Bakersfield, California.

I did have to remind my husband to slow down a little though.

And then there are certain scenes that just make you feel like it's cold outside.

Yes, I'm talking about that fresh snow covered mountain you see in the distance

while driving down the highway. 

Mt. Shasta in California

And then after all that cold......

I see the sun shine and capture beautiful sunsets.

And of course, once the sun goes down

The moon comes up.

Taken from inside the truck,

in motion

driving down the highway

near Sacramento, California

There are some towns that have constant wind.

Tehachapi, California

Back at home,

I look out my window to see a wet and rainy neighborhood.

Thanks for weathering this post with me.

To see more wonderful posts on weather

please visit my town mr. linky for participants

and add your own link if you'd like to participate.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

I hope you've been jolly good this year.

Lights, Camera, Action

Last night was my first field trip with my camera club.

We met in the garden at Ethel M. Chocolate Factory

where there is an amazing Christmas lights display.

The beginner's which included myself, my friend Gayla and another woman

were shown how to shoot at night and also how to do camera tricks

to achieve such results as in the photo above.

I really hate cold weather and last night it was really cold.

Our club met at 6:00 and after our lesson we were on our own.

Even though my fingers were numb from the bone chilling cold,

I was the very last club member to quit.

I was enjoying for the first time ever venturing out of auto mode,

and actually understanding what I was doing.

It was like the light bulb finally went off in my head.

Okay, I still have a long way to go and lots to learn about my camera still,

but at least now, I understand aperture and how to change it

and how to find out if I'm overexposing or underexposing.

Whew!

Now I'm ready to really experiment.

The following photo is the very first one I took.

I took some really great photos

which I will showcase more of during the Friday Town Shoot Out Theme of Town Decorated.

I know you are sitting on pins and needles with excitement

but you'll just have to wait another week and a day.

(haha)  don't you love how I assume that you want to see more?

Thanks for stopping in.

Decorated

I have been feeling left out.  It seems that every blog I visit is so festive with Christmas lights and Christmas decorations.  It's my most joyous holiday and I am filled with Christmas spirit so abundantly, and yet, I haven't done diddly squat as far as decorating my house, etc.  I'm completely bummed out.  Thank goodness you all cheer me up with your wonderful posts and pretty pictures, etc.  I don't even have a Christmas tree yet, but as of tomorrow evening I shall have one in my house fully decorated to show off.   

While I was away in Oregon, I was able to capture some Christmas spirit via the town's decorations.  Here is a night scene in downtown Grants Pass, Oregon.   I hope you enjoy.

Click on photo to see greater detail.

Camera Club: Reaping Benefits Already

Sunday night was the annual dinner banquet for the camera club I joined.

This is where they give out awards for outstanding photography

and recognize the officers and other services provided by its members.

They present a slideshow of all the blue ribbon winners

and everyone has a good time.

They also have tons of prizes that they raffle.

I bought $20.00 worth of raffle tickets

and I am excited to say that I won two prizes from the raffle drawing.

The first prize is this camera bag which is slightly bigger than the one I already owned.

Which was generously donated by this business:

I was so excited to win something.

I also won this wonderful prize:

This is what it looked like when the banquet was ending. 

Some people had already left and others were mingling.

I'd say there were about 75 to 100 people in attendance.

It was a really good time.

And here I am with my husband at the end of the night.

The photo above was taken by my friend Gayla, who joined the club with me.

Here is a picture of Gayla and her husband

We all had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow night is our field trip to Ethel M. Chocolate Factory.

They have a Christmas Light Display in their garden that is supposed to be really amazing.

I hope I am able to get some good photos for Friday's theme of Christmas Season.

One of the camera club members will be giving a brief lesson on how to take

photos at night before we go shooting haphazardly.

I'm excited.

:)

Next year will offer many photographic opportunities by being involved in this club.

I look forward to sharing my journey with all of you.

Thank you for visiting me.

I really do appreciate it.

My favorite holiday recipes

One of the things I love about the holidays is the food. 

What can I say?  I love to eat. 

I also love to make desserts. 

And eat them. 

Oh yeah, I said EAT already, didn't I?

When I was a kid,

One of the things I looked forward to at Christmastime

was my grandma Philpott's Cherry O'Cream Pie.

I've never been really big on fruity desserts

but this pie would float my taste buds right up to heaven.

With each bite,

I would savor the thick creaminess of the white yumminess on my tongue

feeling the smooth, rich, sweet texture dissolve in my mouth as I swallowed it down.

The cherry filling on top added just the right tartness to the sweet taste

and oh, the pie crust was just the righ flakiness.

I never did learn how to make my grandma's recipe

but several years ago I found a really simple recipe

that is remeniscent of the pie from my childhood.

Of course, it could never be as good as my grandma Philpott's

but it is really easy to make with no baking and it tastes pretty darn good.

This is what I like to make for the holidays.

Cherry O'Cream Pie (The easy way)

1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1/3 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup cool whip

cherry pie filling

blend all ingredients except cherry pie filling until well blended.

Set aside.

Graham Cracker Crust

1/2 pkg. crushed graham crackers

1/4 to 1/3 cup margarine

Crush together with fork in a pie pan and form a crust.

bake 10 minutes @ 350 degrees

(you can also use a ready made pie crust of your choice)

Let cool.  Pour creamy filling into pie crust and top with cherry pie filling.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.

If you haven't tried Paula Deen's original eclair cake recipe you are missing out. 

It doesn't sound like the ingredients would garner the taste of eclairs

but they really do.  chocolate eclairs are one of my very favorite desserts.

Here is a recipe I created from her original recipe.

I call it:

 Chocolate Frosted Pisatchio Eclairs

(1) 1 pound box of graham crackers

(1) 3.4 oz. pkg. of french vanilla instant pudding

(1) 3.4 oz pkg of pistachio instant pudding

3 1/2 cups of milk

(1) 8 oz. container of cool whip (thawed)

1 can of chocolate frosting

Chopped pecans

Butter the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Line with whole graham crackers.

In a bowl, mix pudding and milk with an electric mixer. 

Beat at medium speed for two minutes.

Fold in cool whip. (do not mix or beat)

Pour half the pudding mixture over graham crackers.

Place another layer of graham crackers over pudding layer.

Pour rest of pudding on the layer of graham crackers.

Add one more layer of graham crackers to the pudding.

Soften the chocolate frosting for about 10 seconds in the microwave if not soft enough.

Spread frosting over the last layer of graham crackers. (as thick or as thin as you want)

Sprinkle frosted cake with chopped pecans.

Refrigerate overnight.

This is very important, as this last step is what softens the graham crackers

making it taste like an eclair crust.

Next day,

eat and experience an explosion of flavor on your taste buds.

This post is inspired by Nancy at Life in the Second Half.  She is posting favorite holiday recipes and her cream puffs look divine.  I'm going to try making those this year.  What better dessert to go with my eclair cake than cream puffs?

Yummy!

I only wish I had pictures to show you.

A Commune Versus B & B With The Trees

My husband is from a very small town in Oregon called Cave Junction.  Basically, it's in the sticks.  As much as I love visiting and as much as I enjoy the beauty of the trees and nature, I find myself getting bored much too quickly.  I know it's because I'm too much of a TV person.  It's how I entertain myself at home.  The TV helps keep my restless spirit content, and when it doesn't I just hop into my car and drive around.   When I'm in Cave Junction visiting, there is no cable TV and I find the silence of just sitting deafening.  I don't know how to just be still and listen except when I'm alone and walking in nature.  But to just sit on the couch without a TV on in complete silence and without my computer or a good book is foreign to me and I don't like it.  It was in one of these moments that I thumbed through a guidebook I got in town called 101 things to do in Southern Oregon.  I actually found something in Cave Junction just a few miles down the road that I thought would be worth checking out.  So, my mother-in-law and I got in the car and headed to the place listed in the magazine.  We forgot the directions but my MIL said she knew where she was going.  We disagreed about which road the place was actually located, but she was behind the wheel so I just enjoyed the ride.  The following is what we found at this location.  It was neat, but somewhat eerie.  I felt like we were being watched and not taken kindly to, but we looked around a little and I was able to take a few pictures. 

Although this is pretty cool, it still didn't feel right.  This isn't the place I read about in the magazine.  This is more like a hippie commune and it didn't feel friendly at all.  There was even a sign posted about that warned us not to wander around.  I envisioned finding a huge pot growing field and being shot. I wanted to get out of this place.  We drove around some more looking for mile marker three which I said I thought was on Dick George Road, but my MIL was sure it was on a different road.  We drove back to the house and sure enough, the directions confirmed that this place was indeed on Dick George Road.  Well, we didn't have time to go back because my nephew had a basketball game and we had to get ready to go to the game.

The next day, we decided to give it anohter try.  This time my husband was with us.  This is the place I read about in the magazine and the owner was very friendly and welcoming.

These rooms were so cute inside.  This is a bed and breakfast treehouse.

If you think you'd like to get away from the noise, with no TV, no phone, this is the place to come.

You can read about it here.  It's pretty cool to read about.

Friday My Town Shoot-Out ~ Favortie Things & Last Week's Theme Faces and People

It's really good to be back.  I have a lot of catching up to do.  I can assure you I have been very antsy not visiting any blogs these past two weeks.  It seems like it has been forever.  I feel like I have been missing out on something.  I will be reading all of your posts over the weekend and leaving comments so you will know I visitied you.  I have lots to tell but not now.  I will devote right now to this week's Friday Town Shoot Out Theme of Favorite Things, which came from the brilliant mind of Mark over at The Butler and Bagman.  I'm also going to be posting last week's theme of faces and people which was Sarah's idea.  You can visit her at Cottage Garden Studio Photography.  Without further ado, here are some of my favorite things. 

Golfing with my husband and friends.

Pampas Grass, My favorite type of bush.

Personal letters I've received throughout the years.

My books.  This is just a sampling of the many books in my house.

Junior bull riding at local rodeos.

Seeing beautiful countryside as I drive from town to town.

Rain.

Too many favorites to post all.  I love vintage postcards, hanging out with friends,

cooking, eating, winter clothes.  Oh, and my dog.

Faces and People

Nephew Brandon at Thanksgiving.

Mother-in-law at Thanksgiving.

My husband and is oldest brother, Wil at Wil's house.

Nephew Nate's wife and baby; Sister-in-law's stepmom, Carla.

Nephew Nate's step daughter, Lauren.

My husband's youngest brother Travis, his son Chaise on the left, his girlfriend on the right, and girlfriend's daughter on the left.

One final picture taken during Thanksgiving.

My husband and a furry friend.  Wil's horse.

Thanks everyone for visiting me.  I've missed you all.

I can't wait to visit your blogs and read about all the exciting things you've been up to.

Blessings!