Shadows!

A couple of weeks ago, while looking for a photogenic window or door on a nearby kibbutz, I came across this very pretty yard. Isn't it lovely? So colorful and friendly... But only a few days later, while looking through my captures, did I notice the interesting shadows going on here:

Just right for Shadow Shot Sunday - what luck! Go there right now, to check out lots of shadowy photography from all over the globe! Happy Sunday! Oh - and Happy New Year!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #4

Tonight was the eighth and last night of Chanuka! Here's what our window looked like:

And here are the last licks, trying so hard to hang on. We'll miss you until next year, Chanuka!

Please do participate with me in this week's edition of Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! All you need to do is post a photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and post a link back to your photo in the widget below. Don't forget to refresh the page to make sure your that your link worked! 


By the way, I think I figured out how to make a button! Thanks to Dianne for the encouragement, and to Beth for the tutorial! Here it is, please help yourselves:


<br /><center><a href="http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i410/tobyalissa/wwdd---2.jpg"/></a><center><br /> Thanks so much for coming, I can't wait to see what you've posted!

My Christmas Cactus Blooms On Time!

I have this lovely Christmas Cactus on my desk at work, which until now has bloomed in February. This year, to my surprise, it actually started blooming in time for Christmas! The plant itself is kind of plain looking, but its once-a-year flowers are breathtaking and unique - they remind me of birds in flight. Here you can see the different stages in the blossoms - first come little buds, and then they get bigger, and then the petals kind of peel themselves back, revealing the stamen inside. It really is wonderful and exciting to witness, year after year, whether or not you happen to celebrate Christmas :)

Feel free to click on any of these, if you'd like a closer look! 
As an added bonus, there are some nice shadows happening here, in addition to the pretty flowers themselves. I'm going to post this to Shadow Shot Sunday 2, the new incarnation of my favorite meme. Join us, won't you?
And it's a perfect entry for Ruby Tuesday, too, hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Come check it out, to see more reddish photography from all over the world!
Merry Christmas to all of you who are celebrating today! Here's wishing all of us a wonderful Shadow Shot Sunday, and a wonderful year full of peace, happiness, and beautiful flowers!

A moonset for Skywatch Friday

Last week we had a beautiful full moon. Really beautiful! I was very lucky to find it setting in the west one morning, when I came downstairs:

Isn't that amazing? I think that this is the clearest moon shot I've ever gotten - feel free to click on it, if you'd like a closer view!

Naturally, I'm posting this to Skywatch Friday, that weekly meme that showcases interesting skies from all over the world. Go there right now, and have a great time! Happy Friday, everyone!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #3

Wowee, time is flying - I can't believe that we've reached the third week of this meme! I know that participation is a little low, but it doesn't even bother me - I really enjoy finding something interesting to post each week, and I'm pleased to have a reason to do it! But I'll tell you the truth - I enjoy seeing your posts from all over just as much, so please do keep them coming! And tell your friends to join along :)


Anyway, here's the doorway that I found to post this week. Isn't it just - picturesque?

One thing before I go - I really am new to this whole meme life - does anyone out there know how to make a button that we can share when posting here? Any advice and/or help appreciated!


Anyway, to participate in Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors, all you need to do is post a photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and post a link back to your photo in the widget below. Don't forget to refresh the page to make sure your link worked! Thanks so much for coming, I can't wait to see what you've posted! Have a great week! And to all of you who are celebrating, have a wonderful Chanuka!

Ruby Tuesday - our new recycling bin!

The appearance of this item on my street got me so excited that I almost immediately posted a photo of it on Facebook, which is very unusual for me. Not long after, I realized that non-Israelis have absolutely no idea what it is! So to clarify, this is a bottle recycling bin - people can come from anywhere and slip their plastic bottles through the holes, and every so often the recycling company comes and empties it. So easy, right? Since we didn't have one on our street (until now) I've always collected bottles in the trunk of our car until I remember to bring them to the nearest bin - but now we're the lucky ones :)

And it's an especially pretty one, too - I've never before seen one so nicely decorated! And it even has a touch of red, making this post qualify for Ruby Tuesday, Mary's weekly meme, over at her blog, Work of the Poet. Go check it out, if you'd like to see reddish photography from all over the world! Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #2

Here, we are, up for Round Two of our coolest new meme, Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! This is so exciting!


Here's a local synagogue I found - it's a very new building (here in Israel, anything under 500 years old qualifies as new. This building is around 30 years old, so it's practically a newborn) but built in a pretty classical style. Check out these windows:

I especially like how they've thickened the corners of the building:

I really am a sucker for the texture of Jerusalem stone, hard and somehow soft, all at once:

That last one is really nice when you see it close up - feel free to click on any of these, if you'd like a closer look!
Anyway, that's it for now! Please link below to your photo of a window, door, or anything architectural! (You may want to refresh the page after entering your link, so you can make sure that it went through.) 
Have a great day!

A bright red sunset, for Ruby Tuesday

Wow! Check out what I bumped into today, on my way home from work! 

Man, oh man am I a fan of this crazy cloud action!
For more reddish photography, go check out this week's episode of Ruby Tuesday, hosted graciously by Mary over at Work of the Poet.
And don't forget to come back here on Wednesday for our new meme, Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! We'd love to have you!
Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #1

Well, here we are at last! For those of you who haven't heard, I really miss Mary's old meme, Window Views... and Doors, Too! and I'm hoping to start it back up. I've renamed it Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! and you're all invited to participate! All you need to do is take a photo of a window, a door, or anything architectural, and link to it here below. Like Mary's meme, this will be on Wednesdays - I'll put it up each Wednesday morning, Jerusalem time. Here we go! I suppose if this works, we'll need a button and such, but first I'd like to see if anyone shows up :)


Anyway, to get us started, here are a few shots that I've taken over the past few months, with this meme in mind!


Here's a huge clock sort of thing that I found in downtown Jerusalem: doesn't it look like a gigantic smiley face?

Here's an interesting group of windows that I found a different time, not far from there:

And lastly for now, here's an inviting gateway that I saw right here in Efrat while walking to work, just a few days ago:

Okay, that's it for now! Please link below to your whimsical window or delirious door, and tell your friends to come by too! I just love seeing interesting architecture from all over. After you submit your link, you can refresh the page to make sure that it worked :)
Oh, and if something doesn't work smoothly, please let me know so that I can try to fix it! 321toby at gmail dot com


Have a great day all!
-Toby

Ruby Tuesday - a little bit of fall

I looked around the parking lot of my office this morning, looking for something to post for Ruby Tuesday. In the past, I've found some real beauties, so I figured it was worth a shot. Right behind my car, I found these lovely roses:

Nice, right? Then, just to the right, I found this very large, reddish shrub. It didn't seem awfully impressive from far away:

 But when I got closer, it was quite enchanting!

For more reddish photography, go right now to Mary's weekly meme, Ruby Tuesday, that she hosts at Work of the Poet. You'll be glad that you did!


And don't forget - you're all invited back here tomorrow, for the debut of our new weekly meme: Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! Please come to see and participate - it should be great!


Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Some shadows in my shot

Well, they made a new traffic circle near my house, and I love it! I'm a big fan of traffic circles anyway, but this one replaced what had been a particularly dangerous intersection. Now it's safer and I'm happy! And I was even happier when they got ready to plant some greenery in the middle. Look at how cool this is:

Nice, right? I just love the geometry that's going on here. Feel free to click on the photo to enlarge it, and see how many shadows you can find :)

Naturally I'm posting this to Shadow Shot Sunday, beautifully hosted weekly at Hey Harriet. Have a great week, everyone! And don't forget to come back here on Wednesday to participate in the first-ever edition of Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! See you then!

Skywatch Friday - and an exciting announcement!

Want to hear something crazy? It's December! Want to hear something even crazier? It's almost 2012! I remember as a kid thinking of 2012 as far, far beyond reality, when surely all the sidewalks would be moving sidewalks, and I would be old and accomplished. And here we are, still walking around, and frankly, not that old! I guess they weren't making it up when they said time flies.


Anyway, where were we? Oh yes - not only has the year flown by, but so has this past week. It's already time for Skywatch Friday! And fortunately, I have this awesome sunset to share with you, from only two weeks ago:

Isn't that just lovely? I really am fortunate to have access to this big open sky! 


Now here's the announcement: after the very friendly encouragement that I received on my previous post, I'm going to try to pull together the first edition of my new meme this Wednesday. I'd like it to include any interesting architectural images, and so I was thinking of calling it Whimsical Windows, Doors and More! But Sparrow wisely suggested Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors and I have to say that I really like the sound of that one! What do you all think? We still have a couple of days to figure it out, so feel free to add your suggestions to the comments below! 


Anyway, back to already existing memes :)  If you'd like to see more sky-oriented photography from all over the world, go check out Skywatch Friday right now! You'll be glad you did! And please do come back here next Wednesday to see some Whimsical Windows! Catch you then - have a great weekend!

Shadow Shot - Windchimes! And a question

Hey everyone! Happy Post-Thanksgiving! I just wanted to take a second to share this cool shadow that I found in my house last week - these pretty windchimes that my daughter received for a birthday present last year. Aren't they charming?

For more cool, shadowy photography from all over the world, go check out Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted beautifully at Hey Harriet. You'll be happy that you went!


By the way - I have a question for you all! Ready? Here goes: Mary used to host a weekly meme on Wednesdays, called Window Views... and Doors, Too! She recently had to close it down, and I miss it dearly. Maybe it's because I studied architecture, and maybe not, but I really do enjoy finding interesting parts of buildings to photograph! Anyway, I was thinking of starting up a new meme in its place - I'm thinking of calling it Whimsical Windows. My question is this - if I do, will you participate? A meme for one is surely no fun :)


Let me know what you think in the comments! If there's interest, I'd like to start it up soon!


Have a great day all!
-toby

Pomegranates for Ruby Tuesday!

As we know, Rosh HaShana is the holiday of pomegranates. I love pomegranates! But after Rosh HaShana is over, although they're still sold everywhere, I just don't think of buying them. I mean, the holiday is over, right? But this year, somehow I decided that pomegranates are good enough to keep eating, and so I've bought a few more over the last month. Yum! I've been putting them in salads and just munching on them, totally healthy, very yummy, and *very* Israeli! 


Opening a pomegranate can be a little daunting - what seems like a great idea can lead to a huge, juicy mess very quickly. Over the past couple of years, we've been using the underwater method, and it's served us quite well. But after reading this inspiring blog post, I decided to brave it alone. And it turned out pretty well!

(check out the white cutting board!!)

Naturally, I'm posting this to Ruby Tuesday, that weekly meme of reddish things, hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Go there right now to see more entries from all over the world! Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Skywatch - a sunset

This one is so pretty, I just can't resist posting it! Here you go - the sun setting as I was leaving work yesterday:

Nice one, right?


For more sky photography from all over the world, go check out Skywatch Friday right now! You'll be glad that you did! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Shadow Shot Sunday - I missed you!

Oh, I really missed Shadow Shot Sunday! For those who don't remember, it's that cool as anything weekly meme, hosted beautifully at Hey Harriet. I haven't had time to post recently, and now it's been cloudy, but a few weeks ago, the theme at 52 frames (remember that?) was shadows, and I posted this:

Pretty cool, right? I figured I may as well share :)


Go check out Shadow Shot Sunday right now to go see lots of shadowy photography from all over the world! You'll be glad you did! Happy Sunday everyone, and have a great week!

Skywatch Friday - Sunrise!

Generally, I have a hard time dragging myself out of bed before 6:30. But last week, for some strange reasons that I won't bore you with here, I had to get up *very* early, and found myself baking chala at 5:00 AM. There I was, engrossed in kneading and braiding, when I happened to turn around. I hadn't realized that I'd be in for such a good show! It started out impressive, and kept getting better and better...

It was unreal! I have to start waking up earlier on a regular basis :)


Naturally, I'm posting this to Skywatch Friday, that weekly meme that showcases beautiful skies from all over the world. Go check it out - you won't regret it!


Have a great weekend, everyone!

Some tiny rubies, for Tuesday

Looking out the window at my office, I saw this innocent looking bush. 

But then something reddish caught my eye. I went outside for a closer look - check this out!

And elsewhere on the same bush, I found this

and this!

So to sum up, I'd say that this plant is lovely, but seemingly a little confused :)

Naturally I'm posting this to Ruby Tuesday, graciously hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Go there now to see more red photography from all over the world! Happy Tuesday, everyone!