CMMC: Up Close and Personal

July 10, 2021July 10, 2021 / amoralegria / 2 Comments

Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge this week has the topic close-up or macro.

Hazel doesn’t really like me getting this close for a photo. She seems to be sleeping, but one eye is slightly open!

Center of Queen Anne’s lace

Taken from our balcony on our river boat cruise on the Rhine: apparently this swan is used to getting up close to humans (probably wants an edible tidbit!)

At a Buddhist temple in Des Plaines, IL

Our niece got into the shot I was aiming for.

Sometimes you run into (almost literally!) an unexpected subject. This caterpillar was hanging from a single thread – probably weaving its cocoon.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what I’m taking a picture of! Take a guess!

I took this selfie when I was about to go outside for a prolonged period in February – rather frightening! With my glasses on, wearing a mask caused my glasses to fog up and I could barely see!

A piece of a multitude of faces, taken at Morton Arboretum’s display of sculpture by Daniel Popper. (See my blog post in PPAC #4 for more!)

Thursday Doors: A Charming Bakery

August 6, 2020 / amoralegria / 1 Comment

I haven’t participated in Thursday Doors lately, since I rarely go anywhere where there are interesting doors. But last week was my sister’s birthday and we went to Highland Park to visit her daughter. My sister had heard of a Caribbean restaurant in nearby Highwood called El Burén, where there are Cuban and Puerto Rican dishes on the menu. Her husband is part Puerto Rican and loves Puerto Rican food, so she made a reservation for the four of us.

The food was wonderful – we ate outside and it was a very pleasant day – but the service was quite slow. So I got antsy and decided to walk down the block. Next door to this restaurant was a bakery with a very charming – and very pink – façade. There were miniature old-fashioned ovens on display in the window.

Here are the doors of the bakery.

I took this last photo next to my car across the street.

A Photo A Week: Adults At Play

January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 / amoralegria / Leave a comment

The topic of Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge this week is At Play. While I cannot match the adorableness of the little girls in her post, I am submitting a few shots taken on Christmas Day at our daughter and son-in-law’s house. They had prepared a game which I’m calling “The Saran Wrap Game.” This took extensive advance preparation and a lot of plastic wrap! It involves a ball of plastic cling wrap in which have been inserted various small objects – small gifts, candies, etc. plus a pair of dice. To prepare, you start with the largest object in the middle, and start wrapping plastic wrap around it. As you apply layers of cellophane, you add other little prizes, and so on – it can be as big as you want!

When ready to play, the ball is handed to the first player. The person next to him/her has two dice and rolls them continuously while the first player frantically tries to unwrap the ball (you have no idea how hard this is – especially if it’s prepared with a cheap brand of plastic wrap!). When the person with the dice rolls doubles, he/she says “stop” and the player with the Saran Wrap ball hands it to the next person, keeping whatever little prizes fell out during that player’s turn. It’s best played around a table with 6-8 or so players. You just keep going around this way until the ball is completely unwrapped – and recycle the plastic wrap if you can!! The prize at the very center is usually the best – and my husband got it!