random reflections

Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt

Tomorrow marks the last day of March, and the end of Eileen's Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt. When I posted the first eleven photos, I wasn't sure I'd have time to find the rest, but rather quickly, I did. So here are the final nine:

Pool of Light-Chicago Botanic Garden's Orchid Show #2

Fastener:  Buckles and zippers on my suitcase #3

I have two offerings for #5--A Group Activity:

Pruning at the Chicago Botanic Garden

A group tour at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Water dispenser: Sarah's refrigerator (you can see Hannah in the reflection waiting for her drink) #6

Chocolate #8 - This is Hannah after eating one (very small) chocolate-covered chocolate cookie

Glitter #12-Hannah came home from day care with this glittery finger painting, and was happy to pose for a photo.

Another pick from the Chicago Botanic Garden: An Instruction #13

Two Carved Objects found along the road in Racine #19

And last, but not, least:

A Method of Communication, albeit an outdated one. #20

Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt

It took me a long time to get going with this, and I'm only half way done, but it's time to link up with Eileen's Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt. I have just a little over ten days to finish this. Hard to know if I'll get them all this year or not. Here are the first ten; ten more to go.

Number 1: At the end of the day - Disney Springs, Florida

Number 4: Nail - Tracy's been reorganizing his work area in the basement and has all his brushes hanging on nails.

A blurry photo of a horse and buggy taken with my iPhone late at night at Port Orleans, Disney World: # 7: Horse

Number 9: Peel

Number 10: Holly - buried under the snow

Number 11: Dressed for the season - Miss Hannah in cold Wisconsin

Number 14: A Crossing Place

Number 15: Flight

Number 16: Measurement

Number 17: Orange

And finally . . .

Number 18: A Natural Feature - Cayuga Lake

 

Take Three Thursday: Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt

I'm joining Mary-Lou for Take Three Thursday with three photos taken in the last week or so for the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt organized by Eileen at A Bracelet of Days. For some reason it's taken me some time to get into the groove for this years scavenger hunt. I now have six of the items, but will share three today.

The first prompt was "At the end of the day." We arrived by boat in Disney Springs just at sundown. I shared a similar photo on this post.

Here's Hannah, "Dressed for the Season," #11.

"Flight" was #15. I took this as we left Orlando, headed back to cold temperatures and lots of snow!

Monday Musings

Officially, it's the last day of winter although you'd hardly know it by looking out my window. It's a bright, sunny day but our yard is still blanketed by nearly a foot of snow. It's been way too cold for the snow to melt from most lawns. Given that tomorrow is the first day of spring, I must get the last two photos up for the Winter Scavenger Hunt---the two I neglected to take in Morocco, but fortunately, captured at The Container Store in Chicago before we left.

Number 6 was "wrapping paper" and #15 was bow. The Container Store always has a wonderful selection of wrapping paper.

This giant bow was on sale after the Christmas rush.

Tracy's birthday celebration turned out more festive than we anticipated. Betsy's sister from Boston, as well as her niece, joined us for the birthday dinner. I couldn't get everyone in the iPhoto picture so I popped the two into a digital template.

His cake was his favorite, a chocolate raspberry torte from the neighborhood Jewish bakery.

Of course, he had help blowing out the candles. (Actually, he did it twice---once with Skylar and once with Ella. No one captured the second one.

We had planned a quiet day at home for his actual birthday on St. Patrick's Day. But I got an email a couple of days prior from one of our favorite wineries on Seneca Lake announcing Customer Appreciation Day. It was another bright, sunny day so we headed down to the Finger Lakes late in the afternoon.

Silver Thread is an (almost) organic winery we've been visiting for many years. They have a gorgeous setting overlooking the lake.

We had a little time before our dinner reservations, so we stopped at another winery---one we hadn't visited in years. We had a fun time at the tasting bar, and ended up taking home some wine from both wineries. As you can see in both photos, they have a lot less snow than we do. We get a lot of our snow from a phenomenon called "lake effect" being just east of Lake Erie and right on Lake Ontario.

I'd made reservations at Dano's on Seneca Lake. It had been highly recommended by friends of ours years ago, but we'd never been. It was a charming place---great views and even better food!

We both had Irish bangers and mash. It's one of our favorite dishes at an Irish pub in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, but this was the best bangers and mash we'd ever had. 

When we got home we had a great FaceTime call with Sarah and her family with lots of birthday singing on the part of the six year old. All in all, a fine way to celebrate a big birthday.

 

 

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Morocco Part 3

This is the final post of scavenger hunt photos from Morocco. I have two more photos to post, but I took both of them in Chicago before we left. I'm planning to put all the photos from the hunt in a SmugMug album as I usually do. I don't feel any need to choose just one photo for a prompt, but like to see how many different ways I've managed to capture them. 

Number 18 was "A Signpost." This is probably the lowest quality photo that I kept of the trip because it was taken out of the bus window. Actually I took some really fine photos out the window with my iPhone, but try as I might, I could not seem to get a signpost in clear focus.

"Detail," prompt #20, was photographed over and over. I loved the detail in the stucco work, the mosaics, and many of the crafts. So here are several. 

Here a craftsman is carving a marble headstone.

A close-up of one of the bronze doors in the King's Palace in Fes.

A closer look. This one could also work for the next prompt:  "Handles"

Here you see stucco work, mosaics, and calligraphy---all are hallmarks of Moroccan architecture.

The beautiful woodworking on a minbar in Marrakesh. The minbar is the pulpit in a mosque where the iman stands to deliver the sermon. (This one was showcased in a room in a kasbah in Marrakesh.) 

Number 21 is "Handles," and I found a lot of those I liked as well. The first ones show my interest in worn and ancient doors and handles.

Although hardly new, this one shows a little less wear and tear.

Although "Symmetry" (#22) is also a hallmark of Moroccan design, it was most apparent in the beautiful mosaic fountains. Almost every riad in the medinas had a beautiful fountain.

Number 24 was "Steam or smoke." I have one for steam and one for smoke. 

Mint tea being poured after our lunch at the Governor's House in Salé. We were told that it is traditionally (and almost always in our daily experience) poured from a height so that a foam head appears on the top of the tea. If no head appears, it means you are being served old tea. Mint tea is a symbol of hospitality, and it is considered rude to refuse it. In my reading before the trip, it was noted that it is usually quite sweet, but we were always offered mint tea, with or without sugar. The beautiful glasses were almost always filled with fresh mint before the tea was poured. I became quite fond of it. At some hotels we were greeted with trays of mint tea, and in both of the rug cooperatives we visited, tea was served prior to a talk on the rugs.

Here spices are being roasted in a souk in Marrakesh.

The last prompt (#25) was "a peek inside." Until we reached Casablanca, a peek inside was all we could see of a mosque. Unlike Istanbul, where all the mosques were open to non-Muslims during times when there was no worship service, in Morocco, only the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is open to non-Muslims.

One of the most beautiful mosques we peeked into. This one was in Rissani, Morocco.

A peek into a room in a ksar in Rissani. A ksar was (is) a fortified castle, and many ancient ones exist in Morocco. Most are in a state of disrepair, and there are very few Moroccans living in one. This one was in terrible condition except for a very few rooms. One family was still living here. A woman opened the door to one of the rooms, and two goats stuck their heads out!

Someone commented that the scavenger hunt seemed made for my trip to Morocco, and indeed it did. There are a few more photos to share, perhaps, but these scavenger hunt finds give a good flavor of what we experienced on our tour. 

Take Three Thursday: WSH Heart

I'm joining Mary-Lou for her Take Three Thursday meme with three choices for #23:  "A Heart," all found on our trip to Morocco.

Tracy spotted this one on a tomb in the Fes Mellah (Jewish Quarter). Notice the French rather than Arabic. The French held a protectorate in Morocco from 1912-1955. They are responsible for building much of the modern parts of the main cities in Morocco, and French is still spoken by many Moroccans. The French influence is still felt throughout the country. In addition to the public schools, there are both French and American schools. These are private and lessons are taught in French or English, respectively. The two official languages in Morocco are Arabic and Berber. The Berbers represent nearly a third of Moroccans, but their language did not become one of Morocco's official languages until 2016.

This was one of the walls in the restaurant in Fes where we stayed, and had one of the best meals on the tour---a sea bass tagine.

I took several photos of these two storks in their nest, and truthfully, didn't notice that their heads formed a heart until I uploaded the photo.

I still have six more prompts for the Winter Scavenger Hunt to share, and will be back with those in the next day or two.

 

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Morocco Part 2

In the Making, prompt #9, was also an easy one to find in Morocco. In the medinas of Fes and Marrakesh we saw many, many craftsmen and women in the process of making. Here are a few:

This woman was making sheets of phyllo. She'd spoon a bit of the dough on the hot griddle, pat it flat with her bare hands, and place it on the pile to the right.

Hand painting pottery in Fes.

The brush being used here is fascinating.

Hand hammering copper pots.

Polishing the copper ware.

Weaving with agave silk. They strip the leaves of the agave plant, die the "threads" and weave it into scarves, tablecloths, and other linens.

The women in this shop embroider without a pattern, "from their imagination," the owner told us. The underside of their work is as perfect as the top.

The photo for Having Fun, the tenth prompt, happened in the weaving shop. Without being asked, both Tracy and I were wrapped in turbans, as well as a third member of our group. All of the wraps were different, and used for different purposes.

Stationery was the twelfth prompt. I snapped a photo of the stationery folder at our hotel in Fes.

I posted photos for "A line of . . ." here. Although I've also posted some photos of Volubilis for the February 5 in 5 meme, here are a couple more that work for both "Stones" (#14) and a "Sense of History" (#16).

"Many" (#17) was also easy to find in the souks of the medinas.

The copper souk near the craftsmen shown above for "In the Making."

Leather shoes. I bought a red pair for about $10 which I intend to use as slippers when I visit friends who prefer you to leave your shoes at the door.

Lanterns of all types and sizes.

And although out of order, I'll finish for today with #19, "A pair of . . ."

See above.

This board with pairs of Moroccan shoes (babouches) was hanging in the lobby of our hotel in Marrakesh.

 

 

 

 

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Photos from Morocco

Today is the first post to share the photos I found for the Winter Scavenger Hunt while we were in Morocco. There are multiples for some prompts, but I thought it would be a good way to share some of our trip.

Men at Work is the first prompt. We saw many, many men at work, but the most arduous jobs, in my opinion, were those in the tannery in Fes. These men work hour after hour, day after day, in very unpleasant working conditions. When we were in Fes, it was quite cold, and most of us were bundled up. These men were standing in huge vats of dyes, and working out in the open.

The second prompt is Luggage. One advantage of being on a tour is that our large suitcases were taken from our rooms to the bus. We took care of hand luggage (in our case, backpacks). Nothing was loaded on the bus until you arrived and indicated that all your luggage had arrived.

Domestic Trivia is the next prompt. On our way to the dunes to see the sunset, we stopped at a nomads' camp in the desert. I felt like it was intrusive to take photographs, but our guide said we should feel free as he provides them with some income in exchange for our visit. One of the women was making a rug on a loom. Many of the rugs are used by the nomads themselves, but others are sold to rug cooperatives, two of which we visited while we were in Morocco. 

A Winter's Tale is prompt #3. When we were leaving Fes to travel south to Erfoud, there had been an unusual amount of snow. The night before it was uncertain whether any of the passes over the Atlas Mountains would be open. In the end, one of the two roads was open. When we got about halfway to the pass, we were stopped and had to join a caravan of vehicles waiting to go over the mountain. The plows were clearing the road, and the road was not wide enough for the plows and the larger vehicles, like our bus.

Prompt #5, Passengers, was an easy one. I could have taken any number of photos in the airports or on our bus. 

I failed to get a photo from our trip for #6, Wrapping Paper, but I have one that I'll post at the end of the hunt. Number 7 is On the Water. Although both Rabat and Casablanca are on the Atlantic Ocean, it wasn't until our last day of the trip that I saw enough of the ocean to get a good photo. We had lunch on the harbor on our last day.

Prompt #8 is Silver, and again, there were many opportunities to take photos, and I have many. This one is a set of perfume holders in the governor's home in Salé where we had lunch on our first day in Rabat. We saw similar silver vessels used other times to sprinkle rose water on your hands as a way of greeting.

I've divided up the prompts into three posts, so I'll be back soon with the next installment.

 

Take Three Thursday and Winter Scavenger Hunt

When we left for Morocco, I thought I would try to find each item on the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt on our trip. In fact, I did find every one of them, but failed to take a picture of one---wrapping paper. I bought a dress for Hannah in a wonderful shop in Marrakesh run by disabled Moroccan women who use their profits to provide health care and preschool education for their children. Their handmade clothing and home accessories were beautiful, and they wrapped Hannah's gift and tied it with a bow (another item on the list.) I gave the gift to Hannah, however, without taking a photo of the package.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting the photos for the scavenger hunt that I found in Morocco since the end of the hunt is coming soon. For today, I have three photos to link to Mary-Lou's Take Three Thursday meme. All were taken on the day of our trek to the  Sahara Desert and are for item #13 A line of . . . Camels!

(This photo took the most courage. I was on one of these camels, and had to let go of the reins long enough to extract my phone from my pocket!)

 

 

 

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Part 1

There's been no snow to speak of yet. Luckily the storm moving up the East Coast isn't going to get as far west as Rochester. They're predicting several inches by early next week, though, so I think winter's on its way. We had blue skies with lots of sunshine today so I thought I'd look around the house while there was some decent light for photographs and see what I could find for Eileen's Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt.

First off #8: "Silver."

This silver bowl was a wedding gift. For the last several years I've filled it with bells and ornaments. This year I found this silver bell garland at Crate and Barrel. I just love it!

And three predominately silver ornaments from our tree.

Number 19 is "A pair of . . ."

One of my favorite pairs of gloves. I put them on the typewriter that sits on the dresser in our front hall at Christmas.

Number 13 is "A line of . . . "

This line of leather camels has resided on the window sill for many, many years. Tracy's mom and stepfather brought them back from Egypt when they visited there.

The first item I found for the scavenger hunt was last night on our way home from friends. We passed this amazing display of blow-up Christmas decorations. It's perfect, I think, for #17 "Many."

Another view:

Number 11, "A book shop" is probably the most interesting item I've found. I was at Barnes and Noble this morning to pick up a book. A volunteer from Wild Wings, a group dedicated to the care and housing of injured birds of prey was there as a fund raiser. 

I have ideas for several more items, and know that some of them will be easy to find in February when we're away. For now, I'm glad to have five crossed off the list. The scavenger hunt goes from now until the 21st of March, so if you'd like to join in, there's plenty of time. The list is right here.