Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on March 18, 2012 by orples

Greetings my dear fellow bloggers,

I am ashamed to admit I am so far behind schedule, but my subconscious mind will no longer allow me to ignore several awards that I have recently nominated for. Since I have quite a few, in different categories, I will separate the awards accordingly, and acknowledge those that elected me at one time for the same award.

Since there are several awards, there will be several posts.

I feel like I am cheating in doing so, but it is a time thing. I will be posting each award individually on my site with credit given to the blogger who passed the honor on to me. The first of these awards is the Versatile Blogger Award.

Credit for the award is listed by date first, and the origin of the nomination. I would like to thank each, and every, person that did nominate me for thinking of me. I pray I haven’t overlooked anyone, as that is not my intention. Please forgive me, and re-notify me if I’ve left you out, so that I give you credit for your generosity and my thanks for thinking of me.

2.28.2012 … Semi-RuralFarmLife
3.08.2012 … influenceversuscontrol
3.08.2012 … Reflections in a puddle
3.13.2012 … francineinretirement
3.13.2012 … EllaDee

The rules for the Veratile Blogger Award is as follow:

1.) In a post on your blog, nominate 7 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Bloggers Award.
2.)In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3.) In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4.) In the same post, share 7 completely ramdom pieces of information about yourself.
5.) In the same post, include this set of rules
6.) Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

According to rule number 4, here are some tidbits about me.

1.) My sun sign is Taurus
2.) I have grown 3 Sons, and 4 grandsons.
3.) I love Jeans and boots in the winter time, shorts and sandals in the summer, and seldom wear dresses (although I do own a few … just in case I may need one).
4.) I am spiritual as opposed to being religious
5.) I love ALL animals and some insects. LOL
6.) Kids melt my heart
7.) I hope one day to be a well-known author.

Now onto rule #1 … my nominations to forward this award go to …

1.) Ann Noveck (narhvalvr) … Ann keeps us informed on whats going on in the world, especially where it pertains to animal abuse. I hit her blog often with likes, even though oft times I don’t like the subject matter itself. I do like the fact that she exposes the many injustices in this world. Ann also provides numerous posts of more pleasant subjects and beautiful landscapes and interesting structures. Kudos to Ann for an extremely interesting blog.
2.) Cobbie69 … Gerry delights me with his photographs of castles and such, in addition to the fact that he has an interesting blog overall. Good Job Gerry. I always enjoy visiting your blog and checking out your newest posts.
3.) Seekrazz . Scott always comes up with some beautiful photography and other interesting stuff. I still need to go back and review some of his older posts since we met only recently.
4.)Northern Narratives for their never ending supply of wonderful and varying photographs.
5.)Dou Dou Birds … just when you think it’s just about the birds, Dorothy throws you something out of the blue. Pretty versatile, if you ask me.
6.) Jake Sprinter from ‘Time after Time’ for his ever challenging Sunday Challenges that give us all something to blog about. Jake does a fine job with his subjects, and deserves a hearty pat on the back.
7.)Freedombytheway … I love the informative posts they present to keep us all abreast of the various political situations as they arise. We should all stay informed and act where we can to ensure justice in our society.

Weekly photo challenge . Unusual #2

Posted on March 18, 2012 by orples

This isn’t your typical path, well, unless you’re at Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia. Then you never know what types of egress paths you might encounter, taking you from point A to B. I always loved the rustic charm of this particular path. I thought you might find it interesting too.

Railroad ties serve as steps, here and there. Don't get too used to the symmetry of the stairs. There isn't any.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Olivia, Oscar, and Me!

Posted on March 17, 2012 by orples

Weekly Photo Challenge. Unusual

Posted on March 17, 2012 by orples

This is just a tree, but it was unusual enough for me to park my car, get out and take a photo of it, so I figured, why not share? Certainly the tree has stood the test of time and deserves some respect.

Poor top heavy tree, I wonder how it carries its load?

Three Bridges

Posted on March 16, 2012 by orples

This is a shot of the Dan River taken in Dan Daniels Park. They have a walk that skirts the city running through the park. Some of the bridges are old and have become foot bridges, having been replaced with newer bridges to handle traffic. One of the bridges still carries a train across it several times a day. Danville is a very old and historic city located in central Virginia on the North Carolina border. When Dan River Fabrics shut down about 10 years ago, due to outsourcing, the city lost a good deal of its population. Unemployment is high there, but the townsfolk are working hard to try to bring in technology to create jobs to fill the many empty houses that fill the city.

Looking beyond the first bridge, you'll see two more.

Hope for America

Posted on March 15, 2012 by orples

If you want to see real hope for America, and maybe the World, here it is! I hope you guys will take a few minutes and listen.

Let Freedom Ring!

Weekly Photo Challenge. Contrast #4

Posted on March 15, 2012 by orples

This is a view of Danville, Virginia. I thought the buildings across the river were interesting, and with the trees, the river, and the rocks, provide a lot of contrast between the elements of the photo. The grass in the forefront adds additional depth and interest, not to mention color to the scene.

(Old) Downtown Danville, Virginia, looking across the river.

Weekly Photo Challenge . Contrast #3

Posted on March 14, 2012 by orples

When the subject of contrast first came up, this is the photograph I was going to post, but instead I posted the dogwoods against the clear blue sky. Then I posted Olivia and Oscar hitting the beach, since they have felt a little left out lately.

Trees standing bold against a varied background.

So now, let me present more of Mother Nature’s colors showing themselves off. When I took this photo, it was with the intent of possibly working it into some type of fabric wall hanging. I posted an example of a fabricscape in January, based on a different photograph. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done.

Sunday Photo Challenge. Design #4

Posted on March 13, 2012 by orples

I finished my kite drawing today. I am going to go ahead and post it now, before I send in on over to “Writing and Illustrating” for their March Illustration Entry, which will be published on their site on March 27th. There should be other entries there, other than mine, so be sure to mark your calendars.

Finished drawing of Jack and the orples getting the kite out of the tree.

I may try to work on getting the color to print right before I send this over to Kathy. The colors here are no where near as bright as they are on the hard copy print off. I’m still working on that little problem.

Sergei Grinkov & Ekaterina Gordeeva . A Love Story

Posted on March 12, 2012 by orples

Here I go, wandering away from orples and my books again. But then again, I want to keep my blog interesting, so I try to offer variety, thus I present this post as something different. It is a tribute to true love.

My father and I used to enjoy watching ice skating together when I was a teenager. Dad died in 1986,so I doubt he ever saw Ekaterina and Sergei skate together. It is too bad, because these two were among (if not) one of the greatest pair skaters alive, probably the best in their time. Before Sergei died at aged 28, he and Ekaterina married and had a daughter, who now sometimes skates with her mother.

Talk about a sad love story. These two beautiful skaters were meant to be together. What a team. They began skating when Ekaterina was 14 years old. At that time, she’d already been skating for 10 years.

The following videos pretty much tell their story and are worth watching if you enjoy ice skating. They are as one when they skate, and are a pure delight to watch.

1988 . The early years