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I found some gorgeous cakes inspired by the wedding dress, but I liked this one the best. (Dress designed by Claire Pettibone; cake by Homebaked Heaven.) All of the elements and the paper were in my stash. I've had them for so long that I can't give the proper credit. The font is England Hand DB, available for free on many sites.

No matter how many times they come to my hand, their light touch always generates great elation.

They were forecasting snow for today, so yesterday I decided to take a drive to the areas where I knew I'd be guaranteed to see Native Crocus. As for today, it is snowing with 70km winds, which has also blown in a large flock of migratory Robins, up to a hundred I'd say. Large Flocks of Robins always turn up on snowy days at this time of year. Some will stay, but the majority are only passing through. Thank goodness, as I wouldn't be able to afford to feed them all throughout the summer. 😉 Pulsatilla nuttalliana, known as prairie pasqueflower or prairie crocus. The first of the native flowers to bloom.

Week 15 - Ran across this photograph of a hunting Osprey on Bored Panda. The photographer is Chen Chengguang from Vietnam. He specializes in artistic shots of birds. The Osprey, like the Bald Eagle, hunts fish.

Oh, Sue, seeing how they trust you is so sweet! Those photos are a gem! ❣️

I have been playing with layouts for the last week or so. The going has been rather slow, but since there is no rush, I continue to tinker and adjust until it's time to let them go! The eclipse layout uses photos from a photographer who was mentioned on the radio as having spectacular pictures online. So I checked, grabbed a few and tried the Grid layout, which was not a great success. Each time I've tried it, the pix just don't snap to grid readily. So I leave it, out of frustration. The photog is Steve Biro. The actual blacking out of the sun in its totality was amazing, of course, but we then had a new "light" shining on us suddenly which threw us right off! It turns out it was one of the planets that was illuminated. Wish I had a photo of that! The other layout is based on a United Church decommissioning that took place on Sunday last (14th). Another small rural church has closed (near my home town). I attended to show my respects, took some pix, and observed the loss the folks there were experiencing. It was very sad. The Catholic church, not far away and the one I attended as a child, is experiencing a spurt of new attendance and the danger of closure has passed, yet again.

That's so beautiful. I'd love to see flocks of robins. I'm happy when I see just ONE! We had snow too, and it was quite windy and blowing...when I woke up I thought it was November again. My crow fam has finally returned. You know how the female crow does the begging behavior when they are getting nest/eggtime ready(to remind the mate to bring her food when she's on nest duty). Well, I think my crow fam does that to me. The scenario as follows: land on wire, caw till silly human slave hears (they are practically deaf!), silly human (me) runs for the peanuts and bark butter bits and heads outside to spread the joy.

Later in life, my library in Warwick was updated and even won an award for Best Small Library in America in 2016. It is beautiful but I'm back at Thrall since I've moved to Middletown in my retirement. Here's Albert Wisner Library in Warwick and its award along with another shot of Middletown's Thrall Library.

When I moved to New York State, I worked in Middletown at the local newspaper and used the Thrall Library. I was thrilled to find it was a big, converted train station with impressive architecture. The library in my own town was rather small and in need of expansion, but I used it weekends to take my grandchildren out to borrow a book, visit the local petting zoo and treat them to a Burger King. Here are photos of each. The first one is Warwick and the second Thrall in Middletown, NY

When I was young, we lived in a commuter-friendly town in New Jersey since my Dad was chief night dispatcher on the Erie Railroad (now Amtrak) and had to be near the trains. We had a little library and once I got a bike I would ride there with books in my basket. I looked for photos of my old library but all I could find were vintage postcards! I guess I'm vintage, too! The town of Rutherford has since updated their library, so it doesn't look like this anymore.

The county I live in has a public library. The main branch is in my town which is the county seat. The library is right across the street from the courthouse. There are 5 other branches in smaller towns in the county. The other town which is about the same size as mine (and wanted to be the county seat back in 1848 when the county was formed) has their own library not associated with the county library. I had my own library card as a kid and would borrow books quite often as did Mom. She loved to read. I had to get an updated card 10 years ago when I got my first Kindle. I borrow books using it from a state wide ebook project. My library is a member of that project so I can borrow any ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and video that they have available. All of the branches have activities for young and old and everyone in between! Most activities have specific times they are available. Some of them are tech help, science club, book club, storytime, time to play euchre, various craft nights and even escape rooms! They also have a group for knitters and crocheters! I participated in it for awhile... knitted a lot of scarves for me! My favorite part of our library is the genealogy section. When I started researching 30 years ago, I would go there to look at all the microfilm of old newspapers and genealogical records since nothing was online at that time. They even have a lot of books and family histories that have been donated over the years. Even now with all the genealogical information available online, there is still information that cannot be found online. When the library did a remodel several years ago, they moved the genealogical section into a room that has a locked door and it has a camera that the workers can monitor it when someone is in there. Quite often materials would disappear when it was out in the open. The genealogy society got this area started and the library was kind enough to give them the room for the information back in the late 70's/early 80's. From a small corner to a room of its own, it has really grown. It does get a lot of visitors from out of town as well!

Usually one or two at a time. I have had 3 at one time and right now I have two...Poppy and Penny. There were many others of whom I have no photos. Their names are in the cat wordart.

I choose some photos of the Blue Mountain Rige: with a Cassel Template and a Cassel paper cass-MultiPhotoFrame3-6x6.pspimage (Template) cass-GradientStripes-Beach-02.jpg (border)