Chinatown to the Embarcadero

Weather conditions here had us going straight to and from our appointments without any photo hunting detours. As a result my stash of recent shots suitable for the weekly memes has dried up.

So today I decided to take you on a red trip to San Francisco by way of my archives. These shots are from the fall of 2009. This was my first trip to the city by the bay and I was a tad disappointed. Thanks to a heavy fog in the bay, the entire three days we were there, I never did get see the entire Golden Gate Bridge. Best shot was the one on our sidebar. But, the weather was comfortable and we did see many interesting places. One of my favorites was Chinatown. I loved the noise, smells and bustle of the crowded streets.

I have been in love with the painted ladies near Alamo Square since I first saw them on television decades ago. But, San Francisco has many other styles of architecture besides Victorian and Edwardian . And this is, after all, a post about Red items so you will have to settle for this building on the edge of Chinatown.

We took a bus tour of the city and it seemed no matter where we went we were followed by the city's eyes in the sky.

This last shot was a sculpture I saw at one of the sidewalk booths in the plaza near the Embarcadero.

I am linking this post to Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday.

Mary at "Work of the Poet" hosts Ruby Tuesday. Rednesday is a Wednesday meme hosted by Sue at "It's a Very Cherry World." Both memes are dedicated to the color red. To join the fun or just check out what Red others are excited to share visit Mary and her friends at Ruby Tuesdayand Sue and her friends from Rednesday

Yellow snow and sky

The Old Salt left on Friday to go spend the weekend with his brother, and I stayed home to keep up the syringe feedings of our sick kitty. That turned out to be a good thing because I woke up Saturday morning with a killer head cold. Yesterday, I decided to get a head start on this weeks memes by scheduling a few entries to auto post. But, I quickly found that was going to be no easy task. Since we have been snowed in so much the last few weeks I have very few current shots to share and not a single one of those fell into the Mellow Yellow realm.

Then sudden as I started to scan my archives for a suitable yellow shot that old Frank Zappa song from the sixties began to play in my head. You know the one I mean, it goes something like "Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow."

Wanting to get that song out of my head, I went to google and keyed in "Yellow Snow" to find the correct lyrics. What I got was a big memory wake up call. Seems there is a lot about colored snow that this old brain had forgotten beside the lyrics to that old Zappa song.

Thanks to Google my brain started stirring like batter in a mixer. First memory to return was all the news coverage back in march of 2009 on all that intense yellow snow that fell in Russia. I found an article on the weather network about cases of snow falling in black, red, blue, brown, orange and even pink. I read about yellow snow in South Korea in 2006 and orange snow in Siberia in 2007. All the result of different forms of pollution.

Then I recalled a science experiment in high school where we created pink snow. But, I can't recall the chemical we used to get the color. But, I digress. This is suppose to be a post for Mellow Yellow and I still had not come up with a suitable photograph by the time the Old Salt retuned home last night.

This morning the Old Salt saved the day. I found the perfect shot when I downloaded the photos from his camera. A glorious yellow sunset he captured from his brothers front yard as he was preparing to leave for the trip home.

I am linking this post to Mellow Yellow Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday is hosted by Drowsey Monkey. To join in the fun or visit other Mellow Yellow participants just click here.

Pink beats out Green Bay Gold

Apparently, the colors of the Green Bay Packers are not the only colors popular in Nebraska. On our recent trip to Omaha I noticed that many of the car tags were displaying a word liked by the followers of a very popular Saturday meme. So, lets congratulate all those Nebraskans who are honoring the color pink.

Okay, you have to add a vowel but as far as I am concerned the only one that works is of course an "i". I blocked out the number to protect the privacy of the owner of this almost pink vehicle bearing this PNK tag.

The next shot was taken last fall near my brothers cabin on Table Rock Lake. I photographed this hot pink horse trailer from the parking lot side so you are missing the big "for sale" sign that was on the street side.

I am linking this post to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

To join in the fun or just visit the pink post of others visit Beverly and her friends at

Pink Saturday

Snow, Snow go away

From what I have been reading, and the pictures so many bloggers have been posting, we are not the only ones who have been living in a winter wonderland of ice and snow.

For about ten days now a cousin in Atlanta has been posting daily photos of his patios changing snow scene on Facebook. My niece in Minnesota has also been posting lots of snow shots to let the family here know just how lucky we are not to be there. For several days my e-mail has been full of a variety of cartoons and photos expressing the displeasure of my many friends and family across the country with their snow situation.

This morning I awoke to the delightful warmth of sunshine streaming into every window in my house. A peek at the patio thermometer found a balmy forty degrees. When I went outside to run an errand I heard this huge sound. At first I though it was the sound of the drum line practicing at the high school down the block, then realized it was a symphony coming from the water drops hitting all the gutters and downspouts in the neighborhood at once caused by the melting snow on the roofs.

Later I noticed a group of girls walking home from the high school doing a happy dance outside my kitchen window and shouting with glee because they could see grass for the first time in weeks.

While I am delighted with all of todays promises of better weather the weather bird on my computer tells me that we have a winter mix expected on Tuesday followed by snow showers on Wednesday. So, I am not going to put the snow shovel away just yet.

Kids and a snow day

What better yard art is there than what children produce on a snow day.

I am linking this post to Yard Art Thursday.

Mary T. at the Work of the Poet hosts Yard Art Thursday. To join the fun or just check out the yard art discovered by others visit Mary and her friends at Work of the Poet.

And that is all I have to say about this AM.

Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday --- Red Rocker

I captured this red rocker in its snow filled flower bed in a yard on highway 47 near Warrenton Missouri last week. Couldn't wait to share it with all of you that love everything red.

I am linking this post to Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday.

Mary at "Work of the Poet" hosts Ruby Tuesday. Rednesday is a Wednesday meme hosted by Sue at "It's a Very Cherry World." Both memes are dedicated to the color red. To join the fun or just check out what Red others are excited to share visit Mary and her friends at Ruby Tuesdayand Sue and her friends from Rednesday

Can You Do It?

Last week during our drive to Omaha we needed a pit stop and pulled into the first gas station we saw after exiting the interstate. After filling the tank the Old Salt pulled into a parking place so we could go inside for dinner. As I was getting out of our truck I looked up and discovered this sign right above my head.

Needless to say, we did not order the ultimate nine pound overload. How about you, would you go for the freebee? Or, do you know anyone that would give it a shot?

I am linking this post to Mellow Yellow Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday is hosted by Drowsey Monkey. To join in the fun or visit other Mellow Yellow participants just click here.

color carnival #74 --- wall decor

A visit to a new doctors office recently had me leaving with this photo of the artwork hanging in the lobby of the building.

I am linking this post to the meme Color Carnival.

To join the fun or to check out all the colorful entries of other players, visit Maria and her friends at Color Carnival.

Today is a day of Rest

We awoke this morning to more snow. As the above collage shows it was coming down heavy. The top photo on the right is the parking lot of the Baptist Church behind us. As you can see they did not have many in attendance at the morning service and those that did attend came out to find their cars buried. Forecast is for 4-6 inches by night fall.

Between the new snow and the Packers/Bears game I actually get to spend the entire day at home. I am going to totally ignore the pile of laundry and other chores in need of doing and claim a full day of rest for myself. And, what better to reduce stress and boost moral then blogging. Hopefully, I will actually get caught up on visiting with all of you sometime today.

But, before I head your way I want to introduce you to a special person. I met this lovely lady last week during my trip to Omaha. The Old Salt and I were busy helping decorate for the father/daughter dance being held by the Girl Scouts when we discovered that the banquet room next door was also getting ready for another big event. I happen to meet a few of the family members in the hallway and we traded information on our respective parties. I also received an invitation to stop by later and meet the honoree.

Let me introduce you to Ms. Jessie Hall.

Ms. Hall celebrated her One Hundredth Birthday earlier this month and was the guest of honor at a large and very happening party. I was delighted to meet her and thrilled she agreed to my taking her photograph. After all, how many centenarian's do we get to meet in a lifetime. I also learned that Ms. Hall has had a very fascinating life and is still a very active member of her church. I sure hope that I can follow in her shoes.

Promised Update

Since I have been so scarce in blogland, I promised to catch everyone up on what has been happening in my world. But, since my time is still limited, This will be the cliff notes version of the last eight weeks.

We are now into week eight of caring for our sick kitty. The time and effort needed to keep her alive is becoming more than needed to care for a toddler. Please pray she recovers soon. She has lost more than half her weigh due to a liver disorder and the hourly feeding with a syringe are taking their toll on the Old Salt and me.

We recently made a trip to Omaha to do a favor for my sister. She was on the planning committee for a father/daughter dance sponsored by the Girl Scout Council and asked us to photograph the event. We had a great time and got to be there to celebrate one of my niece's birthday.

We are having the worst winter since 1982. We have been snowed in twice. Even my dentist had a snow day. The kids are having a ball with all the snow days. But, wait until spring when they have to make up that time.

· I’m learning I do not have the balance I used to have. I got out of my chair one morning and tripped on the hem of my new flannel Pj’s and will have a bruise for weeks where I banged my thigh.

· We managed to get the Christmas decorations (inside and out) down before our trip but now I have a week’s worth of work cleaning up the basement where we piled them.

· The squares on my calendar are not large enough for all our appointments so I had to buy a date book. Retirement should not be that busy!

· We just purchased our first camper. A slide-in for our new pick-up truck. We hope to be on the road by spring.

· We have been asked by one of my cousins to photograph their upcoming 50^th wedding anniversary celebration. This will be a big event for us. We are now shopping for the right light bars and flash umbrellas so we can do at least a semi-professional job.

· The Old Salt and I have been taking turns getting and passing all the flu bugs out there. Looks like I have a chronic cough settling in for the duration of winter. Can’t wait to be able to spend some time in the sun.

I enjoy posting to all the fun meme’s out there and will continue as time permits. I also love to see what everyone else has posted. Please forgive me if I don’t leave a comment. My time is limited and I am only going to comment when I have a story to

Where has the time gone?

I Can't believe how long its been since my last post. Just a note to let all my friends in blogland know we are very busy at the moment and will return to posting as soon as things slow down.

Hang, with me and I will catch everyone up to date soon. I promise.

Red Collection Boxes

I have been meaning to do this post for some time but let more interesting topics get in my way. I noticed these red drop boxes in different locations around my town two years ago. Knowing Goodwill Industries, used red boxes for decades in the St. Louis area, I assumed they were Goodwill boxes. I always take my donations to the local Goodwill Outlet so I had never stopped at a drop box. One evening last fall, on a walk, I stopped to photograph the box sitting across the street from the Elks Club. I wanted to add it to my file of red items for future memes. As I neared the box I noticed some fine print which said items donated were not for charity but to be sold for profit. I went home and looked up the website on the box. Lately, I have begun to see some blue boxes with the same tiny disclaimer about being for profit. Today, I found a new green and white box sitting on the corner of the shopping center just like the red and blue ones.



If you Google this company, or collection boxes in general, you will find dozens of newspaper articles, blog posts and warnings concerning these boxes. Be aware that not all clothing donation boxes are for charity. Some are misleading for several reasons: First, they are often placed near charitable thrift stores. Second, they are often designed to look like boxes used by charities. Third, I learned for-profit companies are reselling donated items to consignment shops, textile recyclers and even jobbers in other countries who resell for huge profits. These for-profit companies claim, on their boxes, to donate large sums to local charities and civic groups but, records show, they actually donate a tiny percentage of their profits to charitable causes. Some as low as one percent. This practice is misleading at best, outright fraud at worst.

I can't prove or disprove any of the things I found on the web, but please, choose whom you give your items to carefully. Donating your unused clothing is a good thing to do and makes sense. you help a charity like Goodwill or the Salvation Army while cleaning out your closet.

I have also learned that some city councils are considering ordinances to regulate these collection boxes. I certainly would be in favor of it.

I am linking this post to Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday.

Mary at "Work of the Poet" hosts Ruby Tuesday. Rednesday is a Wednesday meme hosted by Sue at "It's a Very Cherry World." Both memes are dedicated to the color red. To join the fun or just check out what Red others are excited to share visit Mary and her friends at Ruby Tuesdayand Sue and her friends from Rednesday