Carousel

My husband and I went furniture shopping this weekend. As we've already browsed some of the local stores, we knew ahead of time what to expect - not much of what we like and lots of really traditional pieces. However, we didn't expect a carousel!

This carousel is located inside Miskelly, the city's largest furniture store. Don't get your hopes up, it's not for sale. Kids (and adults) pay one dollar for a spin and all the money goes to children's charities like Make-A-Wish or the Children's Cancer Fund.

Dear Deer

I was driving around on Sunday afternoon and spotted these deer. There were three of them on this side of the road and one on the other. Deer spottings are actually quite frequent in and around the Natchez Trace. Although these are the first live creatures I've seen since moving here. What beauties!

You Make My Day

I received this award on Friday from Clarice at Saint Malo DP.

The award rules say: "Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

In return, here are some of my favorite photo blogs, in no particular order. Some of these I have chosen for nostalgic reasons - places I've lived or know well. Others are just places I hope to visit one day. But all of them have great photos by (as far as I can tell) great people. Thanks for sharing your time and talents. Cheers!

Selma, Alabama by Rambling Round
Hyde, England by Hyde DP
Brookvile, Ohio by Abraham Lincoln
Portland, OR by Lynette
Terrel, TX by Brian
Sydney, Australia by Sally
Wichita, KS by Wendy
Lisbon, Portugal by Sailor Girl
Minneapolis, MN by the Mitchster
Evry, France by Olivier

Snow!

This morning I awoke to a light shower of snow outside my window. It was really beautiful, although I am under the impression that this is a rare occurrence. It didn't stick around for long. The sun came out in the afternoon and melted the few flakes away. It was nice to wake up to a winter landscape in any case.

Boots

Although Mississippi is not traditionally a state of cowboys, some people around here apparently like western wear. I pass this shop every day when I go out to lunch. I must admit something about the sign draws me to it. Maybe someday I'll go in for a look around. I bet I'm not the only one interested in what might await me in a big red boot with a spur boutique. That's a pretty clever marketing tool!

Another Landscape

I hope you're not getting tired of these. I think they're part of what makes Mississippi (and golf courses) beautiful.

Jackson Country Club

Now that I have been informed on the real use of water towers, I find them a rather ingenious and energy-saving way to optimize water pressure in a community.

This picture was snapped at the Jackson Country Club. Something about the ultra-kitsch golf ball design attracted me. Look for more water towers to come!

Mr. Earthworm

Go, Mr. Worm, go!

Gatti Town Pizza

There are many new strip shopping centers opening up in the Madison/Ridgeland area. This one had been under construction for awhile, so I was surprised to see the parking lot bursting with cars this weekend (this photo does not show the full extent).

Apparently Gatti Town is a big draw for locals. I had no idea what type of restaurant it actually was. But after some investigation, it appears to be what I would call a Show-Biz-esque type of place (known to later generations as Chuckee Cheese). Although I did not venture far enough to see if they had those singing robotic animals which I fondly recall from many a childhood birthday party.

More Golf

Every time we go to the golf, I try to get some good action shots. It's pretty difficult because you have to know just when to hit the button. This is one of my more successful shots.

Turtles

I didn't notice these guys at first, but if you look closely at the tree, you'll see a trio of turtles taking some sun.

Sunset on the Golf

If you have not figured it out by now, I am an avid golfer. I spent most of this weekend on the course and caught this lovely sky just as the sun was starting to set.

Ridgeland Water Tower

I love the French word for water tower, chateau d'eau (a water castle!). It sounds much more elegant.

Water towers are a big part of the American landscape. I'm not really sure if they actually contain water, but every town has one. Ridgeland is where I live and I hope to eventually post pictures of all the local towers. I guess that will be a challenge for me in the New Year.

Hunting Season

Hunting season begun here in the south and you see a lot of these vehicles around town. This is the first one I've seen with a handy rifle compartment though! It belongs to someone I work with; I snapped this in the parking lot.

Literary Reindeer

I actually meant to post this photo during the holidays, but I got sort of busy with friends and family. In any case, I thought it was cute - it's a reindeer that only reads Mississippi authors!

New Year's Tradition

Here in the US, we have a tradition of eating black-eye peas on New Year's Day. They are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity in the new year. I whipped up this batch of black-eye pea salad last night to make sure my husband and I don't miss out on any of it! We need the luck for our golf game and the prosperity to buy a house.

Best Wishes for 2008!

There are so many pictures on this blog that I like, it's hard to choose just one! But this little turtle seemed to elicit a good response, so he's the winner for the January 1st theme day.

Please take a look at the other blogs around the world participating in today's theme:
Paris, France - London, England - Hyde, UK - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Grenoble, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Riga, Latvia - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Manila, Philippines - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - New Orleans (LA), USA - Wichita (KS), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Francisco (CA), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Mainz, Germany - Melbourne, Australia - Portland (OR), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Toulouse, France - Naples (FL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Brussels, Belgium - Stayton (OR), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Baziège, France - Nashville (TN), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Prescott (AZ), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Moscow, Russia - Philadelphia (PA), USAEvry, France - Trujillo, Peru - Arlington (VA), USA - Denpasar, Indonesia - American Fork (UT), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Coral Gables (FL), USA - Montpellier, France - Joplin (MO), USA - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Boston (MA), USA - Torun, Poland - New York City (NY), USA - Dunedin (FL), USA - Quincy (MA), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Chateaubriant, France - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Budapest, Hungary - Austin (TX), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Cypress (TX), USA - Bicheno, Australia - Wrocław, Poland - Brookville (OH), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Cheltenham, UK - Wellington, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - London, UK - Haninge, Sweden - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Arradon, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Mumbai, India - Terrell (TX), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - Delta (CO), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Saigon, Vietnam - San Diego (CA), USA - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Belgrade, Serbia - Auckland, New Zealand - Seguin (TX), USA - Inverness (IL), USA - Oslo, Norway - Singapore, Singapore - Las Vegas (NV), USANew York City (NY), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Torino, Italy - Susanville (CA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Memphis (Tennessee), USA - -

Merry Christmas!

This is the Mississippi Capitol building. It was not heavily decorated for the holidays but there was a nice wreath and a few lights lining the sidewalks. Here's wishing you a great Christmas from Jackson!

McAllister's Christmas

McAllister's is a local eatery here in Jackson (although I do believe they have some regional franchises). This Christmas display made me laugh, there is a package of assorted chips under the tree. Is that the best they could come up with for gifts?

Poll

The January theme is your best photo of the year. So I'm leaving it up to you to decide which of my many pictures should have the honor.

Take a look through the archives and leave me a comment with the date of the photo you think is my best.

Thanks for your help and, as always, for your interest in Jackson!

Alps

Once again, this picture is not really from Jackson, but from my recent vacation. We flew over the Alps on our way from Germany to Italy to catch the boat for our transatlantic cruise. It was a spectacular sight!

Hibiscus

This hibiscus was not actually found in Jackson, but in Casablanca. I was there recently during a stop on a transatlantic cruise.

Typical Street Corner

This will be my last post for awhile since I don't know how often I'll be able to access the Internet during the cruise.

In farewell, I send you a look at a typical American street corner. This was taken on my drive home from work. I sort of liked how the sun was casting a pink-ish glow on the clouds.

My New Workplace

This is my remote office in Berlin where I am processing orders with other Siemens drones this week. I must admit that their offices are much nicer than ours in Jackson. I definitely like the open space work plan better than our tiny, cramped cubicles.

Airports

I like airports. I like to take pictures in airports. This one happens to be in Philidelphia. It isn't the plane I took, but I thought the reflection looked neat, sort of like a conjoined twin.

Thanksgiving Celebration

This is where I spent my Thanksgiving, in the Independence Brew Pub at the Philidelphia airport. Instead of the traditional turkey feast, I partook in beer and big pretzels. It was not as bad as it might sound.

The Rosalie

This is another picture from Natchez. It was taken inside the Rosalie, one of the beautiful antebellum houses. Most of the furnishings and decorations in this house were generously donated by the houses former inhabitants. It certainly made for an interesting visit!

I'm going to be out of town for a few weeks. I may try posting photos of where I will be, but I won't have enough of Jackson to cover three weeks. Don't hesitate to pop over for a look now and then. I'll be back full-time in mid-December.In any case, I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving!

Lone Flower

This flower looked so lonely all on its own. All of its friends have gone away!

Foggy Monday

This morning I awoke to further signs that fall is upon us. A light misty fog was hanging over the pond which I can see from my balcony.

Aunt Caroline is Dead

As it turns out, Aunt Caroline was killed by her secretary/companion Miss Mina Mabbit. Mabbit did it for the greater good, so Agnes could get married and Ricky could go to college. And Mrs. Endicott can finally stop giving piano lessons to every neighborhood brat and concentrate on raising her two youngest children, Beryl and Cicely. Yes, Mabbit did it all for them!

But in the end, Lieutenant Clayton rules the case a suicide in order to "save the government a pile of money," since Miss Mabbit was dying of cancer anyway. Cue curtain...