Weekend Reflections from Hammond

My husband and I stopped off in Hammond, LA on our way home for a round of golf. This course is called Carter Plantation and it's a beautiful place to play.

It's quite cold here this weekend - it even snowed yesterday! It's all gone now, but I don't think I'll be getting in any golf right now. But I have good memories of last weekend's round.

To see more reflections from around the world, click here.

The Roosevelt Hotel

The Roosevelt is New Orlean's grandest old hotel. It was closed for some time but has recently re-opened under the management of Waldorf-Astoria. My husband and I stopped by The Sazerac for drinks one evening. Our breath was taken away by the decorations in the foyer. All the lights and mirrors made it appear that the lobby had been transformed into an endless winter wonderland. Gorgeous!

Here's wishing you a very happy weekend!

Christmas Palms

Nothing beats Christmas lights on a palm tree! Every city should have some of these.

Check back tomorrow for some even more spectacular decorations in New Orleans.

Thanksgiving Hibiscus

My husband and I spent Thanksgiving with my Auntie in New Orleans. She has a beautiful home in the garden district with a magnificent garden. I just love these gorgeous hibiscus flowers and there were plenty still in bloom for the holiday.

I'll be sharing a few other photos from the Big Easy this week!

December Theme Day: Waiting

These beautiful rosebuds are just waiting to bloom!

To see other interpretations of today's theme from around the world, click here.

Over My Shoulder

I haven't seen the bluebirds in my backyard lately, I guess they made the wise decision not to move into my birdhouse. They would have just been pestered by the squirrels. I did get a few good shots of them while they were around though. Just look at those beautiful wings. Lovely!

Reflections from Number 12

Number 12 is my absolute favorite hole on the Colonial Course. It's beautiful in any season and I usually do pretty well on it as well!

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Click here to see more weekend reflections.

Skywatch Friday: Full Moon

This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago at the Renaissance shopping center. Although the shopping center has that authentic imitation Italian feel to it, you can't fake a fantastic full moon!


Happy Friday everyone, hope you're not suffering from post-Thanksgiving indigestion!! To see more skies from around the world, click on the skywatch link.

Wheatie Grass Thingie

I can't remember what this type of grass is called. I'm sure someone will be happy to remind me. It's been doing some latel blooming lately. I just love the way it looks against the blue, blue sky.

I'm headed to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. I won't have access to the internet, but I wish all of my American friends a wonderful long weekend. And I hope those of you outside the US have a lot to be thankful for too!

Sad Trees

The trees on the golf course looked so sad this weekend. The leaves are falling fast.

Junco

I've seen this little brother at my feeder a couple of times now. Unfortunately he never gets close enough for a full picture. He's pretty though and I hope he comes back so I can get his full portrait!

Paperwhites

I found these beautiful fragrant beauties on the golf course this weekend. You could smell them from 54 yards away. Wonderful!

Changing Colors

Even the ivy is turning from green to red. I just can't get over the soft fall light. It's terrific. Hope you are having a nice, relaxing weekend. I certainly am!

Skywatch Friday: Reflections

I just can't pass up a nice reflection photo! I love the colors of fall.


Happy Friday everyone! Click on the skywatch link to see other skies from around the world.

The Bunker

This is one place I do not want to be on the golf course. But it does look nice all freshly raked.

Five Guys

We've got a new food chain that's got people lining up here in Jackson - it's Five Guys Burgers and Fries. My husband and I found a not-too-busy moment and slipped in. He had their signature burger and I had a grilled cheese.

The food was okay, but not something I'd queue for twenty minutes for. I did like the design of the restaurant though and how they used bags of Idaho potatoes to delineate the queue area. I just wonder how long this fad will last.

Chipping Sparrow

I believe this small friend is a chipping sparrow. If there are any experts out there who wish to clarify, feel free. I like the way he posed nicely for my camera.

Fall Shadows

I love the way these big pines throw their shadows across the ground. Fall light is wonderful!

Horse in the Fountain

The Renaissance shopping center has a lot of nice details including this fountain. By day I find it a bit ostentatious, but it's very pretty by night.

Skywatch Friday

Ah, the colors of fall. I love the way the afternoon sunlight hit those yellow leaves making them look golden. Just wonderful!

Happy Friday the 13th! To see other skies from around the world click on the skywatch link.

Fungus Bouquet

I've seen several of these mushroom bunches out on the golf course lately. I guess it's a side effect from all the rain we got recently. I'm glad things have dried out now, although I find these fungal flowers rather pretty.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

My husband and I went to see the famed Tennessee Williams show last Saturday at New Stage. It was excellent, one of the better shows we've seen there and the set was fantastic. It was on a slant and part of it extended into the audience. Hats off to the production crew and everyone else involved!

Madison Roll

My husband treated me to dinner at Nagoya recently. I decided to try the Madison Roll named for the city I live in - Madison, Mississippi. It was pretty tasty too!

Cardinal

I get quite a few cardinals at my feeder. But as far as I'm concerned, they're always welcome!

PS: Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. You may remember my post about some mini-walls I saw in a German shopping center while I was there. In fact they weren't walls at all, but giant dominos that were lined up and toppled today in celebration. What a neat idea!

Halloween: Trick or Treat!

Who could give a trick to such an adorable cowboy? We had quite a few kids stop by for Halloween last weekend, but our neighbor's little boy was particularly cute.

Halloween: Part II

Here's a look at the truck in its full glory. It's a 1961 model that a local Firefighters Fellowship group bought from a museum. Now they use it for parties and events such as this one.

It really is a fine machine and it still has the original manual transmission. Not everyone can say they've taken a ride on a beauty like this one, so I consider myself pretty lucky!

Skywatch Friday: Halloween!

This was the beautiful night sky on Halloween. We were lucky in my neighborhood, someone had rented an antique fire truck to take the kids (and adults) around in. It was a fun ride!

Happy Friday everyone!! To see more skies from around the world, click here.

Hibiscus

My Cajun Princess hibiscus finally bloomed! It's rather sad it's so late in the season though. Last year my summer was filled with these beautiful blooms.

I tried some effects on the flower. What do you think?

More on the Viking...

Viking hosts a PGA golf tournament here in Jackson every year. Unfortunately, this year's even was canceled due to all the rain. The tournament is played at Annandale, but the qualifying round was played on my very own course - Deerfield!

We had a bunch of PGA volunteers and such out at the course on the qualifying day. They also had all the teeboxes set up with their own markers. It was pretty neat, it's just too bad the tournament was canceled. One of our favorite players from Germany was taking part and we were going to walk with him to show our support. Maybe next year...

Viking Cooking School Continued...

Our class was an appetizer class. The top one is grilled salmon skewers with a Japanese five-herb marinade and a miso-ginger dipping sauce. I'm not usually a big fan of salmon, but those things were good! The bottom left is shrimp and artichoke hearts in a  herbal vinaigrette sauce. And the last photo is curry chicken salad in phylo cups. I usually do not eat chicken, but I had to taste my own preparation.

I would definitely make the salmon skewers again, I think you could even use the same marinade and sauce with a different type of fish and make it as a main dish. It was a great idea for a birthday present and I hope to take another class sometime!