photos – Page 12 – Joanne Corey

Climate Rally!

As you may know, the climate talks in Paris have reached their halfway point.

To support their efforts, last week there were climate rallies and marches around the world. I attend one in Binghamton NY. We shared our thoughts about climate change and headed outdoors for photos:

A group photo which was sent to 350.org

A close-up with yours truly in the lower left corner

And a link to us learning and singing a climate song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s__Ba9saX7E&feature=youtu.be

The COP21 talks continue to be on my mind. I hope and pray for an accord that will have the world united in rapidly reducing carbon emissions while sharing resources to conserve energy and ramp up renewables and offering assistance to those most affected by climate change, including those living in poverty, those in low-lying areas, and those impacted by drought, severe storms, and other problems brought on by global warming.

Sand: up-close and personal

Sharing the link below from Steph of Partial Ellipsis of the Sun: A Blog for Scientists who like Words and Writers who like Science.

There are stunning and fascinating highly-magnified photos of the huge variety among grains of sand.

They are all beautiful – except the frack sand, which is dangerous to breathe and can cause lung disease, including silicosis. Those of you who know me know I couldn’t find anything about fracking beautiful.

Here is the link: http://wordwomanpartialellipsisofthesun.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-universe-truly-is-in-grain-of-sand.html

Enjoy!

Third of a Century

B and I were not able be together for our 33rd anniversary in June, so we decided to take a few days away for our 33-and-a-third anniversary, also known as a third of a century anniversary. Well, not really known as that, but humor me…

We took a lovely drive to Lenox, Massachusetts. I had thought that the foliage might be past peak as we travelled north, but it was not. While there are patches where the leaves are down, for the most part there is still a lovely mix of red, yellow, orange, and green, both from evergreens and from trees that have not changed.

We are just back from a lovely dinner at Alta and I thought I’d share a couple of photos from Lenox. This is the view from our balcony:

This is from our walk before dinner, just down the street from Alta.

Score one for Indian pudding!

I’ve spent an inordinate amount to time over the last couple of days revising one of my poems about Indian pudding for submission to Silver Birch Press’s upcoming “My Sweet Word” series and compiling and formatting the rest of the materials needed – bio, author’s note, photo with caption.

As many of you know, I often wrestle with technical issues, especially when I have to format for MS Word from my non-Windows system and when I have to deal with images of any sort.

It literally took me hours to get everything assembled properly, but I was finally able to hit “send” this morning.

And – drum roll, please! – I am happy to report that I have already received an acceptance! I think my submission must have landed on the top of the inbox on the West Coast for the beginning of their work day.

So, at some point this month or next, I’ll be able to share the link with you, featuring an ever-so-artistic photo of my hands cradling a bowl of Indian pudding with melting vanilla ice cream. I made a batch in the heat of August, just so we could do the photo shoot.

Well, truth be told, not just for the photo shoot….

While we generally don’t make something that has to bake for two hours during the dog days of summer, Indian pudding is still a delicious treat and brings back memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with family and of B’s great-aunt Gert, whose recipe we use, although I must confess that I have been experimenting with proportions a bit.

It’s always a good time for Indian pudding!

header

I just updated my header image, partly because Jay Dee of “I Read Encyclopedias for Fun” is doing a series where he writes about blogs of those who comment on his blog frequently. Which I do. And I’m trying to not be totally embarrassed when he has to say that my cover image is grainy and doesn’t appear to be anything recognizable.

Anyone who visits here knows that I am not good with images, despite my attempts to improve. I have trouble taking photos, enhancing, cropping, sending them to the right site, and more, but I was determined to at least get a new header image that was clearer, so I grab my iPad and went in search of a spot to take a close-up of the top of my head. I chose an art quilt that hangs on my living room wall as a backdrop, and took several shots, not the easiest thing to do when you are purposely holding your device above eye level.

Then, the fun of customizing began. I like my theme and don’t want to change it, but the header image is recommended to be 1600×220, which is difficult for me to get to from an image that is 640×480. (I can hear all you photographers out there chuckling.) After several attempts, I did manage to get a new header image saved. It’s…okay. I wish my tagline showed up better, but at least the image itself is clearer – and perhaps even recognizable as the top of my silver-haired head.

At the very least, I know I didn’t violate anyone’s copyright by sharing their image when I shouldn’t have.

Please comment with any opinions,advice , or encouragement you want to share.

– JC with the silver hair

Update: I managed to finally put a header image on the Top of JC’s Mind Facebook page. It is similar to the one here, but not the same shot. Check it out (and consider liking my page if you haven’t already)!

August Garden 八月的花園

I love flower photos and this blog is an extravaganza! Enjoy!

My Food And Flowers

August Garden 八月的花園

Cheddar Pink (Dianthus ‘Firewitch’) 多年生石竹

Mina lobata (Ipomea lobata) 金魚花/魚花蔦蘿

Double Annual Poppy (Papaver somniferum ‘Black Beauty’) 黑美人重瓣虞美人

Canna Lily (Canna indica )美人蕉

Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica) 含羞草

Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) 大波斯菊

Red Double Blanket Flower (Gaillardia ‘Red Plume’) 大紅重瓣球型天人菊

Tricolor Viola(Viola tricolor) 堇菜

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia fulgens ‘Elmfeuer’) 紅花山梗菜

Bulbous Bergonia (Bergonia) 球根海棠

Bachelor’s Button (Centaurea Montana) 多年生矢車菊

Godetia Azalea Flowered Mixed (Clarkia amoena) 古代稀

Firecracker Flower (Crossandra infundibuliformis) 鳥尾花

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) 花旗蔘

Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum) 韭菜

Hall’s Honeysuckle(Lonicera japonica)忍冬或叫金銀花

Clematis (Clematis) 鐵線蓮

Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’ (Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’) 甜秋鐵線蓮

Anise-hyssop (Agastache rugosa)藿香

Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) 海芋

European Bellflower(Campanula rapunculoides) 歐洲風鈴草

Blue-eyed grasses (Sisyrinchium bermudianum)庭菖蒲

Tree mallow (Lavatera) 錦葵

Double Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus double blue selection) 重瓣桔梗

Self-heal（Prunella grandiflora ‘Freelander’）大花夏枯草

Honeysuckle Fuchsia (Fuchsia ‘Koralle’) 鞭炮吊鐘花

Common Soapwort/Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis) 高性肥皂花/石鹼草

Double Lily (Lilium) 重瓣百合

Obedient Plants (Physostegia virginiana) 隨意草

Carpathian…

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500(ish) followers!

The most popular topic among bloggers is blogging! I admit that, while I read a lot of posts on blogging, I don’t often write one, but today I will because I have reached 500 followers for Top of JC’s Mind!

Or at least, 500ish. The numbers are a bit squishy. The number following through WordPress is 389 with email, Facebook, and twitter followers pushing the number up to 500. That means that some people who follow me on more than one platform are double or triple counted, but….

Let’s just say 500! Yay!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all my followers, especially those who visit regularly. There are even a few who comment regularly; thank you for keeping me from feeling as though I am talking to myself.

I also want to thank all the blogs I follow – all 750 of them. Some I get daily or weekly digest emails and visit frequently; others I don’t get to very often. You have all helped me to learn about blogging and gifted me with beauty, humor, poetry, stories, travelogues, photos, thought, and heart.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and the Top of JC’s Mind,
Joanne

July Garden 七月花園

It’s summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, so I thought I’d share this lovely post of summer flowers. For my Southern hemisphere friends, I thought you’d like a reminder that spring is only a few weeks away.
– JC
(Make sure to click on View Original to see the rest of the lovely photos!)

My Food And Flowers

July Garden 七月花園

Beebalm (Monarda) 美國薄荷