Kim's Thoughts

Photos of the Day – March 16th

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Kim

What a difference a day makes! The snow stopped falling, the sun came out, and the sky turned a beautiful shade of blue! There is a LOT of snow on the ground, but it already looks like it either packed down or started to shrink, some, cause it doesn’t look as deep and daunting. It truly was a lovely day, today.

Here are the Photos of the Day for March 16, 2017:

# 75 Photo Prompt – Key:

Key Bank located inside this beautiful old mansion in historic downtown Albion.

#key

So happy to see this and other old buildings preserved and re-purposed to maintain our history and integrity of our historic downtown!

# 75 Caught By My Lens:

“Snow and Wind Sculpture”

It is amazing what the wind can do as it brushes across the snow. I was struck by the texture the wind gave this pile of snow by the drive thru window at my bank. The drifting, the texture, and the spray from a snowblower all make for a wonderful sight to see!

Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 16) – Healing:

“Living a Healthier Life”

One of my goals for this year…..so far, so good…..for the most part! hehehe

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March 2017s Photo Prompts:

Lenten Photo Challenge:

Photos of the Day – March 15th

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Kim

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Beware the Ides of March…….or should we say Beware the Wrath of Mother Nature!!! She obviously didn’t like that we were so happy with our WNY winter, so far, so she dumped the entire snowfall we missed out on upon us in just two days! WOW! We sure have a LOT of snow! But…..on the bright side, the calendar promises that Spring is just FIVE days away…..so, take THAT, Mother Nature!!! hehehe It sure is beautiful…..looking out at it from my nice warm house and, the good news is that it is nice and fluffy! So, hoping the upcoming warmer days and possibility of rain will help shrink it and it won’t be this deep too long.

So….since I am obviously not going out to happen upon something cool to take photos of and the answer to any photo challenge is exactly the same – just what I can see from inside my nice warm house – I’m just going to lump all my photo prompts/challenges together!

Here are the Photos of the Day for March 15, 2017:

# 74 Photo Prompt – Over

“You Can Stop, Now! We Are So Over This!” #over

# 74 Caught By My Lens

“No Dancing and Singing With These Flowers and Chimes, Today!”

Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 15) – Awareness:

“Yes, Mother Nature, We Know It Is Still Technically Winter!” #awareness

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We’ll see if I can dig out tomorrow for something a little more interesting!!!

March 2017s Photo Prompts:

Lenten Photo Challenge:

Photos of the Day – March 14th

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Kim

2 Comments

UGH!!! Mother Nature has tossed in an “almost too late” snow storm to ensure we didn’t get out of this winter season without some nasty weather! We came “that” close to having the kind of winter people in WNY usually only dream of! But….it couldn’t be that easy, could it? Oh, well……we still haven’t had it that bad and we certainly can’t complain about this winter over all. Let’s just hope this is the only biggie we will have to endure!

With that said……here are the Photos of the Day for March 14, 2017:

# 73 Photo Prompt – In Motion:

“Great Job, Guys! Thank You!”

#inmotion

One of several hard working Village of Albion DPW workers keeping our streets safe!

# 73 Caught By My Lens:

“Downtown Albion – March 2017 Blizzard – Before it got really nasty!”

And…….a couple shots of the view from my den window this afternoon:

Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 14) – Writing:

“Keep Cursive in Schools”

#writing

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March 2017s Photo Prompts:

Lenten Photo Challenge:

Photos of the Day – March 13th

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Kim

2 Comments

Well, winter is rearing its ugly head in WNY this week! If the forecast holds, my snowblower just might see some action this season, after all! Let’s hope the weather reporters are just trying to have some fun with us and will give us a more appealing forecast, soon!

In the mean time…..here are the Photos of the Day for March 13, 2017:

# 72 Photo Prompt – Horizon:

“Icy Lake Ontario”

#horizon

# 72 Caught By My Lens:

“Cold Ducks”

Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 13) – Letting Go:

“It Wasn’t Easy Saying Goodbye”

#lettinggo

In April 2015, the congregation of the Albion First United Methodist Church left our beloved, historic building due to overwhelming costs of necessary structural repairs. It broke our hearts to move from this building, but we found a wonderful new home about a block away at the Christ Episcopal Church, whose congregation welcomed us with open arms to share their building with us. (CLICK HERE for our story). It wasn’t easy to move on, but we found strength in each other and found a way to let go. The building will soon be sold and be given a new life of its own for another church family who can afford to repair the building for their use.

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March 2017s Photo Prompts:

Lenten Photo Challenge:

Photos of the Day – March 12th

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Kim

2 Comments

Here are the Photos of the Day for March 12, 2017:

# 71 Photo of the Day – Glass:

“Reflections”

#glass

Lenten Photo Challenge – Lent (Day 12) – My Church:

“Special Friends Reception”

#mychurch

Kelsey and I have been special friends since 2014. Today, we celebrated Special Friends Day with a picnic breakfast with all of Kelsey’s favorite things!

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March 2017s Photo Prompts:

Lenten Photo Challenge:

Photos of the Day – March 11th

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Kim

2017 Albion Sip and Stroll Through History Wine Walk

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Kim

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Today was the Fourth Annual Sip and Stroll Through History event – Albion’s Wine Walk! The first three years, they held the event in August, but this year they were urged to give it a try in March and see how it goes. Well……after a very mild and mostly snow free winter, today Mother Nature decided we needed to be reminded that it IS winter and we do live in Western NY and she dumped a nice little snow storm on us! I was afraid it might put a damper on the turn out for the event, but I was very happy to see it didn’t stop a nice size crowd from braving the weather and coming out to support our Albion Merchants Association and enjoy some amazing wines from some of the best local wineries around!

Here are some photos from the 2017 Albion Sip and Stroll Through History:

Registration and VIP Reception was at the Pullman Church, this year – I took this from my nice warm car just before I headed in to get started!

My friend, Lori Laine, looked adorable in her hairy boots and matching purse!

And, here she is with her cart…..all ready to shop! She started with cabbage from Vendetti Farms – one of the vendors at the Farmer’s Market at the start of the event!

Each participant got a commemorative wine glass. Glasses were beautifully displayed by Laura Bentley of Classic Tea Cups Vintage Rentals.

Nicole Bellnier, owner of Breeze Inn Again, served up the food for the VIP Reception!

New to the event, this year, they also had a basket raffle – this is one of the tables of baskets attendees could buy chances on to win! I sure hope I get a call telling me one of them is MINE!!!

Nice size crowd during the VIP hour!

You know I love to take photos of groupings of sparkling wine glasses! 😀

So…..the time came to venture out of the nice, warm Pullman Church and start the walk downtown! One of the wineries was Midgard Winery of Corfu, NY. They make their wine from honey and it was oh, so good! This is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to try wines from Midgard……I bought a bottle and a couple of their signature glasses, so I guess I approve! Midgard was stationed at Dance Reflections.

My brother and sister-in-law choosing which wine they wanted to taste from the Midgard Winery options!

Inside Five Star Bank was the Flight of Five winery from Lockport, NY. This is another new winery for me and I was very impressed – I purchased a bottle from this winery, as well.

My friend, Becky Dillenbeck of Five Star Bank was on hand to greet strollers and give out door prizes and tickets for a free drawing (sorry, neither the door prizes or raffle basket had any of Five Star’s cash in them!)

The ever gallant Jeremiah Knight of Knight’s Pride Woodworking was out making sure the sidewalk was safe for strollers!

Victorianburg Wine Estates from Wilson, NY had a nice selection of wines inside Xpress Fitness and Tanning.

Even Peyton Manning joined in on the Wine Walk fun!

Uptown Browsery hosted Lake Ontario Winery out of Hilton, NY

Black Bird Cider Works from Barker, NY was serving at Krantz Furniture……I don’t usually like ciders, but their’s was actually pretty good!

The snow really came down…….

……..but, that didn’t stop people from enjoying this wonderful annual event!!!

I bought two wines, this year – one from Flight of Five Winery and one from Midgard Winery. I also got two of Midgard Winery’s signature wine glasses – love the bee logo showing that their wines are made from honey! Also pictured is my commemorative glass in the glass sling I used to keep my hands free to take photos (the sling let’s you wear your wine glass like a necklace – I got this one at the Downtown Browsery – it is much nicer than the two others I have) and the wine bag (holds 4 bottles in separate sections) that was available for purchase to carry any purchases we made.

I didn’t get a photo at every stop and I didn’t stop at every location (I gave up after visiting all the stops on Main St and didn’t get to the Bank Street stops). So, here is the complete list of the participating merchants and wineries. Thank you to all……it was a wonderful event!!!

Pullman Universalist Church – Registration, Farmer’s Market, Basket Raffle, and 50/50.
Hazy Jade Gift Shop – Midgard Winery (Corfu, NY) and Burning Asphalt Appetizers and Virgin Bloody Mary’s
Dance Reflection by Miss Heather – Midgard Winery (Corfu, NY)
Shay’s: Lake Effect Ice Cream (Lockport, NY)
Arnold’s Auto Parts / Napa Auto Parts – The Winery at Marjim Manor (Appleton, NY)
Five Star Bank – Flight of Five (Lockport, NY)
Xpress Fitness and Tanning – Victorianburg Wine Estates (Wilson, NY)
Uptown Browsery – Lake Ontario Winery (Hilton, NY)
Pratt Works (Knight’s Pride Woodworking and MMIM) – Coffee Bar
Krantz Furniture – Blackbird Cider Works (Barker, NY)
Downtown Browsery – Chateau Niagara Winery (Newfane, NY)
Tease – A Gust of Sun (Spencerport, NY) – also at Tease was Come on Get Snappy photo booth and LuLaRue Fashions
U-Need-O-Burrito – Long Cliff Winery (Lockport, NY)