Sunday, November 30, 2014

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - November 30, 2014


Welcome!

Well the Thanksgiving weekend is about to come to a close and can you believe that Christmas is just 25 short days away.  -  It was a busy weekend here as we celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday and then Friday and Saturday we spent the time putting up the outside lights and decorating the inside of the house.  We haven't put up the tree yet but that will be next on the agenda.

So let's join up with Ashley (Ramblings and Photos) now for
SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.  This week the prompts were easy as we could just post our 5 Favorite Photos from the week.

FAVORITE #1

I snapped a shot of this little squirrel on it's way to the feeder this morning.  It snowed here yesterday (oh goodie) and you can see the slight dusting of snow on it's face.  I love that I also captured the swirl motion of it's tail.


FAVORITE #2


I captured this shot of our cat, Harley sleeping in my chair one day.  I just thought the position of his paws was so funny that I had to get a picture of him.  He almost always has that one claw hooked either in the blanket, the rug or in this case his foot when he sleeps.

FAVORITE #3

I went out the other morning just to take some pictures and saw this bit of moss growing on the stones that border my rose bed.  I loved how the sun was shining on the moss so I snapped a photo of it.  It's nice to see some pretty green color now since winter has arrived and most of the color is gone.

FAVORITE#4

We had a lovely sunset this week where the sky was yellow, pink and purple.  So pretty.  I love the way the barren trees look with these pretty colors.  This is the view down our back driveway and I photograph these trees a lot.

FAVORITE #5


Yep more trees.  These are also part of the trees we see from our back driveway.  Since it snowed yesterday I thought it would be fun to show the snow on the fir tree and how pretty and blue the sky is today.  The temperature though is only 8 degrees....It's just dang COLD outside today. I might add that Friday it was 65 degrees here.  WEIRD weather!

So that's it for me this week. 

If you would like to participate in next weeks Scavenger Hunt here are the prompts:

  • 1. Joy
  • 2. White
  • 3. Stripes
  • 4. Tree
  • 5. Shape
  • Have a great day & don't forget to check out the other particpants.

    Friday, November 28, 2014

    Friday Link Ups - November 28, 2014

    Welcome. - To those who celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday I hope you didn't over indulge in holiday goodies.  I tried hard to keep it in control so I didn't feel overly stuffed.


    It's time to join Tanya (Around Roanoke) for Willy-Nilly Friday Five.


    1.  I snapped this shot of a Dragonfly this past summer and hadn't yet posted it (that I recall).  I find dragonflies to be very fascinating.  Now more so after I discovered this information on them today while researching dragonflies.  Be sure to watch the video.  Towards the end this same type of dragonfly is shown.

    2.  This is our Pug, Cricket.  She doesn't often sit still for pictures but I managed to get this one of her the other night.  You see that yellow blob in front of her?  It's a piece of a dog cookie.  We can place them on the floor and tell her to wait and she'll just sit there until you tell her okay and then she grabs up the cookie and woofs it down.  I found a video one day of a Pug named, Loca that Coleen fell in love with.  So I thought I would share that with you.




    3.  Coleen has had this "bird feeder" set out all summer and nary a bird has visited.  The other day we finally had a visitor to the feeder......



    The little rascal hung there for some time pulling seeds out of the feeder and eating them.  I just wonder how strong those little feet are to hang like that. 


    4.  While out taking pictures the other day I saw a large bird fly past me and land in a tree about a block away.  So I hurried back to the house and got my camera.  Halfway down the block I snapped a shot of the bird (this is cropped) and then headed on to see if I could get a better picture.  Sadly the hawk had flown by the time I got to the tree.  I convered this image to Black and White for,  The Weekend in Black and White.

    5. With Thanksgiving over now it is time to bring out the Christmas decor.  I put away all the regular glasses today and have brought out the "Holiday Glasses" for the season.  They will be used now until Jan.2nd at which time they are put away again for another year.  I'm also playing the first Christmas music today and hubby and everyone else are outside putting up the holiday lights.  Do you have a favorite Christmas song or decoration.  Tell me about it in the comment section. 



    Entry for Feline Art:









     
    
                                                               Snowy Cat
    Played around with a not so stellar photo in Pic Monkey and Pixlr-o-Matic.
    Texture by Bonnie (Pixel Dust Photo Art)

    Finally for Feline Friday I'm sharing this photo of our cat Harley:


                                                "Harley want a Cracker!"



    Thursday, November 27, 2014

    Good Fences & Giving Thanks

    To my American Friends I wish you all a warm, safe & wonderful Thanksgiving.

    To all my blogging friends I want you to know how thankful I am for your friendship and for the fact that you take the time to visit my blog.  It means a lot to me.


    Today I'm joining Theresa (The Run-a-round Ranch Report) for
    GOOD FENCES  While I was out one afternoon finding fences to use for this awesome meme I spotted this little guy on what else....a fence.







      Isn't he adorable.  - I bet he was thankful for that peanut and thankful when I left so he could eat it in peace and quiet.

    Finally I leave you with this:


    Have a beautiful day and don't forget to Give Thanks!

    Wednesday, November 26, 2014

    Abstract Vines

    Welcome.  It's time for some NF digital art fun over on Nature Footstep.
    This week we were to take our "simple" art from last week and create a texture to use with it.

    I've done 2 different pieces.  One does not really have a texture just some fun effects.

    So here is the starting point for my art pieces:  Click to enlarge all photos.

     
    My first piece was created using some fun editing effects.


    It reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night

    Now for my next version I'm sure you would exactly call this a texture or not.  I started out with the same vine photo but cloned out the concrete block lines.  Then I  did some adjustments with the color etc...and added more of an overlay of another photo. - See below.  This is the photo I worked with along with the vine photo.



    The end result:

    I just love how this turned out and hope you do as well.

    Sunday, November 23, 2014

    Vines - The last chapter

    Welcome! - Today I'm posting the final photos of the wall of vines that have been featured here on a couple of previous posts.

    I know there are a lot of photos here (15 to be exact) but seriously I couldn't decide if I should leave any of them out so you get them all.
    There were so many colors, different patterns, etc...to share. 

    I hope you have enjoyed seeing them as much as I did photographing them.
     
    








     
     







     
     
     
     

    Friday, November 21, 2014

    Friday Link-Ups



     
    Happy Friday! -  It's time to join in on the fun of
    Willy-Nilly Friday Five hosted by Tanya from (Around Roanoke)
     
     
     Be patient as there are several Memes here and it's a lot to take in.

    Click to enlarge all photos.
     
     
    1.  This is the Marcus Whitman Hotel located here in Walla Walla.  It's also the tallest building in town.  I'm not sure exactly how tall it is but if you click on the link you can read more about the Hotel.  Be sure to check out the "History" of the Hotel.    So what is the tallest building in your town?
    Photo taken in November of last year.
     
    2.  Spotted this odd cloud formation about a week ago one afternoon and thought they looked cool.  I have no idea what type of a cloud formation this is.  However if you want to see some super cool cloud formations check out this link:  http://twistedsifter.com/2012/03/15-incredible-cloud-formations/
     
    3.  When Coleen and I walked around Whitman campus earlier this month I thought these shrubs looked really neat so I snapped a photo of them.  Trees and in this case shrubs can be very interesting.  Check these out.
     
    4.  Ever heard of a Pole Cat?  -  Well here is a fine example of one.....
     
     
    Just kidding....
    This is also my entry for Feline Friday hosted by Steve (Burnt Food Dude).
     
    Here is a link to actual Pole Cats 
    Ghost was actually after something and you'll see what below.  In the mean time while checking out Pole Cats I found a band by the same name.  What do you think of their music?
     
     
     
     
     

    5.  So this was the object of Ghosts attention.  He was trying to catch this little fellow.  - No interesting facts here about squirrels but rather an odd question.  Does anyone know why they would have a padlock on this bar aparatus on the pole? I mean come on...who is going to climb a telephone pole and steal it?

     
    Now here is my entry for
    Feline Art: 
     
                                                    "The Watcher"

    This is Ghost watching that squirrel just before he chased it up that pole in the photo above.

    Here is the original version as well:


    Have a wonderful Friday.

    Thursday, November 20, 2014

    Good Fences - Vines and Snow

    It's a very nasty weather day here today, schools are closed and roads are an icy nightmare. So I'll be staying inside with a nice cup of hot coffee and joining in on the fun of GOOD FENCES hosted by Theresa from the (Run-a-round Ranch Report.)

    Click to Enlarge all Photos.

    I spotted this vine creeping through the chain link fence at my mom's house a couple of weeks ago (before the cold snap hit) and thought it looked cool and would make for a great entry for Good Fences so I snap a few photos of it.





    I just love the curly tendrils.

    Next I made it outside one day after our snow arrived.  Which by the way didn't amount to more the 1-2 inches but the darn stuff has stuck around on the ground due to the below freezing temps we've had here.  Anyway I decided to photograph the top of the chain link fence that borders our property and the neighbor on the other side of us.



    Finally I spotted this magpie flying off with a peanut and of course it flew right near the neighbors fence that lives across the street from us so how could I not include this shot.


    Of course I'd rather we were back to the weather in the vine shots but I'm afraid that's not happening any time soon.

    So be sure to stop in at Theresa's blog and check out all the other great fence shots.  - Stay Warm and Safe.