Willy Nilly Friday Five - July 1, 2022

 

My gosh it's been over a month now since I've posted here.  - I guess it's because I rarely go anywhere (other than the grocery store or out to eat) so I don't seem to have much to post about.  - Okay, whining over...

 CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

For today I'm joining in on WILLY NILLY FRIDAY FIVE  hosted by Tom (The backroads traveller)

 

 1. Going back to May for a couple of shots... Just never posted them but wanted to share.  My mom's lilac tree was stunning this year (until the heavy rains came).  I captured this shot of some of the blooms.

 

2.  I try to document hubby's accidents so I can remember when they happened. - This one was May 5.  He'd been out of town working and after he got home that night he told us he'd fallen and bumped his head, elbow and knee.  After looking at the "goose egg" on his forehead we went to the Urgent Care.  - No broken bones and they didn't think he had a concussion so after a couple of hours they sent him home.  - He felt pretty sore for several days afterwards.

3.  He requested Meatloaf for his birthday in May and since I hate mixing it up my daughter and "Red" came over and helped out!
 

4. I got to attend a small circus with my daughter and granddaughter. This was one of the acts.  I shot this for 52 Frames Triangular Composition theme. - It made the (52 Picks album!)

5. Some strange looking clouds I noticed one night. Shot in BW

6. Every year a bunch of White Pelicans shows up and I happened to spot them one day.  - I decided to try and get a better view of them so I drove to a different spot and started walking down to the water.  Just before I got there they decided to fly so I only managed to capture this image of them.

7.  Bought a new lily from a catalog and planted it.  It should look like this one from the catalog...

This is what I got....  I'm not sure that I like it, what do you think?

 

8. While driving around trying to find something for the Everything In Focus challenge I spotted these weeds growing in a wheat field and snapped a shot of them just because.

 

That's it for this round. - Hopefully I'll get out more and snap more pictures like I use to so I'll have more to share.

 

Willy Nilly Friday Five - July 24, 2020

Thank you everyone who commented on yesterday's post. - I appreciated all the nice comments and condolences about losing my mom.  - While it's been a rough year it's also had some good moments and I know she would want me celebrating those more then focusing on the not so good moments.

So today I am joining Tom (The backroads Traveller) for:
WILLY NILLY FRIDAY FIVE

1.  PURPLE RAIN
Earlier this year after a rain our driveway was loaded with the purple blossoms from my mom's Lilac Tree.  It looked as if the sky had dropped, purple rain down from heaven.

 Sharing the song, Purple Rain as well.

I'm not a huge fan of Prince but I thought it would be fun to make all my photos song titles today & include some version of the song in my post.

2. YAKETY YAK
Took this photo of some pelicans earlier this summer.  Thought the one with it's beak open was comical.

3. POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE

Like so many graduates this year our daughter did not have a regular graduation ceremony.  Instead it was done virtually.  She still wanted to wear her cap and gown and we had a little ceremony at home while we watched her graduation on the television screen.
She graduated with a degree in Cosmetology from the local Community College.  We are proud of her for seeing this through. 

4. ANTS MARCHING
One thing around here this year that's been (not so good) are ants, ants & more ants. - A neat little way to get rid of them,  Borax, Powdered Sugar & Maple Syrup with a little water.  Mix it up well and put it inside pop bottles, cans, anything that a pet wouldn't get into.(When ants eat the borax bait, it interferes with their digestive system and eventually kills them. ... That's because, for effective ant control, you need to eliminate the queen and the rest of the colony. Worker ants will consume the borax bait and bring it back to the colony for the other ants to eat. )  Here's the can I had on my office floor yesterday.  Within minutes there were loads of those nasty little critters.  Today only a few are feeding. 

 Looked up songs about ants,  Found this one by Dave Mathews Band (never heard it before) It doesn't really have much to do with ants but hey, it fits my idea so who cares.

5. CHERRY RED - Around here summer is filled with loads of fresh local fruit,  Cherries being one of them.  I've been enjoying these lucious Bing Cherries all week.

 Again the song has nothing to do with cherries but I needed one to keep the theme going.  So here it is:

Plus I actually like ZZ Top.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos and the music.  Have a great weekend.

Willy Nilly Friday Five

Happy Friday! - Summer is here and life continues to be busy. 

Joining Tanya Today for WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE.

1.  One of my blogging friends, (M.K. - Through a Glass Darkly) has posted a couple of time about her husband and his "accidents"  That last one he hurt his hand (HERE) and then early this month she posted an accident of her own (HERE) - So I'd like to make her feel a little better by sharing that on Wednesday I got a call from my hubby saying he was back in town.  He was supposed to be up in the mountains building a deck so I was a bit suspicious about why he was back in town so soon.  His reply...I'm on my way to the ER, I was cutting some wood and it kicked back and sliced my hand open.  Here is is injury in all it's Glory or should that be...Gory!

2.  Last year for May Day my hubby bought me a small blue Hydrangea plant. I've never had much luck growing them as they usually die during the winter months.  Here is a photo of last years plant..

The plant was such a pretty blue color.  We had a super cold spell this past winter and tons of snow so I pretty much figured the plant was a goner.  Low & behold this spring I noticed a small plant next to the stake I had put near the bush and it turns out the bush survived the winter.  It doesn't have near the big bloom on it this year and this year it's.......

Purple!  -  It's still very pretty and I'm so excited that it actually survived the winter.  I hope it makes it through again come this winter (which I dread).

3.  Every year my niece calls me to let me know when the Pelicans I've posted about before (Here )  arrive near her house.  I went up the other morning to see if I could find any of them.  Sadly there were only 3 present along with a ton of seagulls but it made for a nice bird photo to share.

4.  Recently on June 9th Adam West (aka Batman - The Original) passed away.  Since he was born here in Walla Walla and attended Whitman College they are trying to get a statue of him as Batman erected here in town.  In the mean time the Marcus Whitman Hotel is shining the "Bat Light" every night to honor his memory.

5.  Just because I haven't shared a cute photo of Caramel Honeybun lately.....

Playing in the newspaper I had taken out of some boxes of stuff I was unpacking. -  She's just so adorable!


Edited to add...The other day I received an Automated Phone call from Direct TV for my mom's account (I used our number for her account since she doesn't hear that well) - The voice said,  "This is Direct TV with balance information on your account.  You have a Past Due balance of......
Zero Dollars and Zero Cents.  - What!!!! - Everyone says I should send them a check for that amount. 

Have a great weekend & thanks for stopping by.

One Four Challenge & 31 Days of Inspiration

Yes I will be doing 2 different things today so make sure you look at the entire post.

Joining Robyn (Captivate Me) for the October One Four Challenge.

This month I chose a photo I've had for some time (since 2014) and have just been waiting for a chance to do something with it.

This month I'm starting by showing you the Original SOOC shot first with no editing other then my watermark.

 

For my Week 1 Edit I decided to first straighten and crop the photo.  Then I wanted it to be more "cheery" so I adjusted the lighting and added in a little more color.  I also cloned out the dried up bush in front of the cherub and the yellow sign off the pole on the right side of the photo.  - All work was done on Pic Monkey.

 Week #1

 

 

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Now for Day 5 of my 31 Days of Inspiration I submit the following photo and quote:

 

 

 



Wishing you a wonderful week.

Friday Fun - July 24, 2015

It's Friday and since Tanya is on break from Willy-Nilly Friday Five I thought I'd go ahead and post my Five Things anyway for you to enjoy.  Plus I'll join in on a few other fun memes.

I have another "theme" post here today.  See if you can guess what the theme is.
1.

                                            Bees Flying into a bee box

 2.

                   P-17 Flying Fortress - Wings of Freedom Tour - We went to the airport to see the planes but I captured this shot as the planes were leaving.  This was over my mom's house.

3.

                      Tiger Swallow Tail on Thistle - Mill Creek Drive  (I've been waiting all summer to capture a butterfly photo and finally got one.)

4.

Pelicans Flying over Mill Creek - I've got more photos of these amazing birds that I need to share.

5.

                Dragonfly on Rocks - I'm not familiar with the name of this dragonfly though.

6. - Bonus as it still fits the theme. - Joining (Life's Sweets and Spices) here for Orange You Glad It's Friday.

I spotted this Food Truck while heading out on a drive and had to stop and take a picture of it.  It's not often you see a bright orange truck like this one.




So did you all guess my theme?  (Things With Wings)
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Also joining Hilary for Follow Friday for Fill-In Fun.

The statements:

1. I love the _____
2. ___ isn’t my favorite _____
3. I always cry____ .
4. I used to ____ but I ____

My Answers:

1.  I love the time I spend visiting so many wonderful blogs and learning new things from them.

2. Summer isn't my favorite season.  - It's way to HOT here for my taste. 

3.  I always cry at things like Parade's or Weddings or Graduations.  I'm very sentimental.

4.  I used to enjoy making handmade cards but I rarely take the time now to stamp and make cards.   I should get back into it though as it's fun and relaxing.



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Joining now for Feline Friday
(The Burnt Food Dude) and Feline Art



This is our cat Spooky-boo playing in a bag. -  I edited the photo below on BeFunky and IPiccy and PicMonkey to share with Feline Art

 

 



 

 

 

 



Good Fences#47 and Photo Art

Welcome!  -  Gosh it seems like I just can't seem to get caught up visiting all your blogs and I apologize for not commenting as often as I'd like to.  Just know I so enjoy all your blogs and the fact you stop by mine as well.

So let's joining in on the fun of GOOD FENCES hosted by Theresa from, The Run-a round Ranch Report.)

Last week we had a bout an hour where the sun actually came out and I took advantage by taking a little walk around the neighborhood.  I knew there was this neat looking wall/fence that I wanted to photograph so that's where I went.

This is what it is made out of.  Concrete Blocks.

Here is part of it.

Looking down the full length of the fence towards the street.  I too this shot from the alley.  YOu can see how muddy it was due to all the rain we'd had.


The best part of the fence though was what I found at the end where it connected with a little storage shed.........

I thought the gate was super cool looking.  What do you think?

 

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So now for some digital art.

Joining in with NAF this week where the optional theme was birds.

I chose to use a photo of Pelican's taken last summer.  I edited the photo using the Posterize feature on PicMonkey

 Original below:

I cropped the photo first and then used the Posterize feature and also bit of color adjustment, added sunlight and the Urbane look from PicMonkey to get the finished piece.  I rather like how it turned out.



Also joining Cherie from The Froelich Diaries again for her new photo art meme (Photo Art Thursday).  Please stop by her blog and view her work.  It's pretty awesome.  I'm not really versed in using layers and such so my piece is nothing that fancy but it was fun.

This is the original photo.  Coleen and I spotted this bottle tree and a few other interesting things in a yard recently so I stopped and snapped some photos.





Next up I played around with the photo and got this version:

Finally after playing some more I ended up with this:

  It totally changed the look of the original for sure.  I hope you have enjoyed the Good Fences and the Photo Art.  Have a great day.

Wild Bird Wednesday - Invasion of the Pelican's

Welcome. -  I'm sitting at the computer the other night when the phone rings.  I answer it and my niece is on the other end asking me if I remembered last year when she told me about the Pelicans showing up near her house and if I still wanted to take pictures of them because they were back again.

I couldn't pass that up so off I went with Coleen and my mom to see the Pelicans. 

So for Wild Bird Wednesday I bring you the invasion of the Pelicans.  I keep wanting to call them Penguins for some weird reason.

Here's my first view of them:  Click to enlarge photos.

There were about 40-50 of these Pelican's all spread out across one of the spillways in Mill Creek.  My niece's property is very near the creek so they get to see all kinds of birds there.

Here you can see them all lined up and a bicyclist riding on the trail on the other side of the creek.

 Same grouping, no cyclist in the shot.

Getting closer

Here the Pelicans have noticed me and started swimming back up stream.

I love this shot.  I just find their beaks so fascinating to look at.

A lone one off from the rest of the Pelicans (but not for long) and you will notice a black bird flying past the pelican although it's blurred.

 

 

 

Here they appear to be trying to decide if they want to swim down the spillway or just stay where they are.

They caught a lot of people's attention for sure.  Here a woman watches from the other side.

Coleen got in on the act taking pictures of them so I snapped a shot of her.

Pelicans weren't the only birds there that day.

I caught a "glimpse" of a head in the reeds just about the area where the Pelicans were and then it emerged ever so briefly from the reeds.

 





 

A Heron was also present and some other birds flying around that I have no clue as to what they were.

 

Just before we left I snapped this shot of some ducks swimming further down from the Pelicans.

 

 

 

All in all it was quite a thrill to see that many Pelicans in one spot.  My niece says they show up every year and hang around for about 2 months and then they disappear until the following year.

 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing them as much as I did.