Photo Art Friday - September 6, 2013

Can you believe we are already one week into September already!  Time is just going by so quickly.

It's time once again to join Bonnie (Pixel Dust Photo Art) for Photo Art Friday - Which now takes place the 1st Friday of every month unless otherwise stated.

This months theme is:  Water.

I took some photos awhile back of the fountain in our local park (Pioneer Park) and will be sharing them today.

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS:

First up a Collage of the fountain:

Next up a few close-ups of parts of the fountain.  I did very little editing on these photos.

 

 

Then I played around with cropping sections of the photos and adding a few effects from Pic Monkey and Be Funky

 

 

 

 

Finally a really close-up cropped and probably my favorite of all the photos.

 

Do stop by and check out the gallery.  It's worth it. 

Tuesday Muse - Sept. 3, 2013

Well Labor Day weekend has come and gone and while it's still officially Summer,  Fall is starting to peek around the corner saying,  "Here I Come."

Joining Nancy from A Rural Journal for Tuesday Muse.


We just celebrated our local Fair and Frontier Days and I'm sharing a shot from the Fair that I took last week when Coleen and I spent the morning there.

Click to Enlarge:

                                       Summer's Last Hoorah!


And because today is also the official start of the School year I am also sharing Coleen's back to school photos.

I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

 

Well it's also the official start of our Fall Bowling league so wish me luck.

Songography and SHS - Sept. 1, 2013

Hello & Welcome.  It's time to join in on the fun of Songography and Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

First up is,  Song-ography brought to by Kathy from You'll Shoot Your Eye Out.  This weeks song is:  If I Had a Million Dollars by The Bare Naked Ladies.  -  I must confess to never hearing this song until I listened to it off Kathy's blog.  I'm just not up on current musical groups I guess. 

The song is about what you would do if you had a million dollars.  Oh the possibilities...I'd love to say that I'd donate it to a worthy charity or something noble but if I was honest I'd have to say that I'd probably spend it on things like a new house, a new car, do some traveling, help out my family etc...or perhaps I'd buy one of these and ride around town like a big shot. - Not really but doesn't it look cool.

    Now let's move on to Scavenger Hunt Sunday brought to you by Ashley from Ramblings and Photo's.

This weeks prompts:  Down, Shadow, Flow, Tip and Beyond.

All prompts this week were taken at the local Fair or Fair Parade.
CLICK TO ENLARGE - The detail is so much better on this next shot if you do.

DOWN:  I love this shot.  Just look at the expressions on the faces.

SHADOW:

This horse was doing some dance moves during the parade and I caught this shadow shot of rider and horse.

FLOW:

Coleen and my niece were blowing up balloons here in a race to see who could pop their balloon first.  I caught the flow of their water guns in this shot.  I'm happy to say that Coleen won and got to choose another stuffed animal for her growing collection.  She was pleased as punch.

TIP:

Coleen trying unsuccessfully to not tip over in this big inflatable ball.  She had a blast in rolling around inside that ball.  Well worth the $8 I paid to let her do it.

BEYOND:  Just one of the views from beyond the top of the Ferris Wheel.

That's it for this week.  Don't forget to stop by Kathy & Ashley's blogs to check out the other participants.  Have a great week.

Random 5 Friday

                                                                                                             

 

It's Friday!!! - You know when I was working that phrase always excited me.  These days, not so much since I'm home all the time and the days pretty much seem the same.  But it is exciting to be able to join Nancy (A Rural Journal) for Random 5 Friday.

 

 

1.  No squirrels are showing up at the sight of the vacant trees but the Crows are still enjoying the peanuts! - This little guy is on our back fence heading towards the squirrel feeder where they still visit on a daily basis.  I just don't see them unless I'm out back.

 

2.  I saw a Humming Bird this week.  Sadly I didn't have my camera handy.  Still I was thrilled to spot it and enjoyed watching as it landed for a few brief seconds on a nearby wire before flying off across the street.

 

3.  The insects have been showing up more this past week.  We found a Preying Mantis, a Katydid and an ugly Spider this week.  See below.  I don't mind photographing them but this thing ran at me...Eeeek!!!

 

 

 

He's lucky I didn't stomp on him after that. - Coleen spotted the Katydid on my mom's rose bush.

 

 

 

4.  I enjoy baking and here lately I've had the chance to do more as I like to have some kind of a refreshment to serve at the Bible Study.  Last night it was Soft Lemonade Cookies.  Click on link for recipe.  They turned out great and everyone loved them.

 

 

5.  I'm off to take Coleen to the Fair!

Tuesday Muse - August 27, 2013

Won't you join me as we take in Tuesday Muse brought to you by the wonderful Nancy, (A Rural Journal).

I'm going to try and remember the words behind my piece today since it's already started out to be a not so simplistic day.  We have an "ant" problem in our house and this morning I discovered a new trail of the hideous and annoying creatures so I had to move boxes, pick up magazines, spray and vacuum the floor in the hopes of keeping them at bay.  Seriously we need to get an exterminator here one of these days so that we can rid ourselves of these tiny little intruders.

But I digress so without further ado here is my entry for Tuesday Muse.

Click to Enlarge for detail.

Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great art. They seem to be the purpose of God for his whole creation.

                              -Richard Holloway-

So today while some things may not be as simplistic as I'd like them to be I'm going to try to reflect on God's creation (even the ants) and enjoy His beauty.

Here is the unedited version:

Don't forget to stop by Nancy's blog and check out the other participants.
Have a great day.