Willy-Nilly Friday Five - October 5, 2018

Welcome - Yes,  I'm still alive. - The last couple of weeks though I wondered about that. - Caught a bad cold that turned into that nasty, hacky cough and just didn't feel up to much at all.

Anyway here I am today joining Tom (The Backroads Traveller) for:
WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE

1.  One evening a about a week ago Coleen came inside and told me to grab my camera quick and come outside.  She spotted this on one of my Azaleas bushes.  We took it off the bush so I could get some photographs.  The darn thing was nearly 3 inches long.  After doing some research we discovered this is the caterpillar of the White-Lined Sphinx Moth  If you click on the link you can see the moth and the caterpillar which comes in two colors.  Green and Black like the one we found.

 

2.  Hubby had a fall about a week and a half ago.  Slipped on some scaffolding and did this to his knee.  -  It's healed up now but it looked pretty gross when it happened.

3.   Two of my entries for the 52 Frames Photography Group I participate in.  The first one was for the theme: Five and the next one was Inspired by a photograph.  - Lately I've been having fun with humorous photography as you can see from these shots.  I hope you find them amusing.

 

 

 

 

4.  I've also spotted some interesting things on cars/vehicles lately.

 

 



 

Took this one because Coleen likes anything that has skulls on it.

 

Spotted this next one in the parking lot at the grocery store.

 



 

5.  Fall is in the air.  Spotted this beautiful bunch of trees while out on a drive yesterday.

 





 

6. Bonus shadow shot.  Some flowers in my moms garden.  I though it looked like there was a little bird sitting on a branch in the pattern of the shadow.

 



That's it for today.  - Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend.

 

 In honor of the arrival of Autumn in the US your musical selection today is:  Leaves that are Green.

 







Book Review - Reason to Breathe

Welcome! - Today I am reviewing the book:  Reason to Breathe by Deborah Raney.

This is the 1st book in the Chandler Sisters series. - I love it when I get to start a new book series.

I like to read a variety of book genres and this series is listed as Christian Romance.

I love a good, clean romance story and this one turned out be just that.  From the moment I started reading the book I was hooked on the Chandler sisters,  Phylicia, Joanna & Britt.


This book features Pyhlicia (Phee) as the main female character of the story.
The sisters have recently lost their mother and their father takes off to Florida leaving them to deal with the selling of their family home and trying to understand their father's unusual behavior and why he left them to deal with things on their own.

Their father arranges to have his business partner, Quinn to get the 3 sisters to agree to buying a piece of property with three (fixer-upper) cottages and renovate them to rent out to tourists. 

Along the way they learn a family secret that rocks one of the sisters and threatens to change everything they have ever believed about their parents.

So what I liked about this book was the camaraderie between the sisters, the mystery of the family secrets, the love story that begins to develop between Phee and Quinn and the way their faith binds them altogether.

It was a fun read and the characters were believable and interesting.  The best part was that there will be more books in the series!

If you are looking for a quick, easy and enjoyable romance story I would highly recommend this one.

I received an advance copy to read from Net Galley for my honest opinion of this book.

If you would like to read this book you can Pre-Order it HERE.

Willy Nilly Friday Five and 1000 Posts

Welcome! - Today is a "milestone" day for this blog.  This is my 1000th Post.  I started this blog back in September of 2007.  My first real post was this one:  featuring a Tortellini recipe.

Alot has changed since then but I'm still blogging (when I can) and enjoying sharing with those of you who continue to follow my blog. 

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS.

Up today for WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE:
1.  Wild Elderberries. - Now I've heard of people making Elderberry Wine but I've never tried it.

Found this website with several recipes to use Elderberries with.  Maybe I should give them a try sometime.  http://www.twineagles.org/elderberry-recipes.html

2.  Spotted this while out on a drive one afternoon:

Zebra or Horse or perhaps Zeborse!  Also there seems to be a photo bomber peeking over the top of this critter.

 

 

3.  Last weeks 52 Frame shot (Texture - was the theme)  - This is Eliza a handmade doll that Coleen made all by herself.  She's such a creative person.  I hesitate to call her a child anymore since she's 13 now.

 

This weeks theme was (Beautiful Chaos) and here is the photo I used:

 



4.  Another view of wheat fields after harvest.  That machine looks so tiny but I was high up on Scenic Loop shooting down into the valley.



5.  Creepy Crawly....This weeks Black and White Shot.

 

 



Featured Cat of the week:  Ghost  -  Isn't he a handsome cat.

Linking to FELINE FRIDAY

Musical Selection:

Here's to 1000 More Posts!

Gottcha Day

Today is Caramel Honeybun's "Gottcha Day." 

But before I share her photos.  Last month was,  Pepper's "Gottcha Day" and I forgot to post her picture so here goes:



That's Pepper when we first got her in August of 2015.  She was a kitten that someone had "dumped" and left to fend for herself until we mananged to catch her and bring her inside.  She adopted Coleen as her "person" but we all lover her very much.

Her she is today: This is a (Composite) shot I took of her yesterday.

 

 

 

 

Here she is with Coleen:

 



 

 

Now here is Caramel's photos:

Caramel as a kitten.  Look at those big ears and all that "kitten fuzz."

 

Here she is today:

 

She's grown into a beautiful cat.

 

Just for fun...

 

 

 

Happy "Gottcha Day" to Caramel and Pepper.  They are certainly well loved and keep us entertained.









Willly Nilly Friday Five and Feline Friday

Welcome!

Wow summer is almost officially over since Fall starts in 2 weeks.  Where did the time go?

Joining Tom (The Backroads Traveller) today for:
WILLY NILLY FRIDAY FIVE

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS

1.  The last time I posted for WNFF - I posted the photo below and promised to share a closer view of the sculpture so as promised below is a better view.

I really like this sculpture.  There was another one across the street that I'll share another time (got to keep you anticipating)

 

2.  We took a drive over the the Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland) to a music store last month.  On the way back I spotted a bunch of birds sitting on some rocks on the riverbank.  I spotted a Pelican perched on a large rock and asked hubby to stop so I could get a photo.  It was posing so nicely.  Well just as I got down to where I thought I could get a decent photo the birds all flew off and this is all I got.  (No Pelicans here, just Seagulls).

 

 

It still turned out pretty cool.  The reason the birds flew.....

 

 



 Someone let their dog out...oh that made me mad.

3.  I love the area we live in.  Lots of mountains and fields to visit.  Took this shot of a plowed field while drive up Scenic Loop last week.

 

I found the patterns rather fascinating.

 

4.  I participate in a group called 52 Frames and last week my Purple Cow was chosed as one of the 52 Committee Picks for the weekly theme.  The theme was,  "Purple."  -  Coleen helped me by making me an Oragami Cow.  I was inspired by the little poem:

The Purple Cow

Gelett Burgess

I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one!

 



 5.  More deer sightings.  Look at the impressive rack on the Buck.  I sure hope he makes it through hunting season.

 Bonus shot: 

A black and white of part of the Wedding Fountain in Pioneer Park.

 

My music selection today isn't my typical music style.  I was just surprised to learn that one of my favorite Hallmark Actresses (Alicia Witt) is also an accomplished pianist and singer.  I actually like her voice so may have to purchase some of her albums.

 

 



Something funny for FELINE FRIDAY:  (Comedy Plus)

 

 

Can't leave without sharing one of our kitties to:

 

 

 Not the clearest shot but I had to shot quickly before he sucked that little tongue back in!  -  This one is Bandit.