Take Time To Stop and Smell the Roses...or Tulips

This may look like a rose , but it is a tulip

.

This post is linked with Texture Tuesday.

Textures ~ KK_Unexpected, KK_Warmwhisper, & KK_Lisa

Action ~  KK_Redwine

Font ~ Jenna Sue from Font Squirrel

From Wanda's Garden to You

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, 

buy a loaf of bread with one, 

and a lily with the other."

~Old Chinese Proverb

 This post is linked with:

 Macro Monday

NF Blo_Ma

Wanda's Cardinal

 "Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent 

if no birds sang there except those that sang best."

~Henry Van Dyke

This post is link with:

The Bird D'Pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

NF Winged

Long Live Our Frogs

We have so many frogs at our place we cannot count them. Apparently the hot tub turned goldfish pond and the other smaller pond on our sheltered back deck are very attractive spots for them to spend their days and nights. Geeze, do they make a LOT of racket! When my daughter comes home, they actually keep her awake at night. I have to put a loud, white noise machine in her bedroom so she can sleep. This year we have Peepers for the first time, and they REALLY do make a racket. Haven't seen them, but I hear them off and on all day long.
                        (double click and then click again to enlarge)

"I'd kiss a frog even if there was no promise of

 a Prince Charmingpopping out of it. I love frogs.

~Cameron Diaz

This post is linked with Camera Critters.

Some Shadows from Richmond and Lexington

Gene and Patti's Kitchen in Richmond

Our Homeplace on the Creek

(double click and then click again to enlarge)

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

~Mahatma Ghandi

This post is linked with Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Shhhh...I'm Thinking

 Last weekend I went to see Eloise in her school play, The Wiz.  

She was a flying monkey. After we got home, I took this picture of her.
(double click and then click again to enlarge)

"We owe it to each other - and to our children and grandchildren - to leave our planet in a better state than when we found it."
~Christopher Dodd

This post is linked with Weekend in Black and White.

A Walk With My Granddaughter, Eloise

Our Walk at the End of a Very Happy Day

Richmond, VA
(double click and then click again to enlarge)

"Sugar and spice and everything nice, 
that's what little girls are made of."

This post is linked with Friday Fences.

Memories from a Summer Past

From the Archives

At the Boathouse ~ Sequim, WA

Our Washington State Vacation ~ Summer 2012

~There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them."
~Jo Walton

This post is linked with Weekend Reflections.

Manipulating Light on Chrome

"All water has a perfect memory 
and is forever trying to get back to where it was."

~Tony Morrison

This post is linked with Weekend in Black and White.

Just Look Around You To See Nature's Beauty

As Buddy I were driving over to Richmond last Friday for his 10K run the next morning and for me to have my playdate with GD, Eloise, I took these photos while we were moving along at 70mph...with the exception of the shadow shots along the Afton Mountain fence guard. They are all SOOC with the exception of some cropping to place into the collages. 

This post is linked with:

Skywatch Friday

Friday Fences

Weekend Reflections

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Love One Another

There are no words to express all of our sadness over the events in Boston.

Why can't people live by the Golden Rule?
It is so easy.

Do unto others as they would have them do unto you.

"There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster."

~ Dalai Lama XIV

This post is linked with:
 Worth a Thousand Words 
Wordless Wednesday at Project Alecia

Some Things I Love To Do

Sit on the Front Porch

Watch the Birds in the Tree and Photograph Them

Look at and Listen to the Creek

Drive to Richmond to See My Granddaughter

Stop atop Afton Mt. with Bud to Look at the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

 Enjoy the Bursting Color from the Redbuds

Do Make Up with Eloise

  Play Dress Up with My Girl in the High Heels I gave Her for Her Birthday

These are just a few of the things I love to do in My World.

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from our own actions."
~ Dalai Lama

This post is linked with Our World Tuesday.

Napoleon and Great Things

This post is linked with:
 Macro Monday
NF Blo-Ma
Floral Friday Fotos

Friday's Shadows on the Creek

                               Friday morning after the storm, the creek went down and by noon 

the sun was out with shadows stretching all across the yard. 

I just  had to stop packing up the car for Buddy's 10K in Richmond to take these pictures. 

I will put up some great race pictures this week. They are a hoot!

"Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, 

the light and dark which that thing provides."

 ~ Junichiro Tanizaki

This post is linked with Shadow Shot Sunday.

Trouble

This is Buddy's fat cat, Trouble,who lives atop the bed. LAZY!!!!! He likes no one but Buddy..not even sweet little ol' me! Sadly, he does have to put up with me if he wants food while Bud hikes. That is the only time he comes near. Let people come into the house....he hides for safety. When we are out of town and my friend comes to feed him and Jack, she NEVER sees him. He's the Mystery Cat to all visitors.

This post is linked with Camera Critters.

What To Do With An Old Hot Tub

This is what we did with our old wooden hot tub from decades ago...we turned in into a goldfish pond and it works just beautifully. Every time we say we are going to pull it out and fill in that part of the deck, we think..."What would our fish do without us? and "What would we do without our fish?" The forested hill behind our house is what you are seeing on the right and on the left is the reflection of an upstairs bedroom and the roof. See the little goldfish popping up his head? He survived the winter along with the rest of his family :-) That always makes Bud and me very happy.

This is the correct orientation of the way I shot the picture. It looks like an upside down thicket of trees, the blue sky above, and what looks like some peculiar color of orange.

When I rotated the picture, then is looks like this, The trees appear more upright but the fish still look like fleeting orange. The yellow you see are the roots of one of the plants.

This post is linked with Weekend Reflections.

It's That Special Time of the Year ~ Bloodroot

DON'T PICK! JUST LOOK! ENDANGERED!

This photo is linked with Weekend in Black and White.

Blue Skies Before the Storm

Alone Community Cemetery-Bethany Lutheran Church Cemetery

Bethany Lutheran Church

The cemetery is off to the right of this road.

Another Country Driveway

"Living in a rural setting exposes you to so many marvelous things - the natural world and the particular texture of small-town life, and the exhilarating experience of open space."

~Susan Orlean

This post is linked with Skywatch Friday.