“How lovely yellow is.” Vincent Van Gogh This week Egidio has given us a chance to enjoy some warm colors – a perfect opportunity to leave behind the less vibrant shades of winter. I chose to open with a collage of beautifully warm yellow flowers. Somehow their fresh colors are enough to brighten even the…

“Withstanding the cold develops vigor for the relaxing days of spring and summer.” Arthur C. Crandall This week Anne leads us with a look at the weather – ever a topic for discussion no matter the time of year! Here on Kiawah winter is happily short-lived but now and then even we are subject to…

“The hills are alive with the sound of music.” Rodgers and Hammerstein This week Donna challenges us to illustrate Sound – which I will admit threw me for a bit of a loop as I thought…how does one illustrate sound? But of course once I spent a few minutes with my archives it turned out…

“Bread baking is one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony.” John Steinbeck This week Ritva joins us with her first challenge as a member of the Lens-Artists Team, and what a challenge she’s given us! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am not now, nor…

“Seeing shapes and colours without the burden of thinking about what they are will liberate your creative mind.” Philippa Stanton This week John challenges us to focus on some key elements of photo composition. I’ve compiled my response using images from our visit to Scotland, which presented me with a wealth of options. In my…

“Will it go round in circles…” Billy Preston This week Ann-Christine invites us to share the wonder of circles – which, it seems, are everywhere! I decided to take a walk to look for some new, local circles and my opening collage highlights some of my results. Except for the bocci balls all of the…

“We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” Winston Churchill Interestingly, this week Patti has challenged us to share some cityscapes. Coincidentally my husband and I spent last week in New York City, with perhaps as many cityscapes as anywhere in the world! Sadly, the weather was especially uncooperative so my images are cloudy and/or…

“Artists are controlled by the life that beats in them, like the ocean beats on the shore.” Dorothea Lange This week Sofia asks us to share images of water in motion and for me the biggest challenge was paring down my choices, As one who lives at the beach, water surrounds me, and it is…

“Fly with love in your heart.” Anthony T. Hincks This week Ritva has challenged us to include abstract images in our responses. Her post does a wonderful job of describing and illustrating the concept. Since she has explained and shown abstracts so beautifully, I will simply add that I find abstract art compelling when done…

“Everything living has a rhythm. Do you feel your music?” Michael Jackson This week Egidio gives us a truly fun challenge – to connect music with our images. Music – honestly, where would we be without it? Whether you love classical, pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, country, soul (well you get the idea), music is…

“…ducks and geese are foolish things, and must be looked after, but girls can take care of themselves.” Washington Irving This year our granddaughter graduates from High School – how the heck did THAT happen?! You know what they say – “it seems like only yesterday…”. – and then you blink and somehow they’ve grown…

“The bridge between success and failure is hope.” Thomas Jefferson This week Patti leads us in a very timely challenge – Hopeful. As the daily news grows ever more bleak, hope becomes more important than ever. Yes, we have had frightening times in our history, but this is our world, NOW. We humans don’t seem…

“Being that close to the animals, I get a real sense of intimate connection to them.” Nick Brandt With thanks to Donna for her Connections challenge, I’ve opened this week with one of my favorite subjects, the majestic creatures of Africa. I’ve featured them many times throughout the years but couldn’t resist sharing some examples…

This week Ritva gives us an opportunity to rethink the way we position our subjects against a background. Often times what surrounds the subject can make or break and image. My opening set of images illustrates how each has been influenced based on that decision. Flower images can easily demonstrate how the feel of an…

“Every one sees the world differently. Through their own lens. I’m lucky that mine happens to be attached to a camera.” Tim Mantoani This week Egidio has given us quite a challenge! My world happens to be extremely busy at the moment, such that I nearly skipped the blog this week but I just couldn’t…

Last Photo for June Your last photo doesn’t have to be on the very last day of the month if you didn’t take any photos on that day. Maybe it was earlier in the month when the last photo was taken. So let’s see what you have for June The rules are simple:1. Post the…

Last Photo for June Your last photo doesn’t have to be on the very last day of the month if you didn’t take any photos on that day. Maybe it was earlier in the month when the last photo was taken. So let’s see what you have for June The rules are simple:1. Post the…

The usual (two day) summer heatwave arrived this week in some parts of the UK. In the southwest it reached around 22C on Wednesday, but there was coastal fog. The most irritating part of this week has been the influx of seagulls leaving their horrid white gunge all over the windows and car. Usually when…

~  “‘Cause you were mine for the summer / Now we know it’s nearly over…” ~ “Summer Love,” One Direction ~ flowers passion flowing a brief lover’s romance cause you were mine for the summer precious ~ ~ I chose to write a cinquain; a five-line poem with a syllabic count of 2 / 4 /…

Welcome to the last Friday of the month. Gosh, it is just me or did this month fly by? Elsa here and I’m joined by Wilson, the House Pony  with today’s edition of Nature Friday where we join our pals from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to click on the link to see…

One Day, or a Thousand Time is swallowed like an egg,the goddess laughs in diamond sparkles,in chocolate chants, rich and earthly she tells you the red rocks sleep,but you dream of death while fingers point,not me, no, never– and the rain pounds rustinto seafoam, the surf whispers you worship fools—stillyou wait, wonder if the mist…

Here are a few recent photographs I shot while hiking the trails of Tennessee. You can follow the links (below) to see prints available… Thanks for stopping by! Shots From the Trail

garden seamstresses designing patterns by the yard Batik Irises *Batik is a centuries-old form of fabric design where wax and dye are used to make intricate repeating patterns. In response to Mark at Seasonwords Week 26: “Irises Bloom” where this week the haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu about the irises. Patterns – Haiku…

BREAKING NEWS! My friend, Sue, says there is a lid for every pot, which means there is the perfect someone for everyone. Well, friends, you’ll be happy to know that Elmer has finally found his match. The dude did it. He got the girl, and what a girl he got. The lovely Irma took one…

A STORY IN WHICH I’M REMINDED OF A MOVIE You, my gentle readers and kind lurkers, may remember that last summer I mentioned our neighbor bought an electric robotic lawnmower that when programmed cuts the grass making perfectly straight, amazingly pretty, latticework lines across his yard. I nicknamed the machine Yertle because as it wanders…

(Graphic by Nigel Byng. Thank you, Nigel!) This morning, Maggie Watson of Ephemeral Encounters fame posted a lovely review of my debut poetry book, Ariel’s Song: Published Poems, 1987 – 2023, on her blog. I’m pleased and honored to share it with you here. How Maggie describes herself: “I am Maggie Watson, an Indie Poet…

For MAK, my teacher. My first RDP Friday. Feelings blow in the wind. Sometimes they become stagnant with stale air. The humidity tries to suffocate. Tests, diagnosis, and debates. Worries, wins, and losses. What really matters? For the birds don’t care. The flowers still bloom. “Look at the birds of the air; they do not…

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/06/27/day-of-travel-doors/ During my 2 1/2 day visit to Oslo, TC and I visited Vigeland Sculpture Park. I shared pictures of the Tower of Bodies in a previous post. This post will share some of the doors, naturally, as well as the entrance gate and a few more sculptures.…

I saw my brother Scott a couple of weekends ago for the first time since Christmas. He gave me a big hug and said, “How’s it goin’, Sis?” “I can’t complain,” I said with a half-smile. “I mean, I could.” Both corners of my mouth perked up. “It just wouldn’t do me any good.” And…

For every blessing  heartache’s around the corner  hold yourself gently Life is both beautiful and painful.  Each a blessing, that opens us to the moment.  When we attach to either the beautiful or painful we can’t open to the subtle shifts that are changing in front of us.  We get afraid the happy moments will…

As we celebrate the Great Outdoors on this last day of June, check out this week’s landscapes of Yosemite. Sunday Stills: #Landscapes of the Great Outdoors

Freedom by Langston Hughes Freedom will not come Today, this year             Nor ever Through compromise and fear. I have as much right As the other fellow has             To stand On my two feet And own the land. I tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course. Tomorrow is another day. I do…

Slipping away as a fast moving rivergathering quickly into rapids rollinginto white impending danger What started as two meandering creeks merged lovingly into one solid streambecome swamped by too many estuaries Their banks crumble beneath the onslaughtunable to bear the weight of the outside interference and heavy flood waters Fallen logs clog the brook’s waysplitting…

Callie, our 5-year-old tortie, adopted Feb. 14, 2020, had her annual physical by our wonderful and caring mobile vet. Our little diva is a nibbler and meows loudly for her treats. It’s difficult to resist those big gold eyes, plus she pouts and has a temper tantrum carries on when she doesn’t get her way.…

I was very excited to learn that four of my haiku would appear in this collection edited and compiled by Gabriela Marie Milton of Literary Revelations. This delightful book of haiku by 160 international poets most certainly did not disappoint and I am proud to have been a tiny part of its whole. What Amazon…

Landscape photography is more than just pixels, in my humble opinion. It’s about capturing the beauty unfolding in front of me. Capturing the awe. Capturing the feeling. Capturing a moment in time. I’m not always successful at my quest, but even if those sights and moments don’t resonate in the photograph exactly as hoped, the…

Remember school days and how we would play like there was no tomorrow? Now the castles we made are the price we must pay or flounder in oceans of sorrow. Roaming wild and free, building houses in trees as worlds waltzed to discordant tunes– like a zephyr through grass, gilded summer days passed, left us…

It is summer. Here in New England with summer being so short (lasting really only two. months) we try to cram in as much summer living as we can. This weekend the Parks and Rec department scheduled inn the annual Food Truck Festival. It was all hands on deck for this huge event, so my…

Had a yummy smoothie: banana, strawberries, moscato grapes, blueberries, blackberries, kale, and water. Went for a walk 3 times around the block. The clouds showed me some love. Couldn’t resist the urge to paint and the result was this: I have had a headache all day and finally took some Excedrin before writing this post.…

A WEEKEND OF FAMILY AND PRAYER