• Around home - Blog - Creativity - Outdoors - Photography

    A second look: summer photography wrap up

    I haven’t been using my “big camera” (my DSLR) all that much lately.

    Its a shame really since I love photography. Over the past couple weeks when the weather has cooperated, I’ve tried to get in the habit of using it again. I really need to keep up on my skills…I’ll be taking Senior pictures for Mini-me NEXT summer. Geesh…the time certainly flies.

    Take a look…

     

    9/23/2016

    2016 Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt wrap-up

    The summer has ended and so has the hunt for photos. I like to wrap things up with a recap of the old and any newly snapped photos. This year I only missed one on the list but got an alternative to takes it’s place. In the past I’ve gotten every single one including the alternates.

    1. A “wild heart” – a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn’t have to be a rock)summer photo huntHostas in my backyard

    2. A footprint or pawprint

    paw-print

    Husky paw print

    3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray

    bones-collageAt the orthopedist

    4. A book or magazine read during 2016

    books

    Lots of books…can’t stop reading…

    5. A porch or deck

    deck collage

    Trex Deck at the MN landscape Arboretum

    6. A camper (caravan)

    summer photo hunt

    Camper trailer

    7. A family gatheringsummer photo hunt

    Independence day gathering

    8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.summer photo huntObviously this isn’t my only creation of the summer…if you’d like to see more just browse around the blog. 🙂

    9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.summer photo hunt4th of July waterfight….a tradition

    10. A bicyclebikeAt a parking lot next to a state bike trail.

    11. Fresh producesummer photo huntBeans from my garden and CSA box

    12. A windowwindowThe broken remains of my drivers side window…you can read about it here.

    13. The moonsummer photo huntLucky low light shot of the moon over the house.

    14. A buffet of foodsummer photo hunt4th of July gather again…

    15. A team logoteamsSome of our beloved local teams…current and former.

    16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period

    map

    Mini-me and I traveled to Alexandria over the summer for a girls weekend.

    map-2This close-up map has both lakes that we stayed on…if you look closely you can see my reflection.

    17. Twinssummer photo huntI took a bit of liberty with this one just because it made me laugh.

    18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries cart

    Back to school stock up at Target

    19. A seasonal cocktail or beveragesummer drinkMoscow Mule…favorite summer drink!!

    20. Someone laughing

    This is the one I didn’t get mostly because I don’t show faces on my blog if at all possible.

    21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

    timely-photoI believe this one is self explanatory

    Alternatives – if you’re having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):
    alternative 1: a lighthouse

    No lighthouse either

    alternative 2: a baby (human or animal)

    alt-baby

    Can you see the baby? Cute little “O”.

    That about wraps it up. I’m not sure what happened to Rinda’s blog as it hasn’t been updated since June but I do know that the Facebook group has been active so I’ll be posting there. I do hope to continue with photo scavenger hunts…they are really fun and a real challenge at times to get creative and think outside the box.

     

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    Thanks for stopping by for Second on the 2nd.

     

  • Around home - Art - Blog - Creativity - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: great outdoors edition

    This weeks T stands for Tuesday is dedicated to the great outdoors. I wish I could take you on a current up to the moment tour but…its raining…again. You’ll have to settle for some photos that have been taken over the past week or so.

    Shall we start with the pest that is digging up my garden?

    Cute isn’t she…pain in my @$$ is what she is. Her and her now babies are digging up plants everywhere!!!! Did you notice she seems to be red and grey…I looked it up and there seems to be some crossing of the species. These squirrels are closer to grey squirrel size but with a red squirrel temperament. “Fantastic” she says dripping with sarcasm.

    We’ve also had a bunch of deer around eating my tiger lilies…I can’t blame this little fawn…mama left him rest in the tall grass by the fence.

    She’s looking at me like I’m the paparazzi….

    Here’s some adorable and equally destructive critters in the patch of clover my neighbor has in their yard.

    This robin and the cedar wax wings are busy eating the service berries from our tree like they do every year…the only problem is the berries seem to go right through them if you catch my drift.

    Do you notice the netting over my patio tomato plant? Squirrel deterrent. My in-laws used to have a huge strawberry patch…this was the leftover netting. Thank goodness!!

    I also have it on my deck boxes and the raised bed. Marvin is out on a supervised visit of the great outdoors on one of our non-raining moments.

    He’s such a handsome guy. I love how he poses for me.

    He enjoys sniffing the air, watching bugs and birds and generally lounging around.

    How do you like my new signs….

    My MIL bought them for me. There are a few more but I need to repaint to reflect what I actually have planted.

    My garden is finally looking pretty good. I’m excited to see how the yellow pear tomatoes do in this garden vs the raised bed by the deck.

    Yesterday I put up a few flags…immediately after placing this one atop the fence post on the garden this dragonfly landed. Must have been an excellent hunting position since he would not move even when I adjusted the flag.

    Marvin doesn’t love the heat…even though we’ve brushed and brushed him…he still has quite the coat. We know he’s warm when he does this… His other position is belly up on the floor. Poor baby…he’s a winter cat.

    Are you still with me…I know its a long post…

    For my art/beverage tie in we have this journal page. I kept meaning to post it but it never happened…as you can see by the date it’s a couple weeks old.

    I love how the book page shows through the napkin so much!!! The page really didn’t need a whole lot more in my opinion. A little recycled sari fabric and found text…done.

    Tuesday has lots of errands in store getting ready for the Independence Day holiday.

    What are you doing today?
  • Blog

    T Tuesday: thrifted treasures edition

    Hello and welcome to another edition of T Stands for Tuesday!

    Lately when its not frigid or snowing, I’ve been doing a bit of thrift store shopping. Mini-me has gone a few times as well. She has found some really awesome clothes for herself. Me…not so much in the clothing department but I have found some craft supplies and home decor items.

    Such as this cute word pillow for the couch. I love it! 

    I also picked up this lovely red tray and the craft supplies in it. Frankly I don’t know if I’ll use the cards as craft supplies but they were so cute and reminded me of my childhood. They were a must have for me.

    Speaking of supplies…I finally finished the tea in this tin! I’ve been wanting to use the tin in my craft room as an organizer. Now if I could just remember my original intention for it. 🙂

    Since today was a workshop day for teachers, Mini-me and I had the day off. Marvin was very confused. He likes routines. He spent the day taking turns following each of us around the house, curiously watching.

    BTW–Mini-me did really great in her tournament over the weekend. She once again shot a personal best. A whole 21 points higher than the previous week. And get this…she shot left handed after shooting right handed for over a year.

    You can see her shooting left on this side at the most recently…as opposed to right at all previous tournaments. Crazy huh? And yes, Mini-me has almost waist length hair.

    Tuesday has work, archery (thrifting time for me) and an evening meeting. It’s going to be a long day!

    What are you doing today?