Symbols – A WordPress Photo Challenge

This week Jen H. over at WordPress Photo Challenge has chosen the subject “symbol” for this week’s photo challenge. I kept thinking of the symbols that I have seen throughout my travels. Here we go!

An Alaskan native art symbol…

Native art

The lines shapes and designs in this glass roof, painted by Native Americans, are were found in the desert of AZ.

Lines, shapes, designs – Geometry!

Petroglyphs certainly tell a story! Click on this photo twice to get a close up of something that is thousands of years old.

Petroglyphs

Stained glass created to re-create a symbol.

Stained Glass – 2

Symbolic art…

Another piece of art on the outside of the building

There you have it! A variety of symbols…Have a terrific Friday and be well!

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They’re Back!

In the late summer, early fall, the praying mantis lay their eggs. Over the winter to late spring, they do their thing inside the hard casing and finally emerge. They grace my garden and eat the pesky bugs no one wants on their plants.

Let’s start by checking out a praying mantis egg casing.

Praying mantis egg case

Weird looking isn’t it? This casing was on the bottom side of one of the branches on my liquid amber tree.

Here is the praying mantis that I discovered, which let me know that they are back!

The praying mantis is back!

This is a baby and is about the size of a quarter. It will grow to a length of 3-3 1/2 inches long.

This is a baby

Now about the size of a quarter

If you look closely at the photos you will see lots of detail. This little guy is watching me. Click on the photo so you can see the pupils in his eyes.

It watches me

This one looks funny with its butt up in the air.

Sticking its butt up in the air

Because this is just a baby, it has not yet developed its wings.

You can tell the sex of the mantis by the wings. This next photo shows the typical stance of the praying mantis.

Typical stance of a mantis

It has been watching me the entire time I took these photos, and as I try to get closer, it moves away from me.

It moves away

I hope that you enjoyed today’s photos. Thanks for dropping by, and have a splendid Saturday. Be well… ^..^

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10 Doors – A WordPress Photo Challenge

Cheri Lucas Rowlands over at WordPress has chosen “Doors” as this week’s photo challenge. Show us your doors! So here they are!

We all know what the moon in a door means, don’t we?

Everyone knows this door

A door in the side of a Georgetown building.

A lone door on the side of a building

These doors are typical doors in buildings constructed in the mid 1800’s.

Metal and wood doors of a building in a mining town

At Fort Apache, we found two intricate doors on officers quarters.

Two green doors in an old house

Here is the door of an old rail car. Famous people in many movies walked through this door.

Door on an old rail car

This is the door of the Columbia Gazette, a newspaper from the 1800’s.

Door to the Columbia Gazette

The doors on a saloon should be swinging doors. Maybe these doors at this saloon in Sutter, CA once were.

Saloon doors in Sutter

We started with a bathroom. It only seems appropriate to end with one. This is the public restroom door in the town of Placerville.

Door to a restroom

Thanks for dropping on by, and have a safe weekend. Happy Birthday to the US of A tomorrow, celebrating 239 years.
Be well… ^..^

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Angel That Rolls – Sunday Photo Fiction

Angel That Rolls – Photo by Alastair Forbes

She was not supposed to have any contact with humans. She ignored the rule. Sitting outside a cafe, she watched people walk by as she sipped on lemonade.

“Ahem,” he said.

Looking over, she saw a man. He had warm brown eyes, rusty brown hair, a strong square jaw and a mustache. He was gorgeous and he was looking at her. They both stared at one another.

“May I introduce myself?” he asked.

Still staring, she nodded. “My name is Charles. Charles Rolls,” he said. “This might seem a bit impertinent, but may I join you?”

Tongue-tied she nodded her head. He pulled the chair back, sat and struck up conversation. Soon they were talking animatedly. The talk turned to cars, and he offered her a ride in his. Off they went.

She loved the ride. At the end of the day, when it was time to go, she kissed him on the cheek. Removing her coat, she spread her wings, winked at Charles and flew off.

Charles never wanted to forget her and the time they spent together. To commemorate her, he had her effigy created. Today one can see her on the hoods of all the Rolls-Royce cars.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A huge thanks goes out to Alastair Forbes of Sunday Photo Fiction for the inspiring photo and for hosting this flash fiction challenge.

Sunday Photo Fiction

To you dear reader, thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope that you enjoyed my bit of flash fiction. Have a splendid Sunday and be well… ^..^

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Speaking Out!

My husband and I both enjoy the birds that visit us here at our home in the Sierra Foothills. They have been a great source of enjoyment, and the subject of many of my recent photos. So, for today, I thought that I would share with you some recent photos of these birds speaking out.

Are you looking at me?

Check out all that food!

Where’s the seed?

He’s hogging all the food!

Are you listening to me?

I hope that you enjoyed the photos! Thanks for stopping by and be well… ^..^

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Muse – A WordPress Photo Challenge

This week Brie Anne over at WordPress has chosen the topic “Muse” for this week’s photo challenge. She asks what subject keeps bringing you back to it, and inspires you. My muse has always been water. And, without further ado, here is my muse…

Lighthouse

Nature designs a water and sand pattern

Water crashing on the rocks

Swirling waters

A view of the river

Air bubbles

I hope that you enjoyed the photos! Thanks for stopping by and be well… ^..^

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Playing with the Macro Lens

Since going through chemo, I have had issues with my hands. Not only do I have neuropathy, but tremors, or shaking, too. This makes taking photos, especially macro shots, hard to do. I gave it a go the other day and wanted to share with you some of the photos I took.

The center of a clematis

Galardia

A very tiny spider on coreopsis

Russian sage

Artemesia

Water from a sprinkler

The top of a red hot poker

Weedicus Unknownicus

Spirea blossoms

Out of the 175 photos I took that day, these were the best. I am hoping that eventually my hands will stop shaking. Thanks for dropping by today and be well… ^..^

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Bubbles

We find ourselves fascinated with bubbles, don’t you think? As a kid, one could buy, and still can, a bottle of bubbles, which had the wand included. Remember those? Or, you could buy that giant bubble maker. This was the tray, soap, and the huge wand. We love watching them float and admire the rainbow colors that we see. So, for today, I wanted to share some bubbles with you.

Can you tell me where these bubbles are?

Where are these bubbles?

So, where are these bubbles?

Here are some other shots of bubbles.

Red on the left

Red on top

Red on the right

Rainbows on the bottom left

Big bubbles

So, have you figured out where these bubbles are? Do you want to know? 🙂 They are bubbles that formed when I poured coffee into my cup this morning! 😀

Thanks for stopping by today and be well… ^..^

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ROY G. BIV – A WordPress Photo Challenge

This week, Michelle W. over at WordPress has chosen the colors of the rainbow as this week’s challenge. So here we go into the rainbow!

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Indigo

Violet

There you have it! ROY G. BIV! One final shot:

Over the rainbow

Thanks for dropping by and be well… ^..^

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Before and After – My New Kitchen

I posted weeks of photos as we went through the remodel of our kitchen. Today I thought that I would share with you before and after photos. I love my new kitchen and even though we went through weeks of dust and walking over boxes, it was worth it! The before photos that I am featuring were taken in 2006, after we got the keys to the house.

Here is the sink area before. The cabinets that you see in this photo were all the cabinets we had in the kitchen.

The sink area

Here is the sink area today.

The new sink area

Here is the old island. It was large and took up a lot of space. The countertop, where my bags are sitting, was the largest counter space for doing food prep in the kitchen.

The island

Here is the island today.

The new island

There was an area in the kitchen that was just empty space. We put a hutch there so that we had a place for dishes and glasses.

Empty space

That space no longer exists, thankfully. Here is what we did.

Filling in the empty space

Here is the exterior wall of the kitchen. The previous owner left this piece of furniture as it was too heavy to move. We used this too for kitchen overflow.

Exterior wall of the kitchen

Here is that area now.

The new pass through into the new dining room

Two last photos. Here is one view of the old kitchen.

Looking into the old kitchen

And, here it is today!

Looking into the new kitchen

We are happy with the way the kitchen turned out. The design was done with the help of Craig Carrero over at Auburn Custom Kitchens.

Thank you for stopping by to check out our project. Be well and have an amazing day. ^..^

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