Arc of the Covenant – Mondays Finish the Story

Today, the start of a work week, is the day that I devote to hosting the Mondays Finish the Story challenge. In the challenge, I ask that you write a story using between 100-150 words and that you use the opening line and the photo prompt to create your story. The opening line of the challenge is in bold and italics. Here is my story.

Nightshade – © 2015, Barbara W. Beacham

“The team employed the use of Nightshade to get the information they wanted from their captive.” He was the last of the Knights Templar. They wanted him to reveal the location of the Arc of the Covenant.

Many believed that the Arc is located inside the money pit on Oak Island. The team was unsuccessful at finding it there.

They held the prisoner’s nose closed and put the cup to his lips. He had no choice but to open his mouth if he wanted to breathe. Some of the liquid dripped into his mouth. After a half hour, they could see the drug was taking effect.

His pupils dilated, his speech a bit slurred. They began questioning the knight who responded with one word. “Frog!”

The team looked puzzled. What did a frog have to do with the arc? They poked at the knight and asked again for the location of the arc on Oak Island.

“Wrong,” said the knight, “Frog Island.”

New excavations began immediately.

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I hope that you enjoyed my story today! You too can join in on the Mondays Finish the Story challenge by clicking HERE!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week. Be well… ^..^

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What’s With the Box? – Sunday Photo Fiction

Egyptian Trinket Box – Photo by Alastair Forbes

Vivian saw the Egyptian trinket box at her favorite new age store. The box spoke to her. She just had to buy it. When she got it home, she set it in amongst her other new age items. She placed it so the moon and the stars faced out into the room.

Before going to bed that night, she placed her hands around the pyramid shaped box, closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and said a prayer. When she was done, she crawled into bed, and drifted off to sleep.

The room was dark and the only sound was her slow and steady breathing. Suddenly, the box began to vibrate. It shifted a bit, and the two sections began to separate. A light began to emanate between the three pieces. As the glow got brighter, the room became illuminated. The color of the light began to shift.

Vivian woke up surprised by the light in the room. Finding that the source was her new trinket box, she got out of bed and walked over to it. She bent over to look at it closely. Musical notes floated out of it and she found herself being swept away.

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Thank you Alastair Forbes for hosting Sunday Photo Fiction, and for the photo that inspired this story. Nice one Al!

Thank you dear reader for stopping by today. Have a spectacular Sunday, and be well… ^..^

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Summer Hummers

I realized that I have not featured our sweet little hummingbirds for a while. We usually have the annas and the rufous. We have not seen the rufous since early summer. We do have plenty of the annas. Here are some shots of these summer hummers in our yard.

They are quick to come and go.

Coming and going

Did you know that aside from nectar, the hummingbirds favorite thing to eat are ants? We stopped washing off the ants from the feeders.

Hummers and ants at the bird feeder

Here is a lucky shot of an incoming hummer.

Incoming!

They get used to us being around, and even zoom at us to let us know that the feeder is getting low. My husband caught this shot of them sitting on my hand.

On my fingers

Here is a photo of a rufous from earlier

A fat Rufous Hummingbird

We plant flowers in our garden every year that will provide these foothill critters with nectar. We have so many in the garden this year that we have not had to fill the feeder but twice.

Well, there you have it, my summer hummers. Have a great weekend and be well… ^..^

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Inspiration – A WordPress Photo Challenge

Krista over at WordPress has chosen the topic “inspiration” for this week’s photo challenge. She says, “What is your inspiration? What moves you? What is it that never fails to motivate you, to get you going, or make you happy? It could be the bench in a quiet section of the park where you go to center yourself. Maybe it’s a favorite piece of music or book passage that boosts your enthusiasm. Or, maybe it’s the face of the love of your life, a treasured memento, or the unconditional love you see in the eyes of your pet.” I get inspired by a number of things. Here is what inspires me.

After a rain, I am inspired to take my camera outside to take close up photos that capture the drops of water on the spring blossoms.

All wet!

I am also inspired to look for the abundance of mushrooms that pop up after a spring rain.

Mushrooms in moss

I like finding places that offer serenity and a place to relax.

The chair seen a second way

Because of the beauty that I find in places, I am inspired to explore. Here are some shots of places that I have seen on these explorations.

Hiking through some rough terrain, I discover this lovely view of a beach.

The calm of the sea

Walking the trail gets me to a good viewing area enabling me to capture this shot of Half Dome in Yosemite.

Half Dome and Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

Hiking a trail in Volcanoes National Park on the big island of Hawaii, the shrubbery opens up and I am delighted by the view.

Pit Crater of Kilauea Iki

What inspires you? To see what inspires others, click HERE!

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

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Christmas Cola – Friday Fictioneers

Bottle collector – Photo by G.L. MacMillan

I went junking today at the flea market. I was looking for something new to add to my old bottle collection.

Heading down the last row sat a woman. Her grey hair was like a birds nest, and in spite of the heat, she wore heavy shawls. She had old bottles. I picked up an old Coca-Cola bottle. I had to buy it. Twenty five cents was a bargain.

Back at home, I sat the bottle on the shelf with all the others. It was a lovely addition. The date on the bottle: December 25th, 1925. This was one of few Christmas Cokes ever made.

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Thank you Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers, and to G.L. MacMillan for the photo that inspired this story.

Thank you dear reader for stopping by today. Be well… ^..^

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How hot is it?

It is so hot that the trees are fighting over the neighborhood dogs. We are expecting two warmer than normal days. When we got out of bed today, we saw that the temperature, at 6 a.m., was already 80 degrees. Today and tomorrow will be close to 100 degrees. So for today, I thought I would share with you photos of cool, refreshing water. Ready?

I would love to be on this beach just to enjoy the ocean water.

From the water

I can just imagine standing under this waterfall.

Another waterfall

Jumping into Lake Tahoe would really cool me down.

Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay

This lake near where I live looks inviting.

Enjoying a local lake

I want to jump into this river.

A view of the river

One more. Imagine sticking your feet in the cool rippling waters of this stream.

Rippling waters

If you are in a hot zone, stay as cool as you can, drink and carry water with you. Have a great day and be well.

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Tuna Steaks – Tasty Tuesday

Welcome back for another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Today I am featuring marinated tuna steaks. The flavors of the marinade made for a lovely fish dish. It is easy to make. Total time with preparation and cooking is 40 minutes. Are you ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
2 – 1″ thick tuna steaks, 8 ounces each

Tuna Steaks

1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS dried parsley flakes
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried oregano, crushed
5 twists of fresh ground pepper

Take out your tuna steaks and place them in a zipper bag. Then in a measuring cup, add the remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine.

Marinade

Pour this over the tuna, seal the bag, and shake it to get the tuna well coated with the marinade.

Marinating tuna steaks

Place this back in the refrigerator.

After 30 minutes take out the tuna. In a glass baking pan, add the tuna and the marinade.

Ready to bake

Bake these at 350 for 5 minutes a side. Turning the steaks after 5 minutes, spoon some of the pan juices over the steaks.

Midway through cooking

Here it is when it is done.

A perfectly cooked tuna steak

You want to have pink in the middle of your tuna steak, otherwise you will end up with a tough piece of fish.

Very tasty steaks! While these were very good, I think that the best way to cook these would be over a grill. Let me know if you try this recipe. Have a great week and stay tuned for another amazing recipe next week!

Be well… ^..^

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In Trouble – Mondays Finish the Story

Today, the start of a work week, is the day that I devote to hosting the Mondays Finish the Story challenge. In the challenge, I ask that you write a story using between 100-150 words. I ask that you use the opening line and the photo prompt to create your story. Today, I am using the opening line of the challenge at the end of my story. It is in bold and italics. The photo prompt follows the story.

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It was an ordinary day for him. After having a good stretch and getting out of bed, he made his way into the kitchen. He walked over to two legs. He made himself known by rubbing his body against those legs and meowing loudly saying, “Stoke my belly.”

After getting his ears rubbed, a bowl of gravy and shrimp appeared on his placemat. Finishing the meal, he sat, licking the left paw to clean his face, then switching to the right. Purrfect.

He jumped up on one of the dining room chairs, hidden by the tablecloth. The wimpy dog walked by so he had to take full advantage of his concealment. He shot out his right paw, claws extended, swiping the dog on the nose.

The dog yelped and ran. Two legs ran to the dog. The cat heard his name. He was in trouble. Moving from the chair, he thought he found the perfect hiding spot.

You Can’t See Me – © 2015, Barbara W. Beacham

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I hope that you enjoyed my story today! You too can join in on the Mondays Finish the Story challenge by clicking HERE!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week. Be well… ^..^

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Bathing Birds

Over the years, I have been lucky enough to capture birds bathing.  And, I happen to have a variety of photos of these lovelies in the midst of their abulations. Let’s go check them out.

Join me in a bath?

Bathing White Pelican

A gull taking a bath on a Carnival Cruise

Now shake it off!

Pulling the water up

Taking care of the back

Now that was good!

Drying in the sun

Cleaning the face

And done! I hope that you enjoyed today’s photos! Have a great day and be well… ^..^

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Up Close – Through My Eyes

Brie Anne Demkiw over at WordPress has chosen the topic Up Close for the photo challenge this week. Right up my alley! Ready to see a different world? Click on each photo to see the details in more detail!!

How is this face to face with a bee? Check out her beautiful wings.

Looking at nature up close

Did you know that there are curlicues inside the dandelion blossom? I didn’t!

A dandelion

The heavy pollen is hanging on to this daffodil.

Swimming in Salmon

Lovely colors are found inside an almond blossom.

Almond blossom

The Birds Nest fungus is 1/4 the size of a dime. Imagine my surprise to find the little “eggs” inside of it.

Inside the Birds Nest

I never knew that the inside of a vinca, or periwinkle, was orange and fuzzy.

Periwinkle Center

Did you know that one individual petal of a clover blossom has many parts?

Long stalked clover

As each faerie releases, what is left behind looks like a pin cushion.

The last of the fairies

There you have it! I hope that you did give each of these photos a closer look. There is a lot of detail to be found in a world up close!

Be well…. ^..^

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