Grey December

Tribble Mill Park on a grey, December day.

Grrrrr

Trying to publish from the Blogger app, only works if I 'Share to' the Blogger app from the photo gallery. And even then, I can only send ONE photo! 

But I can 'upload from my phone' here.... from Google backup, I presume. Ugh! So frustrating. It shouldn't be this hard.

Closure

For me, 2018 has been the year of closure. I've closed my Flickr and SmugMug accounts. They weren't working for me and Flickr had changed the limits of the free account so I decided to close both.

I decided to sell my house. It hasn't sold yet, but I hope the Spring will bring a better housing market and a more motivated realtor. And I've changed a few things at home that I'd 'always done', just out of habit actually. But I finally asked myself why I keep doing these things that do not bring me pleasure.

I admit I often view the world through rose colored glasses. I tend to remember the good times and forget the bad. I think that is a mostly healthy attitude, but sometimes a clear, honest look is necessary. Painful, but necessary.

Seasonal

I've been working on some watercolor paintings. I'm beginning to get some results that at least I want to keep. 

Thanksgiving

Thankful that it's over!

Reflecting

Autumn in the stream.

Who's the fairest deer of all?

As you know, this is my least favorite time of year, but snippets like these lift my spirits.

Color of Fall

Fall color came slowly but now we're at peak - at least here in my neighborhood. I didn't make a trip to North Georgia this year, the first time in quite a few years. It's always a hit-or-miss on the peak color there and I haven't hit it correctly too many times. Anyway, lots of color here and I'm not even trying to limit how many photos I take of the leaves as they turn.

Coffee & Painting

An excellent combination as long as I don't dip my brush into my coffee.

Sunshine & Autumn

Leaves & trees...

November has arrived

Started the 'one second per day' project today.

More Autumn and...

A gift from the feral cats. I wish they had consumed the beast.

 More Autumn

Chocolate Chip Banana bread, just because.

Changing

The dogwood trees are always the first to turn. I can see spots of color in the other trees, but green is still the dominant color. 

There has been very little activity on my house. I'm disappointed; I was/am ready to move. Maybe the Spring will bring a buyer. 

Ruby Red

I feel like I need to post something. But I'm still struggling to understand Hugh's passing. Anyway, it will come eventually... I suppose.

I went overboard buying fruit yesterday. Expect more food pics. 🙂

Timing is everything

There's another hurricane approaching - Michael; from the south this time. It appears that he may finally move Summer off her ass and on to a different hemisphere. She has far overstayed her welcome. But then, 'normal' is out the window with what we're doing to the planet, isn't it?

 These leaves that get caught in webs - quite a feat, no? They should get an award for... something. A photo will have to do for now. 

Struggling

"Ag, it's life, isn't it, Faye? We have to learn to adjust very quickly. 

We hold on to those thoughts, and we find ourselves unable to let go of 

the undeniable fact; that everything has changed ... and we have to 

change with it; make new memories."

A friend sent these words to me in 2013. I can't remember what I said that prompted this reply but they meant enough at the time that I saved them in a file.

And now, I am mourning his passing and his words from the past are comforting. 

Out of Practice

I've always kept my camera next to my desk, within easy reach. But since putting my house on the market and needing to a) keep things tidy and b) keep valuables out of sight, the notion to take a photo has been completely out of my thought process. Cleaning out closets and bookshelves has been my primary focus lately and likely for the foreseeable future. Oh the 'stuff' we collect. I must have a three foot tall stack of art and watercolor magazines alone. The never-ending search for inspiration eventually comes home to roost - in the recycle bin. 

Dismayed

'Dismayed' may be too strong a word. I had to push myself to make this shot. The rose was perfect but what to do about a background? The bloom is so small that it would be lost with a busy b/g. Find a white board and prop it up. I almost shrugged it off.

Once upon a time, my guest bedroom was set up as a studio; lights, tables, backgrounds. It was always ready for a still life (or feline) shot. The, I took it all down and packed it all away. 

Anyway, it was not a huge effort to set up the shot... but the spirit was lacking.

Time Flies

It's been so long, I was determined to post something (ANYTHING) today.

It feels like summer is flying by and the days are hot and humid. Sofia has been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and so we've been busy treating  that. She has lost a lot of weight and at first the medicine caused vomiting - counterproductive to getting her weight back. Anyway, she's eating now and not throwing up, so as long as I can get the pills into her, she should be on the mend.

Why a photo of Beau instead? You take what you can get with cats. :)

PS

Saturday

I'm really missing my Mom this weekend. I miss her every day but even more so on Mother's Day. 

Tis the season

The strawberries are finally ready, yummy!

Spring/Not Spring

The temps continue to fluctuate but at least the dogwoods have survived.

Temptation

The chocolate bunny won't make it until Easter. 😄

Nest Building

I didn't expect any bird would choose this birdhouse as the opening is very small. Imagine my surprise when I spotted birds going in and out. Happy Spring!

Sunset

Short vacay to Panama City Beach and Biloxi. Gorgeous weather so far.

Super Duper

The #superbluebloodmoon event happened today. I initially went outside without a tripod. That scenario was not going to work and the eclipse part wouldn't happen for hours (?)

My next attempt (with tripod) was still pre-eclipse and the moon was setting behind the trees. I still think this shot is kinda moody. Eventually, I watched the eclipse inside, on NASA TV. It was still live, right? 

Starry, Starry

I've kept up with the daily photos, so far. Not my best work (not even close) but my goal is to reestablish the habit of picking up a camera , any camera, every day. Hopefully I will kick it up a notch soon.

Snow Day

Here is the obligatory snow photo. We don't get snow often and it will be gone by tomorrow, so I can endure it. I grew up where the snow lasted for months. I'm very grateful that is no longer the case.

This might not be the final snow event for the winter. We've had snow as late as mid-March, so who knows. Certainly not the weather forecasters; they are wrong as often as correct in their predictions.  I have no where to be today so no need to venture out in my car. One trek outside to get this photo and I'm back inside, enjoying a warm drink. 

Who you gonna call?

A friend is the first person you want to call when you hear good news. A friend remembers that you don't like pickles on your sandwich.

Friends. This is today's photo prompt and it has brought on a lot of soul searching. Over the years, I've lost friends because they moved away, or passed away, or ended up on the wrong side of politics.

I searched through my blog entries for "friend"; wow - the memories! And the realization that my writing has become boring and not-one-bit-insightful. Sigh.

I suppose I have more virtual friends than real these days. Of course, they are not friends by the true definition. Acquaintenances? 

When I think of the friends who-are-no-more, I realize that for most of the friendship, I was overlooking things about them that I did not admire. In many cases, they were status seekers; it was all about cars, houses, vacations. Things/appearances mattered more than anything else. It's easy to get caught up in that mindset - keeping up with the Jones'. And when you can't (or frankly just don't want to), it puts a strain on the friendship and eventually you find reasons not to keep in touch.

So, my actual friend list is short but genuine. 

Short Reprieve

Enjoying a few days of spring-like weather.

Lemony

New year, fresh start.

I came back here to find some creative ideas for 2018 and found my 2017 reference to photoblog.com. Sure enough, they had a years worth of prompts for daily photos. I don't remember when I got off track last year but hopefully, I can last a bit longer in 2018.

Happy New Year!