Leap Year Day!

In honor of today... 

because it's kind of a goofy day - an extra day (read catch up day) - a "Leap Year" day...

Hannah and I plan to watch this... (one of my favorite's)

Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode.
(By the way and did you know... Matthew Goode stars in Season 6 of Downton Abbey as Henry Talbot?!)

Also - just to be different we will have breakfast for dinner.  Why not?  
I wanted to go "adventuring today", but we have that planned for Thursday.  More on that soon. :-)  

And - I am officially done with my February photo challenge  Even though there is one more February day, I am going with the standard 28 day February challenge.
It was fun. It was stretching for me artistically and technically, but I learned a LOT.  
All my photos except for three were taken on manual mode and with my 55 x 200 telephoto lens. 
I hope you enjoyed some of them.  :-)   My favorite is a toss up between #somthingorange and #glass.  They were challenging to shoot because of lighting, but I was happy with the results. 


Happy Leap Year Day!   
:-)

#favoritetext

February photo challenge

02/28 theme:  your favorite text of the week

The Lord IS my strength and I WILL sing praises!

#frames

February photo challenge

02/27 theme: frames

My frames are aqua.  Are you shocked?  

Caleb, whose birthday it happens to be TODAY, recommended this book.  
It's riveting!

#glass

February photo challenge 

02/26 theme:  glass

Our once-per-week-fast-breakfast.
Ta-ta and Cheerios  :-)

#exit

February photo challenge

02/25 theme:  exit

Isn't this door just the best?  Love those windows.  Love that color.

#somethingtasty

February photo challenge

02/24 theme:  something tasty

red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting... some birthday yumminess.

#colors

February photo challenge

02/23 theme: colors

beads for the birthday girl.  :-)  

#anything

February photo challenge

02/22 theme:  anything

small signs that spring is coming!

#myself

February photo challenge: 

02/21 theme:  an illustration of myself

I wish I could take credit for this illustration of myself, but it was done by one Abby and the pens.

#water

February photo challenge

02/20 theme:  water

 the Benson Bubbler

#somethingorange

February photo challenge

02/19 theme:  something orange

#somethingmanmade

February photo challenge

02/18 theme:  something man made

#hannahmade 
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of course :-) 

#nature

February photo challenge

02/17 theme:  nature

working on depth of field with this log.

#dark

February photo challenge

02/16 theme:  dark

Coffee is just so good!

#light

February photo challenge

02/15 theme:  light

We recently went to Mox Boarding House to celebrate Daniel's 13th birthday.  I'll blog about that soon.  
They had the most elaborate chandeliers.   This one reminded me of something I might see in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

#somethingred

February photo challenge

02/13 theme:  something red

Sometimes it's too hard to choose just one, when the subject matter is so beautiful.  :-) 

#wall

February photo challenge

02/12 theme:  A wall

So there is this aqua blue wall in Portland.  Can you believe it?  It's all aqua blue.  

 - Insert heart emoji eyes here! - 

Our completed "happy wall".  
(I probably should have used a tripod so that I wouldn't have had to use the flash, but it's a dreary day and the lighting isn't good.)

Happy long weekend!  

#8:00am

February photo challenge

02/11 theme:  8:00 am

Of course the first thought that popped into my mind for this theme was the clock set at 8:00 am, but I am trying to use this photo challenge to stretch my creativity and imagination a bit.  I decided that I would take shots of whatever was happening then or maybe just the morning sky.  

this morning at 8:00 am 

So it looks like farm chores happen at 8am.  :-)  

Happy Thursday, Everyone. 

#nationality

February photo challenge

02/10 theme: your nationality

This is my culinary American flag.  :-)

#childhood

February photo challenge

02/09 theme: childhood

This was my cup from when I was a little girl.  
It made me so happy to see this little fish once my milk got below him.  

Here's to childhood smiles!

#happyplace

February photo challenge

02/08 theme:  a happy place

Born and raised a California girl.  It will always be my happy place! 

#technology

February photo challenge

02/07  theme:  technology

Shades of blue...distinctly Mom's devices.  :-)  

#smile

February photo challenge

02/06 theme:  something that makes you smile

taking photos of @silverlongboarder  - watching him do what he loves to do!
(I did take this photo, but it really doesn't count for the challenge because I took in 
09-14...dead give away - sunshine and short sleeves don't happen in February in the PNW.)

It's so hard to choose because lots of things make me smile! 

#stars

February photo challenge

02/05 theme:  stars

Twinkle stars and seaside stars.  Both are beautiful!
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As always feel free to critique and leave feedback.  :-) 

#somethingpink

February photo challenge

02/04 theme:  something pink

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Your comments and critiques are most appreciated.  :-)

#animal

February photo challenge:

02/03 theme:  an animal

Did you know that goats have rectangular pupils?
Did you also know that photographing moving animals is NOT easy!

 This one was so much easier.  ;-) 

#breakfast

February photo challenge

02/02 theme:  Breakfast

After hearing the good news that Punxsutawney Phil is predicting an early spring, I was quite happy and thought I'd celebrate with a berry filled spring time smoothie for breakfast. 
I recently read about using cottage cheese instead of yogurt for the base.   I tried it. 
I like the Greek yogurt version much better.  

My recipe:
1 c. organic plain Greek yogurt
1 c. organic frozen berries (mix of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
1 Tbsp. ground organic flax seed
Splash vanilla
Splash of milk, if needed to blend.

Blend all together in a blender.

Enjoy  ♥

February photo challenge

Happy February!  

It's a new month so I thought I would try a 29 day photo challenge.  It's kind of like a "photo of the day" with each day having a different subject theme. 
We'll see how well I do with keeping up, but you never know unless you try, right

02/01 theme:  Sky

How quickly it changes from gorgeous blue to dark and foreboding.  

I feel like this challenge is more than just carving out a few minutes to take a picture, but also an exercise in observing things.  It will also be a challenge to think through the day's theme in a creative way.   

Hopefully I'll get some good shots from all this.    :-)