While I do love looking at the big picture, sometimes dissecting it can help understand what the big picture is all about.

Like this tiny little flower.  This flower would go unnoticed as it’s no more than the size of an eraser on the end of a pencil.  And it’s not until I stop what I’m doing and just observe all the different things around me do I even notice the tiniest of things.

I worked again with that spider web.  I like the way the sun drops weave in and out.

This bush is producing blossoms like I’ve never seen before.  To open our eyes to adjust to our surroundings, allows us to see things we’ve never seen before.

This amazes me…

Of course I have that little peach rose bud on my mind.  I had to run over for a little visit to see how it’s coming along.

Surprise, surprise!  This tree that just shed the prettiest yellow leaves last month is already in full blossom.  I can’t get over this new change already.

Looking up into this little tree I noticed the most unusual changes.  This is yet another thing I saw for the first time.

The world is full of change, but I’m having fun at home dissecting the little picture.  Sometimes change is at our feet while other times all we have to do is look up.

Blessings – Debbie

Good morning!  It’s Portrait Experiment Monday and here I am to share what I learned this week.  I have not learned a whole lot, but I have hopes to grow and learn with practice.

So far I’ve gathered that the mid afternoon sun is a pretty nice time of day.

I’ts about 2:30 with the sun almost directly behind my back.

A different day – taken around 3:30 or so.

This shot was taken around high noon.  I’m not liking my photochromatic/transitions this time of day.

At around 4:00 pm

And I leave you with this handpicked rose.  Taken with the last remaining light of day.

It should be another week of experimenting in the late afternoon sun.  But as soon as I get my new eyeglasses (no more transitions for me), I should be good to go practicing throughout the course of the day.  I’ll be back with more to share next Monday.

Blessings – Debbie

While preparing lunch, I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my camera and ran out to take his picture.  It wasn’t until I downloaded the pictures that I noticed that vibrant blue under his chin.  I immediately jumped to conclusions and figured something was terribly wrong.  Something was either wrong with him or my camera.

Then when I examined the next picture, I not only noticed his blue chin but two blue stripes running down both sides of his belly.  That does it, I exclaimed to myself.  I dropped what I was doing for a quick little trip over to Google.  I found out he actually has a name.  Who knew?

Meet the “Western Fence Lizard aka Blue Belly Lizard”

Remember (a couple posts ago) me telling mister spider that if he made a new web how I would be the first to admire?  Well my wish came true today!  Wow!  Thank you mister spider, fantastic turn around time.

It was pretty difficult to get these shots but I had a ton of fun with it.

Just days ago, I had no clue what these huge buds were for.  If you don’t know either, just keep scrolling.

First comes the bud…

…then comes the blossom…

…Then comes this beautiful creation.  I had no clue.

One last picture.  Who knew?

Who knew outdoor visits provide such amazing daily changes?

Blessings – Debbie

Oh what a great day to stay home and lounge all day long.  Hubby and I cleaned up and jumped into nice clean jammies and chilled.  We’re still enjoying some football but mainly the lounging part.

I took a nice little afternoon stroll in the garden to see what I could find.

I’ve been waiting a while for these roses to bloom and finally they appeared.  I love this beautiful soft peach color.

It’s perfect in every way.

I’m in awe…

…and can’t help but smile at this perfect innocent bud.

Remember the magnolia seed pod I shared a little while ago?  Well here we have the pod opening and exposing that bright pretty seed.  Eventually the seeds will all be revealed, then fall to the ground.  I find it very interesting to watch and learn.

I need to learn about this pretty flowering tree.  I don’t even know the name or species, but I’m smitten.

And now for a few random thoughts.

I like Jimmy Johnson’s pink attire this evening.  He sports it well.

Yup, this is what we’re up to…

Actually, I thought this was what hubby was up to too.  Apparently he’s lounging on the love seat.  Directly in the spot I was going to claim soon.

This day of relaxation, without the slightest commotion, was nothing short of fabulous.

Blessings – Debbie

This post was in queue yesterday (Friday) evening before hubby got home from work.  It started just like this.  Wow!  It’s Friday evening already.  This was one of those weeks that went by so fast. 

Today was a busy one filled with things that needed to be crossed off the list.  I can be very slow when it comes to certain tasks like finding an Optometrist for hubby and me.  This was one of those colossal tasks that I’ve put off far too long.  With well over 30 vision care providers within ten min of our doorstep, I was overwhelmed.  After two and 1/2 hours of research online and a phone call, I secured appointments for us to have our eyes checked.  Let’s stop right here and say I had a party right on the spot.  What a relief, I should have done this months ago.

I need to find frames and it’s for real this time.  I posted almost a year ago how I was out looking for frames and even thought I found just the pair.  Needless to say, that task was not finished.  Many-many thanks to my hubby for giving me the appropriate nudge get this done.

The day was also filled with me finding a new hairdresser, a trip to the mall to return an item and a visit to the local Verizon store.  We may be getting smart phones soon!  Thanks for looking our way Apple as we’re strictly Verizon folks.

This is the part when hubby rolled in and all blogging stopped.  We started off the evening with a nice visit about our day.  Then we played a few games and I completely lost track of the blog at that point.

So let’s get back on track and finish this up with a few pictures that I had in mind.  Work before play.  That means these pictures were taken early to late evening.

This was taken early evening.

The view out back.  The sun had long since gone around the mountain.  But still too early for that pretty colorful sky.

I’m still in search of a beautiful web but this one keeps me coming back for more.  But mister spider?  Should you decide to make that brand new web, I’ll be the first to admire it.  Thank you in advance.

Our night or shall I say “evening” sky did not disappoint.  Speaking of evening, has anyone else noticed that it’s staying light just a tiny bit later?  I’m lovin’ it.

That’s all for now…

Blessings – Debbie

went something like this. 

As the last little bit of sun came streaming through the trees, I ran out to play one last time.

I picked these flowers and had fun experimenting. 

This little flower seems to have a lot to say.

It appears joyful…

with a beautiful open spirit.  At least thats what I gathered.

And right here is where I can hear the whole choir sing.  This truly looks like music to me.

And as I watched the remaining light fade into darkness…

…I was reminded that this was another beautiful day filled with blessings.

Blessings – Debbie

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking…

…and following a lot of blogs that pertain to photography.  I’ve noticed some people post an image a day of themselves and sometimes once a week.  I find this to be a great exercise as I want to learn a lot more in regard to taking portraits.  Since I’m the only person I have to work with all day long, the subject will be me.

Lighting comes into play and can cause things to pop depending on where the subject is in relation to the sun.

Here’s an example of the sunlight bouncing off my frames, I thought it was unique.  This photo was taken in the early morning sunlight.

Stay tuned for Mondays this year as I believe this is a sign of what’s to come.  I’m still working on a few other ideas and pretty excited to see where they take me this year.

Blessings – Debbie

is one of the many things we enjoy together.  And backgammon would be right up there as one of our top favorite boardgames.  I can’t believe I had never heard of this game before we met.

This is the first game hubby taught me how to play when we were dating.

A double six would be a favorite roll.  And I was lucky enough to roll one of them last evening during one of our games.

The pictures were taken this morning in the pretty sunlight…

…and I love the way the natural light brought the little things to life.

I was reading yesterday about different ways to capture fun photos.  One idea was to take close up pictures of a game or toys.  I ran with the idea and had a lot of fun.

Blessings – Debbie

It’s Monday afternoon and half the stuff I wanted to accomplish is still in park, waiting on me.

But some of the other things are well underway.  Take for instance my photo a day challenge for the New Year.  I’m trying to come up with new and fresh ideas and have spent a great deal of time thinking about how I want to go about them this year.

Although my photo a day has a check beside it, I’m still working on the plan.

I’d like to set aside a day to look at things from a different angle.

And sometimes I just want to capture an object (even if it’s repeated) because it’s right in front of my nose.

But most of all I want to learn and grow behind the camera.  I’m planning to take a course (not right away) perhaps sometime in the summer or next fall.  I’m also looking into some books as there is so much to learn.

I hope you follow along on this new journey.

Blessings – Debbie

and would never claim to be.  However, I do love everything about clippers, scissors and all things related to cutting hair.  Even better when I get a chance to use these items.

Hubby not only allowed me to use all the above on his haircut, but he let me take pictures of his new cut.

To begin, I start with the clipper guard #4 at the base.  Then on the sides work into a fade using scissors.  Then I cut the top about one inch.  Last, I finish with no guard on the clippers to polish off at the neck/back.

Again in black n white

I’m happy he allowed me to snap away…

…and I took advantage as long as I could.

But as soon as he got the impression that this photography session was not going to end, he did this.  You know where this is going, right. 

But please look at this haircut.  Doesn’t it look nice?  I’ve had no formal training but I love to snip!  This makes twice in a row that he’s used me to cut his hair.  Rumor has it that he’s going to get a professional kit for me by the next cut.

He was on a mission…

A mission to call the whole photography session off.  And I chased him with the camera, just because that’s what I do.

He tickles me and I continue to get tickled as I post this entry.  The End.

Blessings – Debbie

• No alarm
• Lots of good sleep
• Staying up as late as we want
• Taking afternoon naps if needed.  Today said nap lasted an hour and 45 min.  Love that!
• Hubby helped me organize and change shelf heights not only in the fridge but the pantry as well.  And he repaired the dishwasher so we didn’t have to call the landlord.
• Coffee
• Playing together
• Making lists
• Cross things off our lists
• Shopping together
• Hanging out in our jammies
• Making dinners together

And the picture of the day – He’s sitting on the fountain ledge – Picture taken through the front window.

 
and right after this next shot, this little guy was on his way.

Overall, a great weekend involves doing whatever we do together, that’s what makes us happy. It was a great day, just because we went through it together.

Blessings – Debbie

and 51 to go.  That is, one week of the New Year has nearly come to a close and 51 more weeks to go.  We’ve had a terrific week and I have a feeling this is going to be a great year.

I continue to snap pictures and search for new subjects to capture.  I find it so exciting to be able to open a whole new world through this new lens. 

Along the beatin’ path…

…on an afternoon stroll.

Sometimes a stroll at a snails pace is just what we need…

…to see beauty, if we take the time to notice.  If you look close, you’ll notice a couple gals walking a dog on the path below.

California oranges on a nearby tree…

…with a cactus plant in close proximity.

An empty birdhouse means the day is too nice to stay cooped up inside.

I’m thankful hubby and I spent the day together.  I love that he gets every other Friday off and today was one of those special days.  It was one of those days that we got to cross quite a few things off our list = a successful day.

Cheers to One Down and 51 to Go!

Blessings – Debbie

would be one of our favorite things to do.  Especially since we have a fountain that makes for a great bird bath just outside the front window.

I had a delightful little visit this morning with this hummingbird.

He was all about getting in there and doing his thing

It’s always fun to watch them.

He’s so proud of himself in the wake of that splash and he should be.

Then he plays a little possum.

Then back to splashing water all over the place.

I love the trail of drops left by his wings in the pic below.  As much as we watch these little guys, I still can’t get over how fast their little wings flutter.

Then he repositioned himself with his back to me and I snapped the pic quick while his wings were fanning.

If this were our home, well it is in a sense and then again, it’s not.  We’re renters.  But if it were, this is the place I would love to make our major outdoor living area.  In the back and up a few stairs is an underground (covered up with plants) hot tub.  It doesn’t work, but I can already see myself asking hubby if we could replace the old covered up one with a new one.  The possibilities out here seem endless and it’s fun to just dream.

But for now, we enjoy it as is.  Sometimes I bring a little chair out here and just chill out with a book or something.  I perched out here with my camera for an hour or so today and it was just a feel good place to be.

I did revisit this old lantern.  For whatever reason, I like this very old rusted out subject.  It makes me wonder how long ago it was last used.  And for what occasion.  The spiders appear to be making good use of it just the way it is.

I noticed this magnolia cone of seeds from inside the pergola.  I’ll say that’s a solid bunch.

The bees work so hard.  And I worked so hard to get a shot of this busy little creature.

In the dead of winter, I’m surprised of all the seasonal growth.  Since we’re fairly new to southern California, I’m still getting familiar with what things bloom during each season.

Looks like he’s about ready to pop.

Just a simple splash of red…

And last, we have a very close-up picture of a cactus thorn and ant.  I thought it looked like the ant was running away from the thorn.  Smart move.

I don’t know about you, but for some reason I came to the realization that I don’t want January 31st to arrive and wonder where January went.  It’s still early enough to find it, shall we?

Today I found that the house feels empty now that hubby’s back to work today.  I’m not complaining as I’m thankful, it’s just that I need to find my grove this year.

I quickly found my niche with that first cup of coffee while emptying the clean dishes from the dishwasher.

I found beauty in the pretty blue sky and soft white clouds over the housetop.

And what a delight to find my little friend outside the kitchen window.

I found this hibiscus flower with a touch of morning dew as it began to open for the day.

I found this fly.  It seems to me that I take any opportunity to snap whatever living creature I see.  Large or small, I want to capture them all.

The garden was such a delight in the early morning sunshine.

I found big and little flowers to be so cheerful.

As for the rest of the day…I find that there’s laundry to be done, clothes to iron and fold, bathrooms to clean, floors to mop and a song in my heart that I’m happy to right here where I am doing what I love most.  Cheers to finding January one day and moment at a time!

Blessings – Debbie