Breaking Rules

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Debbie

Breaking Rules – If I’ve learned anything in art class, it’s this “learn the rules” and then I learned that “rules are meant to be broken”. Said my photography instructor last semester.

So I broke the rules in Photoshop on the images I took this morning. Makes me happy.

The image below was taken right at feeding time. See all that food?

And the afternoon seems to be moving right along. I had a nice lunch date with the hubs. Went food shopping. Returned a pillow. It seems to take forever to find a new pillow, that’s my second return thus far. I decided not to come home with another pillow today. I’m plumb pillow shopped out. But I’m getting a bit accomplished around the house.

On that note, Happy New Year, use your imagination, be creative and break a rule! Or two…

Blessings – Debbie

Togetherness = A Holiday Treat

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Debbie

Having spent the last 17 days with the hubs around the house, I was hoping he could retire today. Such that we could play house every day, for the rest of our lives.

Image below = one of the chocolate Dove candy wrappers from the holidays. They could not have said it better.

We worked and played and truly enjoyed our days together.

But today, it was the day for us to find the old routine.

So I got up, prepared the hubs breakfast and lunch, bid him goodbye at the door per usual with a great big squeeze and a kiss, grabbed my camera and took a few shots, missed the hubs, as it’s not the same without him, worked on editing senior pictures and found joy in my day.

A little snipped of what is in bloom around the house these days.

Slowly but surely, we will find our routine.

Blessings – Debbie

December Blurbs

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Debbie

Early December, I enjoyed a “Monday Funday” with my girlfriend down in the heart of San Diego = Seaport Village

Lunch at the Fish Market

And the hubs and I enjoyed a lovely dinner date with this couple last weekend. Love spending time with friends…

The hubs and I enjoyed a beautiful Christmas program – Weeks ago.

We enjoyed the view and music from our front row balcony seats. After the program, we had a lovely time at our neighbors party.

“At Christmas I no more desire a rose than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled mirth; But like of each thing that in season grows.” – William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour Lost

“Shakespeare may not desire a rose in December, but he didn’t live in San Diego” – From the diary of the previous owner of our home.

A December rose is a wonderful treat. And these roses are left for our enjoyment from the previous owners.

A beautiful night sky – I was admiring the sky one evening while out cleaning my paint brushes and roller. Go me! I finally finished painting the last hallway a few weeks ago.

December 19th = the hubs last day of work thru 1/6/2014!

The babies are happy. Although we think we lost one to that egret, as we only count 9 of the original big guys. But they are happy and loving life – Image shot a week or so ago.

Last Friday, the hubs took me Christmas shopping in LA. I thought we were going to do some shopping in the Fashion District. But that was just a little “white lie” as the hubs had other plans. Plans to surprise me with diamond earrings. And surprise me, he did.

I told him I really didn’t need anything for Christmas. However, I did tell him I could use socks (mine have holes the size of quarters), a sweater and new hiking shoes.

But this is what the hubs thought I needed and what I got to unwrap Christmas morning.

Arriving to Christmas Dinner at The Hotel Del.

Carving the turkey

Sand in my toes after dinner, was just what I needed.

Sandcastles

A Sandcastle for Christmas.

The view – looking out to Point Loma.

Ice Skating – It was fun to watch…

Remembering Christmas Past – The silver ornament revealed a hidden surprise on Christmas morning, 1998. I said yes! And we’ve lived happily ever after.

This Christmas – A day we – enjoyed sandcastles, time together on the beach, Christmas Dinner at Hotel Del, the afternoon and evening with friends, more presents, a bonfire, roasting marshmallows and visiting into the night.

Feeling Blessed and enjoying these days with the hubs.

Blessings – Debbie

Family Days in Florida

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Debbie

This post is going to be a bag of family images during the week stay in FL. I still have so many images to process. But for now, I’m ready to get a few out there.

A few of the things we did that week = had the famous roast beef sunday dinner at mom and dad’s, with the family. I got to play with my nieces hair, did their nails, got plenty of rest, played poker, played backgammon, enjoyed a nice river dinner out with my little brother and his wife (my big bro was not in town as early as we were for this), enjoyed Cold Stone, went to Bass Pro with the family, enjoyed pumpkin pie every day from Thanksgiving – December 1st, purchased fudge, went to visit my grandma, aunt and uncle + cousins, enjoyed lunch with my aunt + uncle + their family + my mom = a total of 11 of us family members, had dinner with friends, went shopping with mom, I’m a heavy on the olives kinda gal and had all of the olives on my Thanksgiving plate disappear from a certain brother :), helped mom with Thanksgiving preparations, enjoyed a dinner out with just my parents, enjoyed watching my parents get surprised by one of the twins (she said she was not able to come as she’s in the middle of exams following Thanksgiving = she lives in Washington), having her there made our family complete, I got to take amazing pix of everyone, enjoyed a big family dinner with everyone at my little bro’s (guy on the far right of the first image in this post), met quite a few of my nieces and nephew’s friends, visited my parents church and enjoyed listening to our nephew play the piano and sing during service, talked to my nephew about coming out to Cali, to take his Sr pix this year and much much more.

Meet the family

My two siblings + parents. My older bro on left, he’s a year older than me and my baby bro on right, he’s a year and 1/2 younger than me. Feeling blessed to be right smack dab in the middle.

Pop and me

I love how he just cracks me up!

My niece all the way from Washington State.

And her twin sis in Florida.

And their baby bro – He’s the senior who mentioned coming out to So Cal for me to take his senior pix in the spring.

My nephew from North Carolina

And his little brother from North Carolina – This guy is also a senior this year. And he’s also the nephew who plays the piano and sings.

While enjoying the cool of the evening with friends, aunt Deb (that would be me) told the girls to “work it ~ work it” I just love the result!

Our three nephews – There is never a dull moment with the fam. As you can see, the proof is in the pudding.

My nephew and his buddy – Boy’s certainly know how to work it too!

When friends arrive late one evening – Hot chocolate + a bon fire in the backyard, made for the best way to spend the time with friends.

Here we have pops enjoying the cool evening hours as I was out shooting the grandkids. It is then when they brought my attention to grandpa. As this shot begged to be taken.

I don’t know where the funny bone genes came from, but I think you are looking at two possible candidates.

There are a lot more images to share from our Florida travels. But I’ll leave you with our Thanksgiving dinner picture, gathered ’round. I love my family and so thankful we could all be together. Even if my little bro took all my olives. 😉

Blessings – Debbie

There is Always Next Week

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Debbie

That’s what I said last week about digging out the Christmas Tree with sore aching muscles.

Remember? I had been painting this room while the hubs was out-of-town.

And when he came back into town, he helped get the rest of the furniture moved back into the living room. In fact, he moved the furniture one evening after I had gone to bed (early) exhausted. And when I woke the next day, it was as tho somebody took a magic wand in there.

Then over the weekend, “the Tree” made an appearance as the hubs got it all set up for me. And we enjoyed the lights and flickering flame in the fireplace while relaxing during the evening hours.

But this new 9′ tree took many days to fluff the branches and decorate. Well wort the effort, if you were to ask me.

Wednesday afternoon, we had the opportunity to see rare drama here in So Cal. Image shot from my neighbors driveway. We’ve had rain on and off ever since.

Wednesday = morning book club meeting with the girls. Words are few, but my heart is full of the love we have for each other in this neighborhood and group. Then we went out for the end of the year luncheon at Olive Garden. Good times, laughter and visits = My heart beats joy. Then I had a little Wednesday afternoon scoot over to Costco with my neighbor and friend. Amazing day all the way around.

And then is where “There is Always Next Week” comes into play.

On Thursday (yesterday), I finally finished the Christmas Tree!

I must say, I’m so delighted I took the painting of the house chore on before the holidays. It’s not only nice to have it done, I finally have the paint color of choice on our walls after many many years of wanting to paint the place we get to call home.

It truly is a blessings making this place home sweet home. Hopefully for a very long time.

Blessings – Debbie

Ten Minutes Of Play

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Debbie

Wow, this week started off bright and early. The hubs had yet another business trip out of town (Monday) and I spent all of about 10 minutes playing.

Originally I wanted to scoot to the beach. Play around shooting with sand between my toes. Then have breakfast at one of my favorite beach spots and chill for the day.

But that plan quickly changed the morning of. As all I wanted to do was scoot home and get some major things on my to do list accomplished.

So I stopped by the harbor.

And spent about 10 minutes shooting some of my favorite things while there.

It truly was a beautiful Monday morning.

All was calm and peaceful.

And fun to take a few minutes appreciating the little things.

But I saved my favorite image for last. There is something about this reflection that captures my attention.

Things quickly changed after my 10 minutes of play.

Check back for the update coming – later today.

Blessings – Debbie

Rustic Monday Travels

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Debbie

I spent a bit of time last evening mapping out all the places (along the Pacific coast) I wanted to stop. The hubs made sure all spots were correctly plotted on the GPS.

The Pacific ocean is near and dear to my heart. Image below taken with the cell phone. All other images in this post were taken with the “real” camera.

Clouds hover overhead.

Rugged cliffs – where I spent the morning breathing in and out, as the waves pounded the cliffs.

On up the road. I did shoot this photo from the driver’s seat. But I was at a traffic light, does that make it ok?

Another favorite stop.

I was so jazzed about my breakfast date. I found this cute little place on yelp. It had over the top amazing ratings. Sadly, the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays. I made a note of it.

I did the next best thing. I spoke with a gal in passing along the sidewalk. We exchanged helloes followed by me asking where I could get a nice breakfast in the area.

She pointed me to a quaint hotel within walking distance.

This rustic place had me at hello.

And the ladies room was perfect to freshen up. Love the individual towels for drying hands.

On into the restaurant.

I asked to be seated on the patio.

What shall I have for breakfast?

First things first – Coffee

Breakfast is served, so yummy!

The road less traveled was just the ticket. There was no chance of interstate driving, it wasn’t an option.

I was in the driver seat while shooting this image too. Is it ok that I was completely stopped in the road? I had a clear view behind me (no cars) and my four way flashers were on during the shooting of this image.

And I stopped along the way to enjoy the moments. I pulled off the side of the road for the image below. Sometimes you just have to stop where there is only a little tiny side of the road to pull over. Just because.

However, I did make an unexpected – no parking zone stop (earlier) to snap a pic or two. And I may have made a certain someone unhappy, as the police arrived on the scene. I was lucky as the police had no problem. Other than it was obviously time for me to move along.

I’m thankful for rustic days like this. It gives a chance to view the world thru a clear fresh lens.

Blessings – Debbie

Happy Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Debbie

What does one do when the ghosts and goblins fail to come trick ‘r treating?

One visits their neighbor to check out their spooky decor. Nice work, neighbor!

Finally we had a few trick ‘r treaters AKA our beautiful neighbors grandchildren.

And this cute little guy did not disappoint when I asked him to strike his character pose.

Happy Halloween!

Blessings – Debbie

Raindrops

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Debbie

There’s something magical after the rain.

When every living thing is coated with magical beads.

I woke to rain a couple of times the last two nights.

And sometime in the middle of the night (last night) I opened the window to see what I could see. While I could not see much, the sound was magical. Perhaps it’s because it’s such a rare treat for us.

And it provided an abundance of things to shoot, the last two mornings.

Off the subject – True story, I’m on my 4th phone case in the last 4 days.

It’s been a crazy buy a case, return a case frenzy these days. But I “think” I found the “one” today. I hope I found the “one” today. And I pray I don’t have to do any more case hunting.

I think cheers are in order.

Wishing a blessed day to you, rain or shine.

Blessings – Debbie

Thoughts and Dreams

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Debbie

Good afternoon!

It’s a great day, sprinkled with thoughts and dreams all over the place.

I woke this morning thinking.

I don’t know where my thoughts came from, they were just there in the wee hours of the morning.

Below is the thought/question I presented to FB this morning.

What I woke thinking/feeling puzzled about – Oct – if an octopus has eight legs, an octagon has eight sides and there are eight notes in an octave – then why isn’t October the eighth month of the year? This inquiring mind needs to know.

Turns out, I have some really smart friends. But my genius friend responded.

October was the eight month in the Roman calendar but became the 10th month when January and February were inserted with the new Julian calendar.

My mind is finally at peace on that matter. Thanks to Angelete.

I’ve been thinking about our Cardinals. And we’re ready to cheer “BIG” for them again tonight.

While they didn’t have a good night at the park, last night. We know what they are made of.

I spent a bit of time in the garden this morning. It’s a great place to think and dream. And today I thought a nice long shutter speed would be fun to do. So I rolled with it.

Long Shutter Speed – Sometimes it takes time to achieve the desired outcome. Image from my morning visit in the garden.

And there were thoughts from the past. Thoughts of moving to San Diego.

In fact, it was four years ago today when I moved from Upstate NY (the hubs moved a week or so before me) to San Diego.

The image below was taken October 17, 2009 – from the street in front of the home we had just built.

I like how the hubs commented on this image. He said…

What a symbolic picture that is. That long and winding road has led us here.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here this long. But we certainly enjoy the great adventures out west.

The hubs states that he can no longer live where a palm tree can’t grow.

I’m thankful he’s taken me to the ends of the earth, to places I’ve never been and back to where palm trees grow. I could get used to this – for a lifetime.

Blessings – Debbie

My Cup is Full

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Debbie

So lately, my cup has been full of coffee. I went from the single cup in the morning to going back for seconds. And then back for a third in the evening.

Here we have my favorite pottery mug + Coldstone Sweet Cream, Cream + Coffee = So good!

Challenged – The wind presented a challenge this morning. Especially when trying to take images of little flowers the size of a quarter.

But this turned out to be my “happy” image for today.

I plan to work on some projects today. More specific, projects that involve the digital darkroom class I took last semester. It should be fun!

It should be a fun evening watching our Cardinals play in the World Series this evening. Wishing them good sportsmanship and a great game!

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.

Blessings – Debbie

It Rained Last Night

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Debbie

Although we didn’t hear the commotion, it was written over the face of the earth.

Beads were strung so beautifully.

What fun to notice the little things on my little morning stroll thru the garden.

Great things to report today:

The washing machine was repaired!
I’m on the second laundry load today. This is exciting people.
And I gotta tell ya, I was able to work in a little grocery run.

These are a few of the things that made my day.

Blessings – Debbie

Keep Calm and Blog On

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Debbie

That’s what one tells them-self, when said person is a bit more than two weeks behind on the blog.

When one needs to keep calm, it never hurts to have an extra cup of coffee. So I did.

And with this post, I thought it would be nice to say a few blurbs of what’s been going on around here. Sprinkled with a smattering of photos, to keep things real.

Things like – Taking an image of our hard work, what a beautiful wood pile. The hubs did the chopping and I did the stacking. A great big cheers to having that job finished and we will celebrate with many a fire in the fire-pit in the coming days/years.

We started hiking the hood again.

I especially love hiking, just before sunset with the hubs.

I’m back to painting the walls in the house.

Do you know that Christmas music has filled the space in our home, going on 3 weeks? I admit, this is a first. I really don’t know what’s into me, but Christmas is in the air and I feel it. And I’m shopping for a new Christmas tree. I think I found just the one. This is not a non-sequitur people. It has everything to do with painting, as it truly filled the air with every brushstroke and roll of paint with the roller.

Below – A finished image of the family room. The paint color is Behr – Summer Bliss

Don’t mind the stuff on the window ledges, I didn’t have everything back in place when I took this image.

After painting a couple of days in the family room, I took a two-day rest. And I read for two days. The great news = I finished the book for my book club meeting this month.

Fry – Who knew goldfish/fish young were called fry? And that they hatch a brownish color? And they can take up to a year to develop color? And they can change color up until they have fully matured? I’m pretty jazzed with the little yellow and black guy who is changing color before our eyes. And it’s hard to believe that some of the little ones look pretty close to 3″ in size already. I knew none of the above going into this, but it’s a joy learning as we go…

And one day while sitting at the edge of the pond, the reflection begged to be captured.

Speaking of the pond – The fountain sprung a leak and water was seeping out (a little drop at a time). Thankful for a good pond guy who was able to repair the leak for us last week.

Speaking of repairs – The washing machine broke last Thursday.

The best load for the washer to break = the last load. The load you debate even throwing in the wash. You know, a few sweaters that would be nice to have fresh for our cool San Diego nights. I was feeling a bit smug (Thursday evening) to have all the clothes put away and the ironing all up to snuff.

And it’s still in need of some tender loving care. But I have hopes that the appliance man will have things under control tomorrow. Fingers crossed…

I have to put in a big plug-in for the St Louis Cardinals, the hubs hometown and team since childhood. The hubs predicted (before the playoff series) that they would nail it in 6, in honor of #6. What do you know, he was right on the money! We’re looking forward to our Cards in the World Series!

We helped our friends do a little moving down here from LA over the last two weekends. And we enjoyed a nice dinner with them last weekend.

Snapped this guy on one of my little outdoor garden jaunts.

The garden is one of my favorite places to relax.

Let there be birthday cake! Red velvet birthday cake. I whipped this guy up over the weekend.

Our daughter came for a visit (down from LA) and it was her birthday. I couldn’t think of any other cake to bake, than her favorite red velvet.

And I decorated her card with fingernail polish. It’s my new favorite way to decorate the envelope.

Twas a big celebration weekend of whining and dining.

I spent a bit of time in the garden this morning. Remember? One of my favorite ways to relax.

And shot several images.

And sipped on coffee.

And spent some time on the phone with my pop.

And I’ve been really good about staying out of the leftover ice cream. I call that a big accomplishment.

And I’m ever thankful we sent “ALL” the leftover cake with Kristy. Lord knows I would have a hard time staying out of that.

And I feel blessed getting this new week started off on the right foot.

Blessings – Debbie

What Time Is It

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Debbie

So this sun dial resides in the backyard. It was left by the previous owners.

For fun, I thought it would be fun taking images of it at different angles.

While we have abundant sunshine, I don’t believe this will be the method of choice to tell time.

But it sure was fun to shoot.

It’s time to scavenge – while scavenging the backyard for things to shoot, I found this very old sunflower. Again, left behind. And I thought it was interesting enough to shoot.

It’s time for autumn to make an appearance – I spotted this leaf caught in the fountain. This image reminds me of autumn, even tho we don’t really see too much changing of the seasons in So Cal.

It’s time to get busy – A reminder we had errands This weekend. The hubs picked up this guy for the gardener. We hope it works like a charm and looking forward to making more improvements in the garden. Yep, were taking a few more trees out.

But the really exciting thing that happened over the weekend is this. I got my pumpkin muffin fix at Panera Bread.

And if I were to answer the question to the blog title, I would have to say “It’s time for pumpkin muffins!”

True Statement – I called 3 Panera Bread Companies in the surrounding area last weekend. I was desperate for their pumpkin muffin. Sad news, not one store had a P muffin left on the shelf. True, it was after 7pm Sunday evening. But that’s beside the point.

Yay to the hubs insisting we hit Panera Bread this weekend. And kudos that he insisted we get there in the morning, before the muffins sold out.

Whatever time it is for you, I wish for it to be a good time.

Blessings – Debbie

Paradise

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Debbie

Paradise – The Bird of Paradise – Home, it’s our Paradise

However you think of paradise, it’s the peaceful place where we find beauty and happiness.

Tonight, after a lovely dinner date with the hubs, I made a mad dash into the house to grab the camera.

The sun had already set.

And there was just a tinge of light left.

And all I could see were these beautiful reminders of paradise scattered about the front yard.

So I set out to capture every angle possible.

And framed this guy in front of the cactus.

But this could be my favorite image of the night. It was shot in front of the kitchen window. And the warm light in the background is the light pouring from the kitchen.

And just like that, the day turned to night.

But I’ve already decided, I need to run back out in the evenings to come. As I find something magical this time of the day.

I’ll be back with more experimenting in the days to come.

Blessings – Debbie

I Call The Shot – one picture at a time

My world of art, life and health thru a lens

Category Archives: Photography

Breaking Rules

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Togetherness = A Holiday Treat

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December Blurbs

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Family Days in Florida

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There is Always Next Week

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Ten Minutes Of Play

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Rustic Monday Travels

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Happy Halloween

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Raindrops

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Thoughts and Dreams

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My Cup is Full

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It Rained Last Night

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Keep Calm and Blog On

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What Time Is It

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Paradise

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