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
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
Somebody thought today would be a good day for somebody to graduate from the Android Thunderbolt to the iPhone 5 S. Just because.
Somebody insisted the Droid was just fine.
Somebody insisted the person with the i/Apple products was in need of another somethin’ somethin’ to round out the collection.
Then somebody argued that it would make a great Christmas gift.
And somebody testified that Christmas and Valentines is everyday.
Somebody insisted.
And some very happy somebody came home with a brand new phone.
The End.
Blessings – 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
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
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:
These are a few of the things that made my day.
Blessings – 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
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 – 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 truly enjoyed my visit in the garden this morning, especially when I spotted a vine in the shape of infinity.
Love = Infinity – There are times we try to measure the amount of love we have for our loved ones. And statements like “I love you to the moon and back” and others put a measure on love. But I tend to think infinity is a much better way of viewing love. It just never ends.
I wasn’t super excited about the image, so I applied a filter in photoshop. I like it much better. Below is the same image but cropped a little tighter to show the detail.
I guess I was a little too preoccupied in the garden and Photoshop that I completely forgot the plan I made with my neighbor. So we rescheduled for next week.
And then the Koi Pond Co. came out for a visit. It appears we have a small leak in the fountain. Luckily it doesn’t seem to be too bad. And we should be all resealed and whole in the next couple of weeks.
That’s all for today folks!
Blessings – Debbie
Early Morning – Prayers were lifted in the garden.
Early Afternoon – Prayers were answered.
Early Evening – My heart is filled with joy.
Feeling Blessed…
Blessings – Debbie
First things first – Wishing a very happy October 1st to each and everyone!
By the time September rolls around, I get excited about autumn. But October 1st is the real deal. It’s here, my favorite time of the year is here!
Regarding the health update. I was able to take off a few more pounds this month. Not much, but a little.
There were a few setbacks, but I’m bouncing back.
It’s funny how we I always tend to find excuses and place blame on circumstances about why we I did or did not do better.
For me, I continue to place blame on that Big Green Egg. And the weekend we made the brisket. That’s where I’m pointing my finger. It’s all the “Egg’s” fault.
And if I continue to point fingers, I’ll fail.
Truth be told – if I take a long hard look at myself, I can’t point fingers at none other than me. And if I want to see changes, I need to follow thru during the normal day in and day out.
I’m still pleased with the results, but it’s time to stop placing blame and do something about it.
For the month of October, The goal is to have a few more better days and a lot less (day in and day out) party days. Cheers to good health!
Blessings – Debbie
Friday was such a beautiful day for a Special Birthday Party.
And we were in our places to form our group for a “BIG” surprise.
We brought the birthday: hat, wand, jewels, a ring, special glasses, blowers, and balloons to shower her.
Once we gathered, we made our way up the street to surprise Lyn.
While I did not get the initial surprise “shot”, Lyn was so excited. And here she is getting all fixed up.
She was given a first class ride to her “Birthday” luncheon.
And this is the beautiful spot where we gathered.
What a beautiful and wonderful group of neighbors and friends.
And what a delight to visit on this beautiful day.
More guests arrive.
And yet another…
And there was love and listening ears, truly taking in the others around her.
Twas such a festive table.
And the lady behind the camera was trying many ways to capture the moment.
And candid images are what I love taking the most.
And another with everything in focus.
This hat says it all.
While we waited for lunch, Lyn opened the cards and shared them around the table. I slipped, and failed to capture images of that moment.
Lunch is served! My salmon was so yummy!
Tracy ordered the fish tacos, they look amazing.
Janene had such a pretty plate too and wanted an image to remember. I tell ya, I could have taken images of the entire table as each plate was positively beautiful and delish!
Happy Birthday too you!
Every Birthday girl must have a special cake.
And don’t forget to make a wish!
And enjoy the moment.
Then blow out the candle.
And of course, enjoy the cake!
That “was” warm chocolate cake. Carol and I shared the above piece together. It was so good!
The whole group of ladies.
And our Fabulous Birthday Girl.
What a lovely day to remember.
The End
Blessings – Debbie