Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Using Macro~

Hi Guys! I decided to join in on Brenda's Photo Challenge at the last minute(like this morning). It's time to join the land of the living again or as I like to say put on my big girl panties and get on with life and you all have been a big part of my life and I am sorry if I have not been there for you all lately. So here's my photos for the challenge, I really would like to get more into macro photography, I think it is so cool. These are old photos but I especially love the water drop one because you can see the reflection in the water drops. Not sure if these are true macro shots but they are as close as I can come.

Hope you all have a great weekend. It's a steamy one here in Ohio! I will be around to check out everyone's photos but first it's off to shop(retail therapy) today. Have a good one!

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Doorways ~

Okay so I decided to join in on Brenda's Photo Challenge at the last minute. Here's a few photos of doorways, which is a great theme! This first one is an old church not too far from where I live. I love the red doors. (Now if only I can learn to take photos that are straight). LOL This looks tilted to me.

This photo is of the old church in Bluffton, South Carolina and my "gals" sitting in front of the door. I loved how worn and old the doors of this church are.

This door was also in South Carolina. It was in Beaufort, it just had so much character and I love old things with character.

I'm not sure this qualifies as a doorway, it's probably more of an archway but I love the curve of it and how pretty it was. Anyway, a quick photo challenge post for me. I hope to see everyone's photos and I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday weekend!

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~What's Your Favorite Color?~

Today's theme for Brenda's Photo Challenge is "What's your favorite color?" Donna is our hostess today. Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite color is "pink" hands down. LOL So here's a few old photos mixed in with a couple of new "pink" photos. The first is just for fun, yummy, all sugar, healthy, nutritious and good for you peeps. LOL I just couldn't resist adding them to the mix.

This is from the Flying Pig Marathon that is held in Cincinnati at the beginning of May each year. I thought these centerpieces were so cute!

This photo is of Maddie last Easter during the Easter egg hunt with a cute "pink" bow in her hair.

And this photo was just taken a few weeks ago at the Cincinnati Zoo, all the flowering trees are so gorgeous this time of year.

And this last photo is Coco the wonder dog(my sister June's pup) with Maddie and my niece Allison. Coco always has that cute little "pink" tongue hanging out. Thanks for being the hostess, Donna, it was fun! Go here and see who's all playing this time. Happy Saturday!

BRENDA'S PHOTO CHALLENGE ~ THE EYES HAVE IT~

Brenda is our hostess for Brenda's Photo Challenge this week and the theme is " The Eyes Have It". Thanks Brenda, I had alot of fun putting together these shots. Go here to see all who's playing today. These first two shots are of the peacocks when we were at the zoo the other day. I swear this one was stalking us. Weird looking creatures but beautiful, they almost look like they have a crown on their heads.

Here's Cleo's (my kitty)eyes. Do you know how hard it was to get her to sit still for this photo? LOL She would not cooperate and then she decided to doze off. How does a cat fall asleep while standing up? That is a question I would like answered. LOL

So then I had the first few shots I wanted but couldn't think of anything else to use and then I look across the room the other day while folding laundry and I see this big orange guy staring at me with these really goofy looking eyes, so Elmo became my next victim.

Talk about victims............LOL This chocolate bunny was the next one on my list to take a photo of, then I bit his head off. Well first it was his ears and then his head. Anyway, I thought these last two were fun and taking pictures should be all about having fun! Can't wait to see everyone's photos for this challenge! Happy Saturday!

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~Flip That Photo~

It's time for Brenda's Photo challenge and Cindra is our hostess today. The theme is "flip that photo". Go here to see who's playing. This was actually alot of fun and I say that because like I said on Monday, these photo editing programs can be a little tough to figure out. So anyway these were not quite what I wanted to do but for some reason my external hard drive(which holds all my photos) is not showing up on my laptop when I plug it in. My son tells me all my photos are safe and sound and he will be over tomorrow to help his poor Mom out. LOL So I had these photos in a different file and on Flickr but a few do not have the original photo so you can see the before and after. But either way this challenge at least got me playing in my photo editing programs so hopefully I will learn more. Thanks Cindra, it really was a fun challenge!
Here's a photo I took of Sas (aka Sydney)at Christmas and I made it black and white and left the santa hat it's pretty pink!

You guys have seen this one before of Cameron's eyes being blue but I love this..........

And these two I took last weekend of Maddie kicking her big ball and again just left the ball colored and the rest black and white. These shots are alot of fun to do!

I like the look of this one alot. All I did was change it to sepia and add a soft focus to it. This one was simple and I think I really like the second one better because it looks so old. I can't wait to see what everyone has done, I bet there will be alot of creative photos for this one! Thanks Cindra for a really fun challenge! Happy weekend everyone and it's getting warmer here in Ohio! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..........................................

Welcome March and Happy Monday!

Is anyone else glad to see March? Spring is just around the corner and I am so ready for it. Did everyone have a good weekend? We had a wonderful one and I have a few photos but just thought I would share this one right now. We went to the Cincinnati Home and Garden show this weekend to get some ideas for our "backyard project", but my little point and shoot camera died in the middle of downloading the photos, so I'll post some of them later in the week. Maybe you guys can help us with some decisions on what to do, it's kind of overwhelming with all the choices and staying within our budget.

This photo is of my niece Stephanie and my little granddaughter Sydney on Saturday night when we had a grill out/birthday party for Sydney's daddy(Jamiel). So I've been playing with different techniques in photoshop elements and corel paint shop pro for the next Brenda's Photo Challenge this Saturday, when the theme will be "flip that photo". Go here to read all the details and join us because this will be a fun one. I'll be honest and tell you that these photo editing programs intimidate me, so I've been playing in the two programs I have. Donna and Cindra have been giving some great tutorials on their sites also. Anyway, I changed this photo to sepia and added a soft light glow focus to it because I thought the original colors were a little too harsh.

I liked the way it turned out and I thought it was a sweet photo just the way it is. This was a simple one to do so hopefully I will figure out a few more things on these programs. What's hard is both of the programs were given to me so I don't have the manuals to look through. You could really get addicted to playing in elements and paint shop. LOL So I'll add that to my ever growing list of reasons why I can't get off the computer, blogging, facebook, flickr...............you get the picture and I wonder why my clothes don't fit anymore.......I think I'll go for a walk now...........Happy Monday and join us for the Photo Challenge this Saturday, it'll be fun even if your clothes seem to be getting smaller because you can't stop playing in photoshop. :-)

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Signs of Spring~

The theme for Brenda's Photo Challenge today is "Signs of Spring." Oh how I wish there were "Signs of Spring" here in Ohio right now but the forecast is calling for some more snow this weekend. I have seen some signs of the Robins getting ready to nest but no signs yet of any new growth on the ground so I am pulling some old photos out of my files for this one. Joy from Shuttershy is our hostess today. Thanks Joy and go to Brenda's Photo Challenge to see who's playing this week!

This first photo is of the clock that sits right outside of Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati. I love how they put all the flowers around it in the Spring.

This is my pretty little Magnolia tree that used to be in my backyard and flowered every Spring. We had to take it down this past Fall when we started the work in our backyard. We are going to start working on that project again as soon as Spring gets here so I'll be posting about that in the coming months.

This just reminds me of what we have to look forward to this Spring. I love all the trees when they have these beautiful flowers on them. Don't they make you smile just looking at them? I can't wait!

This photo is one I took when we were in Florida last month. I am using it as my banner because it reminds me of Spring.

This photo reminds me of Spring because every Spring these crazy ducks return to our swimming pool and think it is their personal home. They drive us crazy because they leave such a mess and then they bring back their babies who we have to rescue from the pool because they can't get out. I really hope they don't return this Spring. LOL I think I took this through a window.

And the number one sign of Spring...........................wearing my sandals/flip flops again. I was just trying these guys on at TJ Maxx, these particular ones didn't feel so great on the feet. My flip/flops will be on my feet as soon as the temps hit 60 degrees. I love my flip/flops..........LOL Thanks Joy, this made me think of Spring and how much I am looking forward to it. Hope everyone is having a great weekend and I can't wait to see all of your Spring photos!

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Textures and Patterns~

It's time for Brenda's Photo Challenge again and our hostess this week is Donna from Cottage Days and Journeys. Thanks Donna , at first I thought this might be a tough challenge but then I realized I wasn't thinking of all the possibilities. I really wanted to get some new photos with my new camera but all of this snow made it a little hard to get any. So thanks Donna for a fun and challenging one and here are my photos. This top one is under the patterns theme, with the pattern of the windows. This is the Hyatt hotel in downtown Cincinnati and I also liked this photo because you can see some of the tall buildings reflected in the windows.

And then I took these two photos of the spiderweb and leaf from my folders because I thought they had both patterns and texture to them. Spider webs have such cool patterns to them along with texture.

This last photo I took last week when the ice storm hit. There is lots of texture with the ice in the trees. I don't know if you can see how it sparkles off the trees. That's it for me. After I did this I thought about 20 different things I could do for this challenge. LOL It was fun Donna, thanks so much for being the hostess. I am out of town again so I'll be around when I return. At the last minute a friend asked me to come and visit her in Hilton Head so I am there for the weekend. You don't have to ask me twice to come to one of my favorite places. LOL Have a great weekend!




P.S. Happy Birthday to my sister June today or as Maddie likes to call her Aunt Coco.................

Brenda's Photo Challenge "Looking Upwards"

It's time for Brenda's Photo Challenge and I am the hostess today. Go here to see who's playing. Who would have thought when I picked the theme of "looking upwards" that I would be diagnosed with what the doctors called top shelf vertigo, which basically means I sometimes get dizzy when looking upwards and doing other things. LOL But that's the way it goes, so I picked out a few photos from my files instead of making myself dizzy taking new ones. :-) This first photo is the ceiling of our Union Terminal here in Cincinnati. The Union Terminal used to be a train station here in Cincy, it is now a museum and is well worth the visit if you are ever in Cincinnati.

This photo is of the ceiling at the Vatican in Rome. I took this a couple of years ago when we were there. An amazing place to see. I would have loved to get a photo of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel but the guards who are there didn't like that idea. :-)

Here's another shot of a landmark in Cincinnati. This is our Fountain that sits in Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. I just liked how it looked at night looking up at it.

And this last shot was taken this past September at about 730am one morning. I was backing out of my driveway and seen the moon looking so big in the sky and I was trying to get a decent photo when this plane just came along and it looked like it was sitting right on top of the moon. I probably should have zoomed in on it some more but it happened so fast I just took the shot. Our house is on a flight path so I have seen Air Force One fly over and the Concorde when it was still in service.

My good buddy Donna from Cottage Days and Journeys has agreed to be the next hostess for the photo challenge. I can't wait to see what theme she'll pick!

Have a great weekend and I am out of town so I'll be by to see everyone's photo's when I return!

Brenda's Photo Challenge "Anything New"

It's time for Brenda's Photo Challenge and today's theme is "Anything New" and Laura Belle from I Spy Weekly Photos is our hostess today. Thanks Laura, this was a fun challenge. Here's my photos for the challenge and go here to see who's playing this time!

The start of a "brand new day." I took these photos when we were in Hilton Head and I just love watching the sun come up over the water. I wish I was there right now. LOL Doesn't it look like the clouds are parting as the sun comes up?

The start of a "new year" This is my new calendar that the kids had made for us, it's filled with photos of all three of the grandbabies for each month of the year. This of course is January and a brand new year.

And this last photo is of my "new flower" that is blooming on my kitchen sink. It started off as a bulb in a planter and this pretty flower just appeared to brighten these grey and dreary days of winter. So it's a brand "new" flower. Just go with me on this, okay?? LOL Does anyone know what kind of flower this is because it seems I threw out the info on it, it's pretty and I didn't kill it(yet) so that's good.

I've been asked to pick out a new theme for the Challenge and I'll tell Donna by the end of day. I can't wait to see everyone's take on this theme. I'm off to Weight Watcher's early this morning(it won't be a good weigh in :-) but will get around to see everyone's photos soon. Have a good one!