Wednesday, April 24, 2013

"I saw this person today"

My photo prompt for today is "I saw this person today."  Kona and I were actually out and about quite a bit today doing therapy visits, but we aren't really able to share photos that are taken with most of the patients (privacy issues and all). 

I was able to snap this one though, of our new friend, Randolph.  He is a new Rec. Therapist at the VA and was learning the ropes of escorting us along our visit.
One of the patients we visited today told me that Kona reminded him of "Falcor" from the movie "Never Ending Story."  It had been YEARS since I'd seen that movie, but I instantly knew exactly what he was referring too. I made this little comparison. 

What do you think?

Happy- Wake up!

I stumbled across this and just thought it was adorable! 


What.A.Cutie. Pie!!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

"Time"

The prompt for today's photo-a-day challenge is "time" which is extremely appropriate, considering I haven't had the TIME to update or post for the last couple of days!

With so many watches one can never really be sure what time it is!
 Yesterday's prompt was the word "blurry"  - it's actually harder than you think to take an intentionally blurry photo and still make it decent looking.  This is a photo of my favorite peanut butter M&M's. 
 Sunday's prompt was "fire" - I kind of liked this one and how the flames reflected on the granite. It reminded me of the buring bush (from the "Ten Commandments" movie) that is on fire but never burns.  I know, I know, I'm strange.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Thinking about "Junior"

Today's photo-a-day challenge prompt is "on your mind."  Well, I have a TON of stuff on my mind but nothing that I can really take a photo of, other than "Junior."

I was lucky enough to meet one of the puppies from the litter I will be getting our next fur-baby from.  We made an impromptu visit yesterday, and got to sneak in a 5 minute visit.  It was awesome!  The babies are only 6 days old (7 as of today), and I don't think I've ever seen a puppy that teeny before.  

"Junior" is our temporary name for our little fellow, and I'm not sure that it will be this one or not - I only got to see this little guy.  Visiting with the breeder just got me even more excited, and thinking (again) about bringing a new baby into the house, thinking of names, etc.  

Say hello to my little friend...he's on my mind for sure!



Don't we wish...

...that life was as easy as this?  How nice would it be to "Start" and "Stop" things with a simple press of a BUTTON.
April 19th's photo-a-day prompt was "button."

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hiddy-Ho Good Neighbor

Today's prompt for the photo-a-day challenge was "Hello"- and I was stumped.  What to do, what to do. Take photos of random people waving at each other? I think not.  A simple hand in motion? Nah, boring....time was running out, so I figured, what the heck, go to "old faithful" - the dogs, for inspiration.

This was the best of the bunch - Harley waving her "hello"


These were the silly photos leading up to that decent one.








Wednesday, April 17, 2013

"Busy" indeed!

Today's photo-a-day challenge prompt is the word "busy" which seems incredibly appropriate considering I've been too busy to post since last Friday!  I have been keeping up with my photo challenge though, just not posting here. 

I've been so busy, in fact, that is completely slipped my mind that last month, on the 6th, was my 5 year Blog-iversary!  WOW! How did that come up so quick?  Yup, just as I was posting about being a SLACKER, I hit the 5 year mark. Kinda crazy, right?

So, let's see, where were we...okie dokie, we'll play a little catch-up on the prompts for the last couple of days. 

Saturday's prompt was "view from your bed" - you can see here the view out my bedroom window...dog toys anyone?

Sunday's prompt was "water" - I couldn't decide which of these I like better - so I cheated and posted them both. 



Monday's prompt was "alone"


Tuesday's prompt was "your favorite color" - here is what I posted, with a little explanation. Photo-a-day challenge, prompt for today was "your favorite color." On most days I would probably answer this with a post of something pink or purple (they tie in my book) but today the colors that ring "favorite" to me are the colors of our country's flag.
 As I mentioned, today's prompt was "busy" - I have so many to choose from...Today Kona and I participated in a heath fair. We were there for about 4 hours, and we were very busy.
 He's over all of this picture taking stuff...bring on the petting!
Ah, much better.
 Holding hands with random women? That's my boy...
 Enjoying the company of some other terrific teams.
Yesterday we were at the VA Hospital for a Volunteer luncheon.  We received a special pin in recognition of our 500+ hours of volunteering there over the last couple of years. It was very cool!

 Such.A.Ham.
 
On Monday we were at the VA for our normal Monday visit. Sometimes Kona likes to stop and smell the roses...or in this case, the ivy.  

My boy is always happy after his therapy visits. I think he smiles as much as the people we visit!
So that's it for tonight...busy enough for you?  Whew! Tomorrow's prompt is "hello" - I wonder what the day, and the prompt will bring.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Gigi in the "middle"

Today's prompt for the photo-a-day challenge was "in the middle."

"Oh, this will be easy," I thought to myself.  Just grab the pups, my camera, and a couple of little treats, and snap away. Easy, peasy, right? 

Ha! Well, apparently, Jill (aka Gigi) had some other ideas.

Here is the progression of the photos I took - with commentary by Jill herself.

You want to take our picture? Go ahead Mom... but I'm NOT going to smile.  
 Hey, why is it that KONA always gets to be in the middle?  I don't care that he is the "only" boy now, and he doesn't know what the word "golden" really means...I mean seriously Mom, look at his fur!  I'm turning my back on him in protest.
 Well, we are mixing up the order a bit, but I'm still not happy...why is HARLEY in the middle now? Just cause she is the oldest of the bunch? Whatever...I'm still going to give you my pouty face.
 Are you serious? Another one with HIM in the middle? Fine, I'll give you my "best" side.  So there!
 What? My turn for the middle?  OK, I'll turn around.
 There, now I'm finally smiling.  I like being the important one too ya know!

"Detail" April 11th's challenge

Yesterday's prompt got me thinking...what could I photograph showing good detail?

I liked this...
but thought this was even better!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Rambling Wednesday...

Instead of the occasional "wordless Wednesday" that I sometimes post, this will be a "rambling Wednesday" - I have catching up to do, and I can just feel in my bones that I'm going to ramble a bit.  Bear with me. 

So, you know I am participating in the "April Photo-A-Day Challenge", right?  I've been taking a photo (or 50!) everyday, but have been too busy to post them.  Lame excuses? You've heard them all from me...but dangit, I'm just darn-tootin busy!  I'm just thankful that there aren't any real rules to the game. Just get out, take some pictures relating to the prompts we are given, and then post.

I have a few to catch up on, so here goes...our last post was April 6th, so I have several to post.

The prompt for April 7th was "dreamy." I just so happened to be in Disneyland that day...home of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Pretty "dreamy" if you ask me. 
 
 
April 8th's prompt was "on your plate."  Well, THIS was on my "plate" while I was at Disneyland, and since there are any real rules, that's what I'm using for this particular prompt.  Besides, I didn't eat anything decent on the 8th, and you don't want to see the junk on my proverbial "plate" - stack of paperwork on my desk, etc. Yuck...Yup, this chocolate malt and banana split are MUCH more appetizing!  (By the way - I did NOT consume all of this myself.  I had lots of help, honest! )

Yesterday, April 9th's prompt was "tiny."  This one was challenging for me, as I don't have a good macro lens - and what I wound up with were a LOT of very blurry images.  I liked this one...
 but I really favor this one. Though hard to tell, these tiny buds are the beginnings of new palm fronds. I just thought they were cool, curled up and just beginning their lives.
So, as of this very moment I am caught up. I know it won't last.  Ha ha!  Today's prompt is "a place" and since I am meeting a bunch of my Golden Group friends for a meetup tonight, I'm sure I will have some pictures to share on the "place" we go.  Until then....

Saturday, April 6, 2013

April 6 - Whoosh!

Today's photo-a-day prompt was a tough one. The prompt was "Air."

Hmmm, how does one take a photo of air?  I'm sure you probably all have some terrific ideas that I didn't think of...I was nearly stumped. 

I managed to come up with just a couple of ideas, though nothing great.  Here goes...

A flag flying in the air because of wind. Wind=air.  
Branches of a palm swaying in the breeze.  Breeze = air.
 And, last but not least, vapor trails - my "official" air entry.  Vapor trails "are long thin artificial clouds that sometimes form behind aircraft. Their formation is most often triggered by the water vapor in the exhaust of aircraft engines, but can also be triggered by the changes in air pressure in wingtip vortices or in the air over the entire wing surface."  Ta-da! My photo of AIR!

Friday, April 5, 2013

April 5 - Good Stuff all day

The prompt for the photo-a-day challenge today was 'something good'...so I knew today just had to be a good day. 

I was right.

Pickle and I started the day with a trip to the swap meet.  She was looking for few little things and we thought it would be fun to cruise around there for a while.  Kona thought so too.  He'd never been before, and really enjoyed himself.  
The funny thing about walking around down there (about 15 miles from where we live) was that Kona (not me) was recognized not once, but twice by people we've visited.  It was pretty cool. He is practically a little celebrity around some of these parts, and he is SUCH a ham. Along with being recognized, we were stopped about 15 times by people just wanting to pet him. Needless to say he SOAKED up the attention...that's my boy, good ol Kona "the Love Sponge."

It was a busy morning for us...the swap meet, visiting with a hospice patient, lunch out with a friend, and then home to change and get ready for the VA.  

I had a brand new team joining us at the VA today, along with a couple of others that are partially thru their supervised visits so I decided to leave Kona at home. I would be plenty busy just observing the other teams, and Kona was ready for a break.

The visit at the VA was, as normal, a big hit.  We had 6 teams and the patients, families, and staff just LOVE the dog days. I bet you'd smile if you saw this group walking down the hall too!
 These two cocker spaniels are just dolls!  They are named "Flirt" and "Little Miss Independence" aka "Indy" - and although they are not related, they almost look like twins.  They are nearly done with their supervised visits and will soon be certified with my Love on a Leash Chapter.  
 This is one of our Visit Captains and a long time friend/Love on a Leash member - Linda and her beautiful girl Happy.  You've never met a more gentle dog than Happy. She is such a beauty, loves to greet the nurses as well as the patients. 
 To top off a nice day full of good things - dogs, friends, therapy visits, etc...we went to our favorite soul food place - Bonnie Jean's Soul Food Cafe. This, my friends, is my official entry for my "something good" photo. Believe me, it was beyond good!