Minty Fresh

The title says it all!

Sunday Morning Visitor

Growing up in the South, my favorite Sunday activity was to visit with neighbors, family and friends. After church and our usual fried chicken dinner, we would either crack open an ice-cold watermelon or get out the ice cream churn. I remember taking turns at the handle while my Dad layered rock salt and ice until the ice cream began to harden. When the handle was too hard for us girls to turn, Dad would take over. Once he couldn’t turn the handle anymore, we would put towels over the whole thing and wait about 30 minutes. That was the longest half-hour of the week, but well worth it. Fresh peach ice cream, so soft, tart, delicious along with the brain freeze!

On this Sunday, I’m working on photography. As I was sitting at my Mac and learning about Lightroom 5, I turned to my right and saw our frequent visitor through the front window. Luckily, my Olympus XZ-l was sitting on my desk and I have just recently learned how to do HDRI shots with it. And the deer was kind enough to stand still!

What is your favorite Sunday memory?

Hannah’s and Joe’s Instruments

The challenge this week could not have been more perfect for the photos I processed from last weekend. Peter and I went to the historic Mishawaka – a venue in the mountains on the Cache Le Poudre River west of Fort Collins. We attended a special concert featuring the Fort Collins Symphony and one of our favorite musical groups – Acoustic Eidolon. The Colorado based duo of Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire plays virtuoso Celtic music. They represent our fair state with their wonderful concerts around the globe.

To learn more about Acoustic Eidolon, click here.

To learn more about The Weekly Photo Challenge, click here.

Red, Red Rose

I believe that love expands. As you give love out, it’s reciprocated – and it grows. That’s the beauty of it. Hill Harper

First Strawberries of the Season

When I inspected the garden this morning, here’s what I found! Sweet and delicious, these little babies ripen quickly, and the plants produce for only a few days. Hence, my interpretation for “Fleeting.”

To learn more about the Weekly Photo Challenge, click here.

Nevada Cactus

Complaining is the victim’s alternative to decision and action.
Leonard Jacobson

The Sign Says…

Please place carts here! I don’t typically shop at big box stores, but I must admit, I do like Target. And I love their logo and the red balls along the sidewalk in front of the store. In my opinion, they do a good job with their graphics, hence my choice today. I also like how they did the graphic on the sign to actually match the shape of their carts. This shot was taken with the camera in my iPhone 4s using the HDR option.

To learn more about the Weekly Photo Challenge, click here.

We’re with you, girl!

Love,

Cathy

Poudre River

With our late spring, it seemed that all of my usual gardening activities came down to this one weekend. Fortunately, it lasted four days and I got a lot done! My vegetable garden is now fully vested and growing and I was able to purchase and plant my annual flowers that grace the outside spaces around our home – the decks and the courtyard. Definitely a work weekend, there is something very satisfying about getting all of those projects completed. It’s now time to enjoy the summer!

With the frenzy of chores, Peter and I did manage to see a movie on Sunday, and we went for a 31 mile bike ride yesterday. Here’s a shot of the river from the parking lot at the trailhead of the Poudre River Trail. It’s one of our favorite paved bike paths in our area. It starts in Windsor, Colorado and winds its way along the river for almost twenty miles to the town of Greeley. We were able to take our road bikes and ride at a fairly fast clip, while passing beautiful river scenes, red-wing blackbirds, pelicans (yes, we have pelicans in Colorado), hawks and sandpipers. We turned around at the 15.5 mile mark when we encountered these:

Time to Turn Around

How was your holiday weekend?

In the Background

Here’s my interpretation of “In the Background” for this week’s challenge. It’s a portrait of Peter scuba diving off the island of St. Kitts in the Eastern Caribbean with his new best friend!

For more information about the Weekly Photo Challenge, click here.