Sigh…

Howdy! I misunderstood one of the guidelines for Exposearoonie, so my photo is ineligible. Just wanted you to know. There are some absolutely fabulous shots there. You should go and vote. :)

Blue skies and yellow flowers…

R6182808

Exposaroonie offers a fun photo challenge each week. Sometimes the winner of each week’s vote wins a prize, but most weeks its focus is simply learning more about photography.

This week’s challenge is vibrant colors.

FYI, I didn’t do anything to the photo. That is what it looked like when I took it. It was a gorgeous “sky day.”

So go visit Exposaroonie’s Web site starting tomorrow and vote for your favorite… even if it’s not mine. I know from experience this week that it is rewarding to be recognized for your work.

We use chicken-flavored toothpaste

R6243587

A few months ago, I participated in Works for Me Wednesday for a few weeks. Then I realized I don’t have have that many tips to share, so I started to do Wordless Wednesday or a “freestyle” post on Wednesdays. But this week I had a brainwave. So here I am. :) (I thought I should let my readers know the deal, so they don’t wonder if my normally tip-free blog has been taken over by aliens. Moving right along…)

Our dog Toby has mitral valve disease. As a result, it’s even more important to clean his teeth daily. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to remember to do so, and he is terrible about doing it himself.

But I’ve learned recently that if I brush his teeth before bed when I do mine, I remember more often than I don’t. (I’ve forgotten the last two nights, but you get the point.)

If you have kids and it’s easier to remember this way, you might brush the dog’s teeth at the same time your kids’ get their teeth brushed. You’ll teach your children the importance of good oral hygiene for our pets. AND it might convince them if it’s important for the dog, it’s important for them.

Here are some tips for brushing your dog’s teeth.

Just don’t use the chicken-flavored toothpaste on YOUR brush. :)

Survival skills…

Maybe the person working out at Curves last November had survival on her mind when she said I needed to buy a sports bra.

This is the most innovative use I’ve ever heard.

I’m just saying…

I. Got. In.

Remember the juried photography exhibit I mentioned last week?

One of my photographs was accepted. It is my favorite of the four I entered.

Ironically, though, it’s not a photograph that I’d put on my Flickr page. (I’ll put it up after the show is over in late August.) When I sorted through the 1,200 (!) photos I took at Callaway Gardens that day, I didn’t think it was one of my best shots.

It’s amazing how looking at photographs from a different perspective (in this case from that of a professional photographer, judge-type person) can make you “see” them differently. They could just as easily have chosen my least favorite photo.

Or, and this is what I was expecting to happen, they might not have picked any of them. This was the first time I’d entered a photograph in any sort of exhibition, so I am more than a little flummoxed that I got in. I keep thinking there must be some mistake. But the friend who encouraged me to enter assures me it’s not a mistake.

So I will get the photo framed and ready to be displayed. And I’ll go and see it hung with the other photographs in a couple of weeks. That will be exciting.

And I probably still won’t believe it’s real.

Blog 274?

On the way home from visiting my parents yesterday, I told Ed that about 75% of the days this year I’ve felt like blogging and that it’s the other 25% that have killed me.

When I did the math, I learned that 75% of 365 days is (rounded up) 274 days. (Actually, when I did the math I realized I’ve felt like blogging more like 90% of the time, but that’s beside the point.)

Anyway, Ed said that next year we should have Blog 274 as an alternative to Blog 365… and use a tag line like “For those of us who are too lazy/busy/tired to blog 365 days in a row.”

I’m sure he’s not the first to think of this, but the idea cracked me up.

Maybe I’m just easily amused? :)

We’re going to be late to my parent’s. :(

utterz-image

Mobile post sent by RamblingReba using Utterzreply-count Replies.

Weekly Winners: June 15-June 21

This was a fun photo week. I used the self-timer on my camera for the first time. (I’ve had the camera almost a year.) I also got to photograph buildings, something I’ve not done much.

By the way, the blue skies in the photos from our trip to Athens? That’s the way God made the sky that day. I didn’t do any color correction whatsoever… to any of the photos. It was an absolutely beautiful “sky day.” The only cloud to be seen all day wasn’t really a cloud, but a contrail.

And now on with it. :)

Because I want to be like Secret Agent Mama in every way, I took a series of photos of myself looking in my mailbox. I’m still planning on blogging about this one. And I’ll probably try this again when I have more time. (I took this series in about ten minutes’ time one night this week as the light was fading.)

R6172498

Photos from our trip to Athens, Georgia, to see my dad give remarks upon his retirement from full-time ministry in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Today is his last Sunday. (Pictures to come on the blog this week and/or next week for Weekly Winners.)

Mom and Dad before the session.

R6182571_cr

Dad making his remarks. (Each retiring pastor had a few minutes to speak. Many spouses stood on the platform as well… being a pastor’s wife is a calling, I think. Being a preacher’s kid is something you’re born into.)

R6182580_cr

Athens, Georgia, city hall.

R6182512_cr_cr

R6182517_cr

R6182615

Leaves and shadow outside the convention center. (I took the photo because of the cool shadow.)

R6182542

Spirit of Athens (sculpture just outside city hall).

R6182629

Photos taken at the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia.

In the conservatory…

R6182670

R6182704_cr

R6182720

R6182724

In the outdoor gardens/grounds of the Gardens…

R6182799_cr

R6182810

R6182814_cr4

R6182826_cr

R6183002

R6182841

R6182888

A pool outside the Day Chapel at the Gardens.

R6182957_cr

The chapel.

R6182982_cr

Locally grown tomatoes we found at a farmer’s market on our way home from Athens.

R6183047

Remember the wild raspberries in our yard? Turns out they’re blackberries.

R6203085

That’s all. (Aren’t you glad?) For more of my week’s favorites, click here. My Flickr page is here. For more Weekly Winners, please go visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom. And join us! It’s so fun!

Ahem…

I just realized that I haven’t answered the questions you all asked me last week.

Oopsie.

I will answer them. I promise. The blog topics “well” was dry then, but now it’s overflowing. So I’ll keep those until I’m having another drought. O.k.?

Photo Hunt: Water

ER205691

I took this photo in March while we were visiting Amicalola Falls State Park. We were at dinner and the light was so beautiful that I just had to take some photos. I absolutely LOVE this shot.

Join the PhotoHunt.