FOL14 - Week 22 -

May's topic for the Focus on Life 2014 weekly photography challenge is 

'In, At and About' 

and for week 22, Sally (The Studio Sublime) gave us this prompt:

"This week we are focusing on what is IN Bloom!"

The only thing blooming here in the desert right now is the heat.

Well, there's tons of saguaro blooms that are looking pretty awesome right now, but I couldn't capture a good pic of those this week.

And, bougainvilleas and bird of paradise are always in bloom here when it's summer and super hot, but the pics I took of those didn't come out as well as this shot of one of the last roses in our rose bush. 

The pics from the top looking down on the rose showed all the scorched petals, so I chose this angle because it looked the prettiest!

Okay, back to the bloomin' heat!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beauty In Bloom!

Cheers,

~Shel~

*A little side note,...

Today would have been my Dad's 95th Birthday. 

Happy Birthday Dad!! 

Miss you so much - every single day! 

 

May 31st, 1979- My 8th Grade Graduation and my Dad's 60th Birthday

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL - Week 21

**I'm trying to link up with the FOL2014 Group this weekend but due to the internet connection in the mountains being totally useless, I may have to link up on Tuesday when I return home and pop over to see everyone's photos and comment next week. Sorry folks!!** :-) 

May's topic for the Focus on Life 2014 weekly photography challenge is 

'In, At and About' 

and for week 21, Sally over at  

The Studio Sublime, gave us the prompt:

This Week Fill in the Blanks: 

At or In the __________, I_________.

  

This one stumped me for a bit, but then I realized that

In the mornings, I take care of Coco and Kiki.

I fluff their seeds, refresh their water, talk with them and watch them snuggle.

It's rather difficult to get a focused photo of these two cuties!

It's a morning ritual that is rewarding!

Be sure to see what all the other 

Focus on Life 2014 participants 

have captured this week!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Snuggles!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 19 - Good Things Inside

May's topic for the Focus on Life 2014 weekly photography challenge is 

'In, At and About' 

and for week 19, Sally over at  

The Studio Sublime, gave us the prompt:

Good Things Inside

She told us that this was a good prompt to think 'outside' the box.  

Not quite sure I've accomplished that this week or not but since Mother's Day is Sunday, I thought a photo of these might fit the bill and be rather appropriate.

 These are Kiki's eggs. 

Coco and Kiki are our Peach Faced Lovebirds.

Coco's on the left here, and Kiki's on the right.

 

 Coco's my baby and can do no wrong. 

But Kiki,...she's a piece of work!  

I still love her though.

She's just barely 2 years old. Coco is somewhere between 8 to 10 years old (I simple can't remember the year he was born - bad mommy!!).

 None of their eggs have ever had anything 'inside'. Well, one did last year, but it didn't form all the way and after about 28 days or so, she just quit sitting on them. As I cleaned up their cage the other day and held these up to the sunlight, it doesn't look like there's anything at all in these little guys either.

Poor Kiki. She's such a good little 'Mama in preparation'. 

She's still sitting on her little eggs, protecting them with all she's got and building her little nest. 

Driving Coco nuts. (you know, just like normal pregnant women do to their men!)

And, she's got 'good things inside' as far as I'm concerned. 

Good instincts and a pretty little song voice. 

And one of these times maybe she'll have eggs with 'good things inside'. 

Coco and Kiki "Inside" their "love shack"! ;-)

Hop on over to all the other participants this week and see what 'good things' they have 'inside'! 

Until Next Time, 

Peace, Love and Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms out there!  (Including Kiki!!)

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 18 - In Your (Their) Hands

It's May!  Wow, the year is just rushing by, isn't it?! 

May's topic for the Focus on Life:2014 weekly photography challenge is:

In, At and About

Sally, over at The Studio Sublime, gave us this prompt for week 18:

In Your (Their) Hands

Here's what was in my hubby's hands this week. 

 

He found some cool old, mold-making pieces over at a local jewelry shop in town and decided to play around with pouring some pewter in them just to see how they'd come out. 

He says he curses me for infecting him with the 'jewelry making bug' and tells me that he can't wait to get into the garage after work each day to see what's coming out of the molds. He says it's like Christmas every time he opens one of them to see how they turned out. 

Sadly, the elephant didn't quite come out as expected,..but there's always tomorrow! :-)

Yep, gotta love that!

Click on the links below to see what everyone else captured In Their Hands this week.

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pleasant Surprises!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14- Week 17 - Evening Moments

Continuing with April's theme of 'Moments', Sally, over at The Studio Sublime, gave us this prompt for week 17 of the Focus on Life: 2014 weekly photography challenge:

 

 

 

Evening Moments

 

"There is a moment when the day begins to quietly slip away from the earth and the calm of evening floods over the land.  Colors deepen, stars peek through pin holes in a twilight sky.  We begin to exhale and slowly let the world of the day slide from our shoulders."

 

Dusk, next to dawn,

is my favorite time of day.



 

Especially in the desert.

 

 

 

For my birthday last month, my sister took me to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly Exhibit. 

 

His glass sculptures are out of this world!
 

 

It was so cool to see how the sculptures mimicked the desert vegetation.

 

We went an hour or so before sunset and enjoyed all the beautiful flowers blooming on the various cactus.

 

 

 

Then, as the sun settled down and the day turned into evening, we were able to see "Chihuly After Dark".

 

 

 

 

It was a breathtaking 

Evening Moment in the desert.

 

 

This one was my favorite. The way the sunlight glistened off the tips of the glass as day turned into night
made for a very special moment indeed!

 

 

Until Next Time,

 

Peace, Love and Life's Evening Moments!

 

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 16

To continue with the month of April's prompt of "Moments", Sally, over at the Studio Sublime, has given us the photo prompt of "A Moment Best Captured in Black and White" for week 16 of the Focus on Life 2014 weekly photography challenge.
 

 

 

 

 

Sally said: "Sometimes, when there is no distraction of color, the image is no longer just a photo but a clean, honest, deeper look at life."

 

So true!

 

Left Photo -Violin Case Handle  /  Right Photo - Violin

 

 

I have a very special violin that is approximately 100 years old.

Possibly a bit older.
 

 

It was my Uncle's and he gave it to my Dad.
 

 

It's one of those things that although lovely in color, I find it most beautiful in Black and White.
 

 

Possibly because it's a

'Moment of History'?
 

 

Hop on over to the other participant's blogs and see what 'moment' they captured in black and white this week!
 

 

Until Next Time,
 

Peace, Love and Antique Moments!
 

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 15

It's Week 15 for the Focus on Life: 2014 weekly photography challenge.

 

 

For the month of April our topic is:

Moments

 

Our weekly focus this week:

A Moment of Focus

 

"Allowing yourself to focus on one moment, one subject.  A crisp, clear moment of focus."

 

Sally really gave us some great tips over on the Focus on Life Blog this week, and I tried out the 'depth of focus' tips. 

 

Here's my 'Moment of Focus' this week:

 

 

 

 

This one was fun. Fun taking the photo(s). Fun editing. Fun learning.

 

I still don't always have it down right, especially when I'm trying to do this with my jewelry shots - but I do love to try to get the type of shot where something in front is totally in focus and the background is blurred. I think it looks really cool.

 

 

 

 

Check out what other Moments of Focus the other participants have captured this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Moments in Focus!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 14 - Morning Moments

It's week 14 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at The Studio Sublime has given us the theme of "Moments" for the month of April.

 

 

This week our prompt is

"Morning Moments".

 

Sally asked us to photograph what our Morning Moments consist of; whether it be a quiet, coffee drinking moment or a mad dash to get the kids off to school, a 3a.m. feeding for those with little ones or stolen moments waiting for the train or bus to take us to work.

 

Most of you know that I capture as many 'Morning Sunrise Moments' as possible.

 

Despite the fact that I LOVE the time where the sun starts to rise and it goes from dark to light and the day officially begins,

my favorite morning moment is actually chatting with my son for a while

 before he leaves for school each day. 

 

But, since he wouldn't let me

snap his photo (surprise!)

or capture any of these moments on film

(digital camera! LOL!),

I captured this Morning Moment instead,

 

Yep, pretty much everything is 'outta-focus' until I have this! :-)

 

 

Ah, the morning Cup O'Joe!

 

It's my second favorite morning moment.

 

Okay, well maybe it's my third, favorite!

 

 

 

Please go check out what

Morning Moments

every one else has captured this week!

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Morning Moments!

Cheers,

~Shel~

 

An InLinkz Link-up

FOL14 - Week 13 - Eye Level

It's week 13 for the Focus on Life 2014 Weekly Photography Challenge and Sally over at The Studio Sublime has given us the theme of

"Checking Out" for the month of March.

 

 

"For the last Saturday of March, we're going to check out what's going on at eye level.

From where you stand, sit, kneel or lay, take a look around at your surroundings and capture what's at eye level."

 

I was going to snap a photo of my computer screen for the prompt this week because, lately, it's what's at 'eye-level' every single day as I work on analytical data review.

 

But, I thought that would be rather boring

for you all to see, so,....

 

I had lunch out on the patio one day

and this is what was at eye level.

 

Well, it was at eye-level as I leaned back in my chair to enjoy the scene. :-)

 

 

And then one night this week, Mike and I walked over to the neighbor's and had cocktails by his negative-edge pool and watched the sunset.

 

This is what was at eye level

as I sat in one of the comfy chairs.

 

 

 

 

Of course I had to include a photo

of a sunset (or sunrise), right?

 

(today's my birthday, so I'm allowed!)

 

This is really 'eye-level'. You can't tell where the pool ends and the lake begins. I love that!

 

 

 

Please pop over and see what every one else captured at eye level this week.

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Eye Level Beauty!

Cheers,

~Shel~

An InLinkz Link-up