The best part of waking up

is having someone else make you coffee. But if that isn't an option, then I still enjoy making some for myself. Last year my husband and I got an amazing deal on a super fancy espresso machine that I am just barely competent enough to use. I really enjoy having him make fancy coffee beverages for me anyway, so I make him be my personal barista as much as possible.

Then life happened. And our schedules don't line up as much as they used to. Now *gasp* I have to make my own coffee. Life. Isn't. Fair.

But I'm getting the hang of it. I still end up with steamed milk that is really just warm- it isn't the airy, whipped concoction that spectacular baristas pour into fanciful shapes at cafes. But it suffices.

I get coffee. The world is allowed to live. Win-win.

Colors of Winter

Here in the South, winter does not have the same palette of colors as I remember from the North. Rather than a thousand shades of gray and white, sprinkled with browns, blacks and the occasional pop of color, we have a wide variety of colors down here. 

All the green is a particularly surprising change from what I grew up with- not a bad thing, but very different.

And this time of year, I'm sure there are this many acorns on the ground back home... but they are normally covered under a layer of snow and ice. I do enjoy getting to peek at these little seeds!

I have a faithful pumpkin companion who has hung around since Thanksgiving, and her lovely colors are also part of my winter. This one is a fairytale pumpkin, so there is a lovely purple/blue/white sheen to the orange.\

And, since there isn't any snow to keep them down, the weeds grow quite robustly here. It rained a lot recently, so I pulled out the weeding gloves and ripped a trash can full out of the Earth. Before I did that, though, I couldn't resist getting a macro of this water perched on a thistle leaf.

Chowder part 2

Chowder loves to sniff. We'll be out for a walk and he'll sniff so hard to find the bunny that he doesn't even notice it sitting a few feet away from him. He loves explaining the world to himself through his little nose, he provides endless amusement to those around him with his constant questing!!

I love his wee little nose (and the rest of him!).





 

August 2011 Photo Hunt Challenge: Join in!

If you stopped by around the first of the month, you might remember that I'm guest hosting over at Monthly Photo Hunt Challenges. Well, I learned how to use a Linky Tool and have a basic one up, so please go over and share your favorite images for the month!

I ended up picking most of my shots from my most recent vacation. I had a lot of fun messing around in PS, and I would love any feedback on composition or editing that might help me improve. Thanks for stopping by!

1 ) Simple Elegance

2 ) Fluff

3 ) Wisdom

4 ) Ink

5 ) Devotion

6 ) Engaging

7 ) Drastic Change

8 ) Serenity

9 ) Ending

10 ) Childhood Memory

11 ) Overload

12 ) Fantastical

13 ) Into the Sky

14 ) Smash

15 ) Lucky

More vacation shots

We didn't visit 'The Rock' until the last day of our trip, but it provided a cool backdrop for some photos!

I made the Mr. practice posing for me. I like the idea of getting better at portrait photography, but he normally makes goofy faces at me. Like that ---->




Anyway, other than trying to snap non-goofy shots of my love, I also focused on the ground.

Then at the fruits of the earth.

Snap And Share

And brushed against the sky.

And it was good.

So many photos, so little time!

I love entering all these photo challenges and contests, but sometimes I get confused which prompts go where and who is doing what when! I've found that several other bloggers have great lists of the memes they enjoy, and some (like Mira Crisp's Photo Challenge Index) lay it out so easily! However, I still seem to get lost, so one of these days I will have to make my own list that works for my insane mind. Until then, enjoy some pictures!!

E is for E-Z Walker- this is a hot walker out at my horse barn. If you aren't familiar with them, basically it is a steel and rust colored demon motorized carousel that you can hook your horse to when they need to cool down and it walks them in circles for you. Copper is not a fan. Oh well.

I know this shot isn't terribly whimsical, but I thought the idea of me taking pictures of me, holding flowers picked by me, showing off my atrocious tan line was a bit amusing, so I'll go with amusing=whimsy in this case:).

Mr. Pony made brioche. OMG DROOL!!! So much butter! So many eggs! The house smelled delicious, the bread tasted better, and I wish we could have brioche with every meal! Brioche french toast! Brioche PB&J sammies! It does get a bit dodgy once I think about brioche and steak or stir-fry, but I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make it work:)!

That will do for now:). Thanks for stopping by!