Razzle Dazzle

The other day we were doing a photo shoot for Op: Love Reunited.  It's a free portrait shoot for military who are deploying, deployed and for the homecoming.

During the session, we went to the Rose Garden at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma and these particular roses caught my attention.  For a brief moment I was distracted from the job on hand.

However, I knew it would be a good fit for Martha's Color Carnival.  The roses are an explosion of reds and yellows.  I hope you enjoy the colors.

Now be sure to check out the other colorful sights found at Color Carnival.

Mt Rainier Sky Watch

I've only participated in the Sky Watch photo theme once before and as promised, I went back to the same location to photograph the sky around Mt Rainier.

This first photo is from the first time I played along - this is for those who may have missed it the first time.

The second photo was taken today from the same location.  Can you find our beautiful Mt Rainier?

Nope, I can't either, it's as if there is no mountain there.

Please be sure to check out the skies from other parts of the country and world!   Sky Watch Friday.

Blooming Delight

I know that right now I SHOULD be working but, here I am blogging away instead. Honestly, I'm not feeling terribly guilty about it ... yet. :-)

This flower is a triple photo theme entry. It's Mellow Yellow Monday, Macro Monday and Today's Flowers. Many thanks to those who host these fun photo themes. Be sure to check out the others who have shared their Mellow Yellow photos and their Macro's by clicking on the links provided.

Unfortunately I'm NOT the gardner in our family so I'm clueless on the name of this beautiful flower.

Thanks for visiting and your comments are always appreciated. :-)

*** Update:  I've learned the flower is a Peony.

Looking UP!

As always, I'm stunned to realize two weeks have once again flown past me. I am happy to say that I have a NEW photo that I'm sharing. However, I also went into the archives for the other two.

* All three photos were taken with my trusty in the purse point and shoot. Not sure why but, I've decided that maybe I should be pointing that out as I often use that over the DSLR which is for "work".

Before I get into a rambling rampage, the theme for this weeks Round Robin Photo Challenge is "Looking Up".

This man is inspirational and had me completely memorized. If anyone ever gets the chance to see Ray Bethell perform in person, DO! Below is a link to a clip found on You Tube.

Ray isn't flying one kite, he flies MULTIPLE kites doing aerobatic maneuvers reminiscent of the Blue Angels. Ray is an older gentleman, age unknown as he doesn't share that bit of information. His assistant told me several years ago that Ray had to be in his late 80's from conversations they shared.

The last photo is of my beautiful 26 year old (can I say she's still single and looking) daughter who was just pre-approved for a home loan and is now in the process of house shopping! It's such an exciting (and stressful) time in her life right now. Things are looking UP in her life. :-)

Be sure to check out the other participants by clicking here-> ROUND ROBIN. *I'm heading of town this weekend and will visit all the robins when I return.

In Search of Mt Rainier

We live fairly close to an Army post. You can tell new soldiers that behind the clouds is a great mountain. They'll look at you like you've lost your mind. It looks as flat as can be from the post on a cloudy day.

When we finally get a beautiful clear day and they walk out, they are stunned to find a HUGE mountain. Our beautiful and most majestic, Mt. Rainier.

I decided I'd join Sky Watch Friday's and photograph the mountain from the same vantage point over the next few months. (It's highly unlikely I'd be able to play weekly) It will give you an idea of how she often cloaks herself with the clouds.

One day it will look as if you could reach out and touch her. Other days she looks very distant and then there are days, sometimes weeks you don't see her at all.

I hope you enjoyed my first entry for the Sky Watch photo theme. Be sure to check out other skies around the world. Sky Watch Friday.

Pick Quick

One of my favorite places to go for a hamburger is "Pick Quick". There is no indoor restaurant style dining here. You order your meal, wait for it to be cooked fresh.

Then the best part comes, on a beautiful day you take your tray of food and find a picnic table surrounded by trees and cheery colorful flowers. This place full fills more than your taste buds.

After each meal I feel at peace with the world and myself. That may sound hokey but, when you sit there eating your mean surrounded by greenery, flowers and chirping birds you can't help but feel grateful to be alive.

So, if you come to my part of the world, be sure to stop here for a visit. Eat a good hamburger, smell the flowers and feel good!

Be sure to take a moment to visit other parts of our world. My World Tuesday.

Double Trouble

Martha and her son at Menagerie started a new photo theme for Tuesdays called "Double Trouble". This is running on a trail basis so I hope everyone goes over and encourages her son to keep this up.

The idea is to find and photograph something in pairs.

So, I hear you asking, WHY am I photographing a SINGLE dog? I suppose I could say he has a PAIR of LARGE ears. But, that's not the real reason.

While he appears to be a sweet looking single dog, he seems to have this invisible evil twin who knocks over the trash and scatters it ALL OVER the house on a daily basis ... at least ONCE a day if not more.

This 'twin' also took a rotisserie chicken that I bought for our dinner and I had put it on the back part of the counter until dinner. However, when I returned to the kitchen I found that this invisible evil twin had pulled the chicken off the counter and ate the ENTIRE chicken!

One morning when I was busy with my two granddaughters, I found the evil twin had pulled plates out of the sink and dropped them to the floor so he could lick them clean for us! Oh and he broke a few while trying to clean.

No, this is NOT my dog, he's my grand-dog. My son (a cop) rescued him from the streets. Gage was bone thin and abused. They are working hard to train him ... errr his evil twin that is.

I must add, that despite the problems his 'twin' caused, I fell in love with Gage. Both my granddaughters climb all over him and he just looks at them and sighs. The baby gets a way with the most. She sleeps on top of him.

The first morning I was at their house, I started to go in the girls room and he stopped me cold. My son, assured Gage I was okay and he handed me my youngest granddaughter. The dog watched me carefully and when he saw the baby hugging me and happy, I was allowed into his pack. :-)

Gage is a keeper, his evil twin on the other hand ...

Smile!

It's once again time for a Mellow Yellow Monday #22.

My husband bought this for me recently and put in a houseplant. He said it made him think of me as I was known as Smilin Mon by several of my co-workers when he met me.

Now tell me, how can you look at this and NOT smile? Come on, you know you want to smile! :-)

Nature Reclaims

I've been wanting to participate in the Monochrome Weekly photo theme and haven't until now. This is my first time to participate.

I debated about the title, 'Nature Reclaims' or 'Abandoned Dreams'. The person had spent a lot of time building a small pond with a little waterfall near that bench, it looked as if it would have been an ideal place to daydream or find some inner peace.

Shake it Off

I originally wanted to save this photo for the camera critters photo theme. However, I'm not very patient and decided to go ahead and share my very wet boy, Toby as shakes off all the water.

That's all water droplets flying toward ME! Lovely.

Be sure to check out other water theme photos at Watery Wednesday by clicking right HERE! And what the heck, I'm adding this and the raccoons below for Camera Critters which can be found HERE.

Double Trouble

My friend Martha (from back in the days of AOL journals) and her son are hosting on a trial bases a new photo theme on Tuesdays, called 'Double Trouble'. I hope this catches on and they take it past the three week trial period.

For this first time, I'm digging through my archives and decided on these two who seem to be in search of trouble.

These two were approaching us while I was doing a family portrait session at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. They kept inching closer to us and we decided they must've wanted a family portrait too.

Who was I to deny them a nice portrait? I've done many other portraits in that area and I've yet to see any sign of my racoon friends. (sigh).

Gum Wall

This is my second time to participate with the Ruby Tuesday, and I hope it's only the second of many more to come. :-) I keep my eyes open for photo ops at all times now.

What you are looking at is known as the "gum wall" at Post Alley in Seattle. You are not going to believe the "ewwww" factor of this tradition that has become a living art installation sought out by photographers.

The Market Theater in Post Alley at Pike Place Public Market has given up cleaning the gum it's patrons began sticking to the alley's brick wall while they were waiting in line. It's a habit that has stuck. Originally coins were pressed into the colorful gum blobs. Some people still affix a penny, but those quickly disappear.

After two complete removals and cleanings, the theater realized the futility of trying to keep the gum off. It is now become a 'public art installation', and a participatory one that grows daily.

Please be sure to check out the others who have shared their ruby photos here -> Ruby Tuesday.

My World - Tacoma

This is my first time to participate in the 'My World' Tuesday. Since I gave up the world of blogging as I knew it, and am now only focused on photography (a HUGE part of my life), by giving up the chatty blog it has allowed me to actually go out and have FUN with the camera.

This particular photo was taken from downtown Tacoma a few days ago. While Tacoma isn't a tourist destination like Seattle, I feel it has some very worthy qualities that get overlooked. My hope is to share some of the quirks and beauty of Tacoma with you over the weeks/months ahead.

What appealed to me was the view of our majestic MT Rainier and the bridge off to the left, all this from a downtown location. .

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate the time you took and I won't lie, I LOVE when comments are left too! :-) Be sure to check out other parts of the world by clicking on -> MY WORLD