Photo Scavenger Hunt

There's a photography swap on Swap-bot that I thought would be fun to do. There are words or phrases that are provided and participants take a photo or find an image from the photos they have taken. 

Below are the words and the images that I created.

  

Singer 

This is a wren that was singing quite loudly on July 21, 2021. There's a house near this post where he has a home full of baby wrens. He and the female would fly continuously back and forth between the pasture and house to feed the babies. 

 Something that Starts with the Letter P 

On June 5, 2022, my family and I were in Scotland. We saw the National Monument of Scotland in Edininburgh which, according to Historic UK, the monument was "most famously called by its resident architect the ‘pride and poverty of us Scots.’" 

It is one of the iconic landmarks of Edinburgh being a facsimile of the Parthenon. However, the building of the structure was abandoned in 1829, leaving a "ruinesque Parthenon of Calton Hill."

A Wild Animal 

We had a trail cam for a while which I enjoyed using at different spots around our farm. On March 5, 2020, the trail cam caught these two rabbits in the front yard. I had no idea that rabbits could jump or leap that high! 

 A Potted Plant 

This is a potted plant that I got on December 11, 2022, for my daughter for Christmas. She liked it, but wanted to create a planter that had a variety of succulents - like this one. So, we went back to Home Depot where she bought a trio of succulents to create her own planter. This one now is sitting on my kitchen ledge by a south-facing window and doing well.

Red 

During this past December, we were having snowstorm after snowstorm. By the middle of the month, we had the amount of snow that we would typically get in an entire winter. It was too much snow in too short of period of time. This photo was taken on December 15, 2022. The birds love to eat these fruits during the winter and spring. Sometimes, if there are enough remaining on the tree in the spring, flocks of cedar waxwings will come to the tree to eat the fruit.

 Something that Reminds You of Your Childhood 

On December 31, 2022, my sister and I went through old slides that my parents had. This was one of the photos of our home being built in summer 1974. My brother and sister are sitting where the solarium or sun room would end up being. 

Below that was a patio, my bedroom, a door, my sister's bedroom, and then my brother's bedroom. We all had windows facing Bass Lake. The upper level had the family room, door, kitchenette, kitchen, and my parents' bedroom. Again - all facing the lake. The front section of our home had other rooms.  

This was truly a beautiful, well-constructed home that my parents lovingly took care of. I loved living on a lake, seeing the sunsets, taking the row boat out around the island, and making fort houses with my sister in the nearby woods. So many good memories. 

 Something in Your Garden or Backyard

The snowstorms that I was referencing earlier dumped a lot of snow in a short period of time. This photo that I took on December 22, 2022, shows how much snow we received in less than a two-week period. There is a picnic table with two attached benches under that snow.

 

 Light Painting

This image is of a chalk painting that was done on September 5, 2021, as part of a chalk festival. It depicts swirls of light and a hand. I was so amazed at the beautiful chalk paintings - some 2D and others 3D. 

Someone Working

 

I went further back in my photos to find this photo of Sophia and Olivia working in the 4-H malt booth stand on July 17, 2015. Sophia is making a strawberry milkshake. Working in the malt booth was a coveted position because it was nice and cool in the trailer. When it was 85-95 degrees outside, it was nice and chilly inside the trailer, and made the work much more enjoyable.

Something Edible

One thing that we do each year is celebrate the Chinese New Year. In 2011, it was on February 3rd. The girls were only 8 and 10 years old, and one of the things that was popular back then was the "muffin tin meal" concept. Each muffin cup was filled with different items - in this case, rice, sushi, and fruit. It encouraged the girls to sample a little from each of the muffin cups. 

My Favorite Photo - January 2023

January was perhaps the month that I have taken the fewest photos on my camera in decades. Most of the photos I took were on my iPhone. As I look back on the month, the photos I took were basically documenting what had happened. None of the photos - with the exception of perhaps the sunset and highly-textured snow - stand out as particularly good photos. However, they all are meaningful to me. 

Olivia, Paige, and I went out on January 1st at the local Chinese restaurant to have our annual Chinese meal to start off the new year. Paige and I have been doing this since we lived in San Francisco back in 1991-1993.

The snow early in the month was overwhelming. We were getting snowstorm after snowstorm. It was piled up higher than it has ever been by the back of the house.

We had to hire a guy who could snowplow our driveway. The snowbanks were as high as the fence.

The snow on the west side of the driveway was so high, making getting to the other side of the garage and the birdfeeder behind the garage impossible to get to safely.

What I liked about the snow in January was its texture.

This is one of my favorite pictures from January - with the textured snow and the sun setting one evening.

As the sun was setting, it was perfectly lined up between the branches of this tree.

A couple days after Chinese New Year, when Sophia and Olivia both had time off of classes and work, we went to a new Chinese restaurant close to their college. It was an excellent meal.

We also went out to eat at a new restaurant to celebrate Olivia's 20th birthday. It is hard to believe she's already 20 years old...no longer a teen.

Sophia ordered a build-your-own pizza. There was plenty left over to bring back to college for meals.

Paige, Olivia, and Sophia are at the restaurant after Olivia's birthday meal.

We had a pheasant family hanging around our home during January. These birds are in the backyard. 

I worked a lot during the month at my second job. I'm doing consultancy work in marketing and public relations. This is the new logo for the museum that I worked with a designer to create. 

The pheasants were back...this time they brought more of their friends to join in the birdseed feast. 

The snow was so high that Cooper (far right in the picture) was level with the middle of the door. 

Toward the end of the month, I went to Stillwater and looked at the snow sculptures there. People from all over the world come to compete in the contest.

 

This is another snow sculpture. It is of Axolotl - the God of Fire. 

This is a lumberjack holding the world on his shoulders with the flags from all the snow sculpture teams. 

I was playing around with editing on Picasa for this photo of the bridge in Stillwater. One of my favorite colors is purple.

My Favorite Photos - February 2022

 As I looked back on my photos from February 2022, I realized that I didn't take a lot. Normally, I have hundreds that I take each month...easily. For some reason, I just didn't take a lot this month. These are the ones that have special meaning for us or that I like.

We celebrated the Lunar New Year on February 1st with a dinner at home. 

Meanwhile, in Thailand, Sophia was celebrated the Lunar New Year by going to a celebration and out to eat. 

I've been seeing quite a few birds this month - including this pileated woodpecker. I didn't realize they had white on some of their feathers until this one spread out its wing.

The blue jays are prolific. They like the shell corn, especially, at the feeders.

Sophia has been exploring Thailand and going to some beautiful parks and natural places outside of the city where she is living while studying abroad.

Danny enjoys basking in the sun. Here he is on the chair in the living room.

Aspen can almost always be found with a stuffed animal by her side. She has "Bunny" by her head. This is her favorite one.

Sophia is still in Thailand. February marks her second month there. She'll be there until May 1st. This is one of the many temples she visited. It actually is considered an art gallery because an artist created this temple-like structure. Around the exterior and inside the buildings are many references to wants vs. needs, and how one should aspire to only live with one's needs and not succumb to one's wants. 

Sophia saw this rhesus macaque in Thailand at one of the temples. I can't believe how close she was able to get to it. I love monkeys...so I was happy to see this one out and about, and not trapped in a zoo.

Olivia and I were driving one day and saw these two deer cross the road and then stand on the side of it. They joined the rest of their herd - another four deer in the woods.

On February 24th, I organized a service event after the Lions' evening meeting. We had Lions and guests working together on four hands-on service projects. We did three collections as well - so seven service activities in all. People really enjoyed the evening. 

One of the projects was filling these hand-sewn bags made by the two Lions in the back (one with a white shirt and the other a red shirt). They also made 81 pads to put with the 27 kits that will be given to Global Health Ministries (GHM). GHM gives the kits to girls in third-world countries who have their period and are not allowed to go to school. With the underwear, reusable pad holder, and reusable pads, they will be allowed to go to school and get the same education as the boys do.

We made two fleece-tied blankets for the Ronald McDonald House. This is an easy and favorite project to do for volunteers.

One of the projects was making handmade/handsewn placemats that were embroidered with our club's name, the name of the Lion, and the year. This, along with a card and a variety of food, were given to Lions who have not been able to attend meetings due to health issues. Olivia came along on these visits with me. 

I worked for a month on this quilt top. It's a variety of animal prints in the center - squirrels, deer, hedgehogs, raccoons, and more. There are a random assortment of border prints. The fabric came in a kit. All I had to do was cut all the pieces and sew them together. Now I just need to do the backing and have it quilted. 

Sophia completed her second month of studying abroad. She's enjoying the warm weather, trying new foods, and doing her classes. She said the classes are easy - just generals - so it has allowed her to do some exploring that she wouldn't normally be able to do if she had a challenging workload. 

Happiness Scavenger Hunt #3

In December, I did Happiness Scavenger Hunt #1 and #2 on Swap-Bot. This is the third and final Scavenger Hunt in a series of three. The goal is to photograph something that fits each of these six categories. Something that: 

Reminds you of someone you love 

Whenever I see cardinals, it reminds me of my parents - both who have died (Dad in 2012 and Mom in 2015). These cardinals were at our home on January 6th - what would have been my Dad's 90th birthday. 

They - along with another pair - are frequent visitors at our feeders. They love the sunflower seeds. The cardinals lift my spirits with their expressions, beautiful color, and gentleness to one another and other birds.

Is useful to you

The Ninja blender is probably one of the most useful appliances in the kitchen. There are three containers - this large one, a medium one, and a smoothie size. I use it to make everything from smoothies to sauces to dicing vegetables.

You like to share with others

There are a lot of things that I like to share. One thing that is on our farm is a barn quilt that I helped my daughter paint. She designed the barn quilt and picked out the colors. I taped it and did much of the painting of it. It is visible from the road so that the public can see it.

I like to share my cooking and baking skills with others. When people see some of the things I make, they ask for the recipe, and I'm more than happy to share that so they can make the food at their home. This is an egg bake that I made for Sophia's 21st birthday.

Continuing on that theme, I recently shared my beverage-making skills with my family. We had strawberry daiquiris (some had rum for those who were legal age and others didn't if they were underage and/or didn't want to drink). 

The other thing this picture represents is sharing my time to create memories. We played Risk for 4 days as a family before Sophia left for her study abroad trip to Thailand. Sharing my time so we all could build memories with one another is important to me.

Another thing I like to share are my sewing skills. Over Christmas break, I helped Olivia with a pattern modification and pinning the inner part of a bag to the outer part of it. She's holding her almost-done bag that I pinned. 

Another way I share my sewing skills is by making things for others. Below are five quilts that I made using squares that my mom had cut but never had a chance to sew together before she died. Two of the quilts I made for my sister, one for Olivia, one for my niece, and one is leftover. My brother didn't want it because he has a lot of quilts. Sophia didn't want a second one (last year I gave her and Olivia a quilt that my mom started and didn't finish).

I also like to share my past experiences as they relate to my daughters and what they are doing. For example, Sophia was packing for a four-month study abroad program. Although I haven't done a study abroad program, I have traveled internationally - including twice to China. So, I spent time with her during the week prior to her departure going over what she needed, how to pack, and getting the items that would make her time in Thailand easier.

Tastes delicious

On New Year's Day, we had a Chinese meal. Even though it isn't the Chinese New Year (which is February 1st this year), we have Chinese food each New Year's Day. It started when Paige and I lived in San Francisco in the late early 1990s and we were looking for a restaurant that was open on New Year's Day. The Chinese ones were open, so we went to one. Thus, started the tradition. 

This year we were quarantining because the study abroad program asked students and families to quarantine before departure. Students needed to have a negative COVID test in order to go on international flights. So, I ordered a bunch of frozen Chinese food and sparkling apple cider. Although it wasn't the same as going out, it actually was delicious. We all said that we would want to get the food again.

Another thing that was delicious was the homemade cake and cake pops for Sophia's 21st birthday. The cake pops, in particular, turned out. They had chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, chocolate chips, some crushed Oreo cookies, and chocolate frosting. They were dipped in white chocolate and had chocolate drizzled across them. 

Is all your own

My friend, Karen, made this table runner for me. She has such an eye for fabric colors and patterns as well as thread colors. She knows I love plants and flowers, so this is the perfect table runner for me.

Gives you hope for the future

My daughters give me hope for the future. They are both service-oriented, compassionate, loving young women. When I look at what both of them have done and what they want to do in the future, I am encouraged and inspired by what they will do.  

This picture was taken at the airport on January 4th as Sophia waited in line to check in for her departure to Thailand. We will see her again on May 1st.