Week 27 ~ Celebration

Today is the 4th of July, so all the American's are celebrating today... However Tuesday was Canada Day here... but I live on a small Canadian island right on the border so here we have a  4 day celebration... 

However at the moment we are under a hurricane/tropical storm watch as the first named hurricane fo the year  Arthur is howling up the East Coast... Usually they head out to sea before they get here... ie they don't follow the forecast path.... 

So what else is there to celebrate this week....

My peony  ... this is the first time my peony has bloomed in about 5 years normally it gets buds and they go moldy and I get no flowers!

I wired up a few pendants... A black cat (found this bead in a purse), a green flower bead made with copper slug mesh, and a tribute to the east coast sardine industry "Fresh from the Weir"

And the day I read  what this weeks prompt was going to be  I won a bracelet from Kathleen's blog Four Miles North Of Nowhere (I started reading her blog because that's where I've always thought I lived!)
http://fourmilesnorthofnowhere.blogspot.ca/2014/07/giveaway-winner-announcement_1.html

To see what other people are celebrating this week click on the inlinks link below!

An InLinkz Link-up

week 26 ~ Half way there....

Time flies... we are halfway through year two of Focus on Life... Here's a couple of my all time favorite pictures...(at least since I entered the digital world of photography!)

Driving North from the South rim of the Grand Canyon May 2010

Casa Batllo Barcelona Spain April 2014

I actually bought a water colour painting of Casa Batllo from a street artist  while we were there this time... this is a really neat building both inside and out!

(These are two of the photos I might have entered in Sally's contest if I had remembered to enter...)

To see other peoples favorite photos click on the LINKZ link...

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 25~ Be Colourful!

More pictures from my garden....  This weeks colour!  Mainly begonias

My Garden June 17 - 2014

Glass spinning tops,  Cherry blossom beads, and more cat beads

To see where other people found colour this week click on the linkz link....

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 24: ~ Have FUN!!!

Ended up in St Andrew's at lunch time on Thursday, the bar we ate lunch in has a jam night most thursdays... saw this sign as we were leaving... I'm sure it doesn't really say free winos with a jug of beer...... But that's what I thought it said when I walked out the door!  

 (We were in SA because I wanted a footstool to go with my vinyl Adirondack Chair!  Of course I ended up buying a new chair to go with the new  footstool since my chairs are all old and faded!)

Free Winos...
Just what everyone wants for free in a bar... WINOS!

Crochet bombed trees in Tenerife...

To see how other people had fun this week  click on the linkz...

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 22 ~ In Bloom

What's in bloom in my garden and my house

Not much blooming yet.... except for fields of forget-me-nots, a few straggling magnolia blossoms, the beginning of the johnny jump ups and an endless sea of dandelions

I forgot my red orchid last week and the white one wanted a cameo... I also have a crown of thorns which also blooms most of the time

No pictures of the hanging baskets I bought two weeks ago as I did nothing but buy them!

To see what other people have in bloom follow the linkz link

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 20 ~The View About the Ground

Cacti garden in Santa Cruz de Tenerife  The park was right next door to the hotel.. spent our time wondering around the garden instead of shopping which suited my husband just fine!

Hotel Pool on Costa Adeje, Tenerife...  took forever to get this picture with no people in it!

Swiss Alps heading home.....  Really gotta love the airlines and going places every flight we got on we went two hours the wrong way to get anywhere....

To see how other people interpreted this weeks prompt click on the linkz codes

An InLinkz Link-up

WEEK 19 ~ Good Things Inside

Since it's actually trying to be spring here I couldn't think  of anything more appropriate for this weeks prompt than flower buds opening

My Daffodils (guess they are technically narcissus)

Does anyone know what this tree/flower is.. they were growing in Tenerife  the flower buds look like upside down bunches of bananas.

To see what other good things people found click on the link below....

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 11 ~ Beauty All Around

Focus on life March 2014 This month we are suppose to be 'checking out' ...(After this winter I would really like to be checking out' of here!)  It is still nasty here... another winter storm is forecast for tomorrow... will this winter ever end?

I actually remembered to check the prompt on Sunday...  (I liked it when we got weekly letters last year) but by Monday morning had forgotten what the prompt was.... Last night sitting in the hot tub... it was absolutely calm  (almost never happens here) with somewhat strange lighting so I ran back in the house and grabbed a camera.. then shot a bunch of pictures of the boats in the cove...  and was pleasantly surprised when I rechecked the prompt this morning that I could actually use them!

Fish eye lense from the hot tub  (12 feet lower than last weeks picture)

same view no fish eye zoomed in...  The four matching boats belong to one of  salmon companies

A bit later the mist was starting to roll in
(the water is Lords Cove which attaches directly to the Bay of Fundy ... part of the North Atlantic.. we have 28 foot tides here)

My helper!

Even though I do not like DST it is rather nice sitting in the hot tub after supper in daylight.....

To see how other people interpreted this weeks prompt follow the link!

An InLinkz Link-up

Year 2 ~Week Nine: Macro Photo

Oops I just realized I had two week 6's the second one should have been week 8 Oh well I guess counting isn't one of my strong points! 

March's theme is checking out... SO....

 I walked outside yesterday with my camera heading for my forsythia which I think might have buds? Looked across a yard full of snow and came back in the house and took a picture of my cactus....  then tried to take orchid pictures... but they were shy and immediately started bouncing up and down to avoid the camera focusing on them.....

I can see the little pink wings on the orchid waving at me to go away!  Can't you?

To see how other people interpreted this weeks macro challenge & checking out... click on the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Year 2 ~ Week Six: Quiet Calm

Focus on life in Feb 2014.... Dealing with Cabin Fever and the quiet calm of late (hopefully... wishful thinking?) winter!

What's currently blooming in my yard...  The play pen is my magnolia  the netting will not be removed until it's blooming otherwise the deer eat it!

I liked the green moss poking out from the snow... the green leaves (top right) belong to an EVIL weed... the roots run under the soil and it (the weed) will take over an entire garden in one summer... I don't care if it has pretty yellow flowers!

To see how other people are keeping calm in February click on the links below!

Year 2 Week Five: Get Outside!

Focus on Life week 5... Well most of our snow is melted... (for now) there were two significant ice storms around Christmas then rain then snow then rain... then COLD Here's a summary of our last 4 days and a link to what our house looked like 5 years ago in the middle of February! http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.ca/2009/02/snow-snow-go-away.html

The front yard this week  Mon - Thur

Our 'weather station'  Jan 27-30  Temp are in C so translated Monday was 44 F then it got cold Tues and wed were about +20... it's warming up again today 26... suppose to be + again by tomorrow!

What I look at on cold dreary days... (when I refuse to go outside!)   These  remind me that it's summer somewhere!

To see how other people are treating 'get outside' click on the following links!

>

Year2 ~ Week Three: A Black & white Self Portrait

All the near misses....  

A couple of people last year took pictures in the mirror....
thought it was a great idea

Now we've got this project out of the way for the year....

You can see how other people 'avoided' doing this challenge by clicking on the following links!

Year2 ~ Week Two: A Silhouette

This isn't a very good picture.. But she's  my favorite subject!

We haven't had a lot of sun this week (actually it's been too cold & windy for Ms. Wimp, to venture outside to take pictures!)

To see other peoples Silhouettes click on the following links!

Year 2 ~ Week One: The Minimalist Photograph

Welcome to Year 2 of Sally Rusicks Focus on Life adventures.

Week 1 The Minimalist Photograph....

A somewhat useless vase that sits in my new 'funky-shaped' kitchen window!

(the lip wrap has holes in it so it leaks like a sieve if you put water in it... plants are dried up pieces of a water plant,  Tried to take the picture in situ too much background junk, so it's sitting on the kitchen floor infront of my new cupboards!)

To see other interpretations of a  minimalist photograph click on the following links!