Day 7, 8, 9 and 10 - Gratitude

Day 7 - Whoa! A coffee that "pairs well with: chocolate chip cookies"?  Is there anything that doesn't pair well with a chocolate chip cookie?  Passing Starbucks and saw this nice fall display and was grateful to see that SOMEBODY doesn't have their Christmas decor up yet. Can't we just please celebrate the holidays as they come instead of jumping ahead?

Day 8 - Yes, this is our weather right now. November is one of  my favorite months -- the heat is gone (I know, this would seem like heat to a lot of you but heat for us is 110!) with cool mornings and evenings and warm, sunny days.  Grateful for every one of them because it will be cold in a few short weeks, or at least what passes for cold in the Arizona desert.

Day 9 - So grateful the way photography has taught me to pay attention to everything around me. Even this common yucca caught my eye while I was out walking. I noticed the texture of all the "teeth" along the edge of each blade and the wonderful blues and greens.  The shadowing technique was taught to me by an Instagram friend and I am grateful for that as well.

Day 10 - So very grateful to live where these kinds of hiking trails are right outside my door and even more grateful for these two, my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. It was her first hike at almost two and she loved it!

Busy, busy week ahead with lots of photo opportunities, so I'll be back soon!

Day 4, 5 and 6 - Gratitude

I've committed to posting a gratitude photo a day to Instagram, Flickr and a post here and this is the one that seems to fall by the wayside unfortunately.  So here goes catch up day!

I am doing December Daily for the fourth year in a row and grateful to have had time to play today and get my cover done.  I ordered the Studio Calico kit and am changing it up a bit and so far I'm happy with how it's coming along. You'll see more as I get the insides completed in December.

Grateful that the shorter days allow me to be up for the sunrise and this morning it was spectacular! I tell you, the sun coming up over the desert is something to behold.

We have a pomegranate tree and it's a race against time every year to have them ripen and be able to pick them before the birds get them. We live right on the mountain preserve and I think the birds think whatever is in our yard is fair game.  We love to add them to guacamole and make pomegranate margaritas.  Can't tell we live in the southwest, can ya?

Day 3 - Gratitude

This weekend was jammed full of activity and not all of it fun. But in the midst of all that I remembered to pause and reflect on things I am grateful for.

My youngest son has been playing soccer for over 22 years and I think I can count on one hand the number of games I've missed. I'm grateful for him every day but today I am also grateful for this beautiful fall day and time to spend on the soccer field watching him play once again.

During halftime, I took a stroll to the ladies' room and discovered this tree covered in peppercorns:

The sky was blue, the breeze was cool and the sun was shining. Many things to be grateful for.

Desert Beauty

I am so grateful for the beauty of the desert that surrounds me. This time of year, the prickly pear are covered in bright red fruit.  In the spring, they are covered in beautiful and delicate yellow flowers. Second post for today because I started a day late! :-)

30 Days of Gratitude

Well, I've been away from here for a long time, since last February to be exact, and keep thinking about starting up again but it doesn't happen. I finally decided that doing a gratitude post every day for the 30 days of November will be a good way to get back in the blogging habit. I hope you might consider doing something similar with your month, whether it be posting a photo a day to a blog, Flickr, Instagram or somewhere else, it gets you thinking about all there is to be grateful for in your life. I would love to have your company on this month-long journey.

Today I am grateful that I live in a place where there are roses blooming in November. We may not  have all those gorgeous fall reds and oranges but we have roses and I love the color of this one! Taken with my iPhone and processed with my favorite app, Glaze.

So are you with me?  If so, please leave the link to your blog or Flickr photostream so I can stop in for a visit and see what you are grateful for.

Bring the Inside Out

I signed up for Kim Klassen's new class Beyond Beyond and decided to try to get back to regular blogging along with taking this class.  Today's assignment was "bring the inside out".  These starfish were originally outside but I keep them in a big bowl in my family room, so they were brought out by the pool for this photo. I also applied two layers of one of Kim's new Downton Abbey collection textures called "Sybil".  

Speaking of Downton Abbey, Jeff got me watching it and we've been watching it together.  I'm totally hooked! We have the first two seasons on DVD and are partway into the second season.  The third season is currently on TV, so we'll probably have to buy it so we can get caught up before the next season starts. It's fun to have a show that he likes to come over and watch with me.  He get's dinner out of it and I get the pleasure of his company!