Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #348 – Serenity


Happy Sunday! Egidio from Through Brazilian Eyes is hosting this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and we’re exploring serenity.

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Hello May 2025!


Another month has come and gone, 2025 is now one-third through and two-thirds to go. Welcome May 2025!

As I’m writing this post, I have just returned from a 30-minute rabbit-hole called Amazon after my 6-year-old computer mouse had decided to quit on the last day of April but to be honest, I feel like it was on its way out. Something like a computer mouse can only survive so many drops and falls.

Anyway, what did you think of April? Was it too fast? Too slow? Boring?

There were days where I wish May would get here while there were days I wished April would stay just a tad longer. April has generally been a busy month at work and in the garden. This year, though, because I planted out most of the cool-weather crops in late March and early April, April had been a daily check-in and basic maintenance like watering as well as frequent admiration of the blooming flowers.

I spent a lot of April in the garden pulling weeds. Each time it rained, the weeds would grow 10-fold. The biggest offenders in my yard are bind weed, dandelion, and dropped seeds from last year’s flowers. I have calendula, poppies, and sunflowers pop up everywhere, especially between the cracks of the patio pavers. “Not here,” I would often say to it.

I’ve already mowed the lawn twice so far, which is a record as I don’t usually start mowing until the start of May. My junk of a lawn mower had such a hard time starting that I so wanted to throw it away and replace with one that doesn’t have an engine and doesn’t drink expensive premium gas like it’s water, except my mom wouldn’t let me get rid of this thing.

The biggest thing in April was probably the Tulips Festival. I was there days after it opened and though a lot of the flowers were not blooming yet, I still had a great time.

There were plenty of walks around the park in April. Headphones or earbuds would usually be in my ears with a podcast or audiobook playing. I’ve found it helpful to help me practice mindfulness as I walked, which allowed me to observe my surrounding like these dandelions.

April also saw a lot of harvests of 2024 and 2025 vegetables. I remember someone once said, “seeds know when to germinate,” the spinach seeds I sowed late last year germinated, the lettuce that stopped growing last November resumed growing, and the single snow-pea plant that survived the winter are beginning to flower. Let’s just say I’m having an abundance of vegetables in the garden at the moment.

In April, I participated in the A-Z challenge with my theme of Places, which is a collection of all the places I’ve been. It was surprising that I managed to come up with a place for each letter. I’ll do a reflection in a different post.

Now, as to what I’m looking forward in May, not much, except a road trip during Memorial Day weekend. My mom, aunt, and I are heading to Goblin Valley State Park in southern Utah. I wish I can go without the other two but let’s face it, my mom would’ve never let me go alone.

Let’s hope May is a better month.

CFFC: Highways


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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #346 – Cinematic


Happy Sunday! Sofia is hosting the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week with the theme of Cinematic. Hmm…

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#AtoZChallenge 2025 – Valley of Fire State Park


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#AtoZChallenge 2025 – Uinta National Forest


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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #345 – My Go-to Places


Happy Sunday! John is hosting the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week and he’s raised the question of “Go-to Places.”

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#SundayStills: Early April #Garden


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#SundayStills: Take a #walk in the wild


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CFFC: Nursery Rhyme


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CFFC: Pick a Number – Groups of 3


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#WordlessWednesday: Salt and Sky


Part of Wordless Wednesday, where a picture tells the story.

Close Calls with Wildlife: Lessons Learned


Daily writing prompt
Do you ever see wild animals?
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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #327 – 5 Elements


This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge’s theme – 5 elements – hosted by Sofia at Photographia, had me a little stumped, which was why I put it off (that and procrastination got the better of me) until Monday. The 5 Elements are consisted of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Metal/wood, hopefully I will represent them well in my post.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #326 – This Made Me Smile


Happy Sunday! What makes me smile? I guess we’ll find out as Ann-Christine from Leya hosts this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #326 with this exact theme.

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#SundayStills: Monthly Color Challenge – #Brown Trees


A photo of a fallen tree trunk covered in snow taken at Bryce Canyon National Park in December 2023

Like it or not, I will always look back on that trip because so far, that trip is ranked at the top of my best trip list. This picture is a picture of a fallen tree trunk at Bryce Canyon. In the snow, it looked like something else, like a sleeping beast in the snow. Nature has its weird ways of creating art, doesn’t it?

Another one from the trip.

There seem to be quite a bit of brown landscapes. I’m pretty sure it’s just the time of year for that color to surface as the days are at its shortest and the nights are at its longest.

Surprisingly, by the time I made it to northern Arizona, I found out I get 30 minutes of daylight than I do at home. Funny how much of a difference 6 degrees of latitude can make.

Anyway, this is just a tree, somewhere along highway 95 in southeastern Utah, surviving, I guess, beside a nearly dried up river. I feel like many of us are in similar situations – just surviving, trying to get by day to day.

Inspired by SundayStills

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #325 – Gratitude


Happy Sunday! As Thanksgiving will be here in the U.S. in a little over a week, Tina is challenging us to show some photos of Gratitude for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #235.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #324 – In the Details


Happy Sunday! I can tell this week’s theme for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is going to be a fun one as Patti is challenging us to show some details in our photos.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #323 – Silence


Happy Sunday! Egidio from Through Brazilian Eyes is leading this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge with the theme of Silence.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #322 – There’s a crack in everything


Happy Sunday! What a fun theme Ritva has presented us this week with Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #322 – There’s a crack in everything!

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#SundayStills: Monthly Color Challenge – #Black and Black and White


I saw this view from my backyard and just knew I must grab the camera for a quick picture. This was taken exactly a week ago on the night before a cold front would arrive and the make the temperature dip 20 degrees Fahrenheit – from 80 degrees to 60.

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CMMC: October Color – Fern Green


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#SundayStills: 3 #Trees 3 Stories


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