Scavenger Hunt Sunday . . .

 . . . Awww shucks, I've missed some Scavenger Hunt Sundays lately!

What can I say, school is out summer is here and we are busy. And well, we were on vacation one week and I was still recovering from vacation last week! So let's get this show on the road.....

{ sunset }

I took this sitting in the front seat of the car, as a passenger of course because that would be dangerous if I were driving. Not that I have ever done that or anything, I swear.... okay maybe once. This was most likely in the state of Louisiana, on our way home from our trip to Florida.

{ sweet }

Oh how I miss thee . . . the Donut Hole in Sandestin . . . absolutely the best donuts ever!! They even
have a glazed red velvet cake donut with a cream cheese frosting, Oh MY! We just had to bring home a box of donuts and this....was....my very ... last one. And I completely relished every bite!! And this is a place where the early bird definitely gets the best selection. I took this with my Android and added a slight texture.

{ hanging around }

It's kinda the strangest thing, that dragonflies always, always just show up almost everywhere I go. And  the strangest part is that they will come and hover straight overhead or in front of me for what seems like the longest time. It's really incredible!

{ funny face }

Football boy and choir girl, being good sports and if you have teenagers you know that can be a big deal sometimes! ;)  And well, if you are ever in Sandestin you now know who to call for fishing or a dolphin cruise.  I didn't even notice it when I took this, I'm guessing that's what they are going for...free advertisement?

{ space }

Oh, the only thing worse than really hard prompts is one that you can interpret a hundred different ways or at least five according to the dictionary. Okay, not that I had to look up what it meant or anything but I was in need of  a little direction because I couldn't choose.  I decided on this one, yes another vacation photo...but there is just something about this space; [ 1.the unlimited or incalculably great three-dimensional realm or expanse in which all material objects are located and all events occur, 2. the space occupied by a body]. The way the first light of the morning cast shadows of the palm trees and the hint of color painted on the walls, and this is an important space as around a few corners it leads the way to the beach,  AND it IS occupied by a body - me myself and I!!

I'm glad to be back this week and can't wait to see what YOU came up with!

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!!

Love, Kim

XO



Foto Friday . . . vacation, part II

"We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves

keeping the sun off our skin, the salt water off our bodies,

and the sand out of our belongings."

- Erma Bombeck

Now is that an oxymoron or what? But oh so true!

And as if when on the beach, you can accomplish any of that.

Well, except to say only on the rainy or double red flag days. And to be fair, it is the gulf
coast and it rains, and storms and then an hour later the sun is back out. But on this trip, the weather was
a bit confused and to say the least I'm really glad we weren't there as tropical storm Debby came in.

This day was a bit overcast and there was only one red flag which is why there were still not many in the water. It's hard to tell from the 14th floor, but when we got down to the beach those waves were a lot
stronger than they looked and there were still rip tides.

Which is why you then have to come up with plan "B", digging holes, enormous holes. My husband

asked him if there was any significance to his hole digging and he said ever since he watched an episode of friends where they all went on vacation together and Joey did nothing but dig holes . . . well, he now digs holes on vacation. He was out there everyday, digging a hole . . .

And this is what he found, not quite the treasure one hopes for, 16 rusty folding chairs. Kinda

makes you go hmmm. . . .What's the story behind this and how on earth did all those come out of that hole?

It was much deeper, they filled part of it back in.

I can't remember if I had mentioned it before, but I thought it had been 7 or 8 years since our last vacation.

Can't believe I actually found this, but almost to the month it has been 9 years! Oh my, where does the time go? My little football boy was six in this picture . . .

. . . . And here he is, about to turn 15 next month! I think I'm gonna cry . . .

He still has that same happy smile though!

{ Project Alicia - summer daze }

And when it's sunny and there is a yellow flag, there will be people!

{ Pixel Dust Art painterly and craquelure, and Kim Klassen Oh My textures }

Photo Art Friday (painting), Shoot.Edit.Submit, and Photograph life

{ Pixel Dust textures, age it, splendor in the grass and soft light overlay }

And my rainy day, stuck in Cornelius {Flower Art Friday} submission...

{ Texture from French Kiss - rosy script }

I have no idea how many parts I will have to this vacation OR if you want to see any more parts, but

there is still a Wedding Tree, our visit to the Wharf, and the restaurant with live alligators etc.

In fact, I still haven't even gotten through all the photos....

Before we left I finally got a new phone with an actual working camera on it as I have been wanting

to play on instagram and lucky for me Android just came out with an app. So while we were there, and with a little help from my daughter (because I'm a little challenged in the technical department) she set me up on instagram. I'm hooked addicted to it. So If you would like to follow some of my everyday findings and life stuff, or where Gumby might turn up next you can find me at: kimatpickingpoppies or click on the button on the sidebar at the top and it will take you straight to my profile on followgram and you can follow from there.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends,

Love, Kim

XO

   
 

In the pouring rain . . .

That's where I got stuck . . . in the pouring rain.

Well, to be clear, I was stuck inside while it was pouring,

but what better place to be stuck than a garden center.

It's just that I also had my camera, no camera bag, no purse, no umbrella!
It was sunny when I walked in.

So I took advantage of the wait and snapped some more....
and found this yarrow that I had missed earlier.

{ Kim Klassen textures love and peony }

"How beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and the heat,

In the broad and fiery street,

In the narrow lane,

How beautiful is the rain!"

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Rain in Summer

 

Happy Tuesday to all!

Love, Kim

XO



  

Foto Friday . . . Vacation, part one

"Those that say you can't take it with you

never saw a car packed for a vacation trip."

- Author Unkown

Call me crazy, but I prefer to drive . . .

The cooler, the beach chairs, your own pillows, a bag full of books, grocery items

that you didn't have to pay a premium for, your camera bag and tripod, boogie boards,

more shoes than you'll ever wear, and everything you would need for building a sand castle.

Oh yes, and the dog!

You can't take all that on a plane . . .

As we left the sun was rising and it was looking like a beautiful Sunday morning for a drive, a 10 hour drive.

Until we ran into this . . .

And this many birds on the run fly can only mean one thing . . .

There's a storm a coming!

"The rainy days a man saves for usually seem

to arrive during his vacation."

- Author Unkown

. . . and rain it did for most of the drive! 

We went across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, all 18.2 miles of it, across the largest swamp in the U.S. and according to Wikipedia it's the 14th largest in the world by total length.

But it finally started to clear up stop raining so that at least we could get everything to our room.

This is the view from our room on the 14th floor from my camera phone on instagram, one of my newest

loves. I LoVe that instagram came out with an app for the droid!!

. . . the sun came out just enough to see a partial sunset. I can only imagine what it looked like on

the other side of those buildings!

{ Photograph life - taken at night }

We all went to bed humming the song . . . The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar,

that tomorrow . . . . and it did!

{ Photo Art Friday - vintage AND Summer Daze at Project Alicia }

And on one of our very hazy evening walks my daughter and I spied this . . . some summer love!

{ Foto Friday - Black and white photo challenge - Shoot.Edit.Submit }

Five days flew by, we had red and double red flags for days, some more rain,

movie night by the pool, fireworks, and even held an alligator!

Watched a man dig a hole (a very large hole) in the sand every day, took a day trip to

the Florida State capitol (it rained, of course), went to the wharf and fed minnows to a heron where we

also saw a little air show and an amazing sunset!

Yes, I have more more pictures . . .

Love, Kim

XO

P.S. - I missed all of you!

 

 

I'm back . . .

"An art aims, above all, at producing something

beautiful which affects not our feelings but the organ

of pure contemplation, our imagination."

{Kim Klassen Daydreamer 2 - overlay}

Sandestin Florida - 14th floor view

I've been absent this last week, vacationing with my husband, the two kids, (and the dog), for the

first time in almost eight years. It was nice, but I'm tired, five days was way too short, and now I need a

vacation from my vacation. I found myself up at 5:30/6:00 almost everyday, cause who wants to

sleep away a view like this?

Hopefully, I'll be back in the swing of things soon . . . 

AND

What are the chances that a person wearing yellow would stroll into my frame?

Hope you're having a great week!

Love, Kim

XO



Quotography - Orange

While I still stand by PINK as my favorite color,
 I will admit that these orange flowers do make me feel happy!

I would however be a bit happier if the flag on the beach were green instead
of rip tide red!

Hope the rest of your Monday is a happy one!

Love Kim,

XO

 



Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Well, I'm squeaking this in last minute and missed last week

entirely due to having way too much fun people watching in Galveston

on Saturday night, on a date with the hubby and some friends.

I missed you all, now on to the prompts.....

[ travel ]

This little sanderling crossed my path on his travels . . .

[ silly ]

From the archives....my husband's family has a family olympics and this was the 'bobsled' event.

Over and then under with a wet sponge to see who could fill the bucket with the most water by the end.

There were sillier events, like the oreo cookie from the forehead into the mouth with no hands, but

that might have been more silly than anyone would have wanted me to share! haha

[ black & white ]

Yes, I'm sharing this one again from Friday but like I said I'm squeaking this together....this is the Texas

Tall Ship Elissa, and not a replica but a survivor. She was built in 1877 in Scotland, finally coming to rest

after 90 years of commercial history in Greece, where she was found in a scrap yard and not allowed to die. She is an incredible piece of history and is still a fully functioning three masted, iron-hulled sailing ship that continues to sail annually during sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. 

[ spots ]

Lucky for me when we were at the garden center today I just happened to have my camera, imagine that!

Thank you Miss Butterfly...

[ paper ]

This is the cover to one of my favorite notebooks, with paper . . .  I know, not so creative,

but I was desperate!

Hope your all having a wonderful weekend!!

Love, Kim

xo

Galveston, oh the night life . . .

Yep, Galveston is just as interesting by night as it is by day and definitely just as more entertaining!

This past weekend we went out with some friends, had a blast and even stayed up past our bedtime.

But boy it sure is getting harder to fly with those eagles when you've been hootin' with the owls.

The island's night life is a tropical eclectic mix of jazzy blues, and Texas rock and roll with a little

bit o' country, of course. Oh, and the people are just as diverse! You'll find places for romance, clubs for dance, and bars for cigars. And at the Saengerfest Park on The Strand you'll even find free monthly movie and music nights, along with a life size chess set.

We even ran into our buddy Dan T. Chandler, remember him from my post "Chicken Fried Streak and Gravy" ? Well, actually he told me he was going to be there playing again. Long story short, he found me
on facebook, through that post that showed up on his reverbnation page. Amazing how interconnected
technology has allowed us to become, because when we first met I didn't give him my name. I even got
my very own personal serenade of his new song called, "Artists". You all will love this one, and as soon
as I can figure out how to get the video off my phone I will share it with you!

A night in Galveston might go something like this . . .

You might start out with a carriage ride, or watch someone else taking one.

That will probably drive stroll past the Wedding Garden at the Tremont Hotel.

And you'll find art in unexpected places...

". . . irrational need to express oneself through color, shape and brushstrokes." 

That's how I feel about photography, so I would change that last word to light strokes!

Then you might make your way over to The Fisherman's Warf on the water's edge where you are pleasantly surprised there isn't a huge wait. Well, and you're just glad that the people who were sitting there just got called to their table. While you are there, you'll talk and laugh hysterically with your friends and before you know it, the day has turned into night....

Before you leave the restaurant you'll want to get a shot of Elissa's dinghy,

(Elissa is the baroque Tall Ship of Texas) but you will wonder where the ship went.

Then you will find her around the corner where she was part of a fundraising party to help

keep her well maintained and to get her hurricane ready.

And dating back to 1877 I would say she has aged beautifully! 

{ Sharing with Photo Art Friday - Black and White }

And who needs a Harley when you can have a John Deer tractor!

{ Flower Art Friday, Shoot. Edit. Submit }

Have a fabulous weekend!

Love, Kim

XO