Celebrate the Small Things: A Photo Opportunty

Still smokey in Eastern Washington and the fires continue to burn. Tomorrow we are on another high wind alert....not good. Vince and I are official 'weather spotters' and we've been notified to be on the lookout for damage and new fires.

Meanwhile, I shot some photos in the smokey haze (Aug 23), a photo opportunity. It was one of those 'got lemons, make lemonade' moments. The gray rocky hill in the distance (Umtanum Ridge) is normally brown with distinctive angles and shading. We were coming home from Ellensburg (up the hill), where beautiful Mount Rainier is often visible. Not so this time. Even the Cascades were buried in smoke.

View from road, Columbia River, near Vantage

View from road along Columbia River, near Mattawa

Wanapum Dam - Columbia River, near Mattawa

Columbia River, Japanese apple orchards in distance, near Mattawa

Apple orchard in distance, Umtanum Ridge, Columbia River  

 Other celebrations:

--Did some gardening. The temperature was bearable today.
--Loving SmartEdit, my new editing software
--Celebrated another birthday last week. Yummy ice cream cake with friends.

Hope your week was worth every minute

Happy Weekend!

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To join this blog hop click Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules. Posts are every Friday. It can be about writing, family, school, general life or whatever. This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever. (Originated by VikLit)  Co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

Celebrate the Small Things: A Snoozy Post

I crammed in a lot this week, in addition to sitting at the computer and working on my writing, so I feel a bit like Garfield right now. I'm calling this a snoozy post, because I could use a nap. 

Here's a mishmash of things of going on:

• Attended my first Garden Club meeting. I'm officially an Earth Angel! A guest speaker talked about how to prune roses. Turns out, roses do really well in hot climates. Then I jumped off the deep end and volunteered for a Garden Show today. What was I thinking? But don't get me wrong, I love this stuff. It's my second outlet, next to writing.

• Flew to Pullman, WA and spent the night with friends; a leisurely dinner out, and flew home the next morning. It was fun visiting our friends and "old stomping grounds."  

View of area where we now live, flying off in hubby's RV8. Land sections are fruit orchards and vineyards (it's wine country here!).

 

Close up view of Sentinel Gap & the Columbia River

• Connected with another writer online, who is published with Poisoned Pencil, and decided I really like this publisher. 

•  Entered Pitch Madness today, just to see if I can make the final cut (no luck last year).

• Getting ready to do taxes. Ugh. I have done the family's taxes for many years now. The prep work in advance is more time-consuming than the actual forms.

•  Saw The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Missed it in the theaters. Absolutely loved it! The surprise ending is worth the whole movie, and of course, those two together.....I'll let your imagination fill in the rest :)

• Started two Grow Boxes outside, with Swiss Chard and Spinach. Planted daffodils in ground. Started seeds in house for lettuce, petunias, and sunflowers 

• Tomorrow morning, watching a Webinar based in New York, sponsored by Inland Northwest SCBWI. Keynote speeches by authors, Keynote Editor's Panel Marketplace 2015 (Report from the Front Line), and Keynote Agent's Panel (Charting Your Career Path). Should be good. 

Have a Nice Weekend!

Thank you Lexa Cain for hosting this blog hop!

And co-hosts: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge  

and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing