Beach observations

Went out to the beach. Just to enjoy the sea breeze. I meandered up the boardwalk and took some shoots in and around a beach bar before the afternoon crowd arrived.

...door swinging open and closed on rusty hinges, first disclosing darkness, then hiding it, then disclosing it again.
.•*♥ Stephen King, 11/22/63

Coming...going

The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind.
.•*♥ E.B. White

Nikki. Being Nikki.

Unsure. Quizcal. A bit worried.

Impish. Giggly. Smirk. Up to no good. 

Thoughtful. All-knowing. "Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married..."

Yep. That's my girl. Always so expressive.

Father, daughter & friend...

Josie and her friend, Carly, are here from Canada. We all went out for dinner and I managed to get a couple of pictures. One of father & daughter, and then one of the girls separate. They are a wiley group to photograph.

Meet the Ratties!!

My daughter has 2 new additions to her little furry family. June Bug & Rat Bastard. (She named hers and her husband named his...I'll let you figure out who named who.) Two tiny little girls. Full of curiosity and wiggly little pink noses. They are precious!



Part of their home is a little Dr. Who box. Which they are quite fond of.



Another part of their home is a blue tunnel that they absolutely adore!





Getting all snuggly in my hand. It is not as easy as one might think to hold a tiny June Bug and take her picture. But I managed.



And here is little Rat Bastard checking out the situation.



This is pretty much how Davis looked the whole time. Very intense. Concentrating. Alert.



One last one of June Bug looking up at me from my lap.

A secret garden...

On a bike ride, one early morning, I turned down a street I don't travel often. I was greeted by a most magical garden. Flowers. Paths. Old fences. So inviting. As I was getting ready to ride on I saw someone sitting in a chair by the side door. The lady was sweet enough to let me interrupt her quiet morning and answer all my questions. I asked her if I might photograph her flower gardens. She most happily agreed. On my next day off I brought my camera and photographed all the beauty in the still morning light.





If you look, oh so carefully at the picture on the right in the next set, you will see my riding partner, Chance. Tethered to the garden gate. Watching and waiting. Patiently.











As I was taking pictures, and being completely immersed in all the colors and scents, I heard a soft "meow" and looked up. This is what I was greeted with.













And then I saw the blue chest. It was in the outside sitting area. I am in love.







Another visitor to the garden...



She said I should cut some flowers to take home. To make me happy. So I did. And it does.





From the kitchen window to the dining room table. Happy...

Nikki. Davis. Strax.

One day last week I went to my daughter's house. We laughed and ate donuts. Lots of both. I felt in the photography mood, so I brought my camera with me. Here are the resulting images.

Introductions. First is my daughter, Nikki. My baby girl.





This is Davis. The, oh, so dapper, Davis. Davis is a recent addition to her family. A street urchin that ended up in the pound. Nikki found him on the street corner...Davis Hwy. She stopped to pick him up and located his owners. Fast forward to a few days later. She saw him again...out by a stop sign on Davis Hwy. Returned him again. Kept thinking about him. She decided to go back and ask the owners if perhaps they needed some sort of help with him. Well, they didn't really care. As a matter of fact, he didn't have a name, lived on the front porch in an old box, and here is the kicker...the owner said he was "gonna take him to the pound". He agreed to let Nikki have him. But, there was a twist in the plot. Davis was missing. Of course the owner didn't know, or care, where he was. So the search began. Nikki scouted the neighborhood that day. And the next. And the next. Still no Davis. Then she decided to check out the pound. And guess who's smiling face was waiting patiently for her? Davis!!!



This next little critter is Strax. I call him/her Hammy. He is soft and completely self absorbed. It is adorable on four paws.



Now Davis is a dapper gentleman. He is always well dressed...right down to his bow tie.





But, here is the best part about Davis. His winning smile. And all those teeth. It is a sight to behold.













And it seems that Davis & Strax live in semi-harmony. Strax can't see Davis, and Davis loves Strax's treats. It's a symbiotic relationship.









Here is Davis. In his happy place. He adores Nikki.