Merry Christmas Everyone!

A Belated Merry Christmas!  I had a real nice Christmas morning.  A friend and I drove South towards Miami to photograph whatever we might find along the way that would bring us some joy!  Here's a few photos from one of our many stops!  What fun we had! 

Another stop I was even able to cross off one item from my Bucket List.  You'll have to wait for those photos....Hopefully soon!   Stay warm!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've always had an "Attitude of Gratitude" and, for me, it surely has made a difference!
Whether it be great family, friends, wonderful memories, a nice parttime job
  I have so much to be grateful for...both things I have, and don't have!
-That's a photo of Ralph, aka R, Ralphie, Cutie Pie, puppy, r-phie...
-my rescued doggie-he really dislikes the camera so much! He usually runs under the bed...
Thank you Nancy for getting him for me!
-Have a wonderful Holiday!
          "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
~ William Arthur Ward

What Goes Around, Comes Around....

What a great birthday present I received....Just being in Boston with my daughter Nancy, her husband Kris, and the three girls (Lily, Nina and Abby) was such fun!  I hadn't seen them in quite sometime, so it was really a treat!  Besides a cat, and a hermit crab living with the kids, Nina decided she wanted chickens. So now there are 6 chickens, and an Angora Bunny Rabbit.  Hazelnut resides in a cage in the family room! It was a great visit, too short, but fun.  Taking Lily on a mystery drive with our cameras was fun.  Usually we do a mystery walk with the cameras, but this time she and I snuck off for about an hour to see what we could find and photograph.  My sister and daughter took me for lunch on my birthday.  Just started to eat my lunch... I look up and there's my neighbor of 19 years who I just adore.  Margi drove up from Long Island to spend the day with us!  What a wonderful surprise...I was just thrilled!!!  Margi was 11 when we moved into the house.  Margi started babysitting for the kids and I don't know what I would have done without her!!!  I'd be working and either she or her mom would watch the kids till I got home from work.  Soon after Margi got married she and her hubby and baby Matthew moved back into her mom's house.  My son Andrew was babysitting for her children!  Soo, there you go.  What Goes Around Comes Around.... Thanks Margi for always showing up at the right time.....We all love you!

My Latest Painting ~ Little Cutie Pie Charlotte

Difficult to paint from an image taken with a phone camera, but it surely can be done!

Wow! One of My Photos Was on the Front Page of Etsy Today!

What a surprise when I checked my email today. ~The Brown Barn With Beautiful Clouds~ was featured on the Front Page of Etsy! Here I was at a new temp assignment and I wanted to tell the world, but couldn't!!!! This was a first for me and I wasn't even sure if it was from a treasury someone had included me in or what. My buddies in the POE (Photographer's of Etsy) forum were so supportive as usual! Thanks folks.. I'm sooo excited!

Take Time to Smell The Flowers

~Thank You Collage~
Originally uploaded by pamlefcourt

I've just completed an assignment that allowed me to take the time to smell the flowers....and what beauties they all were!
~For this, I am oh so grateful!

"The more you are thankful for what you have, the more you will have to be thankful for." ~ Zig Ziglar

Click on the photo to take you to my flickr collections http://www.flickr.com/photos/pamlefcourt/collections/

One Never Knows What is Around the Corner!

Awaiting us in Treviso, Italy ~  I was invited to stay with dear friends and neighbors in a farmhouse they rented for ten days.  It was located outside Padova, Italy, an hour from Venice. Each day they'd map out a route with a few towns to explore. What fun we had! Arriving in the town of Treviso, I was so excited to see these plastic statues all over the place! Blue penguins placed in balconies, Pink and Green Bears standing in the street, some waiting patiently to be placed. Pink Dolphins were being strung across the narrow width of the Street throughout the whole block! It was just another great find, especially for me, the obsessed "just one more shot" photographer!

~Later that night there was to be a Fundraiser to benefit a local Children's Hospital in the Street!

~What fun, what marvelous finds with favorite friends!
~What more could I ask for when in Italy...a visit with the Pope...only kidding...I doubt that would happen...
Hmmmmmmmm

There is Another Way! Just Try It...

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery of a detour" --author unknown

WOW, I so enjoyed seeing this quote earlier today!  I remember watching a wonderful video years ago, and the message was ~ If you travel miles to photograph this great scene and it's not that great rolling, full waterfall, perfect light that you've seen before and expected....just turn around!  By seeing something another way, you just might get an unexpected, beautiful shot!  I was soo impressed with this concept, and thought to myself how many businesses, bosses, and people in general might gain so much from thinking out of the box, that there just might be another way to see or do something.  How simple....There is Another Way!

Shadow Shot Sunday, Every Sunday...

A friend, living in Australia, (who, might I say, has some outrageous photos on Etsy) also has a weekly blog posting. She asks photographers to post their weekly shadow photos... It's called....Shadow Shot Sunday. Every Sunday. Soo, here's the first one of mine I'm going to post on my blog. Hey Harriet...thanks!!!!

A New Beginning...A New Year!

Frustrated, wondering why some of my posts have "lost" their images, I just deleted the posts~~~~and decided to stay away from my blog for awhile.....
Usually when something like this happens I say to myself...Oh well, it just gives me the opportunity to do it again...

And so, once more, I'll try again! Perseverence, patience, gratitude, and now, my word for this year is.....

FOCUS