Showing posts with label A to Z Blogging Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A to Z Blogging Challenge. Show all posts

01 May 2017

#AtoZChallenge Round Up

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com


Well, that's a wrap, another year behind us. Did you enjoy the challenge? I did! While I totally failed on getting everyone visited each day, I enjoyed each and every one of the blogs that I visited. There were some really awesome posts out there! I learned more about a Canadian friend's town, and animals, and cat toys, sketching, perspectives, songs and more songs, miscellany, randomness, time, and Vanessa mastered the art of anticipation with her one word a day story!




A to Z Challenge 2017

A is for April B is for Babies C is for Clarity
D is for Doofus E is for Elephant F is for Flower
G is for Girls H is for Heroes I is for Immigrant
J is for Jaguar K is for Kitties L is for Lilies
M is for Mother N is for Nothing O is for Obsession
P is for Puppies Q is for Quizzes R is for Rain
S is for Something T is for Twist U is for Umbrella
V is for Vivaldi W is for Water X is for Xerxes
Y is for Yumminess Z is for Zoo Round Up


Stay tuned next Monday for the A to Z Reflections post.


Have a blessed week, y'all!








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30 April 2017

Z is for Zoo #AtoZChallenge


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/


Z is for zoo.


The zoo is a great place to go for entertainment and exercise.  The monkeys out of the cages are as much fun to watch as the monkeys inside the cages.  It gives us joy to watch the little ones as they get so excited over seeing the animals and feeding the ducks and just generally running around all over the place.  It has been a very long time since there were children here at McClendon Villa.

But, monkeys doesn't start with Z and I need to show you a Z word. So, how about a zebra?

Ruby and the Zebra - The Houston Zoo  ©2014 Suzanne G. McClendon

Do you live near a zoo?  Do you like to go to the zoo?


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/



Have a blessed day, y'all!




Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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29 April 2017

Y is for Yumminess! #AtoZChallenge


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/




Y is for yumminess.

Here are a few things on my yumminess list!


Cheesecake

Image from Pixabay.

 

Black Forest Cake

Image from Pixabay.

Shrimp

Image from Pixabay.

 

Guacamole

Image from Pixabay.

 

Tomato Sandwiches

First Tomato of 2017 ©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

 

Broccoli

Image from Pixabay.

Are you hungry yet?

What things are on YOUR yumminess list?


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/



Have a blessed day, y’all!

 


Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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28 April 2017

X is for Xerxes #AtoZChallenge

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/



X is for Xerxes.

Xerxes was the name of a king from in the Bible. He was married to Queen Esther.  We had a king of a different sort in our lives for a little while.  His name was Xerxes, too.


I sure do miss my babykins. 



http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/


 Have a blessed day, y'all!
 

Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
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Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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27 April 2017

W is for Water #AtoZChallenge

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/


W is for water.

In the area where we live, it is always feast or famine in regards to waterWe're either so dry the earth is cracking open from lack of rain or people are having to be rescued by boat from their homes because of too much waterWe got greeted by a tropical storm the day that we moved here in mid-September 2004.  The plumbing in this house exploded that first night here and we had a flood indoors, water everywhere.  Thank goodness it was another two days before the moving truck got here with our stuff!  Our first Texas Thanksgiving was during the Great Flood of 2004.  There have been many more floods since then and many more instances of severe drought.

Water is a mighty powerful force, whether feast or famine.  It sustains life.  It takes life.  It brings pleasure.  It brings pain. 

It also brings snakes and alligators to little town squares.  It did one year here in this little town called Wharton.


Here are a few photos from the first flood (that we were aware of) in 2016, which was in late April.  We also flooded again in May 2016.







At the point these photos were taken, the river was over 48 feet at the gauge.  Flood stage is 39 feet. We had a flood pretty much all of May 2015.  The flood pictured was April 2016. We also had another flood in May 2016.  To say that I'm a bit fidgety going into May 2017 would be a bit of an understatement!


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/



 Have a blessed day, y'all!




Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.
I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

26 April 2017

V is for Vivaldi #AtoZChallenge


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



V is for Vivaldi.

The composer...


Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born 4 March 1678 and died 28 July 1741. He was an Italian virtuoso violinist and a great Baroque composer.

 Spring, from The Four Seasons series of violin concertos, composed between 1717-1721. 


This great composer and musician died in poverty. The funeral for this man, who spent his whole life giving so much to the world of music, was conducted with no music. That seems so very sad to me!

And, here is the Vivaldi that lives here at McClendon Villa...

Vivaldi ©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

Have a blessed day, y'all!


Sources: Biography
Wikipedia: Antonio Vivaldi
Image source: Vivaldi

Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

25 April 2017

U is for Umbrella #AtoZChallenge

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com




 U is for umbrella.

Do you use an umbrella or do you just make a run for it? We have several around here but, for the most part, we do not use them.  If we're getting in and out of the car, we get much wetter trying to deal with an umbrella than if we just make a run for it. I did use one the other day while going out to check the mail. It is pointless to even bother with one when it is windy and, most of the time, it is pretty windy around here.

Image by Pixabay.


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

 Have a blessed day, y'all!





Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

24 April 2017

T is for Twist #AtoZChallenge

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

T is for the Twist!


And who could forget this one?


Hey, let's twist again!



How would you like to go into this twisted building?



Do you ever wonder what gets the trees all twisted up like this?



I'll bet you don't wonder what to do with this whopper of a twist!


http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

 Have a blessed day, y'all!




Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

22 April 2017

S is for Something #AtoZChallenge

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/


S is for something because if I put spiders or snakes in the subject line, maybe you wouldn’t have clicked to read my post. :).

Spiders love me.  They are always snacking on me. Even a brown recluse got in on the Suz buffet back in 2011.  It caused a totally disgusting hole to open up on me, hanging flesh, the whole nine yards. But, aside from having a pretty high fever and being sick as a dog for a month, we were able to take care of it without a hospital stay.  Had I gone to the hospital available to me at the time, I probably would have died. It was a “you can check in, but you won’t check out alive” hospital. They went bankrupt this past November. Thank goodness that death machine is out of business!

Over the years, I’ve been able to take quite a few spider photos.  Here are some of my favorites.

©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon



©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

©2015 Suzanne G. McClendon
©2015 Suzanne G. McClendon


Snakes are just a part of everyday living here in Texas. We have them in the yard and in the house and, though I’d rather not think this thought, probably in the car somewhere, too. One lady found rattlesnakes in her car in downtown a few years ago. Rattlesnakes, people!  Not the type of rattling you want to hear in your car, especially if you don’t hear or see them until you’re driving 70+ miles an hour on the freeway. Thankfully, they didn’t eat her and someone came to rescue her or, maybe they were rescuing the snakes. I can imagine that a major freak-isode happened when she realized what was in the car with her!

©2004-2017 Suzanne G. McClendon


Last year, a King Cobra made the news when it escaped from its enclosure at a local house.  This house was across the street from David’s mother’s former house (she had recently moved from that house).  It seems this teenage boy kept all sorts of snakes as his pets in the garage. The King Cobra decided it didn’t like its digs there and went on walkabout. Folks were in a real tizzy until that thing was found, too, I’ll tell you!  Guess where they found it?  Seems ol’ King had decided to get a little education. They found it in the field of the local high school.  Can you imagine if that thing had gotten INTO the school?  OY!

Here are a few snakes that I've photographed over the years here. The one in the grass was a real ham!

©2014 Suzanne G. McClendon


©2004-2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

©2004-2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

And now, for some not so creepy, crawly critters. How about our Angel Socrates and sunflowers?

Socrates and Suz ©2015 Suzanne G. McClendon
 
Socrates ©2015 Suzanne G. McClendon

©2015 Suzanne G. McClendon

Oh yeah! And a snail.  :)


©2015 Suzanne G. McClendon

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/



Have a blessed day, y'all!




Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

21 April 2017

R is for Rain #AtoZChallenge

http://a-to-zchallenge.com/

R is for rain.

Lots of it. In a short amount of time.  Some areas have had as much as 10 inches in just a few hours.  It is pretty wet out there right now. 

All this rain makes me wonder if we're going to repeat the flooding that has hit us the last two years at the end of April/entire month of May.  I sure hope not.  It is exciting and all that to have all the news crews out here and to hear stories of alligators on the town square, but I'd really rather not have to deal with a power-tripping cop or all the mosquitoes or have folks put out of their homes again.
 
The ditch at the end of our driveway. ©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon


http://a-to-zchallenge.com/



 Have a blessed day, y'all!




Notice: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!