Creating Lena » photos

One Lonely Tulip

Helena — Tue, 10 May 2011 03:50:28 +0000

I started a new walking program this week, and of course I just had to stuff my camera in my pocket. At the bottom of the courthouse steps there are two big beds of tulips just waiting to bloom, but so far there’s only this one lonely tulip all by itself.

And of course I couldn’t resist a closeup:

I’m glad to see this one, though. It seems that the tulips are really late this year. I went looking in my archives and found pictures from April 26th and May 3rd last year where they were already out in full bloom.

For more wonderful redness, please visit Ruby Tuesday at Work of the Poet.

Have a wonderful day!

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Parking Lot Views

Helena — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 03:20:11 +0000

I should have kept my mouth shut last night! It seems lately that every time I announce my plans to get a boatload of work done, something happens to get in my way.

Today it was a trip to the emergency room to deal with a very bad case of dizziness. I’d never had the room spin on me before this morning, and believe me, it was about the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.

Unsure whether I was just dizzy or if it had been a mini-stroke, I toddled off to the emergency room this morning, and ended up spending most of the day there. Thank goodness it was just a dizzy spell and I’m home again, but it was definitely a no-work day. Tomorrow will be better!

Having this scare was a good thing though in a way, because any time I wind up in the emergency room, it reminds me that I really need to be living life to the fullest and not procrastinating on the things that make me happiest. So I’m more determined than ever now to start my new little project. :)

Anyways, I promised you a photo post and here are the photos… of the hospital parking lot! (These are actually from a couple of weeks ago… it wasn’t nearly this nice out today!)

Whitecaps on the River

Helena — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:49:18 +0000

I’ve been taking part in the 8 Week Fitness Challenge going on over at Goodlife Zen. Most days are easy because I just report what I did at the gym. But today was just too nice, warm, sunny and windy to stay indoors so I went wandering by the river for a couple of hours. I have to say, it’s the first time in a long time I’ve seen it windy enough that the river had actual whitecaps.

For more wonderful watery photos, stop by Watery Wednesday.

Have a wonderful day!

Week in Review – October 10-17, 2010

Helena — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 19:25:32 +0000

This week that just passed has been a wonderful week here in the Ritchie madhouse. :)

Starting with Thanksgiving weekend last weekend, we ended up doing a lot of outdoorsy stuff on Sunday, going for long walks in Lakefield, and up around the locks on the Otonabee River.

It was back to the grind on Tuesday, starting with a trip to the gym. Since I had not gone the week before due to having a cold, I lost all the momentum I’d built up on the elliptical machine and could only go about 2 minutes before feeling like I was gonna die! It didn’t take long to get back into it though, and by Friday I was up to 6 minutes — my best so far!

It seems my aqua fitness and aqua yoga classes are starting to pay off too. On Friday the instructor actually complimented me by saying I looked very fluid in the water. That made me feel really great and gave my always-tenuous sense of self-confidence a much appreciated boost.

On the work front, I didn’t get a lot of writing done. I messed up my NaBloPoMo month by missing a day (or was it two) of posting this week. And I’m nowhere near meeting my goal of writing 10 pages a day this month. Must learn to do better at getting work done before going to play in the gym!

The biggie this week, however, is that I DID manage to finish up the first article pack for sale on my new PLR site — TheBestPLRContent.com. I’m so very proud of myself for doing this and even emailing my small PLR list about it because that completed my Overcoming Fear challenge from the weekend.

I also fixed up the Introverted Marketer blog this week, and added the “about me” page. I’m trying to keep up posting here and there both on a daily basis, and I sorta dropped the ball this week.

My Boys Halloween Costumes blog is doing well and starting to see some sales, so I’m also pretty pleased about that.

And that’s the high notes for this week.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s blog posts:

On Helena Ritchie.com

October 10 – Thanksgiving Sunday Stroll
October 11 – Thanksgiving Stroll, Part 2
October 12 – Powerful Water
October 14 – Clear Skies Over the Marsh
October 15 – Canal Reflections

On TheIntrovertedMarketer.com

October 12 – a short Productivity Update
October 14 – Day 11 update
October 17 – the new About Me page

On TheBestPLRContent.com

October 14 – Exercises for the Thighs and Buttocks PLR Article Pack

One thing I should mention too, is if you’re in the market for PLR content, I do take requests. There’s a spot on the PLR site where you can submit your topic requests and I’ll handle them on a first come, first served basis.

On tap for the upcoming week is more time in the gym, more inches to lose and more minutes to tackle on the elliptical machine. As far as content goes, I have more posts to add to the Halloween Costumes site, and I’m already working on the next PLR pack on meditation.

I’m looking forward to an even more productive week this week. Hope you are getting everything you want done as well!

Have a great week!

All That Exercise Pays Off

Helena — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:30:30 +0000

So, it’s a new month, and the start of the final quarter of the year and instead of working today I spent the day playing outside. I couldn’t help myself… the sun was shining, the kid had the afternoon off and so we went and hung out at the zoo. I’ve been so amazed at how brilliant and vivid the leaves are this year, I just had to get out with the camera. I even skipped out on my aqua fitness classes today to get outside and play!

It was really nice because we realized as we were walking around that usually the only time we go walking at the zoo is in the winter. This was the first time we were there when the ground wasn’t covered in snow!

It was also good proof that all the aqua fitness classes that I’ve been taking, and all the torture that is the elliptical machine, are paying off. The last few times we’ve been out walking I’ve had to stop and rest either because I needed a nitro shot, or because my hips and back hurt so badly I had to set and rest. Today we’d been walking for about an hour and Shaun noticed that I hadn’t complained about anything hurting at all yet! We actually ended up walking around out there for 2 hours and even made it down the path to the river as well.

Can ya tell I’m just a wee bit proud of myself? :)

Anyways, that’s it for me today. Tomorrow it’s back to work on writing PLR to put in my new store. It’s taken a lot longer than I thought it would to get a set of articles written.

Have a great weekend!

Patience Pays Off

Blame It On The Wind

Helena — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:09:48 +0000

I thought I was going to be smart and get a good shot of the river from between the branches here, but Mother Nature had another picture in store for me. Just as I was about to take the picture, the wind picked up again and this was the result:

That the wind would bring those branches together in such a perfect heart shape totally amazed me. I couldn’t have had a better reminder of why it is I should be out with my camera more often. :)

For more watery goodness, check out Watery Wednesday.

Have a wonderful day!

Quick Update: Thanks to Limar’s suggestion, I also submitted this to Guest Heart Thursday over at Random Hearts. There are some really amazing shots to see over there, so go take a peek!

My Week in Review 2010-2

Helena — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:17:45 +0000

This week I have to say I wasn’t as productive as I’d intended to be. I kind of overdid it on my exercising this week it took two days for me to recover from that. I can see that I really do have a long ways to go if I’m going to make that triathlon in July. :)

On the posting front, I did make a post here every day except Friday because that was my first day feeling energetic enough to get some writing done, and so spent the day putting together the most recent issue of The Acorn Stash Newsletter. I still have to create the cover for it, and post the table of contents over on the blog, but the issue itself is ready for download.

This week’s photo posts included:

Scenes From the Path
Raindrops on Maples
Around the Lift Lock
My Afternoon Stroll
Sunday Sunset
and Sittin’ on the Dock

I also posted three new wallpapers with quotes on happiness. My favourite of the bunch is this one:

Happiness is like jam. You can’t spread even a little without getting some on yourself. ~ Anonymous

I’m thinking this week that I might add a few new ones without any quotes that are based on my own photos. What do you think?

And that’s unfortunately about all I got done. From the list I posted last Sunday I still have to set up a blog for the fitness stuff, and get started on the weekly Squidoo lenses. Those two tasks will head the list for the coming week, along with the usual photo posts and articles. I’m planning on heading out of town for at least one day this week to do some “country” photos. I’ve seen a few amazing shots of fence lines and snowy fields in my blog travels this week that have inspired to me to go out and capture something other than water and park paths.

Here’s to another amazing week. What do you plan to get done this week?

My Week in Review 2010-1

Helena — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:43:14 +0000

Now that the first week of the year is officially over, it’s time to reflect a bit on how it went and what that portends for the rest of the year. I wrote out a lot of goals and plans before the year started, and as usual, I’m off to a slower start that I wanted. But I’m not at a complete standstill, so there’s still hope for me! :)

I’ve fallen in love with doing photography stuff… almost to the point where I have to remind myself that I’m a writer first and foremost. So this week my focus was more on writing than it was on pictures. I missed two days of posting, and where once I would have stressed over it and tried to double up another day, I just let it go knowing that there are lots of days left to do more than one post if it’s warranted. Today is shaping up to be one of those days. :)

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new online this week:

On HelenaRitchie.com

Photo posts:

Rails and Trails
It’s Monday
Going With the Flow – where I also talk a bit about how one of my major goals this year is to live more in the flow instead of trying to structure each and every moment.
Urban Sunrise

Got Camera? 29 Photo-related Memes For Sharing Your Photographs

Helena — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:04:59 +0000

As you can no doubt tell, my personal space here has pretty much morphed into a photo blog. Over the past few weeks I’ve discovered that while I’ve always loved taking pictures, I was a little hesitant to share them. But thanks to the support of the photo blogging community, I’m coming to realize that I do have the ability to take some pretty decent pictures and am having loads of fun sharing what I come up with each week.

There are tons of great photo memes around to contribute to and share in and I’m really proud of myself that I haven’t missed a day yet! Until today, that is. Because the color for today at True Colors is cranberry, and the theme for the Thursday Challenge is toys, neither of which I have much of in my house, or in my archives to share. :)

Instead, I’ve put together a list of the twenty-nine weekly memes I’ve found so far. And I’m sure there are more, so if you know of one I’ve missed please feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Are ya ready? The rules for playing along are pretty simple.
Post your photos on your blog along with a badge or a link back to the host, and then go to the host blog and leave a direct link to your post. Then visit other participants and check out their submissions, and leave comments. You can even go one step further and social bookmark, stumble, tweet or facebook your favorites. Some memes do have a few extra rules, so be sure to read them before you post your links. :)

Most of the themes are pretty self-explanatory, but I’ve added the descriptions here for clarity’s sake.

Monday

Macro Monday – Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, and post it on your blog.

Mellow Yellow Monday – Every Monday post a photo with a little or a lot of yellow.

Blue Monday – Post about something blue on your blog. It can be pretty, ugly, funny, old, or new as long as it’s blue.

Mosaic Monday – Create a mosaic out of photos you have taken, and post it!

Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday – On Tuesdays (or Wednesdays, or Thursdays…) you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED.

My World Tuesday – This is the place where you show others the area around you and become our Tourist Guide!

Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday – The one that started it all (I think). You can play every day here, but I’ve put it under Wednesday because of the name.

Remember Whensday – Remember Whensday is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing your “old” photographs and memories.

Watery Wednesday – This is one of my favorites since I’m totally addicted to taking water shots. :)

Window Views … and doors too! – Post photos that you have taken of windows and doors.

ABC Wednesday – Not strictly a photo meme, but you can submit photos, artwork, poetry, or prose related to the letter of the week. I am in awe of the creativity of the people who participate in this each week. The posts are absolutely amazing!

Outdoor Wednesday – Another one of my favorites since nearly all my photos are taken outdoors.

White Wednesday – Post a photo with a little or a lot of white.

Thursday

Thursday Challenge – Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning. A theme is announced on this site each week. You may either take a new photograph related in some way to the theme or select one that you have taken previously

Think Green Thursday – This is not limited to photos, nor is it limited to the color green. In the words of the hosts, “This is not so much a color-based meme but one where people focus on the concept of environmental awareness, renewable energy and protecting natural spaces, animals and their habitats.”

Motion Thursday – Take a picture of something in motion, and share it with the rest of us!

True Colors Thursday – To join True Colours Thursday, all you need, is to post a photo/photographs & text, or better still both, on the specified colour of the week. The colors are already set for the coming weeks, so you can plan ahead and keep an eye out for things to photograph!

Sepia Scenes – Post a photo that you have taken — it can be anything you like as long as it’s done in sepia (either directly or by editing).

Friday

Skywatch Friday – Post your favorite photos of the sky that you have taken. There are some extra rules here too, so be sure to read before you post.

Photostory Friday – Post photo(s) that YOU took and simply tell the story behind it. Explain why you pressed the shutter button, what memory it invokes, what we don’t know, why you love it or why you don’t.

Weekend Reflections – Post a photo that contains a reflection. You can get pretty creative with this one. :)

Color Carnival – The rules are simple for this one – just post a very colorful photo on your blog (one you have taken yourself of course!)

Saturday

Pink Saturday – Just post something pink – it can be anything – something pretty, something funny, something old, something new – just not something blue.

Camera Critters – Share photos of your pets, other animals, insects or critters that you have taken.

Monochrome Weekend – If monochrome photography is your thing, this is the meme for you.

Sunday

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday – On any Sunday you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that hasn’t been tweaked or altered in any way (cropping is OK). In other words Straight Out Of the Camera.

Scenic Sunday – Scenic Sunday is a photo meme of the scenery. It can be landscapes, buildings, flowers, or anything you feel it’s a scenery photo.

Today’s Flowers – Post one flower picture of your choice, or as many as you want.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Post a picture of a shadow. Please be sure to read the rules before you join in. :)

So there you have it… twenty-nine places to share your love of photography with the rest of us. The great thing about these memes is that you don’t have to be a professional photographer to share. In fact, I took all the photos in this post with my little point and shoot Pentax. The participants are wonderful, and I can honestly say that in all my years of blogging I’ve never had as much fun as I have had so far this month.

Have a great day!

First Snowfall

Helena — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:03:34 +0000

The sun is shining for the first time in days, and there’s snow on the ground. Fresh snow is one of those things that I can’t help smiling about, so I just had to head out to snap a few pictures this morning.

Have an awesome day! Keep smilin’ :)