Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. Let this year be a transformative year of delight and discovery.

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Flower of the Day

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them”

by Henri Matisse

Photographing any type of flower equals happiness to me.  I love the smell of their fragrance, the feel of their petals, and of course their color.  It all has a calming effect on me by allowing me to get lost in their beauty.

 

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Perspective

“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”
Alphonse Karr

Rose

Rose 2

Some more pictures from my visit to my father’s home.

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My First Bud

My first miniature rose bud in my Balcony Oasis.  I am so HAPPY to see that it truly survived.  This miniature rose was purchased at the beginning of spring and it was in the house.  It started to die and I thought it was a goner.  When the weather finally broke I put it outside and hoped that it would come back and it did!

I believe all of these were taken with the extension tube on.

 

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(PS is anyone else have problems creating a gallery?  When I select tiled mosaic it comes up squared tiles in the preview and vice versa.)

Inspiration

Today I browsed the reader and came across “sullivanjphotography.com” by Janice Sullivan.  She posted “Black Plexiglass Inspiration”  and it definitely provided me with some much needed inspiration.

Feeling inspired, after work I stopped past Home Depot to get a piece of black plexiglass.  At first I was a bit disappointed because they do not sell it.  After I told the employees what I was trying to do they suggested that I buy the clear plexiglass and tinted window film.   After seeing the cost I was again deflated.  The young man helping me must have seen the disappointment on my face so he discounted the film by 50%.  Now I am extra happy.

After leaving Home Depot I still needed to get some flowers.  I knew that I wanted something colorful but not sure exactly what.  I stopped into Shoprite to see what they have and to my surprise they had some tie dyed roses.  PERFECT!

I hope you like.

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“Cooler than the other side of the pillow.”

First I like to start by saying that I apologize for being so wordy.

While checking out my Facebook page this afternoon I kept seeing a bunch of RIP post about Stuart Scott passing today.  I was not sure who he was till I saw a picture and a brief bio about him being a sportscaster for ESPN. He died as a result of complications from cancer today.

For those of you that have read my “about” page know that I am a breast cancer survivor going on  twelve years.  His story touched/hit me little different then it does most people.  I am trying to process those feelings as I write this post.

There is a video clip that featured a speech that he did July 2014 at the ESPY Awards as he was the 2014 recipient of the Jimmy V (Valvano) Perseverance Award.  I watched it.  Why did I watch it?! I could have cried.

The things that he said made me further realize that I am not doing what I should be have been doing.  One of his quotes was “You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live. So live! Fight like hell!“.  This hit me like a ton of bricks because I feel as though I have given in and let cancer win.

I allowed cancer to beat me…Cancer won!

I feel that I stopped living a long time ago.  I have just been existing and existing is not living.  I know all the positive things to do and say to others who I see in a similar situation but it is so much easier to have a “do as I say, not as I do” philosophy.  I need to practice what I preach.

I need to live again. I need to find out who I am again.  I need to do!

The title of this blog “Reflections for My Soul” is also the title to a book that I have been working on for a couple of years now.  It is a brief autobiography on the mental stresses that I went thru (and still struggle with) while my body was being treated for breast cancer and what I did to relieve some of the stress and mental demons that I had (have).

This should have been completed a very long time ago.  Excuses like the words aren’t right, the pictures could be better, no one will read it, no one will publish it, etc, etc, etc,… keep getting in my way preventing me from getting it done.

This is my number 1 goal for this year.  Finish my book.  Once it is finished I think I will be on my way to being OK again.

Thank you for letting me share my personal feelings and for the support that have received.

Robin

PS:  The title is one of the things that Stuart Scott would say on his show.

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How many petals does a rose have?

How many petals are there on your average red rose?

It is so intriguing how a rose opens up.

The wonders of nature.

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Baby’s Breath

A Bouquet for me

When most people get a bouquet of roses they take pictures of only the roses (myself included).  Today I decided to also photograph the baby’s breath.

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~3~ I never new that the tiny flowers had a fluorescent tint to some of the petals.

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You can also visit and like my Facebook page Reflections for My Soul

WP Photo Challenge: Descent

This weeks WP Photo Challenge is Descent

My entry for “Descend” is a the point of view from a rose.

I purchased a bouquet of red roses yesterday and the petals are beginning their descent  to the floor.

Descending Petals

de·scent – dəˈsent/noun

1. an action of moving downward, dropping, or falling.

        “the plane had gone into a steep descent”

2.the origin or background of a person in terms of family or nationality.

        “American families of Hungarian descent“

Thanks for visiting and of course all comments are welcome.

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You can also visit and like my Facebook page Reflections for My Soul

 

Looking up