A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Thursday, August 13, 2026

Everyday Images #94

Welcome to my ongoing challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I'm more likely to notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Here's how it works: Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases to focus on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week. The link-up post will be here every other Thursday, sharing my photos and offering a link-up for participants to share theirs. Right below the link-up is where you'll find the next set of prompts.

August Prompts - Everyday Images #94

~~~~~

dessert

gradual

on the road

imperfect

tangled

selfie (quarterly)

restful

~~~~~

dessert

gradual - it's started already . . . a few leaves have gradually begun to change color . . .

on the road

imperfect - I thought I could keep my SVC Duck in my car, but it got a little too warm and the decoration glued to his chest kinda slid down. I guess a little imperfection makes him represent me a little better! LOL

tangled - that's me sorting out my in-ears every Sunday

selfie (quarterly) - I was trying to get a photo of my earring but it was harder than I expected to get a good angle

restful

And a few bonus photos:

Here's Duckie before the temperature soared.

On the first weekend in August, we went up to Huron for the day. We spent a bit of time at the lakeshore, walked out the pier towards the lighthouse, and enjoyed a Lake Erie perch dinner. All to celebrate our anniversary!

Sadly, I didn't take many photos the rest of the time. See, that's why I need this challenge!

I am sharing my photos every other Thursday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.

The Everyday Images link-up is posted every other Thursday, and is open for two weeks.

August Prompts - Everyday Images #95

~~~~~

double

at home (monthly)

yellow

mistake

heart

clock

current project (quarterly)

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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

In the Middle of the Hodgepodge

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. I saw a meme on Instagram that went like this - 'The movie Dirty Dancing came out in 1987 and was set in 1963, so if remade in 2026 it would be set in 2002. Now I need a little lie down in a dark room for a while.'

Time is crazy isn't it? So . . . What were you up to in the year 2002?

In the summer of 2002, my sons were almost 10 years old, almost 8 years old, and 3 1/2 years old; and my daughter had just turned one. That was the first year we went to Kingdom Bound festival at the beginning of August. We went with a small group from our church and all camped together at the state park campground near Darien Lakes (Six Flags) where the festival was. I found photos of my two youngest kids from late 2002 but not of the older two. That year was still pre-everything-on-the-computer so pretty sure there are a pile of snapshots in a box or an album somewhere and these were among the few that were scanned.

2. "Me? I'm scared of everything . . ." What's something that scares you that you'd like to try anyway?

Singing in a barbershop quartet. It's not the singing that scares me so much as the competing. I usually don't suffer from stage fright, assuming I feel prepared and it's something I genuinely like doing and chose to do in a performance setting. Some nervousness from excitement and that little bit of anxiousness that goes with the territory of "okay, this is what I've been preparing for and I hope I remember all the things and do well" but not terrified-to-be-there type stage fright. I've been pretty comfortable performing and competing in the chorus, but I don't know how I'd do on a competition stage with a quartet. It seems like it would be a lot of pressure and exposure. All the same, I hope to have the chance to try it at some point. I don't feel very confident that I have the time to put into practice and preparation right now though.

3. Watermelon - yay or nay? Which melon is your favorite - watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. Of the watermelon food/beverages listed which would you say yes to . . .

watermelon salsa ~ watermelon feta salad ~ watermelon sorbet ~ a watermelon Jolly Rancher ~ a watermelon margarita

I'm kind of in the middle, not an enthusiastic yay but not a not-for-me nay. I'm "meh". I like watermelon but don't love it and it's not the first fruit I choose, and I very seldom buy it. I would say cantaloupe is my favorite of the melons. I'd say "yes" to the watermelon margarita, because I almost always say yes to a margarita!

our Jack-o-Melon from a couple
summers ago

4. August 12th is Nation Middle Child Day. Are you a middle child? If not, where do you fall in the birth order in your family of origin? Do you think this has influenced your personality? Elaborate.

I'm not a middle child; I am the oldest of four children. I have a few of the traits that are supposed to be typical of firstborns but not so many that I feel like I fit that mold. Firstborns are supposed to be conscientious and organized (yes and not in a way anyone else understands), achievement-oriented (not really), natural leaders (I can see this), and rule-keepers (maybe about half the time). Apparently firstborns also tend towards perfectionism, anxiety, and people-pleasing; and find themselves in "caretaking" or advisory roles with their friends, partners, and colleagues. I think being the oldest of my siblings was a factor in developing a sense of responsibility and leadership, and general willingness to trailblaze, but I don't think it has been a huge influence on my personality.

5. Would you rather talk to everyone at a crowded party for a short time, or have a significant conversation with two people? Explain.

I think I'd prefer a significant conversation with a couple of people if I had to choose one or the other. I feel like I'm usually awkward at doing little small talk things and "working the room" is a skill I learned but doesn't feel natural to me. I'd rather find one or two people that share a common interest with me and get to know them better.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

When I was typing up the questions, I initially mistyped #3 so it started out as "whatermelon - yay or nay" and it made me laugh. I guess my fingers expected the question to start with the word "What". Whatevermelon. I kind of wanted to title this week's edition of the Hodgepodge as Wednesday Whatevermelon.

I'm running short on time and I'm really going to try to visit other Hodgepodgers before the day is over, so I'll keep my random thought to just that. Will do my best to stop by other blogs in a timely manner!

What are you "in the middle of" this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - Patience. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

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Monday, August 10, 2026

10 on the 10th - Would You Rather Summer Edition

On the 10th of each month, Marsha In the Middle asks ten questions for us to answer in as much or little detail as we wish. She's come up with ten fun "would you rather" questions for us to discuss this month. These are tough choices because I don't think there are any options I would dislike, so I may wind up explaining my logic in every case!

1. Would you rather vacation in Alaska or Bali?

This one is easy. I've wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise for my entire adult life and haven't done it yet, so that is what I'd rather do. Bali looks amazing also, but I'll choose the one that I've been trying to check off my bucket list for decades.

2. Would you rather learn to play a musical instrument or learn to paint?

I already know how to play piano, but I would love to learn (relearn and learn well) guitar. I think that's a skill I'd be able to make really practical use of.

3. Would you rather wear flip flops or sneakers?

I would honestly rather wear flip flops but my arches appreciate when I wear shoes that are slightly more supportive. Thankfully I like sneakers too so at this point that is what I'd rather wear.

4. Would you rather ride the highest roller coaster or bump along on the Lazy River ride?

I love roller coasters. I also love the Lazy River. :thinking: As of the time of writing, the Lazy River ride sounds much more appealing, perhaps because I so enjoy being lazy and I don't really feel like being strapped into a thrill ride.

5. Would you rather go on a road trip or take a flight to a faraway destination?

I love road trips, but I have a long list of faraway places I'd love to see, so I would rather fly to one of those.

6. Would you rather have a summer birthday or a winter birthday?

I have a winter birthday and I have no problems with it, but I might like to experience a summer birthday too. I think there are more options for fun birthday parties with summer birthdays. With a winter birthday, especially right around Christmas like mine, it feels like there's a lot to compete with when planning a party.

7. Would you rather go to a flea market or a craft fair?

Oh definitely a craft fair! I'd find a lot to be interested in at a craft fair. I'm not a big fan of flea markets.

8. Would you rather go tubing down a river or zip lining through the trees?

Almost twenty years ago now, while on a mission trip in Honduras, I did go on a ziplining adventure. It was a multi-stage zipline through the trees and crossing the river and waterfalls at least three times. It was exhilerating! I loved it!! I felt a little old and heavy doing it at the time and I'm twenty years older and an undisclosed number of pounds heavier now. So all that to say, I think I'd be better off tubing down the river at this point.

9. Would you rather go on a safari or a whale watching tour?

A safari would be really exciting, but I would prefer a whale watching tour. Especially if it could be on a tall sail ship. We did it on our Maine and Atlantic Canada vacation a number of years ago and I loved being on the small sailing ship, which surprised me a little because I am afraid of deep water, especially the ocean. But I would do that again in a heartbeat.

10. Would you rather be able to control the weather or talk to animals?

I would much rather talk with animals. It would be good to communicate with my cat and make sure she's doing okay and just have small talk with her. (She's not eating much right now and we think maybe she's got a bad tooth or something tender in her mouth - sure wish we could just ask her what's going on and what we could do to help!) Also having the the ability to control the weather is waaaaaaaaay too much responsibility and too many factors to consider.

What would you rather choose? Leave a comment and let me know!

This post will be linked at Marsha In the Middle for the August Edition of 10 on the 10th.

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Sunday, August 9, 2026

Sunday Stills - Yellows that Bring a Smile

When you think of something you photograph that is yellow, what comes to mind? For me, the first thing I thought of was sunflowers, so let's get those photos out of the way:

It will soon be sunflower farm season again and hopefully I'll get back there for more photos when the time comes.

So, yes, I was pretty confident that for August's Monthly Color Challenge, I'd find some yellow flowers. The most recent of my photos that caught my eye, though, was the series of birds featuring yellow hues that I admired at Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls. I'm not certain I remember the correct names of all of these, but I'll give it my best shot.

I thought these were lovebirds because they were so clearly a pair. But they are actually called Sun Conure Parakeets. I loved how they dipped their heads into the dish at the same time.

Not sure what this one is. I guessed Lorikeet, but Google Lens is telling me a type of finch. Based on its bill, I'm not sure that's correct, but it sure is yellow!

This fellow enjoying the bath is either a type of oriole or weaverbird. Either way, definitely yellow!

Back to the plant world, I wanted to include a couple of photos that feature larch trees because they have such a brilliant yellow color that really pops among the dark green of most of the trees around them.

I'm ending today's color challenge post with a series of photos of a favorite yellow character - a Minion! Several years ago I received a gift basket from a "secret sister" that included a squishy stress ball Minion. Somehow our family started a tradition of hide-and-seek with this Minion. We hide him somewhere unexpected in the house and whoever finds him gets to hide him next. For awhile I remembered to take photos of his hiding spots. The tradition carried on for a little bit after we moved but sadly, I've now lost track of where the Minion is. I was thinking if we find him on our next visit to Maryland, maybe I should bring him to Ohio and start a fresh round of Minion Hide and Seek here.