A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Everyday Images #88

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.

May Prompts - Everyday Images #88

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building

selfie (quarterly)

vintage

arrow

handwriting

nest

in the kitchen

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building - I knew there were upgrades being made to the high school I drive by sometimes, but I was shocked to go by one day this week and see a project that looks more like they are starting from scratch! So at present it is a building site.

selfie (quarterly)

vintage - Ye Olde Trail Tavern in Yellow Springs is reputed to be the oldest tavern in Ohio, built in 1847. The sign doesn't date back that far, but is still vintage.

arrow - I got lucky with this one when I noticed two road signs with arrows in this photo of a covered bridge.

handwriting

nest - I had photos of swallows' nests under the bridge, but this little piece of decor in a shop was much prettier.

in the kitchen - my kitchen was not in any way suitable to be photographed during most of the past couple weeks, so I was fine with it being in the background and out of focus.

And a few bonus photos:

First batch is from our day hiking at Glen Helen Nature Preserve:

And these are from the Hoover Reservoir Park, where I was happy to get a fairly decent photo of an egret, despite how much I had to zoom in to get it.

This was the Mother's Day card I got from my daughter. She knows me. 💓

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.

May/June Prompts - Everyday Images #89

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flag

simple and/or complicated

at home (monthly)

Wednesday weather

doorway

movement

branched

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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

A Balanced Wednesday 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. What do you make more complicated than it needs to be?

Almost every project, at the start! The way I envision things I want to do begins with something pretty elaborate, which contributes to me procrastinating, because it's too daunting. The organization system I think I want in my pantry or my closet or my bookkeeping or even on my blog is too involved to be practical for me in the real world. And to be fair to myself, once I get started, I usually realize this pretty quickly and simplify. The most recent example that comes to mind was several months ago when I admitted to myself that once again the pretty calendar planner that I had such high hopes for was not practical for me. I was making it more complicated than it needed to be. So I made a promise to myself that I would never buy another planner, but would simply use undated notebooks or journals to keep track of my lists and appointments and notes in the most linear way possible.

Keep it simple!

2. What impresses you?

People who have worked hard, persevered, and focused to overcome huge challenges to achieve something amazing. Some of these people are written about in the history books, but there are many whose stories are not as well known, and yet they overcame the odds and made an impact. And we each know people around us who aren't famous but have conquered obstacles to succeed in their field, to master knowledge or skills, to recover after a tragedy, and more. Even more impressive when these people are also kind, gracious, generous, and joyful.

3. On a scale of 1-10 how picky of an eater are you? (1=extremely and 10=not at all) If you had to eat a meal made entirely of one color what color would you choose?

I generally describe myself as a picky eater because I do have some pretty strict personal food rules around certain things. (I don't eat internal organs, fungus, things that crawl on the ocean floor, anything resembling or related to an insect, or anything that is looking back at me) But I'm usually willing to at least taste something new. So I'd give myself the number 3 or 4 on that scale. Definitely on the picky end of the spectrum, but I've got enough flexibility to try some new things.

I'm going to be completely practical and choose brown for my monochromatic meal. I think that gives me the most options because it could include meat, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, gravy . . . vegetables might be an issue but I don't mind skipping them for one meal. Haha. I could drink coffee or tea or some soda. And perhaps most importantly, chocolate and caramel things could be considered for dessert.

See what I'm saying? Mostly brown for these meals and desserts:

4. What does balance in life mean to you? Does your life currently feel 'balanced'?

A balanced life has work and play, "have to" and "want to", busy-ness and rest in healthy proportions. Doing the things you need to do first and then having the freedom to enjoy leisure and hobbies. Balance is having the various areas of life properly ordered. For the most part my life feels pretty balanced, though as a life-long procrastinator, I do really struggle with that aspect of looking after the "have to" items before indulging in my personal "want to" items. So that gets out of balance quite often. The other area of my life that frequently gets out of balance is my sleep-wake cycle. I don't sleep well as it is, and I don't nearly always practice good sleep habits which exacerbates the problem.

5. If you could travel the world for a year what would be your first destination?

If I'm traveling for a whole year, I could visit a lot of the places on my wish list, but I think I would start with Iceland. I'm fascinated by its landscape that has geysers and hot springs as well as glaciers and waterfalls. And I'd obviously want to go during a time when the northern lights are at peak.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I don't really have anything, but the question about balance reminded me of a WQ theme early last year called "In Balance". Here are a few highlights:

Life is a balance of holding on and letting go. ~Rumi

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life. ~William Arthur Ward

What are your best tips for keeping life in balance? 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 - Family Ties. 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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Tuesday, May 19, 2026

The Flower Hour - Glen Helen Nature Preserve

On Mother's Day weekend, we went to Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs. It was a pretty good day for hiking, warm and sunny but not sweltering and muggy like it will be later in summer.

This post is shared at Second Wind Leisure Perspectives for #TheFlowerHour Photo Challenge.

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Sunday, May 17, 2026

Scripture and a Snapshot - Because He First Loved Us

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

~I John 4:13-21~

Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

I also link up at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Grace-Filled Moments

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