A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Thursday, October 8, 2026

Everyday Images #98

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.

September/October Prompts - Everyday Images #98

~~~~~

Friday focus

rocky

two

at my feet

orange

new and/or used

books

~~~~~

Friday focus - I took these photos on Saturday, but it just fit too well! This artistic sculpture consists of old eyeglass lenses strung on the wires criss-crossing the large frame.

rocky - the rocky views from above Brandywine Falls

two

at my feet - our seats for the Blue Jackets home opener were pretty high up, so in a way the game was at my feet.

orange - Google Lens says these tiny orange flowers are Orange Jewelweed. I spotted them on our hike at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

new and/or used - I really wanted to have photos of my NEW living room furniture, but it's not arriving until later today. If I remember, I'll add a photo later. In the meantime, here is the NEW guest bedframe, as we were working on it . . .

. . . and some of the USED furniture that the previous homeowner left behind. I actually quite like these chairs, and it's saved us from having to furnish the basement and figuring out how to get any of the furniture up and down the stairs.

books - Most of the books are still in boxes or stacked on top of a box, because we haven't figured out where we want the bookshelves. LOL

And a few bonus photos:

We visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park a couple weekends ago.

flower my granddaughter gave me

I'm glad she didn't want me to hold the
salamander she found!

We hiked the five mile round trip to Brandywine Falls. Can't you just imagine how gorgeous the falls would be when the leaves are in full fall colors?

After the park, we had dinner at a really neat diner called Doodle Drive-in.

The trees are starting to change in our neighborhood.

We went to the Blue Jackets home opener, which they won.

This past Saturday we went to Hanks Texas BBQ in Delaware, Ohio (lots of place references!) to celebrate our oldest son's birthday.

Then we walked around a couple of parks in Delaware, including a really cool art park.

We really loved this chrysanthemum kaleidoscope.

And this piano water feature. The piano is 3D printed.

I'm closing with a photo I took right at the beginning of this two-week cycle. A view of the downtown Columbus skyline seen from The Boathouse where we attended a fundraiser dinner. I absolutely loved this view once it was dark too, but couldn't get a photo.

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.

October Prompts - Everyday Images #99

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current season (quarterly)

crunchy

leaf

at home (monthly)

mailbox

wild

black & white

***************

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Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Don't Forget 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. Let's embrace it shall we? What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant?

When I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things on Sunday night, I forgot to get canned cat food, so the cat is really annoyed with me. My memory is generally pretty good for important things, and for family things. But a last minute item added to my shopping list or something on the to-do list that wasn't written down? That can be more like a sieve unfortunately.

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember.

All the appointments and birthdays and anything we need to "attend" goes on the calendar. The Google calendar, but also a wall calendar. I also use web-based To-Do list called Remember the Milk. That reminds me which day to pay which bills every month, when it's time to clean the coffeemaker, and helps me remember how long it's been since I called my Mum or followed up on certain phone calls.

If I need to remember something and can't write it down, I condense it to a very short phrase, ideally a set of three things, and repeat it out loud at least three times. It's not foolproof, but it is a helpful trick for remembering an address you were given long enough to get it into your GPS, or the names of two or three people I just met, or a very short to-do list or shopping list. I did not do this on Sunday night, which is why I forgot the cat food.

3. What's your favorite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad?

Sweet potatoes, if they count as a vegetable. I like sweet potatoes almost any way they are fixed and I tend to have them on the menu more often in the fall and winter. I think that I generally prefer my veggies roasted. I like potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and carrots cut up and roasted together, basted with a little broth to keep them moist. That is on the menu for our Canadian Thanksgiving meal coming up on Sunday.

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share.

Well, let's see. I did my best to be nice to everyone I dealt with at work on Monday. That can be a challenge sometimes. haha. I had a couple of very nice phone calls, one with a dear friend and one with my daughter. I think those calls were a nice thing I did, and a nice thing the callers did for me. At chorus rehearsal, one of the ladies had made earrings for everyone and was giving them away and that was super nice.

5. Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year?

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate.

Do I spend more time outside in the fall? Probably, but I'm not sure. I think I'm far more willing to spend time outside in the fall because the weather is s very pleasant. It's not blazing hot so I get sweaty as soon as I start walking, but it's not so cold that I need to bundle up. It's not humid so it's pleasant to be outside at a bonfire or going for a walk.

I try to allow myself time to stop and just breathe when something beautiful catches my eye or ear. Almost every morning when I step outside, I pause to take in the sunshine, the fog or dew, the changing leaves, the birdsong, or whatever the day's feature seems to be. All the years we lived in Maryland, when I would arrive home after dark on clear nights, I would stand outside in the driveway and just marvel at the moon and stars. It was such a blessing to live in the country where the stars were so visible.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Living room is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I don't have to miss TOO much of my day at work to be there to accept delivery. Originally they were going to deliver first thing in the morning which would have worked out nicely, with me getting to work no more than an hour late. Now they've told me it's coming in the middle of the day, so I will need to take my "lunch break" to go home. I'm hoping they can narrow down the expected time so I don't have to sit there and wait for a couple hours.

What are making sure to remember? 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 - Elegance. 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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Sunday, October 4, 2026

Scripture and a Snapshot - Bless the LORD

A song of ascents.

Now bless the LORD,

all you servants of the LORD

who stand in the LORD's house at night!

Lift up your hands in the holy place

and bless the LORD!

May the LORD,

Maker of heaven and earth,

bless you from Zion.

~Psalm 134~

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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