A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Everyday Images #86

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.

April Prompts - Everyday Images #86

~~~~~

purple

out for a walk (quarterly)

grow

at home (monthly)

trees

big and/or small

birds

~~~~~

purple

out for a walk (quarterly) - at the mudflats boardwalk in Galena

grow

at home (monthly) - as the song says, "wherever I hang my hat, that's my home". We'll be hanging our hats at this place and calling it home for another month or so.

trees

big and/or small - our granddaughter looks very small compared to this big old tree!

birds - no impressive closeups, just this shot of cormorants roosting in the trees on a little island at the mudflats

And a few bonus photos:

Transporting tulips to Maryland at our son's request

Our granddaughter is in a karate class - very fun to watch them!

Stopped by to visit our daughter at work and checked out the pianos they were working on in the shop. They're painting this one - so pretty, but not quite purple.

A few more photos from the boardwalk:

osprey

Sure wanted to go into The Coffee Vault, but that will have to wait for another weekend.

Contenders for the "at home" photo were the family photos on the mantel, and what our evenings look like now that the Stanley Cup playoffs are underway.

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.

April/May Prompts - Everyday Images #87

~~~~~

Saturday scenery

current project (quarterly)

green

on my plate

miniature

tower

connected

Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email.

©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Wednesday Hodgepodge on Earth Day

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. April 22nd is Earth Day . . . what's the most 'out of this world' place on earth you've ever visited? Tell us something about it.

I can't help thinking about a couple places I've visited that have otherworldly landscapes or features. When I was a kid my family went on a road trip vacation that included stops at Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho and Arches National Park in Utah. Craters of the Moon is a huge area of lava flows and cinder towers in a sort of desert landscape. When you're there, the name totally makes sense! We didn't have much time at Arches, and I'd love to go back and see it again. My family drove through the Badlands area of South Dakota a number of times, and that's an otherworldly landscape I've driven through a couple of times as an adult as well. I think these come to mind as 'out of this world' because they are unusual, rugged, harsh, seemingly barren landscapes that look like something from a science fiction movie, but they are also beautiful places where wildlife and plants do flourish.

Craters of the Moon - cinder towers (image from Wikimedia)

Delicate Arch in the Arches National Park, Utah, appearing an orange colour in the evening light

Delicate Arch (image from Wikimedia)

Badlands (image from Wikimedia)

2. A favorite quote, verse, or song lyric with the word earth in it?

This is a favorite Scripture passage, from Paul's speech in Athens:

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

~Acts 17:26-27~

And a quote:

My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness. ~Michelangelo

3. What's the most trivial thing about which you have a strong opinion?

Okay, I'm pretty sure I've shared this one before, but I feel some kind of a way about the kinds of cups I drink from, especially hot coffee. It needs to be in a proper mug or travel mug. Disposable paper hot cups are okay, but I don't like those plastic lids. I use a straw if I have to drink from a paper cup with a lid, and even when I use a travel mug. Styrofoam cups are just wrong, and I have a very strong opinion about that. Which means that at least for me, it's not trivial. Haha.

lid came off immediately after I took the photo

cute cup, but I didn't like drinking out of it

4. What's your most commonly used kitchen utensil or tool? What's the last thing you made using that tool?

Maybe I should have been keeping a tally in my kitchen since Sunday, but even so I haven't done much cooking! Hmm. There's quite a few that get used constantly, like the coffee scoop and spatula and can opener. Obviously I make coffee with the coffee scoop, a couple times a day. I have a skinny scraper that I use for everything from scraping food out of cans or jars, scraping a bowl or measuring cup when cooking, stirring food, and it can even be used as a shallow serving spoon in a pinch. I can't think what the last thing was that I MADE using it, but the last time I used it was to scoop yogurt out of the big tub into a smaller container suitable to take to work.

5. Marilyn (Memphis Bridges) gave me a great book of 3000 questions, and I'm going to try to use one in our Hodgepodge every week. Here is today's -

What is your greatest extravagance?

I think where I'm tempted to spend more money than I should and kind of not care is when it comes to eating out. We don't eat at really expensive top tier restaurants and we don't usually eat out more than once a week on average, but when we do we order what we want without thinking too much about the price, and we often order more than we need. If we are eating out with our kids, we're likely to be extravagant enough to treat everyone.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

House hunting update: We decided on the house we want, made an offer on it, and are currently negotiating a price. Praying, keeping our fingers crossed, and asking for all the good wishes that we can agree and sign a contract this week! We're doing everything we can to make it happen!

How would answer any of these questions? 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 - Overcoming Fear. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email.

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Sunday Stills and Flower Hour - Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk

The theme for this week's Sunday Stills Photo Challenge is "Celebrating Earth Day" and I thought a few photos from our exploration of the Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk at the Hoover Reservoir Nature Preserve in Galena, Ohio would fit. This boardwalk was closed for a couple of years after it was damaged - by ice, I think - and now that all the repairs and upgrades are finished, it reopened about a month ago.

There was a chilly wind and it was very cloudy and threatening rain most of the time we were there, but we still enjoyed a walk out to the end of the boardwalk and then a hike on a trail through some of the wetland area. We heard a lot of birds, and made several sightings, including cormorants roosting on an island in the reservoir and ospreys that nest nearby. The nesting platform we spotted that was surely intended for the ospreys had instead been claimed by a Canada goose, so we weren't quite sure where the osprey nest was.

A few wildflowers for the Flower Hour:

This post is shared at Second Wind Leisure Perspectives for the #SundayStills Photo Challenge and/or #TheFlowerHour Photo Challenge.

Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email.

Scripture and a Snapshot - Confidence

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us ― whatever we ask ― we know that we have what we asked of him.

~I John 5:14-15~

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

Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.