I am posting ahead this week in an effort to avoid gaps in the posting but knowing that the weekend is going to consume me once I am into it. So while this may be coming out on Tuesday I am writing it on Friday. I hope all of you have adjusted to the time change with Daylight Savings upon us.
Ailsa has asked us to show:GRACEFUL
You can discover loads of grace by going to
http://wheresmybackpack.com/2015/03/06/travel-theme-graceful/
Here are my thoughts on the subject
This week Cee has challenged us to find her some: FARM ANIMALS
So I went down to MacLillie’s farm and found these…
Baa! Baa! Black sheep have you any wool?
This is Verle, the horse from one of my newest flash fiction pieces.
https://josephelonlillie.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=6144&action=edit#
Every farm has a cat
And a dog
And kids…
Oops! I mean kids.
Find out what other people have on their farms at…
http://ceenphotography.com/2015/03/03/cees-fun-foto-challenge-farm-animals/
Ailsa has challenged us with the word: ENVIRONMENT this week. To see how others met the challenge go to
Here are some pics of different environs from my archives
I come from a world of winter and pine forests.
When snow falls, nature listens. ~Antoinette van Kleeff
And this year all the world has listened to the winter howl in our environment. Who says there’s no evidence of global climate change?
The bark at Torc
All that said I know the world will someday be green again!
This week Cee has challenged us to have fun with: BIKES AND MOTORCYCLES
I don’t own a bike or a motorcycle but I have a few pics of them
After all my sister lives in the Netherlands and you cannot miss the bikes there!
You can find other bikes at
http://ceenphotography.com/2015/02/24/cees-fun-foto-challenge-my-favorite-things-chorus-2/
Cee is challenging us funly with the chorus of Favorite things this week. You remember it don’t you?
When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
Crossing over
And then I don’t feel so bad.
Now you try. Simply go to…
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: My Favorite Things, Chorus
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “No, Thanks.”
The Daily Post has asked us…Is there a place in the world you never want to visit? Where, and why not?
I guess it is not that I never wanted to visit Gatlinburg. In fact I wanted to and did visit this spot tucked away in the Smoky Mountains. It’s a place I never want to visit again!
We arrived on a Tuesday and were slated to visit until Thursday. The hotel we were in offered a suite. It backed up onto the mountain and as we tracked around to the mountain- side of the building where our room was, the mountain itself imposed such a shadow that we lost all the light even though it was midday. Walking across the second story porch to our room was possible only because the night lights were on 24/7. That was creepy enough but when we saw the cardboard sign tacked to the railing that read “Don’t feed the bars.” written in black magic marker, we realized we had left civilization completely behind.
Our room smelled like hornet spray. Dried spaghetti stuck to the walls in the kitchenette, and when I went to wash the dust of the road off I discovered the shower curtain was filled with cigarette burns. Good golly! How addicted does a person have to be to smoke in the shower?!?
We opened the TV console for the kids but the TV was gone. Somebody had put it in the fireplace behind the decorative grate. I ask you why? Why would someone do that?
Needless to say we did not stay the two nights. When I checked out the next morning the lady managing the front desk had a giant wolf-dog with her at the counter. I had to step over the creature to cancel my reservation for the night. I thought I might lose my leg as I stepped back over the dog to leave the building.
My wife and I thought we might redeem the mini vaca by taking a gondola ride up the side of the mountain. But pine beetles had infested the forest leading up to the skating rink at the summit called Oberammergau. Our trip up the mountain consisted of lots of scenery of dead pine trees and $7.00 hamburgers at the top.
Maybe it was just a perfect storm of bad luck. But seriously once is enough for me!
I haven’t been able to participate in Nancy’s challenges these last couple of week’s. Shoveling has kept me from blogging. But today I was determined to get back in on the action between snow storms. So Nancy’s challenge this week is to show :A VIEW
You can discover how others answered this challenge at
Here are my responses:
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Depth.”
Please click on the word depth to see how others have interpreted the challenge. Here are my thoughts from Psalm 42
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
Oh the deep deep love of Jesus!
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
And the running of water
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
Ailsa has challenged us to find :DOORWAYS in our travels. Check out the full scope of doors at her blog
http://wheresmybackpack.com/2015/01/30/travel-theme-doorways/
Here are my thoughts on doorways:
–Charlie Gordan”
Doorways to the Old Center Church Winchendon MA
The doorway to Cabras Castle
A doorway on the Zeiderzee in Holland
Cee has challenged us to photograph the song This Land Is My Land.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: This Land Is My Land, 2 verses
The verses she has given us to utilize are…
As I was walking that ribbon of highway, I saw above me that endless skyway: I saw below me that golden valley: This land was made for you and me. I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps, To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; And all around me a voice was sounding: This land was made for you and me.
Here is the endless skyway
This photo was taken in the Meadow Gardens at Longwood Gardens eight miles from my son’s home in Chadds Ford PA.
Lillie-Put 