This week’s Sunday Stills challenge was to photograph flowers and wildflowers blooming in our areas.  Believe it or not, wildflowers aren’t terribly common in central Florida, especially right now with temperatures heating up and very little rain in the forecasts.  So I thought I’d do a little cheat this week and pull from the archives, as I have taken some decent shots of flowers during my travels.  I chose and prepped my horseless shots, but was surprised to find a few flowers on my ride this morning.  Given my self-imposed restriction to keep my photos “horse related” but reluctant to let go of my travel shots… I opted to cheat (again!) and give you all not one, but two Sunday Stills posts this week!  Lucky you.  =)   As always, thanks to Ed for another great challenge. 

I also wanted to let everyone know about a great photography contest I came across.  Check out Nickertown‘s website if you’re interested in participating in a little friendly horsey competition!  This is my first month to submit an entry, but it looks like fun.  Stop by, vote for your favorite (I think photos are judged during the first 2 or 3 weeks of the month), and check out some of their great photography tips.  Without further ado, here are my (many) selections for this week:  horses first!

Thanks for visiting and be sure to visit Sunday Stills to see all the other great photos that were submitted!

Here are the horseless flower photos that I’ve taken during my travels.   Hope you enjoy!

The first photo was taken at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden  near Cape Town, South Africa.  This place is a playground  for those of us who enjoy nature’s gifts. 

The  second photo was taken on a family vacation to Alaska several years ago.  The scenery in Alaska is so amazing that anyone can take great photos – even an amateur like me!!

This is another shot from Alaska.  I love the backdrop of the mountains to those fields of wildflowers.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Sunday Stills.  Thanks for indulging me the second post – I have all these great photos from my travels and no venue to display them.  Happy Sunday!

This week’s challenge was a hard one to come back to after my break!  Anyone who knows me KNOWS the kitchen is not a safe place for me to be.  And recipes?  Hmph.  But as I recovered from my initial panic then procrastination, I thought maybe it was time to make some of  Tiny’s favorite peppermint cookies.  So here goes!  Be gentle, I haven’t done this for awhile.  =)

Peppermint Horse Cookies

2 cups flour

1 cup oats

1/4 cup molasses

10 crushed peppermint candies

1 tsp peppermint oil

3/4 cup water

Mix oats and flour together, then add molasses.  Add peppermint oil then add water slowly until mixture becomes a sticky dough.  Fold in peppermint crumbles and add more water if necessary to achieve doughy consistency.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

As always, Tiny loooooves her cookies.  She gently takes the first cookie…

….Then she quickly becomes the Cookie Monster!

Whew!  This week was a challenge…I had a clear idea of what I wanted to photograph, but between prior commitments and bad weather it never materialized.  My “cheat” was to abandon my self imposed horse requirement and pull from the archives, but even that has proven difficult due to some memory glitches with my computer, who is not presently very happy with me…  Hope you appreciate what I was able to pull out 11th hour…

This photo was taken on a trip to Alaska several years ago.

This photo of the South African flag was taken at the jail on Robbin Island, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was housed for many years.

Check out Sunday Stills for other entries, as well as Laughing Orca Ranch, The Skoog Farm Journal, All Horse Stuff, and Baba Yaga’s Mirror,  all of whom frequently participate in the challenge.

This week’s topic is “Eyes” and if you’re a regular reader, you know how fond of this topic I am!

Tiny's beautiful eye

My cousin John's dog, Kodi, waiting for visitors

This sheep resides in Western Pennsylvania at Round Hill Park.

 Check out Sunday Stills for other entries, as well as Laughing Orca Ranch, The Skoog Farm Journal, All Horse Stuff, and Baba Yaga’s Mirror,  all of whom frequently participate in the challenge.

This week’s challenge is to photograph things that start with the letter “B” and I could have gone forever with this one!  Just a few of my many selections…..

A water bucket waiting to be scrubbed

A brush and a bottle of fly spray

Bridles...well, technically headstalls, but I loved the photo

A braided tail

Bits for sale at the tack store

A pair of boots just waiting for a rider

 Check out Sunday Stills for other entries, as well as Laughing Orca Ranch, The Skoog Farm Journal, All Horse Stuff, and Baba Yaga’s Mirror,  all of whom frequently participate in the challenge.

Some commonly seen controls in the barn…

Check out Sunday Stills for other entries, as well as Laughing Orca Ranch, The Skoog Farm Journal, All Horse Stuff, and Baba Yaga’s Mirror,  all of whom frequently participate in the challenge.

This week’s challenge is to photograph barns.  Here is my contribution…

Check out Sunday Stills for other entries, as well as Laughing Orca Ranch, The Skoog Farm Journal, All Horse Stuff, and Baba Yaga’s Mirror,  all of whom frequently participate in the challenge.