A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

Photography

Photo Blogging Challenge: December 2019’s theme is …

And so we’ve reached December.

As I get older, I wonder if the years sometimes go on speed-dial. You blink and the summer is here. Then Christmas. Then the spring. Then the fall. All in different years. Alas, we do what we do, right?

PBC logo

So, off we go with another month in this little challenge. And if you have been with us for any amount of time, you probably have a good idea of this month’s overall theme. While the “theme” itself will be a change of a name, it’s all involving this time of year.

It’s the time of the year to hopefully spread some cheer, be happy and get into the holiday spirit! I know I’ve gotten into the holiday spirit myself, and am looking forward to the month ahead.

Here’s wishing everybody an amazing holiday season. I wish you and yours the best!

Before we get to this month’s theme, let’s do our monthly “group” challenges:

Challenge 1: Tell others about this photo blogging challenge and get some friends to come join us.  Let’s see if we can get people interested in the challenge again.

Challenge 2: Make friends with your camera and see what you can come up with. Have fun!

Challenge 3 is at the end of this post (the theme!).

Before this, here’s some housekeeping items. For those who might be new to the challenge, here’s how it works.

  • See the theme (first day of the month);
  • Take photos throughout the month (don’t use old ones!);
  • Select five photos and create a blog post;
  • Come back here and link up on the final day of the month;
  • Use the official hashtag — #Photoblogchal — on social media posts;
  • Hopefully go visit and comment on other blogs.

That’s it. There’s no rules on equipment or anything else. Blog posts can be short and to the point, or in-depth. Interpret the themes as you see fit.

The one big rule?

Have fun!

This month’s theme? Jingle All the Way? This is a pretty broad stroke, so hopefully you can have fun with it and find some great images!! Please make sure your blog post publishes Tuesday, December 31. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

There is also a Facebook group for those who are interested.

If you would like to visit the history of the challenge, which started in 2013, please go to the Photo Blogging Challenge page for more!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!



Photo Blogging Challenge (November 2019): Whatcha eatin’?

Nom nom nom.

In this world of social media and quick photos, food has become part of that. I’m as guilty as the next as I love food photography. I’d like to get better at aspects and eventually do a lot more with setting things up.

I didn’t quite do that this month. But food.. yes, there is food!

With food photography, I find there is a lot of ways to attack an image. You can get close up. Show full plates. Get different angles. You can do from above or down low. The best part is showing all the difference in hoping you can really captures how good whatever you are eating is. Now, I realize not everybody likes food photography — and that’s fine. But it’s definitely a growing genre.

So, get ready to nom nom nom!

Let’s get hungry and see what you are all eatin’!

Here are my five!

1. Pizza

I love pizza. I mean … I really LOVE pizza. Unfortunately, I have to be really smart when I eat it and how much. The amount of carbs in just one slice isn’t always a good thing for my blood sugar!

pizza

2. Garlic knots

Yes, please! When having pizza… one must think about these as well!

garlic knots

3. Corned beef

I was back to where I went to graduate school to watch my alma mater in a hockey game. So before going, we stopped at this Irish pub/restaurant that was across the street from my old apartment. This was delicious!

4. Dessert

Something else I rarely do. Couldn’t resist on this night!

dessert

5. And finally …

It may not be the best of all photos, but … Happy Thanksgiving!

And there are my five for the month!

If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below.

And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!).

Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too! NOTE: I set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

A ‘lil HooHaa: November 2019 linkup

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!



Photo Blogging Challenge: November 2019’s theme is …

Another month gone by.

Seriously, where has 2019 gone? Before we know it, we’ll be ringing in the new year. Though, to be fair, 2020 is kind of an exciting time. We’ll get to have a double number which, of course, happens but once a century.

PBC logo

But! We are still in 2019 and we have lots more photos to take. I thought I had scheduled a post, but apparently not. I should probably just schedule December’s now, while I’m at it!

So it’s November. In the States (I know not everybody in the challenge is in the US), it’s the month of Thanksgiving. Our neighbors to the north, of course, have already celebrated theirs!

I feel I have a lot to be thankful for. This challenge has been wonderful and I’m glad I’ve gotten a bit back into the blogging world as it’s been fun. I’ll be checking out everybody’s posts from September this week as the linkup should be almost closed so I know I can hit up everybody’s posts.

Before we get to this month’s theme, let’s do our monthly “group” challenges:

Challenge 1: Tell others about this photo blogging challenge and get some friends to come join us.  Let’s see if we can get people interested in the challenge again.

Challenge 2: Make friends with your camera and see what you can come up with. Have fun!

Challenge 3 is at the end of this post (the theme!).

Before this, here’s some housekeeping items. For those who might be new to the challenge, here’s how it works.

  • See the theme (first day of the month);
  • Take photos throughout the month (don’t use old ones!);
  • Select five photos and create a blog post;
  • Come back here and link up on the final day of the month;
  • Use the official hashtag — #Photoblogchal — on social media posts;
  • Hopefully go visit and comment on other blogs.

That’s it. There’s no rules on equipment or anything else. Blog posts can be short and to the point, or in-depth. Interpret the themes as you see fit.

The one big rule?

Have fun!

This month’s theme? Whatcha eatin’? This is a pretty broad stroke, so hopefully you can have fun with it and find some great images!! Please make sure your blog post publishes Saturday, November 30. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

There is also a Facebook group for those who are interested.

If you would like to visit the history of the challenge, which started in 2013, please go to the Photo Blogging Challenge page for more!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!



Photo Blogging Challenge (October 2019): Liquid

Liquid.

This is one of those themes that can be taken in many different ways. For me, I had some ideas. And I got a bunch of different things. But something kept drawing me back for a different take.

So I did it.

Every year for Columbus Day weekend I head to the Jersey Shore to meet with some family and such. It’s a nice time to get away and just be able to relax. Some of the time is spent by myself and I really do enjoy the aspect of being near the ocean in the fall when not many people are on the beach.

So, my liquid is coming in a different form.

I spent a lot of time on the beach. And a lot of it was just looking out over the water. I know if I ever won a lotto, I’d have a house close to a good beach. Life would be good. I was relaxed the whole time I was down there.

As you will see below, my liquid is a large quantity. I hope you enjoy and I hope you had as much fun this month as I did!

Here are my five!

1. Sunrise

The two mornings I was there, I got up early and walked to the beach to see a sunrise. Both days I got lucky enough to see one, so that’s pretty awesome. This was my favorite.

2. Peaceful  

I can stand here watching this scene for hours. So much liquid!

3. Liquid reflection

How about a little reflection on the liquid?

4. The pier

In the morning.

5. Morning glory

I think I lived near a beach, my morning walk would always include this.

And there are my five for the month!

If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below.

And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!).

Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too! NOTE: I set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

A ‘lil HooHaa: October 2019 linkup

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!



On the Trail: Bridal Veil Falls

Exploring the world around us is a great way to connect with nature, or other things. And it seems, as society continues to evolve, that people tend to miss a lot of what is out there to see. 

Geocaching can often help with that as it makes you look at things differently, well sometimes anyway. 

What I love about geocaching is its ability to make me see and go to different places – many of which I likely never would have found without the game. 

On the trail logo

Welcome to On the Trail, a periodic feature on the blog where I’ll tell you about some of the places I’ve visited or hiked to. I’ve tried to start reconnecting with the world around me a bit more, and one of the best ways to keep doing it is to get out and hike/walk some trails. 

The first installment of this is from a recent vacation, which took a couple of us through the Pacific Northwest, including heading into Canada and into the Candian Rockies. 

There will be a few of these posts from this trip as it’s a good way to get this feature going. 

When researching this road trip, I realized we would have the chance to see a whole heap of cool waterfalls. And for those who know me, I am a massive fan of waterfalls. 

Bridal Veil Falls is located within Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The falls are quite easy to find and not far off the main road, which made it a no-brainer to stop, even with the jet lag and several-hour drive in front of us. 

Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls in Chilliwack, British Columbia

The trail isn’t too tough, though you do get a little bit of elevation on the way to the falls. The trails are groomed and well maintained. The walk up to the falls was nice and peaceful, as well as scenic. 

Now, I won’t lie – I was a little worried. Being we were in a new area and traveling, we had a lot of things in our car. One thing I read about some Canadian parks (and hell, they may not say it, but the US parks, too) is people getting their cars broken into and all. But nothing happened while we were here, thankfully. 

Once to the top, we didn’t really think about anything other than the falls. They are majestic. The name stems from the 400-foot drop over the rock face, which creates the illusion of a veil. They were pretty amazing to look at. 

Scrambling up to the top was well worth it, too, as it got you close to the falls and you could really appreciate nature at its finest. 

The hike back down was easy, though looking at the map, it seems there was another way to go down that would have circled us to the parking lot. I wish we had done that trail, if not just to see what it had to offer. Either way, we got back without issue. 

Final thoughts: 

Positives: Trail is relatively simple, and leads you to amazing falls. Can be done in less than an hour. Plenty of parking and there are restrooms available. Very scenic. Easily accessed off the main highway. 

Cons: Bathrooms were not clean at all. 

Overall: Well worth stopping at if you are near. 

Geocaching note: There is an Earthcache (GC49JKF) with this waterfall, so that’s fun. Two other traditional caches are here as well: GC1EFDN and GC7BQTF are located just off the trails. Unfortunately, even with using the hints and photos, we came up short on both of them. They’ve been found since, so it was likely just us!

To watch a Relive video of this hike, please see below!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!