A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

blogging challenge

BWF: Apples, apples, everywhere!

It’s a rough world right now. 

Between elections and pandemics and hate, it’s probably a bit more than many of us can handle. Stress levels are high, mental health issues are in the forefront, and it seems many people can’t get along. 

The one thing, however, we can usually *attempt* to control is ourselves. 

We can’t shield ourselves from everything, outside of going into the mountains and living off the land in a shack. That actually kind of sounds divine, doesn’t it? The news cycle is 24/7, so if you are around anything where news can be found, you’ll hear something. 

So what can you do to relax? To calm down? To find the inner zen?

Get outside, of course. 

This is something I haven’t done in a couple of years. And, to be honest, it’s probably silly that I haven’t. But if you want to escape from reality, find an apple orchard. 

Go pick apples. 

Take photos. 

Take some videos. 

When you go to apple orchards, you can really have a good time. Apples on the trees, on the ground, and all over. What’s nice is the color and the smells. 

And you are outside. 

It’s not just about picking some apples. Though, let’s be honest here, it’s a good part. All these varieties of apples gives you the chance to test so many different types. 

Rows and rows of apples. 

Proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

This isn’t a perfect fix, of course. But it’s little things like this that can really make you take a step back in life a little and breathe. When you are out doing things like this, you have the ability to ignore things like social media, and your phone, and things like that. 

Maybe it’s only for an hour, but it’s not a bad thing, is it?

The one thing I’ve learned during this pandemic – especially over the past month or two – is there are a lot of things out there you can do to try and clear your head, all while staying safe. You just have to look. 

Depending where you are, apple season is still likely going on. Go find an orchard. Pick some apples. And clear your mind!

And always remember, an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! You’ll see that!

Blog With Friends: October 2020
Blog with Friends is a themed collaboration challenge where a group of bloggers get together and publish a project based on a theme. Please see the others who have taken part for this month’s theme carrots. Links to their posts can be found below the image!

Check out what the others did with carrots!

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen here, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! Starting up is the Food Photo Challenge and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

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 2020’s theme is …

And we continue on! Not sure how the weather is been by you, but it feels like fall!

I’ve been trying to make sure I get outside a little bit more as well, trying to enjoy the

PBC logo

As bad as 2020 has been, I’m going to say that one thing that has been great is the colors so far this fall. The past few years, we’ve had some crappy color years. But this one … some great colors. It seems the oranges and reds are really popping, The yellows have life. I’m enjoying the drives. I need to get out and do some photos of it, and other great things in the fall. That will lead to our theme for this month.

So keep staying safe Try to smile. Enjoy life to the best of your ability!

The new theme is below!

So with that in mind, let’s look at the 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? The great outdoors! Pretty open ended. So show us what you have! Please make sure your blog post publishes Saturday, October 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 (September 2020): Snap away!

Did you have your camera out this month? Maybe the phone? Anything?

I sure hope so as it was time to snap away!

Understandably, these types of themes often are ones where people can really shine. Though direct themes can be fun and challenging, these open-ended ones can produce some great stuff.

My goal this month was to attempt to just snap away a bit more. Unfortunately, I didn’t do it as much as I hoped, but I did do it more than in the past few months. By doing that, I had decisions to make. I had between 8-10 images I would have liked to use, but I trimmed it down to five.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is PBC2.jpg

One thing I have to say is this — for this challenge this year, I have been sticking to my phone. But as work got closer to being normal, my main camera back out and I realized how much I miss that aspect of photography. Some things you just can’t replicate with a phone or a point-and-shoot etc. I’m going to try and start going out with my camera a bit more for a photo day here and there. Now, I can’t say it will be all the time as it’s still tough and clunky to carry all that equipment at times, but I definitely would like to get back into that aspect again.

Alas, this month I didn’t necessarily need the main camera as I had a bunch of selections I was stoked about. They are below and I hope everybody who took part this month enjoyed the theme!

Stay safe and healthy! My five are below!

1. Fall colors

I was recently walking a local park and trying some of these new geocaching “lab adventures” and came upon this tree. What colors! I’ll say this — as crappy as 2020 has been, this fall is producing some of the best colors my area has seen in a few years. Maybe that’s a sign that things will get better? Here’s hoping.

2. No sidewalk!

For those of you who have followed me, you may know I love signs. I especially like when “homemade” signs are in spots where you’d normally see a “real sign.” This was no exception. If you look in the distance, you can see the other side has a traditional and correct orange sign.” Loved this.

3. Free

The things you can find put out on a corner. Not sure what happened to it, but it wasn’t here too long, I don’t believe.

4. End of the line

I recently went out to check on some geocaches and then decided I would go place a few more on a trail where I have several. I placed two more and anticipated a few more and then … looks like the two will be it!

5. Found it

Through most of this pandemic, I haven’t been out geocaching. It just hasn’t been of interest to me. In the past couple of weekends, I’ve gotten out to do a few. I also have an adventure lab cache I am working to place, so I’ve been out exploring a little more. This was the final of a puzzle I had solved a long time ago. Though it made for a nice little photo, it was definitely not where it was supposed to be as it was out in the open. I placed it back after logging in and headed off. I am trying to get back into it a bit as there are a bunch of news ones around me I haven’t found.

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: We have 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.

Make sure, too, to come back tomorrow to see October’s theme! (SIDE NOTE: I think starting in October, I may go the direction I go with the Food Blogging Challenge — put the theme at the end of the results post. I am not sure yet, as I think some people do like the separate post for the theme, but I am thinking about it).

Photo Blogging Challenge: September 2020 results

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!

BWF: Self improvement

Self improvement can go in many different ways.

And in this day and age, with all going on in our world, it’s a very important part of people’s life. Take for example, just the USA. Our unemployment rate is high, COVID-19 is still running rampant in many places, and the political scene is extremely volatile. Add to that social issues, which have taken center stage and put many people on edge.

Those don’t even include day-to-day life issues. Work, kids (if you have them), bills, appointments, etc.

If you put all of that together, it makes things extremely hard, at times to deal with. I haven’t seen many reports lately (as I am trying to not watch a lot of things for obvious reasons) but a few months ago it was reported how depression is on the rise. That doesn’t shock me at all as people are going to be prone to it if they are constantly being kicked down. Sometimes it’s hard to smile. I’m sure we all know that feeling.

How to cope?

Several months ago, for one of these challenges, I blogged about bullet journaling. It was something I had hoped I would do more of and kind of keep me a bit more in tune to things. So, I started it. And I rolled a bit for a month and then it faded.

Why?

Because it became stressful to create the spreads. The thing with a bullet journal is you a creating spreads each month, week, and day. You have to plot out pages you use. And it’s very time consuming. Even if you are doing minimalist style journaling as you are still making and doing spreads.

I realized after the first month, and then setting up another month’s monthly spreads that I just wasn’t going to have the time, patience, or enjoyment in setting up the spreads. But I still knew I needed to do something like this. I needed to be away from the screens so much, yet still be able to do something to keep track of things, such as habits, and reflect each day. Even just a little.

A friend of mine has been into Hobonichi, a Japanese company with these amazing little planners. The paper is Tomoe River, a smooth and thin paper that works well with fountain pens and many other pens. In January, I had purchased one of their “Weeks” books and didn’t use it a ton, but I pulled it back out and leafed through it. I then looked at some of their other products. I also looked at some other items on other stationary sites and started formulating a plan.

One thing I knew — going back to paper was important for me as it would force me to be away from the screen, but still allow me to plan. Also, it would allow me to continue forcing me to change my handwriting a little to make it way neater.

So, I give to you my plan. And what I’ve been doing for a few weeks now and I’ve already seen improvement.

My new desk calendar.

First, I purchased a very portable desk calendar from a spot online. It’s thin, yet still very efficient. I have a lot of room to write appointments, meetings, and tasks. I’m using this only for work. I’ve noticed how much more I get done. The issue with using things like Google Calendars is you get the reminder and then it goes away. If you are in the middle of something, you could forget certain tasks. I still, of course, use it for work, but this is an added layer as I have each day laid out and I add/subtract to it, all while using a version of BUJO style with tasks.

Second, I found some 2020 Hobonichi items on the secondary market that were priced down. Hobonichi isn’t the cheapest (it’s not the most expensive, either), but I didn’t want to fully invest in 2021 without looking at everything and seeing if I could formulate an ever-evolving style to help me get grounded and improve myself overall.

Here’s what I’ve come up with.

Most Hobonichi items are in Japanese, though English speakers won’t have any issues using them. One — the A6 planner — is in English, however. The Cousin is an A5 planner, so bigger. I thought long and hard about what to do, and this is my plan and what I’ve started to do already.

The Hobonichi Cousin with my current setup.

The A6 is going to be my work “planner.” It’s set up where it has daily pages, as well as monthly overviews in the beginning. I work in two districts, so it’s nice to have a place I can take notes, be it for projects or meetings. This one is very portable, too, which is even better. I use the vertical monthly spreads as an index. I don’t fill pages each day, which is fine as there are times I need more room and I can flip back one page etc. It’s worked out really well, so far.

The A5 cousin is being left at home. This has a lot more to it, so I am working on the final formula — but this is the important one when it comes to my self improvement. The daily spreads, so far, are where I am keeping my trackers, as well as my daily thoughts. This is important to me as I can reflect on the day and get something on paper. I plan on doing this every day, and if I sometimes have to catch up on a day or two, I will. So far, this has been a great thing for me.

Finally, the Weeks. I plan on getting another of these as they are very portable and smaller. My goal? Planning out my blog a bit better. Posts. Visiting others. When to write. Ideas. I also want to use it for social media postings, such as Instagram and YouTube (which I would like to do a lot more with in the coming year), giving me a place for ideas and planning.

I think, as a society, we’ve become too connected to the digital world. I am as guilty as that as anybody else. So I’m hoping this will get me to be a little more in tune to things without a screen — at least some. And I also hope this setup will help me self improve so there is more smiling and less worrying.

How about all of you?

Blog With Friends: September 2020
Blog with Friends is a themed collaboration challenge where a group of bloggers get together and publish a project based on a theme. Please see the others who have taken part for this month’s theme carrots. Links to their posts can be found below the image!

Check out what the others did with carrots!

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen here, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! Starting up is the Food Photo Challenge and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

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: September 2020’s theme is …

OK, the theme for September is the one I thought was in August.

It should make life easier this month!

PBC logo

I feel like it’s the time of year to make things a little more open, especially with how things are now. It doesn’t matter what part of this world right now, some things just aren’t going well. Maybe it’s COVID. Maybe it’s politics. Maybe it’s things going on in your life. But we all can probably use a pick-me-up. I know I can, that’s for sure. I’m trying to get myself into a better place and find my “mojo” again. I hope you are all doing the same.

It’s now September (my birthday month … though I usually never think about that. This year, though, I feel I’ve aged more!) and we only have a few months left of 2020. Here’s hoping, at some point, things start go up and not continue being down.

The new theme is below!

So with that in mind, let’s look at the 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? Snap away! Pretty open ended. So show us what you have! Please make sure your blog post publishes Wednesday, September 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!