At the south end of the refuge, we enjoyed a few avocets in very shallow water and a mother pintail with her babies. There wasn't enough going on, for us to want to drive the loop a second time.

Thank your for the challenge, Sandrine. Today is the last day of our July vacation, so here's a photo of the refuge I took this morning and ET's ColorPlay from this past week. ;)

Thursday July 4th was our last day to visit the Monte Vista refuge, and not a cloud in the sky at sunrise. We saw three night herons and too soon they flew. We could hear the sounds of hundreds of birds but we didn't see many. And as usual for us, we had the refuge all to ourselves

Thanks for the fun challenge! Well, I used the left vertical, Red, camera and sky. The reddest sky was this morning but the sliver of light wasn't very nice for a more traditional page. Happens that my phone case is red too, and it's my camera. To solve the issues of a weird photo, I saw Martha...

After there was a sliver of red at sunrise, as it got brighter there were God rays. I remember you gunning the engine because I wanted to stop at the corner and you wanted to stop a hundred yards sooner. Thank you for making me laugh and know I'm heard at least mostly.

Well, my work was all in thinking what symbols. A wrecker that tows cars? a canoe? There are no photos from my family and they're all gone. So I was sure you wanted me to make a page about the rooster. He makes me happy and has been a part of my life since I was very small. Thanks for the challenge.

We raised chickens and the call of the rooster in the morning is one of my earliest memories. When I learned that in Ukraine they would have sculptures of roosters in their kitchens, I felt an immediate resonance. Right at half of my roots are from the baltic countries.

Thanks for the challenge. I noticed you didn't make your whole page monochrome, so I followed your example. Mostly, and plenty. But I liked a sliver of other color to break it up. Before I did this, I was pretty sure I couldn't make a monochromatic page I'd like, but I do like this one and I...

I stopped to look at some yellow mroning primrose, and there was a sliver of red sunrise that didn't last long. Otherwise, it was a very blue monochrome morning with a little bit of rain. I happened to take one of my random govee photo and one of that blue sky, and they matched.

Thanks Sylvia, Here's mine:

My ticket, photos of canna lily, bunny and the Jeep's map as we leave for a trip. This is my home. There's a main intersection nearby with lots of gas and food, a lake, and a nice rec area to the northwest. Just to the west there is an old tree with an eagle's nest in the area where there are no...

Thanks, Claire. I went as far as I could with Vicki's Spring Beauty. Then I took Jen's Floral paper and it made a nice overlay that adds depth. Finally I went with Lynn G.'s frame to add color to Vicki's frames. Thank you. I''m glad I tried this. :p

The rain had stopped and the sun came out. It was our best visit to the overlook so far, mostly because there was also no wind. We spent a long time, stopping every hundred feet for a new view. The cactus flowers were very popular with the insects, and the first we'd seen on the refuge.

I posted my tracking early and was #2 and would love to know your rules, for when am I allowed to start my tracking page. I'm confused! JULY 2024 Challenge Layouts Links: Challenge 1: Through the Lens https://oscraps.com/community/media/1-dont-change-a-thing-1000.394812/ Challenge 2: Color Play...

Here's mine: Big in terms of page titles is relative. I made it 24 point, which is more than a whole lot of book titles. :p

We had a running joke about my reactions to the gallery challenges over at Oscraps, and how I'd say "no way," then do them. The idea of going back five years didn't sound like it could fit in my work. But when I saw how much our trips had narrowed and changed, I was glad I had looked back.

We called and Carol said the hotel had been full, so our room wouldn't be ready for a while. So we visited the overlook east of the refuge. The thing, besides 360° views, was that we were seeing beautiful water for most of the two miles of the overlook drive, and the scene was constantly changing.

Thank you so much! This really made my day!

Thank you so much! This made my day when I was having a struggle! :p

I don't know, but very long ago. I had this as my email tagline back in the '80's and 90's. I kept it for a really long time and nobody ever commented. When people quit using taglines I let it go, then soon forgot where it was from. Google didn't know until fairly recently. I think the cover was...