August’s challenge is hodgepodge / Le défi du mois d’aout est méli-mélo

By Susan Irving “GOOD MORNING!”  My cat, Rusty,  telling me it is breakfast time and I really should get up out of bed and feed him.   I painted Rusty with the Fresh Paint App and then transferred the image to the Draw Free App for further embellishment. This was an experiment to see if I could somehow combine the 2 different apps. 

By Lynne Ayers Collage play on 8 x 10″ panel.  I titled it Sun Drenched Morning, sun streaming in the window over my kitchen counter and a jug of orange juice  waiting to be poured. 

By Bobi Leutschaft Poitras

What Haunts Me

I sit at social gatherings
And study every face,
Like watching ghosts, I think about
When we have run our race,
And all our places will be filled
By others yet unborn;
Will there be cause to think of us,
To hang their heads and mourn?

Will all we have achieved be lost,
Or will we leave a mark?
For those who follow in our place,
Will we have left a spark?
I see the future spectres stand
Before the present souls,
They want to know if we have won
Or failed to reach our goals.

They’re asking if the earth will be
A better place or worse,
Will we help clean the current mess
Or leave behind a curse?
I wonder if I could explain -
We really meant no harm,
That in our busyness we slept
Right through the first alarm.

And as I look around me now
I cannot help but feel
That we thought love and happiness
Our failing earth would heal.
Perhaps we put our blinders on
When what we needed most
Were open eyes and listening hearts
And scorn from future ghosts.

By Yvonne Callaway What matches that first morning coffee as a wake-up call? Especially a double espresso! This portrait of an Italian friend having her “doppio” (double) is also a pun, as the image is a double of Suzanne.

By Laura Peck

Wake up call

6:50. The sun is out.
Mosquitoes too.
Buzzing, flying around
Only disturbances in the still garden.
Long green beans,
Squash shyly hiding
Under its luscious leaves. 
Raspberries bringing 
Joy and passion
To their radiant neighbors
The tall sunflowers
Cucumbers up and down
Welcoming the overenthusiastic
Cherry tomato plant.
No harvest today.
My love hasn’t gone away.
No rush.
Going back to the house,
Shush, shush,
The front porch is sun bathing,
Blue, terra cotta and tartan pots,
Taking it all in.
Flowers and herbs
Offering their best blooms,
Their most subtle perfumes
To visitors and owners alike.
Hectic summer. Grasping each moment to savor it.
Before you know it,
The easter bunny will show up, but only after Christmas.
If I want to be merry, I ought to look after my mini.

By Isabelle Utovac This is a rapidly done impression of my wake up routine.

Voici une impression vite faite de ma routine de réveil.