Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Osprey Photos and Haiku Poem

My husband and I enjoyed a walk in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary today and we were thrilled to see an osprey family in their nest as well as the lone osprey (above) at the top of a tree. We were extra blessed in not getting rained on during our walk (it was pouring on and off on our drive to Jug Bay). God is good!

This osprey nest sighting inspired today's haiku poem. I hope you enjoy it and the photos!

Jug Bay Osprey Nest Haiku
Far in the distance
A moving, intriguing sight - 
A big osprey nest!
 
I borrowed my husband's camera to get this shot. I think he had a polarizing lens on so it made the colors more vivid. It was neat to see the osprey in the back spread its wings.


Hope you enjoyed my osprey photos and that you have a blessed 4th of July holiday! May God bless and keep you and those you love!

Related posts:
Eagle festival: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/03/eagle-festival-photos.html
Fishing bird: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/04/fish-grabbing-bird-photos.html
Jug Bay Wetland: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/01/jug-bay-wetland-photos.html
Yellow Finch Feeding: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/08/yellow-finch-feeding-on-black-eyed.html
Cat attracting bird video: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/02/cute-green-bird-video-drives-my-cats.html

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Bejeweled Blitz High Score Strategies

Just about every week I'm asked via Facebook wall posts and email messages just how I achieved my current Bejeweled Blitz high score. Now, I'm not the best player in the world, but last week I scored 1.2 million points in one game, which isn't too shabby. This article is dedicated to every friend who has asked "how do you do it?" and/or wants to increase his/her own high score. I hope my strategies help you and would love to hear about it if they do.
 
My current all time Bejeweled Blitz high score

Scan the Board Before You Start Clicking
This is probably my most unique strategy. You can actually start playing before the game voice says "go". But I spend those precious first few seconds scanning the board. I simultaneously look for multiples of 4 or 5 to make power gems and get a feel for the predominant gem color.
Go For Blazing Speed
Once I start clicking I go for speed, blazing speed to be specific. Blazing speed makes the board flash and just about every successful move you make is treated like a power gem. It's hard to maintain but you can go into blazing speed multiple times throughout the game. Blazing speed tends to generate lots of power gems which include multiplier gems. The best way to get frequent multiplier gems is to play very quickly and the best way to get high scores is to get as many multiplier gems as possible, which leads to my next tip.
Aim For Six or More Multiplier Gems
Activating multiplier gems is a high priority as they multiply your score for every move for the rest of the game. My best scores tend to be achieved with reaching multipliers of seven or more in one game I believe my current high score was achieved with a multiplier gem of eight). A multiplier gem of seven means that once the gem is activated, every move is multiplied by seven (so 1,000 points becomes 7,000 and 10,000 becomes 70,000, etc.). While I am constantly scanning the board for the best possibilities (e.g. anything that might lead to another multiplier gem) I am still quickly clicking every combination that I see in the meantime to keep the speed up.
Bottom Up, Middle Out
If no one area seems particularly advantageous I play from the bottom up (because of the potential for more interactions with all the gems above) and from the middle out (there are more gems in the middle than in a corner). But if I get stuck I tend to check the perimeter rather than click "Hint" as that tends to work faster for me.
Intense Focus
While the bulk of the Bejeweled Blitz games I play are carried on while I'm multitasking (e.g. on hold on the telephone or watching videos), these low focus games do not tend to result in high scores. Most of my high scoring games are a result of intense focus. The game only lasts one minute. That's sixty seconds. So if I want to achieve a high score, I eliminate as many distractions as possible and focus solely on the game for that one minute.
Boosts
With the introduction of Bejeweled Blitz coins to buy boosts we have more options. While I've noticed that some of my other high scoring friends tend to pick the "scrambler" boost, I personally haven't had much luck with that one. I usually only use my boosts until I hit what I think is a decent high score for the week and then save the rest of my coins for the next week. When I do use boosts I tend to use three at a time (the maximum allowed). I choose the "mystery gem," "+ 5 seconds" and "free multiplier." I don't use the "detonator" because it seems that most of the special gems are placed so that you can activate them with 3-4 moves and the other boosts seem more advantageous to me. On the rare occasion that I only have enough coins for one boost I choose the "free multiplier." 
Power Gems
My favorite power gem is currently the Phoenix Prism but I get higher scores with the Kanga Ruby. I think all of my 1 million plus scores were obtained with the Kanga Ruby power gem. 
Best wishes for high scores in Bejeweled Blitz!

PS I'm debating starting a separate blog for game tips. Does it bother any of my inspirational readers to have the occasional game tip article here? Would game tip people rather have a separate blog for that? Please share your thoughts. I'd love to hear them!
 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Beautiful Day Lilies and a Day Lily Haiku

Day lily time has arrived in Maryland and Washington DC. I took these photos at the U.S. National Arboretum this weekend. They have a delightful day lily garden with an amazing variety of blooms. I liked the varied colors and fringing on the day lily in the photo above.

 The day lilies above are giant (larger than my hand!) and colorful.

National Arboretum Day Lily Haiku
Day lilies blazing
So many colors and shapes
lighting up the field.


These neatly colored day lilies have an unusual yellow stripe through the red leaves and a faint tinge of red edging the yellow leaves.

This deep violet day lily has a gorgeous yellow center. There was also a violet day lily with a green center.


This apricot and yellow day lily has a tinge of white on the edges of the leaves and I love the ruffling. If you live in the DC area the U.S. National Arboretum's day lily garden is a wonderful sight! And if you're too far away to visit in person I hope you enjoyed this mini virtual tour.

May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
USNA Day Lily Garden 2012: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/06/dazzling-day-lilies.html
Our yellow day lily: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/06/hydrangeas-cosmos-primrose-and-day.html
Our bi-color double bloom day lily: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/zinnias-roses-joe-pye-weed-day-lilies.html

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Lift Helps People Form Habits and Help Each Other

White Ceramic Birds: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013
About 25 days ago I joined Lift and I've been enjoying it ever since. Lift's tagline is "Build better habits. Change your life" and the site's (I use the web-based version) community spirit is really great. You pick your habits (I'd personally recommend not adding more than 3 new habits so you boost your chances of success and after those are established just one ore two at a time to keep the success flowing), check in daily and offer "props" to others who complete their habits. Offering props is as easy as clicking "like" on Facebook. 
Lift is free and it's fun. I joined as "Cat Wheeler" (Cat's my favorite nickname and you're welcome to call me Cat too) and am currently tracking the following habits on Lift:
  • Do a good deed
  • Exercise
  • Goal reading (I created this habit and am the only one doing it at the moment)
  • Sing
  • Unclutter 
  • Write
  • Set priorities for your day
  • In bed by 11 pm
These weren't all "new" habits but some weren't getting done every single day. Having that extra accountability has truly helped turn them into daily habits. Of course, I have other daily habits (like prayer, Bible study etc.) but as they're well established I didn't add them.

If you join Lift please be sure to say hello and I'll gladly give you props for your healthy habits. 

May God bless and keep you!

Disclaimer: This post is my own personal opinion and I wasn't asked or paid to write it.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Lotus Flower Photos & Haiku Poem


Lotus in the sky: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013
This weekend I enjoyed a walk through the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens with my beloved husband. The lotuses have started blooming and they are beautiful.  I love how as spring turns into summer each week brings new blooms to enjoy. God's creation is amazing!

Angled Lotus Flower Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013
Here's the lotus haiku I promised in the title:
 Lotus Haiku
A swampy marsh sounds
boring but it's teeming with
big pink lotus blooms.
 
Young Lotus Flower: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013
It seems that the flowers have the most pink just before they open. For some reason blogger isn't letting me add any regular text below the next picture so I'll close things out here. It was a blessing to enjoy the lotus blooms. I hope you enjoy my photos. May God bless you and keep you!

Related Posts:
Previous Kenilworth photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/kenilworth-park-aquatic-gardens-photos.html
Kenilworth Flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/flowers-at-kenilworth-aquatic-gardens.html
Goose Family: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/goose-family-photographs.html
Lotus Field Overview: Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013  

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Supermoon Weekend

This weekend offers a rare supermoon sighting and is expected to be the largest full moon of the year. Last night I took the photo above (you can see how bright the supermoon is in this shot) and my husband took the photo below (you can see wonderful detail of the supermoon in this shot). It's such a blessing to enjoy God's amazing creation!

Thanks to Ben (my beloved husband) for letting me share his photo with you (especially since it's so much better than mine). May God bless him and may He bless you too!
Related posts:
Jug Bay (with daytime moon) photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/01/jug-bay-wetland-photos.html
Sunset / Moonrise photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2011/12/last-sunset-of-2011.html
Nature photo: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2011/12/bless-your-day-with-walk.html

Monday, June 3, 2013

Anti Procrastination Haiku (Short Poem)

Mary's "Buttercups": Copyright © by Phyllis Wheeler, June 2013
Happy June! I enjoyed my "write something every day" challenge in May so I've decided to continue the practice as an ongoing daily habit. I'm also still working on decluttering my home (clutter could be considered a form of procrastination).

Anti-Procrastination Haiku
Don't procrastinate
Do it or decide not to.
Breathe deeply and act.

If I weren't limited to seven syllables in the second line (haikus traditionally have 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the third/last line) I'd have made it read "do it, schedule it, or let it go" but this shorter version works too. 
May you have a beautiful and procrastination-free day and may the God of all peace be with you!