Just Flowers

Drifted Petals

it's raining petals . . . as all but one of the fruit trees finishes up their blossom cycle.

a caterpillar in the lilac bush at the end of the day.

early this morning, while getting the dog out for a short walk, i stopped and shot some of the flax (that were just starting to open up) growing on the edge of the property . . . i love this color blue~!~ these flowers open early and are closed again by mid-day. they grow on long grassy stems forming clumps at the ground.

"Is This Your Dog?"

this day started out nice and slow and peaceful like . . . i even got to drink my first cup of morning chai tea at the proper temperature. you know not too hot but not cooled off yet either . . . i was just beginning to imagine the day with some extra time for a bit of stitching, or reading, or yea, you get the idea. when along came this dog. he just wandered right up onto the front porch and had a look around. i went out to investigate and discovered a friendly dog with no collar (thus no immediate i.d.). he's young but not a puppy and he actually is well socialized and someone has worked with him. he can sit on command and he heels when on leash and told to and he will lay down and stay if you are firm with him . . . so: he's clearly somebody's dog and other than being a bit on the skinny side he's been cared for and worked with. so, my day continued with me taking the dog to some immediately obvious places where he may have wandered away from . . . no luck. so then we had to take photos and hang posters . . . and because we have now put our name on the posters we have to care for him until somebody turns up to claim him . . . i love dogs~!!~ i really do, but, it's been over a year and a half since we've had any and life has seemed comfortable enough with a few cats. cats are nice. they don't require me to take them out and walk them or train them or in any way wear me out with what little energy i happen to be lucky enough to have on any given day . . . so today was interesting and exhausting and we still have a dog . . . a very good boy of a dog . . . but, i'm not sure i can do this. so let me ask you: Is this your dog?

the good news is that i did get a chance to stitch after all. later this afternoon when all posters had been hung and everything that we could think of to find his this guys family had been taken care of for the moment. after he had been offered a bowl of kibble and some fresh water and played with . . . after all of that, he was provided with a blanket to lay on and indeed he did nap~!!~ i, on the other hand, had to keep an eye on him (just in case he woke up and got into trouble) so i got out the postcard that i am working on for my first blog give-away (to celebrate my 100th post) and worked on that. i did make some progress and thought that others might be interested in seeing how it's coming along.

this is today's texture study. it is a section of dried rose.

the japanese cherry tree continues to be beautiful even though petals are now raining out of it on a steady basis . . .

this parrot tulip was nestled in among the small evergreen bushes and i couldn't resist getting a shot of it too.

in my dining room i have two ceramic pieces that i really love. and wouldn't you know it~!~they are just full of textural details~!~ the one is a small plate by an unknown artist and the other is a pot by a local artist. both are done in a similar technique using the firing process as a way to crackle the pieces. the maker of the pot explained this process to me but i can't remember now what he called it . . . hhhmmmmmmm. i have also placed a small found wasps nest by the two as an added interesting detail. i am realizing that i've always enjoyed textures at a deeper level than i realized . . . for instance, these pieces rest on an old antique dresser that was painted blue and white and the paint has naturally peeled off of most of it over time. now this piece is oak and i know that if i were to strip and re-finish it the results would be beautiful, but i so love the look of the peeling paint that i have yet to do it~!~ many of the items resting on the dresser are rich in various textures as well; a very large roughly woven willow basket, a red and cream piece of homespun cloth with frayed edges, candles, and other little lovelies . . . my~!!!~i really am (and probably always have been) texturally addicted~!!~

a textural macro shot of the ceramic pot.

these are two quick shots of the window screening with the thundercloudy sky in the background. i simply angled the camera for the variations.

this is the inside of a large cone of garden twine.

and . . .

another macro shot; this time of the plate.

the bumblebees seem to be slowing down some on the fruit trees. i think it might be because we've been getting afternoon thunderstorms and micro burst winds. but i did manage to shoot this monster before he flew off.

this is the smallest fruit tree in the yard . . . some kind of dwarf apple, i think. the buds are just beginning to open so it's a bit behind all of the others. i thought this was a beautiful shade of pink~!~

found some toadstools in the grass and decided they were good for the textures file. this one looks a bit illuminated . . . helloooooo, is anybody in there?

the inside of one of the toadstools . . .

this shot was taken from the outside of one of my windows. you can see the curtains on the other side of the glass and some reflections from the yard . . . i love the way this looks~!!~another great texture~!~

this is a macro of one of the seed pods left from last year's cactus blooms. if you look really close you can see the top is a bit open on the left hand side of the shot and there are some seeds in there.

more cactus seed pod . . . these puppies are wicked~!!~

one of the fruit trees in the back. this one is extremely fragrant. we have two of these trees and you can smell them from just about anywhere in the yard~!~it's interesting though that they only seem to attract the smaller pollinators . . .

A Few More Textures

this is the bottom of a small painted bird house that i have. i realize that it is out of focus but i think i can still use it . . .

this is a portion of the base of a houseplant: elephants foot palm

a new geranium leaf growing.

the carved feathers on a small wooden chicken.

In the Garden with the Bees

Most of my tulips have finished their bloom cycle but the parrot tulips always come just a bit behind all of the rest . . .

this is my texture study for today. it is a shot of some stone that we have in the cactus bed.

when i seen this petal, my first thoughts were "oh NO~!!~the beginning of the end~!~already~!!~i spent weeks worrying about the buds getting ruined by the frosts then roughly another week watching them open and it has only been a few short days that i have been admiring them, smelling them, watching the bees and other pollinators discover and work them, smiling, smiling, smiling in joy just to see them~!!~ and then this~!!~it will be over before i know it and there will be lovely drifts of white petals under the tree ready to be blown in the wind . . . the only consolation being that this year there will be lots of those little cherries for the birds to eat in the fall and winter . . . sigh.

we have a cactus bed. it is filled with a native cactus and they are beginning to form their buds for bloom . . . see those pointy little spikes~!?!~ but the flowers are beautiful for a short time in the early summer. i have both pink and yellow colored blooms and i think this is one of the pink ones . . .

despite having my head stuck in the tree all day trying to get decent shots of the bumblebees, i was unable to really get any that i was happy with. this honeybee allowed me to shoot her for a time as she went about her business and this shot totally cracked me up because as deep as my head is in that tree hers is in this single blossom~!~i have to actually stand on something to be able to achieve my vantage and i'm absolutely positive that we are getting an extra amount of street traffic as people drive by and try to figure out just what the @#*% i'm doing there for hours on end . . . i hope they are getting a chuckle out of the whole mystery . . . just happy to be making their day a smile or two better than it was before . . . i live in a very small town~!~who knows what the rumors will be~!!~

here she is with her head out of the flower.

just some more blossom gorgeousity~!!!!~

this shot is really terrible but i included it for size reference. that bumblebee is the average size of the ladies visiting this tree. some are actually bigger and some a bit smaller. amazing~!~they often cover the whole blossom when they are pollinating.

this was yet another bad shot of the bee but i loved the detail of her pollen clad hips(?). she and her sister bees have been VERY busy today~!!~i wish that i got such approval for my oversized hips~!!~

i finished that little hand sewn quilt that i was working on. i had a lot of time on the road to get the quilting done and once i got home i bound it and labeled it. i worked on it as a "comfort" project while we got my daughter moved back home and ready to take off for Honduras at the end of June. it really was comforting and i've now given it to my daughter as something to take with her. the label says "home is where the heart is" among other details/things . . .

a detail of the little hand sewn quilt.

once again, i apologize for not doing a lot of visiting of other's blogs these last few days. it has been a very busy time. the good news is that i am feeling okay despite the extra pressures and duties and i really am very grateful for that. i hope to be getting back to a routine of visiting by the begining of next week. hang in there~i will get back to you all~!!~

Textures and More . . . !!!!!

this is the papery skin of a clove of garlic. i think it's beautiful~!!~(for the textures file)

we are back home and although still trying to settle things down, i just couldn't resist going out this early morning and getting a few shots of the garden. the cherry tree is blooming and i love the way the buds, at their tightest, are quite a dark pink but as they unfold they become lighter and lighter until the actual blooms are either a very light pink or even white . . .

the pollinators are one of my favorite things about the fruit trees in bloom. some of them are less glamerous than my favorite (the bumblebees) . . . but they all have their own special qualities that make them interesting, if not beautiful.

more cherry tree buds.

WARNING: there will be a lot of these while the trees are in bloom~!~

i am always so very happy when our fruit trees manage to bloom without the frost having destroyed them. this year seems to be a good one so far . . . they've actually started to open and we are getting weather reports that indicate warmer than normal temps for at least the next few days . . . yippppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!!!!~

this is an allysum that is a periennial . . . i wish that it bloomed all summer . . .

i can't remember what it is called at the moment . . .

this is the blossoms off of the fruit tree that i have yet to identify. they smell quite fragrant and as you can see are just gettting started.