Spring

One of my favorite spring flowers is the simple little English daisy. I just love their cheery little pinkness, and the structure--it's like they are tiny versions of the macaroni flowers my DD made in Kindergarten.

One spring we were touring the Buchart Gardens in Victoria, BC (FABulous place!!), and there were 2 elderly ladies in front of us on the path, strolling along arm in arm, admiring the plantings and flowers. Next to the sidewalk was a large bed of these on the side of a hill and the strollers stopped. Now--you MUST imagine a very plummy, proper British accent and impeccable diction here-- "Oh, look! Button daisies!!" Since that day, I can never see these without hearing that, and thinking of them as button daisies, because isn't that the most perfect description??

Can you hear it roaring??

Woke up this morning to this view (and the one below) out our bedroom window... Everything was heavily coated in gorgeous soft white fluffy (but wet) snow, and there was a fog haze in the air. Grabbed a few photos before things started melting; it'll be gone by tonight, probably. This is SO unusual for here! March is definitely going out like a lion.

These are the same trees I posted 2 days ago...

...and a detail from my neighbor's forsythia bush.

Another sloppy day

Woke up this morning to snow, icy sloppy roads, and mixed snow/rain/slushiness all day. Bleh. It's snowing right now; 5 minutes ago it was pouring. I am in serious need of a sunshine fix! The line around here is that if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.
Here's a few drippy pictures from a dry(er) day earlier this week. I can't wait for some color for my reflections.

You can see the sedum leaves reflected in the lower drop.
This one, and the one below are the tip of a new daylily leaf. You can see some of the new foliage reflected in the drop. This one was taken with my Sony P&S... (f 3.5)
This was taken with my Pentax K100D and 100mm macro lens (f 4.5)

Crazy weather day

Today was a typically unsettled weather day here. We had snow, we had rain, we had snrain (both at the same time), we had sun (often while it was doing one of the 3 preceeding types of precipitation). Not a day to be bored by the weather! I saw the cherry trees blooming by the old depot and stopped in between snraindrops to get some shots...actually had the sun peek out for a minute or two. Timing is everything!


And, if you look beyond the cherry blossoms, you can see the fresh snow on the mountains with a patch of sun. Crazy weather! Not five minutes after taking this, it started blizzarding, but then turned into slush, then rain. But then--that IS spring in the NW!!

Interior Designs

I love tulips--it's part of growing up in the snowbound midwest and exulting over color bursting through the snow. As much as I love tulips, I love their centers even more. They are so symmetrical and incredibly structural; nothing soft looking about these sturdy, rigid centers. Amazing Designer, isn't He?
The outside of this variety--very pretty...but......here's a side view...even more interesting...
...and looking straight down...this looks like a carnival design! Look how incredibly symmetrical and balanced the markings are on the petals, and the colors---bold, bright, yet perfect together. Who of us would've thought of putting black into a red, white and yellow flower?

Cleaning up the garden and yard in the spring is like a treasure hunt for me. I always get so excited when I find leaf and petal "skeletons"; what is left after the more delicate parts decay or are eaten by bugs. I marvel at how much detail there is in even the littlest thing; this is SUCH an incredible world, with so many things all around us to astound and amaze us. So, a couple of leaf skeletons...
...this one is still in process......and these are what is left of the petals from a hydrangea plant. These were 2 of the petals on one of those big blue hydrangea blossoms. Don't they look like lace??

They're not just yellow!

Last Monday ML and I went up to the mega-nursery/gift shop near us, desperate for some color after too much rain. They had a ton of daffodils in their outdoor shop, and it always amazes me how many different varieties of daffodils and narcissus there are. Daffies have the long trumpet; narcissus have the little "snub nose" and often have 2 or more blooms per stalk. It was so fun to see all the yellow daffs that you always associate with spring, but even more fun to see all these different varieties, especially the one with the apricot trumpet!




I love these split-trumpet, doubled daffodils. They remind me of the crepe-paper flowers I used to make when I was a kid.

Faith...grows

YEARS ago I saw a little snippet of poetry that has stuck with me. It went:

Who plants a seed
Beneath the sod
And waits to see,
Believes in God.

Whenever I see new growth occuring after the long winters, I think of that poem, and how anyone who gardens shows immense faith when planting seeds or tubers or bulbs, that something will eventually come from those tiny little things. These grape hyacinth are one of the first bulbs to bloom in my yard, and the deer and elk leave them alone, so these little blue scouts of spring are really welcome.

Can you sing along?

There's an old song I remember The Lettermen doing (now I am really dating myself!) called "I Believe". The first line is "I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows." So, I am celebrating our rain with some raindrop pictures and newly-emerging flowers.

I love the columbine. The rough surface of the leaves catches even the infintesimal dew/mist, and the droplets hang on the serrated edges of the leaves.

As the leaves unfurl, raindrops catch in the basin, and look like luminous gems when the light hits them right.
Even the tulip leaves are getting into the act, with droplets hanging like beading.
And a pansy, beaten down by the rain, but with its own line of designer beads and droplets.

Faith

While our DD was still in college, she had the opportunity to do a semester in a Study Abroad program, and chose to go to Jerusalem. She was fortunate to be able to spend several months in the Holy Land, living in Jerusalem and traveling about the country, studying the Savior's life and seeing the places where he had been. Spending Easter in Jerusalem, and Good Friday on the Mt. of Olives and at the Garden Tomb, were life-changing experiences for her, bringing the scriptures to vivid life.
While she was there, she purchased several pieces of olive wood from a local woodcarver. I love this one, because it epitomizes Jesus as the Good Shepherd, who always looks for the lost and the struggling, and goes to find and save them. Every time I look at this, I acknowledge my debt to Him, and my gratitude for His love and patience.

Green -- from Hawaii

I fell in love with all the green in Hawaii. Green must be Heavenly Father's favorite color, because there are more shades of green than any other color. Add all that green to incredible shapes and structures, and I was going crazy with all the abstract designs and patterns everywhere I looked. If you're interested, there's a couple more textures/colors on my other blog.

This was one of those "Quick draw" shots. We were walking along a path, and R said--"QUICK! Look!" I did, and I was, but this guy was moving so fast I was lucky to get him at all, let alone in focus. But, he is green!

Isn't this what Green is all about?