Mountain and Valley

July is a month to be out-of-doors. Despite my shade hat I have freckles and a farmer's tan to prove I've been out there gardening and walking.
I was fortunate enough this month to attend the Wildflower Festival at Alta. Albion meadow has amazingly beautiful flowers in July. Tracy and I walked the upper trail with dear friends and a good guide. It was a blue-skied heaven. Camera in hand, I fell silent as the day wove me into it's spell. The first few pictures are from that walk. Please note that I felt quite daring capturing the bumblebee among the bluebells.

The second set of photos were taken the 24th of July in my son and daughter-in-law's newly acquired backyard. It is a sweet flower-filled haven. After I put down my camera, I picked up my pencil and sketchbook. I love hollyhocks and they come in a rainbow of colors in their yard. (Not to mention all the roses, sunflowers, clematis and lilies!) The butterfly and the honeybee (wow, I must 'bee' lucky this month) seemed to be contented residents there.

White columbine is my favorite wildflower.

Shooting stars, hiding shyly beside a stone.

Indian Paintbrush.
It comes in many colors in the meadow. Paintbrush apparently takes it's color cues from whatever plants are nearby that it has conveniently tapped into.

I was surprised as I looked through the camera and discovered what Indian Paintbrush looks like from directly above it.

This little fellow serenaded us by singing in the willows.

Pausing next to a vast stand of bluebells, I could hear the little creek further down the hill and a gentle choral thrum of busy bees.

And now, into the valley:

Just one of many, many Hollyhocks.


Bee at tippy-top of Hollyhock

I couldn't resist this sunflower

Could not help but think of the times I'd held cloth aloft to the sun wishing to be awash in the change of light beneath it.

This is a center detail of a Daylily. What secrets are kept deep in a lilie's heart?

This shot was a truly lucky one as I just happen to be laying on the grass as this butterfly, fluttered by. Click on it (or any photo you desire) for more detail.

Next month: Gen Con and Grass Roots Shakespeare

Sweet Peas

June was quite a month for huge blessings in Thumbalina-sized packages.
This is my third year growing a little vegetable patch at the community garden. This is the first year that I've attempted one of my favorites; sugar snap peas. It was a bumper crop. I decided to photograph them as though I was Alice in Wonderland. And yes, I tried to avoid it, but of course there was mud involved, but not on the camera!

The second set of photos are from my rose bushes.it's been an amazing year for roses.

The third set are of my newest granddaughter; Alexandria Diane Peterson, our Thumbalina who was born June 22nd at just 17 inches and 5lbs and change. She is already growing into her name. Many thanks to her mother, Angel, for allowing me to do this photo shoot ala Anne Geddes and giving me the chance to use her very fine Cannon Rebel camera. The two of us learned that you need about 6 baby wranglers to make it all happen or one determined grandmother, a willing mom and a mostly cooperative baby. (Where did that binky go?) Angel post-processed the photos of Alex like the pro she is. Please enjoy and click on the photos you wish to see in larger detail. --Laura

P.S. The musicbox this month is set so it doen't play automatically. Just push play. It's worth listening to Jewel's sweet guitar version of Twinkle ,Twinkle Little Star. It has all the verses!

Curiouser and curiouser!

I discovered water on foliage this month. Gotta' experiment more with that!

I loved the abundant roses this year and they were huge too.

This rose reminded me of the billowy petticoats that were worn in the 50's

I often use one of my photos or a detail for the 'skin' on my musicbox. This pink lady was the winner of that honor this month.

I could not resist enlarging a center detail of this rose. I was fascinated by the dew in her petals.

Ah! And now to the sweetest rose of the season:

Child's Play

The May Queen's basket of pleasures yielded very few rays of sunshine this year. But for my Granddaughter's birthday party we found a sunny day. For this special day we went to Angel Jane's favorite place; the park. It was great to watch my 'grown-up' children playing alongside the kids. Here are a few moments I snapped of them at play. After these are two pictures which I found like lucky pennies in the May snow.




Negotiating


Take off

Flying!


Ready. Set...


perfect landing


I can't resist these blue eyes when accompanied by a sweet little 'puhleeease'.



And here are my two May finds:

This poor little bird seemed rather forlorn, but cute all puffed up on the railing of my porch during the recent snow storm.



And lastly, this charming sundog, actually part of an amazingly bright corona at noonday.

Finding the Words

For the month of April I decided I’d give myself a fun little challenge: To find and make words of images. This appealed to the writer in me as well as the deep dark secret that I love graphic art inspired by the short-lived Art Nouveau period. My offering today however, cannot be ‘framed’ with an elegant artistic period. It is simply a small study born of love and carried out with tenacity.
For some reason I thought this would be a breeze -- finding letters in the everyday and transforming them into words—a snap, literally, right? Wrong. It’s now May and it took a month of searching, camera-toting, and seeing the world differently.
I almost abandoned this project as genuine frustration crept in and silently needled me. But then I remembered the Sherlock Holmes’ phrase, “You see, but you do not observe.”
So, with camera in hand, I went for several more strolls in the mercurial April weather, not knowing but merely believing I’d find something to satisfy my heart’s desire. I didn’t know what I’d be able to spell with my ‘photo-bet’ as I had no idea what letters I’d find. I eventually found the right words, or at least two of them, as you will see.
But first, a few of the picture that I took in my curious quest to marry words and images:





















After examining what the camera's eye had recorded, I gently cropped and primped and persuaded a few images to volunteer for the project. These are the words I discovered:





AND



As you can see, I discovered two of three.'Charity' of course, is the absent member of the trio. --Rare and difficult to come by. But if you look carefully you'll see that I found myself surrounded in 'hope' and that's a nice place to be. --L

Arthurian Spring

The Legend of King Arthur speaks of his return to Camloden and of bringing Spring once again to the land. I recently took my camera in hand trying to find some trace of his journey. Alas, I found no royal entourage. Instead, I saw hope in the break of an early morning snowstorm that melted by afternoon. I found magnificent architecture in the bones of trees already swelling with the hope of lush green couture. And at long last a hint of Arthur's passing here.

Eye of Glory



Sky Full of Bones


Winterhaven


Swellings




Shypie




Not-a-silly


Arthur Comes



Tender Delights