Pink Tulips

It's raining today and we need it! Spring is brimming with life and color these days with buds and blossoms of all kinds bursting open, bringing forth a new season of promise and hope. Here's some cheerful pink tulips, I snapped a few weeks ago, to brighten a rainy day.

Mother Nature's Perfection

taken:
day ninety one
09.19.2014

It's all prefect. So prefect that it seems like someone staged it, the perfect cosmos blossom, the perfect sun flare from above, the perfect water droplets clinging to the stem. Aside from planting the cosmos seed, I didn't have a hand in the perfect moment, but Mother Nature sure did. There's no double that it was Mother Nature at it's best. I was just there to capture it.

Sparkle And Shimmer

taken:
day seventy eight
09.06.2014

It was a damp dewy Saturday morning. Dewdrops reflect some of the prettiest morning sunlight and it's one of my favorite times to walk around looking for sparkle and shimmer. Even spider webs look lovely in this kind of light.

Glimmer

taken:
day forty one
07.31.2014

After a morning shower from the sprinkler the baby's breath in my garden glimmer with shiny water droplets.

Embellished With Raindrops

taken:
day ninety
09.18.2013

An early morning rainstorm embellished this sweet sunflower with shiny raindrops.

Bubbly

taken:
day eighty eight
09.16.2013

We had frost this morning. Yes, frost! But good thing it was a light frost and all of my plants and flowers are still alive. By the time I was able to walk through the yard the frost was thawing and dripping. The melted frost clung to this foxtail plume like soft little bubbles while reflecting light from the morning sunshine. Bubbly bokeh, I love it!

Morning Dew Drops

taken:
day seventy five
09.03.2013

This was the first day of school. Always a bustling morning, filled with excitement and a bit of first day jitters. After I waved goodbye to my boys as they rode off on the school bus,  I walked home and decided to take a peaceful stroll through the yard. Our lawn hadn't been mowed for a couple of weeks because of our lack of rain. Many spots in our yard became dried up and just didn't need mowing. I found this patch of native grass thriving in the parched conditions. It was glistening in the sunlight and embellished with sparkly morning dew drops. Proof that you can find beauty even when things might seem depleted.

Droops With Droplets

taken:
day sixty one
08.20.2013

After a showering from the sprinkler, this pink morning glory droops with the weight of water droplets.

Adorned

taken:
day forty nine
08.08.2013

The morning sprinkler left water drops dripping from all the blooming flowers in my garden. This pretty pink lily adorned one of the refreshing droplets.

Welcome June

Welcome June!

School is winding down and summer vacation is within our grasp.

It's about time!

I could have a year full of Junes.

I love this month.

Something about June is so exhilarating and promising.

My mind is always full of hope for a fun, warm and abundant summer.

Right now it's all about nurturing seeds in the garden.

I thrive on the satisfaction of their growth and prosperity.

It's almost addicting.

I could never grow tired of the wonderment of June.

It's my favorite.


HAPPY JUNE TO YOU!!!

Tulips On A Rainy Day

Tulips are finally making their debut around here.

Revealing loads of vibrant color and texture.

I'm so happy to have some cheerful beauty in the garden again.

It was a rainy day today. 

I love fresh raindrops on flowers.

They always seem to look prettier drenched in droplets.

Hello Monday!

Hello Monday!

Hello rain instead of snow! Hurray for warmer weather.

Hello spring break! It's here and I'm looking forward to some lazy mornings this week and quality time with my boys. But trying to entertain these two rambunctious guys can sometimes be a challenge these days. If they could, they'd spend every waking hour playing video games and watching cartoons on Netflix. How did it happen, that technology became much more fun than anything else? Being cooped up all winter can make us lazy and fall into bad habits. I feel like a terrible mommy for ever letting this happen. This week, though, I'm going to attempt to reshape their interests. Good luck, right! But I have some ideas up my sleeve, things I know they'll enjoy, things that don't involve a Nintendo DS or Wii. Like painting projects, baking up a batch of cookies or two and playing out in the snow {since there's plenty of it still around}. They love when I join in and build snowmen and snow forts and I enjoy it too! It's time to unplug from technology a bit more and plug back into a creative and imaginative family life. I can already feel myself breathing calmer and unwinding. Ahhhh...

{ linking up with the lovely Lisa Leonard for Hello Monday }

Do You Know What Bokeh Is?

taken:
day seventy eight
09.05.12

Who doesn't love a little bokeh? What? Bokeh??? You may know you love it or enjoy the way it looks in a photo, but you may not know what it is. 

It's adapted from a Japanese term, meaning blur or haze. According to Wikipedia the definition of bokeh, in photography, is: the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image. Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light".

I've heard bokeh pronounced about 3 different ways, I like to pronounce it: bow-kay. It kind of reminds me of the word 'bouquet' as in a 'bouquet of flowers'. Perfect. Easy to remember, right? And the prettiest way of pronouncing it, in my opinion.

At this point I could get all boring and technical about lenses, aperture and depth of field, but I'm pretty horrible at explaining things technically. I suggest goggling it if you are really interested. You'll find tons of interesting information and in much better detail than I could give you.

What I can tell you is that I love blur, I love out of focus, I love light and sparkles, I LOVE BOKEH! The bokeh above, created by water droplets from an overnight rain, is so bubbly, like twinkling lights, something that only the lens can bring to life. And when captured, it's so so so exciting. It's an addiction, a thrill and I'm always looking for a way to achieve bubbly bokeh!

Week 16: Things That Grow

{ Project 52 Week 16: Things That Grow }

Well this was an easy theme for me since my true love is definitely...things that grow! Spring is bursting forth with new life and growth all around. We had frost on the ground the other morning but by 8:30 a.m. it had warmed up enough to turn the frost into dewdrops. I love the way the grass sparkles in the morning sun as it's draped in shiny droplets. Catch the light just right and tiny rainbows appear too. It's like a magical springtime dreamland!

Week 12: Hunger

{ Project 52 Week 12: Hunger }

This weeks theme is: Hunger. 

I've been hungry for spring all winter. 

I've been hungry for the fresh scent of damp soil sprinkled with spring rain. 

I've been hungry for the vivid green of new life. 

I've been hungry for tender buds and sprouts just beginning to form. 

Thanks to our mild winter, I've been feasting on spring all week. 

Within the week, the ground has thawed, 

dull browns have greened and 

spring showers have bathed young foliage. 

I'm full, overflowing and so happy that spring is here!

Hello Twenty Twelve!

Hello twenty twelve! 

Hello fresh new year. 

Hello winter {finally arriving to MN}. 

 Hello setting goals and accomplishing them. 

Hello bright beginnings. 

Hello to feeling energized. 

Cheers to a year full of possibilities!

I'm ready!!!

{So excited to be linking up for the first time with the lovely Lisa Leonard for Hello Monday.}

The Final Glow of Summer

taken:
day ninety four
09.22.2011

Day 94...the last day of summer...the end of a project. A personal challenge I met with enthusiasm. My vision was to feature a photo a day for each day of the 94 days of summer. I was yearning to ignite my creative imagination and hoping that I could capture something inspirational. I was rewarded with success and the feeling of accomplishment. I learned lessons along the way that I'll treasure for a lifetime. I learned that taking chances and making myself vulnerable as an artist can only make me stronger. Another lesson I learned was how important it is to follow a dream. Even if it means facing a fear.

Day 1 started with the glow of a willow branch basking in raindrops and the evening sun. I thought it only appropriate to end summer the way it began; with a glistenting willow branch. This one, on the last day of summer, beams in the morning sun, touched by dewdrops. Soon it'll surrender to cool air. Frost and snow will touch the tips of the willow branch lending itself to a cold winter. Summer, I'll miss you. Your warm weather, vivid colors and long days will be out of reach until next year when we meet again...

Early Morning Gems

taken:
day seventy two
08.31.2011

This is more like it! These are the dew drops I was looking for a few weeks ago that I love. They are like polished glass gems clutching onto the bright orange marigold petals. Early in the morning, before they have a chance the evaporate, these dew drops reflect the sunlight, perfectly round, luminescent and shiny. 

Still Be Wonderful

taken:
day sixty eight
08.27.2011

I really can't get enough of our cosmos this year. They are so pretty. So much so that I've decided that next year I'm going to plant tons. Rows and rows of them. Bright, happy, pink, white, orange and yellow rows of them. Enough to cut bouquets to bring in the house and enough to leave in the garden for the bees and butterflies to enjoy. It's going to be wonderful...that is if I can remember this plan. And in the case that I forget, I'll probably end up planting my usual small batch of each variety. But that'll still be wonderful.

Soaked from the sprinkler this cosmo, in my older son's garden, droops with water drops and looks groggy after a long day in the sun. 

Bubbly Blurry Dewdrops

taken:
day sixty three
08.22.2011

Just a bit of bubbly blurry dewdrops, bright and early, glistening in the morning sunlight. You can almost hear twinkling as the dreamy world is awoken at daybreak, cleansed with dew and highlighted by the new sun.