White Christmas

D was able to make it home for Christmas this year, and a very merry Christmas it has been. The first white Christmas in about 18 years, and it is still snowing. About 20 miles down the road, and a couple of hundred feet lower, it is raining, but here we are still having lots of big fat flakes drifting down.

R and me, bundled up against the snow and cold.

D and me--I am the short one of the family!!

Our house looks like a Christmas card. No decorations this year; we were going for the Zen look. ;-)

The view off the front porch. The snow from the most recent fall was higher than the first step. This was before getting the sidewalk shoveled.

The deck---we had to shovel since we had 18" of snow there, and I was worried about the weight--and the leakage into the house once everything starts melting.

We even have icicles! A giant double one formed off the garage, and kids will be kids, no matter what their age.
The only thing that would have made this Christmas perfect would've been have L, B and the girls here with us, or us at their house. Next year for sure!!

Fall-ing again

Stopped by Snoqualmie Falls again...lots of huge icicles on the walls of the gorge. I may have to go back to get some more icicle photos.

Winter is here

A view across the valley, late afternoon sun shining through the clouds, illuminating the mists--I couldn't get over how much this view looked like an impressionistic painting. I was hoping for blue skies and nice contrast, but am so pleased with this.
The top of Mt. Si is all snow-covered and frosted.

Even the firs are completely flocked.

Amazingly, we have more snow in our neighborhood than they do 3 miles down the road in town. I think it has something to do with how we are situated behind the curve of the mountain--it acts like a moisture trap. We get more rain, and in the winter when the conditions are right--more snow!

Winter Falls

A little trace of snow, and lots of ice on the far side of the Falls, plus early morning sun shining through the mist...doesn't get much prettier than this!
I love the contrast here--the warm tones in the upper left combined with the cool darker tones of the base of the Falls.

The rocks on the far side of the Falls were covered with icicles. It almost looked like Victorian fringe--everything was in deep shadow down at the base, and this hasn't been tweaked for color--it did look that blue and that cold!

Frosted

With all our cold weather, I've been hoping for some good ice at the Falls. No such luck, but near the head of the falls everything is coated with a nice thick layer of hoar frost. Mother Nature does such a wonderful job of flocking!!

Even Scotch Broom looks better this way.

And a lone leaf, caught in the glazed and crackled surface of an ice puddle.

All in the details...

Just a few recent macros. It's been pretty wet, although one morning it was cold enough to gently freeze these raindrops...

I love the way each little fern leaf has a miniature frond on it! I really had to look closely to notice this, but how cool is this? (click to see larger--you can really see the details_

So Thankful!

R improves, slowly and steadily. I am so thankful for the fact that he is still here, that he is home, that he is gaining weight (slowly, but still gaining), that he is gaining strength and healing, that his spirits remain positive and focused on recovery. I am grateful that he reached his hospital goal of eating a normal Thanksgiving meal, and that he was able to enjoy it. Still quite a way to go, but he is moving forward. We take things one day at a time, and enjoy each day together as the gift and blessing that it is for us.

Raindrop Tips

Just a couple from the other morning, after the morning rain and when the sun actually peeked through for a minute or two. I was thrilled to get a sunflare as well as a good refraction! I was practically lying on my stomach on the sidewalk for these...not comfortable!!

same shot, angle, but wider open with the aperture.

Desperation leads to strange subjects....

I have not been able to get out to do any shooting since R got home; just too busy, and the weather hasn't been too cooperative lately, either. Even the produce in the grocery store is starting to look like interesting macro subjects! I saw this plastic wrapper on the gravel in front of the house and like the way the condensation had formed inside it. So, why not take a shot? At least I am using my camera.

On the Way Back!!

R has been home from the hospital for just over 2 weeks, and is getting his strength back. He has gained 8 pounds...still has about 25 or so to go, but he is moving forward. He has more stamina and is walking now without a walker, doing the stairs well, and has even tried out the treadmill, although on the lowest, slowest setting. Today it was so gorgeous outside that we went out and he walked to the end of the driveway and back 3 times, then sat in the sun for a bit. Just to get outside, breath some fresh air, and feel the sun was a big treat! He is eating just about everything (other than rich, greasy, spicy, fatty) and some of it even sticks...at least it reminds his gut what it is supposed to be doing. The big treat is that he gets to eat things he hasn't been able to eat in years; his new espohagus is working beautifully. It's a long road, but we are moving down it slowly and carefully, and we are both very cautiously optomistic about the long run. Of course, some things we won't know until after the next surgery, but so far we are encouraged.

Anyway, it is nice to have him home, nice to have him cracking jokes and watching TV, nice to have him rooting for BYU, and just nice to HAVE him!!!!

Tropical Surprise

When we went to Hawaii this year, I discovered proteas, and promptly fell in love with their bizarre structure and look. They don't look like flowers; they almost look like something that God asked the architectural committee to design. See blog link for protea I found in Hawaii: http://frenchfotos.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-love-flowers-in-hawaii-so-many.html

But I found THIS at our local grocery store!!! Imagine my glee!! I bit the bullet and bought it so I could bring it home, photograph it, marvel over it, and enjoy it. A single bloom costs almost as much as a small bouquet, but these last a long time, and as far as I am concerned, it was worth every penny. I grin like an idiot every time I see it sitting under the light on the kitchen table. It looks like birthday candles and fuzzy angora yarn and fancy ribbon, all combined together. How can anyone NOT be happy to see something this unique?

Unwelcome Visitors

This was the view out the living room window this morning--my few remaining dahlias being snacked on by this stupid cow elk. Took this from the LR window--I would've tried the downstairs bedroom window, but she was almost too close to use that window. She brought some friends. These little calves are cute, but I sure wish they'd wander somewhere else!!
They finally wandered over to Frank-Next-Door, but 20 minutes later about 15 of them paraded back through the yard. By then I was so disgusted that the only thing I wanted to shoot them with was a gun!!

Rain, rain....

Lots of rain in the last couple of days--somewhere between 6 1/2" amd 8 1/2" total, depending on where you get your info. The rivers are swollen and people are scrambling with sandbags, but it's dry today and the water is starting to go down. This is the bend near our house; it is usually at least 4' lower than this, and considerably narrower.
And the Falls....ah, the Falls! I just LOVE it when we have lots of rain and the Falls are full and tumultuous. The mist was so heavy today that it was like being in the middle of a rain storm. I was only able to grab a couple of shots before I was soaked, and didn't want my camera suffering the same fate.

It's all in the details

I love the incredible amount of detail that an individual leaf can exhibit in the fall. Each one becomes a work of art, and a masterpiece lost underfoot unless you are on the lookout for the treasures beneath your feet...

Out-of-Season Beauty

Thanks to Deb for the lovely out-0f-season surprise, and the beauty that unfolded for me!!