Surprise!

I was so intent on checking out the drops and refraction I didn't even notice all the other little visitors until I opened up the photo on the computer.  I consider them a bonus!

Yellow

The broom is blooming.  It has lovely yellow blossoms, but it is a highly invasive pestiferous weed/shrub, very hard to get rid of.  And, if you have allergies, it makes springtime miserable.  However, on wet grey days like we have here, all that yellow spread along the sides of the roads, through open areas, and up hillsides looks like sunshine.  Even in the rain....especially in the rain.

Buzzy Day

Last week we had beautiful warm sunny weather...this week not so much.  But, the bumblebees were out in full force, taking advantage of the warm weather to mine the blooms.  This guy was so huge---and he was after the blooms on a ground cover that are very small and delicate...

...in fact, he was so big and so heavy that the minute he landed on this flower it started to sag and droop.  I love the way he is hanging on for dear life with those front legs, and seems to be sitting on the flower below.  Might as well be comfortable while at work, I guess!

Just breathe

It smells like spring around here.  I actually had about 4 blooms on my lilac this year that the deer/elk/horned pests have not eaten.  I have to admit I hyperventilated while shooting these, just because I could!

 And speaking of hyperventilating--my lily of the valley is blooming, and my house smells glorious.  I have a small bouquet that I move around--kitchen table, by the computer, next to the bed---and the lovely scent of these takes me back to my childhood.  We had a large stand of blue spruce in our backyard along the fence--they were very tall, and under them grew lilies of the valley.  I can remember going in to my little "fort" under the trees and being surrounded by all the magical white bells that smelled so good.  So, for me that scent not only means spring, it means childhood. 

In a Drop

Sometimes it is tricky to get a good refraction in a drop.  So much depends on the shape of the drop...but I love seeing the Japanese maple leaves in the drop, so went with it, even with the distortion.

Balanced

It was rainy last week.  Might as well take advantage of it.  The newly-emerging host capture the raindrops so perfectly!

It amazes me that the drops can cling to the vertical sides of the leaves....

The drops seems like little miniature magic windows, with unexpected views.  They are so easy to overlook, yet filled with such surprises.  (Of course, to see these involves getting into the most interesting positions...my neighbors are convinced I am either crazy or doing some wierd form of camera-yoga, but then, they haven't seen what I have!)

Curly

I love new ferns....the tight little curls that whirl into themselves.  I feel so lucky to live where I have ferns practically underfoot, and where they spontaneously grow in my yard.

calla-licious

Sure do love the curves of a calla lily!

Looks like Spring!

My hearts bleed....

Is there anything quite as graceful as the arch of a stem of bleeding hearts?  Sure wish these were in my garden.  I tried to grow them; the deer and elk left me thank-you notes for the sweet treats. 

Just Dandy

I love this time of year when dandelions explode into delicate puffs of seed heads.  I like finding the few "tiny dancers" left perched atop the dandelion stem, waving in the breeze.  So glad I had my little p&s with me when I passed this field full of possibilities!

Blue Redux

How about that?  Non-botanical blues!

Something Blue

The color challenge last month at Peas was Blue.  I never got around to entering it, but that didn't stop me from seeing lots of blue around here...  my favorite color, in all shades!

In the Pink

I am not a Pink Girl.  Never have been, never will be.  (My DD, on the other hand, is a Pink Girl to the core, and she ROCKS it!)  About the only place I can handle pink is in nature---which does that color so well.  It's funny--for someone who doesn't like pink, a lot of the plants in my garden are pink.  Huh.

The camellias at the temple are blooming, and look wonderful freshly washed with rain.

 And I just couldn't resist this screaming chartreuse and fuschia azalea.  I don't think I'd ever put those colors together, but boy, does that combo ever work here!!  I love spring!  (I am so glad I get a little P&S in my purse for when I stumble upon things like this.)