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.)

In the middle

Celebrating the Rain

Well, not exactly celebrating it, but taking advantage of the photo ops it provides between storms...

Green and Wet

Between Drops

Huggable Trees

As I was driving through Redmond on this grey gloomy day, a flash of color caught the corner of my eye.  As I turned my head, I saw these and shrieked out loud.  (It's a good thing I drive alone.)  I was so entranced that I had to circle the block and get back to the park to see all this explosion of color.

A Seattle artist, Suzanne Tidwell, created these using a knitting machine.  The display is called "Artifical Light" and there are about 50 trees all bundled up.  She knits the "stockings" and then wraps the tree and sews the stocking shut. 

I love love whimsical things, and this was just too much fun to just drive by and not get out and appreciate.

Drip drop

We have been having fickle weather....clear, then cloudy, then rainy, then cloudy....usually in the same day.  You get the idea.  But---rain means raindrops, which is the silver lining in all those clouds.  I managed to find a few "beauties" at the nursery, since they are the only place around here that has anything blooming.

Amazing how just a shift of an inch or two affected the color in these.  Same settings, just a micro-slight difference in position.

Utah

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit my dear friend C in Utah.  It was such a thrill to get there and see blue skies, sunshine, and warm weather!  We spent our time temple-hopping and talking, eating, and enjoying BYU Creamery Ice Cream.  Pretty perfect trip!

 We passed this barn on our way up to Logan.  Early billboard...  and doesn't that backdrop just make anything look great?

 These counterseats were at the Bluebird restaurant and ice cream parlor (founded in 1914) in Logan.  We had lunch there and I loved the look of these stools.  Can't decided whether I like the pop of color or the textures in the black and white.

Who says water has to be blue?

Had some sun this morning so I went to check out the river over at the base of Mt. Si.  It is usually a lovely jade green shade, and today I wasn't disappointed!

Spring is Busting Out...down lower

Amazing what a difference a couple of hundred feet can make!  Down at the temple there are spring blooms galore.  Up where I live the crocus and snowdrops are just starting to bloom.  We are about 3 weeks behind the "flatlanders".  All the blossoms at the temple just make it even more fun to be there.

In Like a Lion

We had a lovely surprise early this week, with an unexpected snowfall.  We don't get those too often this time of year, and it was so refreshing to see snow falling rather than more rain.  It was the light fluffy snow, too, rather than the heavy wet stuff we usually get, so everything had a big fluffy coating of "down".

Couldn't resist this fence in the neighborhood...it always looks so wonderful with a snow cap.

And the riverbend just down from the neighborhood was a wonderful study in monotones--expcept for the river itself, which added just a touch of green to an otherwise austere view.

By mid-afternoon all the lovely whiteness was gone.  That's the way to have snow!!

Enjoying the Sun

I was running errands today and passed this guy sitting in a tree next to the river.  Couldn't pass up the chance, so pulled over and hopped out, clutching my little purse-sized P&S.  I am always glad to have it with me when something like this happens.  He watched me get close, take a shot, and then off he went in search of quieter surroundings.  Any day I see an eagle is a good day!

after the rain

Just couldn't resist the dew/rain drops on this weed.  Add a large ap, and it's almost magical.

 I had to hunt to find these.  My usual spots have been swallowed up in the march of progress, but I did find some pussywillows braving the weather and wet.  They were such fat soft things, and the water just beaded up on them beautifully.  Spring IS on the way!!

Walk on...

When I saw this after all our rain, these lyrics came to mind:

When you walk through a storm

Keep your chin up high

And don't be afraid of the dark.

                                                                At the end of the storm
                                                                      Is a golden sky
                                                         And the sweet silver song of a lark...

I didn't hear a lark, but the promise of sunshine was surely music to me!

Between Seasons

A long, drawn-out fall and a very mild winter (aside from our recent hammering of snow and ice, which is gone now) has meant that the sweet gum trees, which are the last to change color and lose their leaves, STILL have leaves on them.  Most of the leaves have dropped, but there are still those valiant few that hang on to instill a little bit of color in the gray drab days.

 A blue sky day meant that Mt. Si, with its fresh coat of snow, looked particularly lovely out my window
                       
 And no matter how much rain, snow, sleet, and other combos that Mother Nature conspires to throw at us, Hope is still there, as evidenced by these daffodils, rising up through the fallen debris of autumn and getting ready to bloom.  Granted, these are about 250' lower in elevation than where I live, and it amazes me how much of a jump on the season that gives the "lowlanders".  Their pussywillows are out, too, where as up here the catkins are still tucked tight into their little winter beds.  Soon, though.