While on a road trip to Mount St. Helens last week, the side trails were abloom. Here is a close up of a bleeding heart (dicentra formosa). Digitally manipulated to make the heart jump out. Just because. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamans out there!
I was going to write a longer post in the series I started, about texturing quilts… but it’s a sunny day and the garden is calling me.
So instead, I am offering you a photo of Mount St. Helens last week, when the cloud cover briefly lifted and revealed the caldera and the meandering outflow in the valley below. Spectacular scenery!
On the hills below the volcano, the wildflowers were everywhere…
Here is a digitally-manipulated version of Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja), one of those abundant wildflowers below Mount St. Helens last week, in Washington. And now, back outside in the sunny Pacific Northwest…
Going through old files, remembering our Ontario cottage… This photo was taken from a canoe, on a July morning, early, when things were very quiet on the lake.
Beautiful Yellow pond-lily, growing near an island in the middle of Little Kennisis Lake.
That early morning paddle meant quiet water: no powerboats and no waterskiers. Just me and some beavers, a pair of loons, oh… and a bullfrog.
Because after my paddle around the lake, I found an impressive American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), waiting for me on the dock ladder. I didn’t disturb it, just went around to the other side.
I sigh with pleasure, when I remember that morning.
Orchids are so elegant . This is a close up of a wild orchid growing in a bog on the San Juan ridge, on Vancouver Island.
I believe it is a fragrant white rein orchid (Platanthera dilatata …hey, I checked here: E-Flora BC!)
I added some filter play, to give it a painterly look… and to camouflage – almost successfully – the fact that one of the blossoms is out of focus. I have to work on my depth of field adjustments. Learning every day.
Without further ado, here is a group of pics that tell the tale of blossoming, on my kitchen window sill.
And not only on the kitchen sill, but also in the woods around my house, and in my garden…
Spring has arrived. Finally!
Calendula (calendula officinalis), or “pot marigold”
Bay laurel in bloom (laurus nobilis)