Thinking of the ocean

During hot weather we often reminisce about cooler places, often places by water. Sitting in my work-cave, I look at these photos from Hawaii and good memories flood back into my mind. Our friend Carey is on the big island now, and both Diana and I would love to be there with her.


These are sunrise photos that were taken on 1/1/12.

One more day of Lilys

Actually, with the heat, the lilys are blooming and dying at an incredibly fast rate.  There may not be any to photograph next week! And this is the end of June, not the end of July!

At any rate, here are some of the beauties in our yard.  Many of these were introduced to us by Katy Nicolich, who publishes the blog, New Utah Gardener. Katy is an experienced and knowledgeable gardener and has a lot of great advice and tips for us.

Normally we would have one 'Primal Scream" open at a time, thereby getting to enjoy the flowers over a longer period of time. The photo below shows at least 4 open, making a wonderful but short-lived bouquet.

Lilys Rule!

Day lilys are in bloom day after day now. They rule the yard with their beauty, color, extravaganza and (sometimes) scent! Looking delicious enough to eat, they pop up and surprise us at times.
'Primal Scream"  is the name of the deep orange one and you can see why.

Stormy Weather

While Murphy and I were traveling the backroads of the Uintas we had a rain shower - complete with thunder and lightning.  The clouds and light made a wonderful backdrop for the scenery.

Someone is very happy!

Serendipitously fulfilling a goal

Murphy and I drove up to the Uintas Monday afternoon about 2pm.  As we approached the Nobletts rest stop where we usually get out and chase potguts (I use the bathroom), I saw this big bird flying at me in the distance. Since there was no traffic on the road, I stopped the car on the highway, jumped out and took these photos!  The Golden Eagle circled us once, just to check us out. She/he has a large mammal in it's claws, I cannot quite see what it is.  I have wanted to get some decent Golden photos for a long time, but usually they consist of their backs on top of a telephone pole! This was different and a rush.

June has been hot!

After our second day that hit 100, and the hotter spring that we have been having, I checked the red raspberry plants to see if they, also, were affected by this shift in temperature.  Behold a red, edible raspberry (boy was it sweet!!).
Many plants have been blooming early; we have a lot of green tomatoes on several plants already.  The last few years we waited until mid- to late July to see green tomatoes. This is an intriguing time to be alive as the physical world around us is changing and what we used to 'count on' for weather often is not there anymore.

Raptors

Hawkwatch International (hawkwatch.org) held a nice wine and cheese gathering last night to introduce their new Development Director and to let members get to know each other.  As usual, they had a number of raptors there, and I got a couple of shots.

wonderful light

I was out in the garden with my camera about 6am this morning, prowling around to find what I was looking for - light on a plant or flower.  Over the next hour I found several and want to share two with you.  I know you can easily recognize the day lily, even if it looks like a painting; but what plant is the green one?

Beaver Pond Treasures

Sunday afternoon, Murphy, Diana and I went up to the Uintas and had a picnic. While hanging around, Murph and I explored a series of beaver ponds just down from the campsite we were parked at. I was walking along the dam of one pond (and Murphy was splashing throught the water and mud) and I happened to look behind me and down - and here were these beautiful yellow violets.
There are at least two photos here - this one and then just the reflections with the slight swirl to the water. Magic awaits the adventurer!

Garden firsts for the year

Two firsts today - garden firsts for the year.  Both are lilys - the first day lily, a spider lily, and then the water lily.  Lots of yellow in both.  Summertime is rapidly approaching!
Then the color in the leaves of the canna with the early morning sun on them.  Once the sun rises a bit, the leaves are green - but they are very alive in this photo.

What a difference a year makes.

The road into the Uintas that I often take has a wonderful view looking back over the big mountains that characterize the Uintas.  I was looking back to last year's photo and was shocked to see the difference!  Last year's photo was taken on 7/11/11; this year's photo on 6/17/12.  About 11 months between them and you can vividly see the difference that the low snowpack this year made versus the record-setting year in '11.

July 11, 2011

June 17, 2012

Duck!

Out by the place where my mother lives, there is a canal that usually has water (or some gray liquid that passes for water) in it.  The mallards (and other ducks) love to play there, lots to eat and only an occasional traveler on the dike to bother them.  This one took off as I came one step closer - the colors that you can only see when the duck flies are worth the effort!

Wandering

Murphy and I went wandering at his place at Summit Park yesterday, a great hike as it was hot downtown and cool up there.  Plus a lot of dogs for him to splash in the water with!!
A few things caught my eye and here's a couple of them.  The butterfly is one of those that has beautiful purple wings when open, but when closed you can hardly see it. Great protective qualities.
The young birds are fledging now, stumbling around trying to fly; here's a Mom bringing a fly to one of her young ones (after severely scolding Murphy and I for being in the wrong place!).

C & C

Canna and crocosmia are the C & C for today. The lines and shapes and colors and hidden blurs are all very fascinating to me. Perhaps having all these flowers would be boring for some, but for me (and the bees) they are a constant source of beauty.

The whole and one of it's parts

Sometimes it is perfect to see the subject in its whole - nothing missing, like the orange canna below.  Sometimes it is perfect to see a portion of the subject (resulting in another subject) as shown in the second photo. Within the canna lily there are many different views, and many of them could be unrecognizeable as the lily.

A Wildlife Feast!

The trip to the Uintas started out auspiciously with a Sandhill crane family - I did not see the baby till I looked at the photos!! Followed by a mule deer at our next rest stop; a look back over the Uinta peaks; a pair of young elk, spotted sandpiper, yellow warbler, mountain Bluebird and spouse, a wren,  with the Red-tailed Hawk wrapping up the day.  I didn't count the potguts and chipmunks that Murphy chased!  All this in a space of 2.5 hours!

Click on this photo to really appreciate it!