Even though the focus is a little softer than I’d like, this image of pink cyclamens from a recent Garden Club district meeting flower show pleases me. It’s funny how challenging it can be to photograph something that is so beautiful, graceful and perfect in person, so full of life and freshness, and make it convey even a small amount of that liveliness. You’d think the camera would just record it, but no. Such is the challenge of a person who loves to take photos of flowers.

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I need to see some flowers blooming, so a trip to the archives from June 2007 is just the thing. Double Delight might be my favorite rose. It’s sturdy, available in nurseries everywhere, and supremely fragrant. Let us gaze on this image of summertime! It will get here, we know. And for you “down under” folks, hope you are enjoying your time in the sun.

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This ceiling was in a strip mall Chinese restaurant in Northern California, in Santa Rosa. The food was quite nice, but I think the ceiling was really memorable. It seemed like a stage set, or somehow underwater like jellyfish. My hat is off to the people who dreamed this one up and set it up.

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We have a “tree” (standard) bougainvillea in a pot that we put on the sunny patio in the summer and bring inside when it gets cool. It’s very sensitive and usually loses all its leaves in protest when it is moved, in or out. This year it forgave us, as I babied it as much as possible. And lo! a flower! They are much pinker in July, but I’ll take it.

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More brilliant magenta pink/red springtime azalea flowers for you from May while I deal with the grayness outside. It’s interesting how a review of photos I took several months ago shows me that my ideas on what makes a good photo sometimes changes. This one I had tagged with one star (Worth Keeping). But now I compare it with other azalea photos taken that day and I like this one better than the others I tagged with more stars. It teaches me to look at what I preferred then but to take another look at what I set aside. You never know.

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Yes, it is raining outside, but no foxgloves are now in the yard. Wait six months and there they’ll be! I really like the way the raindrops hang from the edge of the flower, and I hope you do, too.

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Happy New Year to all. I wish you, my loyal readers, all the happiness and love your heart can hold, in 2012 and always. And I wish you the joy of creativity! When an artist contemplates his or her work, it is one of the moments of true happiness that we have in this life. The world of the internet has brought people together in ways we never could have imagined. I am thankful every day for this blog (and my computer) which connects me to so many. Thank you for viewing my photos, and especially thank you to those who have taken the time to leave thoughtful, interesting comments. Much appreciated!

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A beam of sunshine, a couple of blooming houseplants, and a close up lens. Ah!

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My daughter Lila is travelling in S.E. Asia for a few months (lucky!!) and has been sending updates and photos to friends and family, courtesy of the internet, of course. The days of a postcard arriving months later are over, or at least are supplemented by more timely stories and images. This view of a river and the sky was taken in a small Cambodian village where she got to stay with a local family overnight.

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There’s a family not too far from me that really goes all out in holiday decor. The years that this address makes it into the newspaper holiday light guides the cars are double-parked outside, but this year no one called it in, so we were able to enjoy it in peace, you might say. See Santa waving? This is only a small part of the display. I love  over-the-top shows like this, don’t you?

A very merry Christmas and holiday celebrations of all kinds to you.

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In honor of tonight’s Solstice, I am featuring a photo taken on the other Solstice, the first day of summer in June. Please enjoy these pink peonies from my garden. In just a few hours, the sun dips to its lowest point in the northern hemisphere, and then begins its stately progress towards more light. We are ready.

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Driving across the 520 bridge towards Seattle the other day, I was wowed by this sunset setting up. I so wished I could pull over and wait for the pink clouds that I knew were to follow. This slice of sunlight is pretty cool, though, even though the photo quality is low. A fitting post for the Solstice, almost here. The sun will return!

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