Flower Friday: Percolator Edition

Still not over my surprising peony success. So here's a repeat post of that beautiful flower, which has now been joined by many others.

I really love that picture, so it was time to fool around with it in Percolator. I used a texture setting on this one, so it looks even more like fabric to my eye.

There are a lot of adjustments to make within the Percolator app, it's very fun to play with.

I think the first version would make the best quilt design, but this one would be a close second.
 

July Joy

Happy July! It's summer in full swing around here. This monthly marker is a combination of the following two photos.

A detail of the quilting on my most recent finish.

And my ever-so-slightly singed by the heat gardenia.

My One Second Everyday (1SE) for the video is here:
 

Flower Fri-yay!

 I woke up today thinking it was Saturday for some reason, so I'm all discombobulated. So how about a Flower Friday? These are my favorite flower pictures from the last few months.

This tulip keeps re-blooming every year, it's a little shorter each time, but it's still beautiful.

I was surprised how early the calendula bloomed this year.

Oh Magnolia! I planted this tree on a whim years ago and I'm so glad. 

I'm ready to move in, sometimes I wish I was insect size because isn't this inviting? 

This tulip hung around even through the rain a few weeks ago, very long lasting.

This color is very very hard to photograph, the red content in the magenta color is too much. Geraniums forever.

This is one of the local wildflowers that grows on our street, Pacific Hound's Tongue.

I've had this hyacinth for more than 15 years, it's never been replanted or moved, and it's getting weird. This year the stems were a little floppy, maybe the blooms were too big? I'm glad it's still blooming.

Not a flower obviously, but the surviving rhubarb is doing well.

The cymbidium is gearing up for a nice bloom this year. I love how alien the flower pods look before they open up.

Grape hyacinth, the color the shape, the size and their dependability makes them a favorite.

Vacation Kaleidoscope

 Kaleidoscopic views of the Oregon Coast from our recent road trip...

Rainy Flowers

 More post-rain, momentarily-sunny spring-is-finally-sprung pictures.

 That one big drop of water turning the colors because of the reflection really caught my eye.

 Irises can hold a surprising amount of rain.

All the raindrops and their shadows just sitting on top of a tulip leaf.

 The red of the tulip caught in the raindrops surprised me when I saw this photo.  It wasn't something I saw when I was taking the picture.

Artichoke Bouquet

Yes I forgot to cook the artichokes I harvested. But they look pretty in a vase.

That purple! I wonder how long it will last?

Pre-Storm Cornucopia

Before the big storm's arrival I went outside to see if there was anything interesting to photograph.One of the remaining sedum blossoms still looking pretty.

Some mum's that have morphed over the year from very variegated to this single rich color. Self-seeding flowers usually get to grow because I am always interested to see how they change from year to year.Rexie is not amused about the big storm, he doesn't dig the rain *at all*.

Finally back inside, I did it, whee! I got the wall behind the tv/entertainment center painted all the way to the corner where our stone wall/woodstove is. This picture is of the top of the TV with one of my favorite Halloween decorations with one of the surround sound speakers behind it. The wall was green up to about the middle of this picture and oh was it ever bothering me, just this little bit of unpainted wall.

I couldn't get up the energy to move the whole shebang away from the wall so that I could paint it because it was going to be soooo involved.

Finally I just started in doing it, and roped/guilted the rest of the family into helping me move the heavy stuff after nearly dropping the television (whoops). It did take a really long time, but now we've got a wall that is all one color from end to end. And I'm no longer bugged when I'm trying to relax and tune out with tv or movies. A really great bonus is that we now have all of the electronics plugged in correctly to the stereo, that took longer than moving the stuff did! All those cords...But now, ahhh, much better.

Now to take some post-big storm photos, it was a whopper for sure, 12" of rain in 24 hours....

Snow Lilac

Just a couple weeks ago I was bundled up and walking around in the snow at Lake Tahoe. And now I'm wearing shorts and tank tops and complaining about how hot it is already this year. So I thought I'd dive into the hundreds of photos I took there, to "cool off". Looking at pictures of snow is somehow psychologically cooling. Another reminder of how strong our minds truly are.Whenever we go on a car trip I bring a piece of something from my garden to put on the dashboard. Usually rosemary since it is next to the driveway. Having the greenery and scent of home is a way to stay connected when we're out exploring. This time it was one of the zillions of lilac blooms. I could only bring one because of the powerful scent, it would have being too much. After being in the car for a few days, it looked ready for a little snow. So I left it as an offering near Fallen Leaf Lake.

Remembering the Frozen Past

It seems like forever ago, but we had a bit of a cold snap just two weeks in the past. Hard to remember when we're in the middle of the normal early summer in the middle of winter week. Outside water bowls were iced over, the deck was slippery, that type of thing, not too major compared to the rest of the country of course. But I took some pictures, because just that little bit of a temperature change below the freezing point really changes how the mundane looks.
A car window looks so thick and strong under all the ice coating it.



The dying rose gets a last chance of beauty when dusted over with frost.

Even the deck railings were more interesting looking. So furry and soft.

Looks like powdered sugar has been sprinkled over the dead ferns.

That one big drop of frozen dew really drew my eye. And I now see that the outline of the hollyhock flower is edged in white.