Center of the Flower

It's a whole different world when you manage to get close enough to see!

Lupine Leaves

The leaves on a lupine plant are quite interesting to me. I usually love the ones that are whole and unblemished best, but these two looked so interesting!

Dandelion Drops

Lilac

Jump!

Just me enjoying the late evening :)

Tiny Drop

Even though the fireweed signals the end of summer, I still adore it. It's a beautiful plant, and I had to stop and take some photos of it after a rain we had.

Flowers

This will just be a post of random wild flowers I shot recently.

Wild Iris

Columbine

Anyone know what kind of flower this is? It was very tiny!

Forget Me Nots are Tiny!

This picture is less than amazing, but that is not why I saved it. I wanted to share a comparison in size between this fly and forget me not flowers. The fly is your typical small one, and he is as big as the blossom!

Day Lily After a Rain

Blue Poppies

I had a friend refer me to her blue poppies at her home a couple weeks ago. She explained that she had many that were in bloom this year, and I was intrigued.

I should have taken even more shots, and I really should go back if they are still in bloom the next time it rains hard.

Aren't they wonderful!?

Day Lily Drops

Our pounding rain lately has been covering the flowers amazingly.

So sparkly!

Rose Drops

Raindrops on a wild rose flower.

Water Drops

We don't have a lot of good hard rains here, but every once in a while, they result in lovely water drops for my camera's consumption!

Lupine leaf

So magical looking! People have been complaining about the rain we have had this summer, but I have been loving it. I run out when I have time before work, or after work and spend as much time as I can shooting the droplets when they are fresh!

Bleeding Hearts

I love bleeding hearts, and the gradual different sizes of the flowers.

Wild Rose

11:30 Rainbow

This is a rather poor photo, but I took this at 11:30pm. The sun was pretty much gone from the sky, but many people around town so this. I wish I had been at the beach, but it disappeared quite soon after I shot this.

---

The last two days were absolutely amazing weather wise. The past few summers have been less than great most of the time, but in the past 2 days, I have been remembering the summers of my childhood. I had begun to think I was crazy, but I got to experience them all over again. The past two days have been gloriously warm. The rest of the country is under extreme heat it seems, but it is just right here. I spent several hours reading outside, just soaking in the sunshine that I never get enough of.

I also attempted to do some work outside in it and had to stop after about 20 minutes because it was "too hot" ;) But really, these have been the days that keep me dealing with the cold of winter!

First Fireweed Bloom

July 7th, I saw this bloom. First one I have seen so far. It is still quite a bit early for this area, but since then, the blooms have been popping up a tiny more. Not ready for winter to become imminent!

Sandhill Crane

Thrown Together See Saw

C and I went out to dinner last week with a couple friends. We ended up at the beach, and immediately gravitated to walking on the driftwood logs. Seeing one on top of and perpendicular to another resulted in a makeshift see saw. Soon, we had created our own.

I stayed off of it, though a tiny part of me wanted to join in.

We spent a lot of time with this thing. It was fun to see how to get it to balance.

Yay, we are all balanced! Good, clean fun!

"Spotted" at Walmart

Terrible pun, I know. Clever use of a paint job!

---

I have been feeling increasingly worn out lately. My job's schedule fluctuates as the summer continues, so right now, I am in the worst part. I sometimes get off work after 8:30pm, and sometimes turn around to work at 9:30am. It does not leave much time to recuperate from the mental stresses.

We have also been working on our house all summer long, and I will share about that when it is closer to being finished, but suffice to say, any free time I take means something else, i.e. housework is left undone. I would much rather be shooting or reading a book over doing the dishes.

I came home from work last evening to find my husband doing work (along with my dad) outside, as it poured rain. C was drenched, and getting miserable. They finished up what they were doing and he requested hot cocoa. The rain stopped, but an hour or so later, I requested a cuddle session on the couch. It was so nice to just sit, calm down, and de-stress while discussing different things. These are the type of memories I look back on and know that I am rich in love and friendships.

I would have grabbed a cup of cocoa for myself, except by that hour, I knew it would keep me awake, so I refrained. It sure was tempting though!

I am feeling more prepared to tackle today's work day after last night's necessary calming down. Do you do anything in particular to process and then let your work day go, or to de-stress?

Buttercup Drop

Poot's Peak

Speaking of the green, the mountains across Kachemak Bay are vibrant in color as well this time of year.

Mountain Ash Blooms

Mountain Ash trees are beautiful. I love their dainty flowers!

Squirrel Portrait

Yellow Daisy

Not sure what type of flower this is, but I have been told it is a type of daisy. I love the different colors.

Anyone know? I think it is fabulous!

Hidden World 2

I was so taken with the seaweed under the water recently that I took lots of photos.

Knowing that we have really extreme tides here, I don't know what the opportunity is for cool tide pooling elsewhere, so where else in the world can you see such wonders twice a day?

I really should go tide pooling more often. It is so cool to find hidden scenes and animals.

I have fond memories of spending hours at the beach when I was younger running around in tide pools. Do you love tide pooling as well?

Bleeding Hearts Drop

Green!

A couple weeks back, I was on the beach and looked up onto the hillside and was astounded at how it had exploded with green!

I always forget how vibrant it can be here. I think it's the amount of white we have over half the year!

Isn't it beautiful?