A Sunny Sunflower Day

My back door is open....now that may not seem like a big deal, but what it really means is that the heat has dissipated (for now anyway) and the humidity has lowered.  And I even snuck in a nap on the back porch this afternoon.  I do believe the heat is returning by Monday, but while it's gone I am relishing in the freshness of an open door with breezes blowing.

This morning, prior to Catherine picking me up to go sunflower hunting and to check out the DuPage County Fair, I sat on the backporch, enjoying my coffee....

About 7:45 AM Catherine and I headed down to Wilmington, IL to find the sunflower fields.  Never knew these existed around here, but after driving awhile (actually a long while) we found them.  Unfortunately they were behind a locked NO TRESPASSING fence and many of them were pretty droopy, which I am sure was due to the lack of rain and all the heat.  We did the best we could behind the fence snapping away and marveling at the fact that there really is a field of sunflowers right here in Illinois.

Heading back, the sky began to clear (it had looked like rain earlier) and off we went to the fair.  Great day to go, not too crowded and seniors (which I am) got in FREE.  There are definitely some advantages to being old...the ticket lady actually asked to see my driver's license which is always a day brightener.  Shortly after arriving I spotted this little girl with her sunflower hat on.  I asked her Mom if I could take her picture and she said..."sure"...what a charmer.

If I had my life to live over again, I just might want to become a child photographer.  I so enjoy capturing the naturalness of children.  It was a good day, filled with sunshine and sunflowers.  More pics of the fair later...rides and food and pigs and cows and goats and chickens...fun day.  Thus the nap on the back porch, I was exhausted.  Hope your day was filled with sunshine....

"Friends feed each other's spirits and dreams and hopes; they feed each other with the things a soul needs to live."  ~  Glen Harrington-Hall


Please hop on over to my collaborative blog, Focusing on Life, and read my post on "other ways to express your love."

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Until next time....

Looking for a Rainbow

It is blazing hot and I am heading out for a Perennial Garden Fest...I'm I nuts??  I didn't even go to our weekly band concert last night because of the heat.  We received a little rain (and I do mean little), just enough to really steam things up so I opted to stay at home in the AC.  But before I settled in for a cool night at home, I went out with my camera and took a few after the rain photos.  Hopefully later I will have bunches of new pics of gorgeous floral displays.  This garden center really does things up beautifully for this Fest.  Keeping fingers crossed everything is still nicely displayed after this awful heat and winds we have had.

I actually went outside looking for a rainbow because the sun began to peek out before the rain stopped.  I didn't find a rainbow, but I sure found lots of pretty raindrop bokeh.  This is the driveway that was just sparkling...

And the cone flower, I could photograph these beauties over and over and over again, especially when they are surrounded by rain bokeh...!!  Linking up to LeAnne's Flower Art Friday and Shoot Edit Submit.

And finally a little hydrangea bush that has the absolute whitest blooms, I think they are supposed to be pink, but they are truly pristine white.

Enjoy the end of the week, 4th of July celebrations start this weekend around here.  And I am off this evening to enjoy a Family Fest with my sweetie along with my daughter and one granddaughter joining us.

And....please hop on over to my collaborative blog, Focusing On Life where I am getting creative.

And in honor of a very talented lady, Nora Ephron, I end this post with one of her quotes....
“When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.”    —I Feel Bad About My Neck


Until next time....

Come Take a Walk With Me

Yesterday our local Garden Center held their annual Art in the Garden celebration with gardening talks, artists selling wares, a jazz trio playing beautiful music, and ofcourse beautiful garden flowers.  I took my camera (no surprise there) and snapped away.  So walk with me as I strolled soaking in all the beauty of summer that surrounded me.

Cone Flower in pretty pinks & greens.....

Fields of Daisies...

Hibiscus....

Lovely dahlias....

A Japanese Maple in front of a water feature...

Roses....oh glorious roses...

Not sure what this is, growing in the water so must be some kind of pond flower....

And one more cone flower...love this one with it's orange droopy petals.  

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and

"Gardening and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes."

                                                                                                               ~ Clare Ansberry

Until next time......

Focus

Kim Klassen in her class Beyond Layers has been given us word prompts every day this week and every day I have given thought to each one but haven't taken action on any of the words except one.  This one...

Our prompt for today is focus.  Sometimes I have a lot of trouble focusing on what I should be, tending to focus on other things ie should be focused on the road while driving but too busy looking at what is around me.  Everytime I drive out to see my sweetie, my focus is first on him and how he is doing, and then after our visit my focus tends to shift to the world around me. The countryside and it's beauty.  I have been to the mountains, I have been to the oceans, and I have been to the desert this year, all delightful and beautiful places, but I still get a very satisfying and peaceful feeling driving the backroads of the midwest.  Seeing the newly plowed and planted fields of corn, the horses in the fields enjoying the fresh new grasses, an old lawn chair ready for sittin'...focusing on these visions brings me added peacefulness.

I hope you are able to focus on the weekend a head.  Enjoy it to the last minute....!!

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
       ~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until next time.....

Five Senses Friday ~ The May 25th, 2012 Edition

I have been negligent on posting Five Senses Fridays for a few weeks...too much going on I guess.  But today I am focusing on our lovely senses....the ones that are almost on overload right now with all the blooms and fragrances coming our way.  It is full-out summer time here with all the swimming pools set to open this weekend, and the temps predicted to be in the 90's for the holiday.  The blooms are bursting everywhere you look.....

Many pots have been planted and placed in the gardens...

Just gives a little more color in the garden that is mostly hostas because of all the shade...

Front porch..front and center

 

The smells are outstanding on a few of the flowers....but with all the hybridizing, in attempts to make a better plant, we have lost the aromas of old-fashioned roses.  These still have a wonderful aroma.

The Columbine's are almost spent....Linking up to LeAnne's Flower Art Friday and Shoot, Edit, Submit.....

These also have a nice aroma....they are just a ground cover that is blooming right now, but I like it's delicacy.....and smell.  

I am taking a B&W class with Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes....I converted this to b&w for class today leaving just a tad of color ....

As I sat down to read the paper and drink that first cup of coffee this morning, this sweet thing was napping on the fence.  The black birds kept buzzing his head, agitating him to the point that he started his squawking at me....like I had anything to do with it(?)  The only thing I did was take his picture while he was ranting....!!

Today tasting was all about getting ready for the holiday ahead....I got right in the mood by fixing (compliments of Jack Daniels) barbeque pulled chicken.  Oh yum...and some new potato chips with Tomato and Basil.  They are good for you, right? with tomatoes and basil, have to be.

And finally, right now I FEEL like just relaxing and snoozin' briefly after a full morning and a full lunch...

Hope your weekend is FULL to the brim with all good things.  Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all my friends from the USA!!

"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it."
                                                                                                   ~  Philip Dormer Stanhope

Until next time.....