Pictures for Pam, Day 173: Butterfly in a Dream

(+1 inset) (please view large for more dreamy goodness!) :D

Wow, it's already May 1! How did THAT happen? It seemed like winter hung around forever, and now spring is just flying by! Every day is so beautiful and green with flowers everywhere. It's such a joy to walk up and down the driveway and enjoy watching the show. :)

April 28 was Steve's birthday and we upgraded his 30 year old mountain bike with a new one so we can take our bikes on the road with us in our RV! Although my beloved Trek Women's Specific Design bike is about 15 years old, it's in fine condition and I have no problems with it. Over my birthday (last September), Steve and I took our bikes with us on a 3-day get-away to Sunriver, Oregon (a few hours away) and got our bikes tuned up while we were there. With a normal servicing my bike is in tip-top shape but Steve's bike was in need of some major work. What better, then, to get a new bike for his birthday?! Steve spent several days researching and going to bike shops and in the end picked a Diamond Back from a private seller on Craig's List. The bike is basically unused--the owner hoped to use it for commuting to work but his back injury never healed well enough to allow riding. So Steve ended up getting $500 off for a bike with just one ride on it. Along with lots of posh extras, so it was a wonderful deal and the owner was really happy that Steve would be giving it such a good home.

That being said, we're starting to go on rides every day or so to start getting ourselves back into shape. First 3 miles…then 5 miles, and yesterday I went for my "short" 7.5 mile ride--Steve took the day off--and boy did I feel that ride when I got back to the house! Today I'm taking the day off--with my legs shaky tired yesterday I need to give them time to recuperate today. Hopefully I'll be back to doing my 17-19-mile rides again soon, and of course, now we'll be taking our bikes on our RV trips and that will give us some fun options!

Today I'm taking a break from my Upper Klamath Lake pictures to share a special image I got a few days ago. While I was tromping up and down the driveway a few days ago, I noticed a flower I've rarely seen on our property and wanted some pictures. As it usually happens, once I'm out I tend to wander around for a little bit. It's just so hard to resist taking more pictures than just the subject I was initially after! :D

So I'm cruising around here and there and suddenly--OH! A BUTTERFLY!!--I see a fluttering flower! I stop and look to see if it will land. Some manic flying around and it lands…I creep closer and…off it goes, never to be seen again. I am left hearing its cackle and loud raspberry directed at me. Story of my life. :D I keep making my way around our meadow and part of our lower forest and…OH!! ANOTHER ONE!! This one lands on a Mariposa Lily, busies itself with eating and doesn't notice me edging closer. I managed to get a bunch of pictures and then another one landed on a different flower! WOO HOO!! I ended up getting 6 crisp images of the one and two of the pair. I'm so delighted!! I'll post a couple of those in the next while.

The lucky streak didn't end yet! I saw another butterfly land on some Common Vetch buds and it was quite interested in trying to get into those flowers. Me? There's nothing to see, little flutterby, keep working those buds while I take pictures! I got 5 crisp pictures of that beauty and then 3 more when it flew to another cluster of buds nearby. YAY!!

WHAT A DELIGHT! I often have trouble getting pictures of butterflies so when I get some good fortune I am totally overjoyed. Let's hope my luck continues this season!!

My main picture has very shallow dof and a very dreamy quality that I just love. I hope you like it too--I know this sort of picture doesn't appeal to everyone! :) My inset is another crisp picture from the last group of pictures I captured!

Pam, I'm so happy to show you my successful butterfly pictures! And when I looked, I found that you'd captured a fabulous image of a similar beauty, the Eastern-tailed Blue Butterfly ! What a fine picture you got too! These are such darling little butterflies--what fun to get pictures of them to be proud of! :) I hope your day has been a good one my dear! Many *HUGGGGGGS* your way!

Explored on 5/2/19, highest placement, #1.