Janet Brien's photos

(+5 insets!) (please view large!) I awoke with a start, my eyes darting around the darkened bedroom. Outside, the wind battered against the house, shaking the windows and rattling the walls. Last night I'd noticed that a big storm was forecast for today and it was letting me know that it had arrived. Pumpkin peeped at me for reassurance from her warm fleece tent hanging in her cage. We cheebied and whistled back and forth in our affectionate contact calls. Then I softly whispered, "I love you, little Chicken" to let her know all was well. It was only 6:00am and far too early to get up so I snuggled back under the covers until 6:45. I'd been able to adjust for daylight savings time and was back to my normal "up with the birds" timing..how nice! Dawn was just beginning to lighten the skies when Pumpkin and I popped into the shower with our usual commentary of darling whistles and chirps back and forth. Pumpkin ruffled her feathers in the warm, humid air of the shower and cleaned her feathers inbetween our melodic commentary. Molly greeted us with a wag and a sniff when we got downstairs and soon all of us were provided for…food ready for Pumpkin and Molly, coffee down the hatch for me. Pumpkin stepped off my finger and into her day cage with eagerness, immediately diving into her breakfast and looking outside as the day brightened. I left with an affectionate "I love you, sweetheart! Enjoy your breakfast!" with a muffled whistle in reply. Her beak was buried in her food bowl, the little doll! :) Intermittent raindrops hit me sideways as I walked up and down our driveway. I love to be out in weather like this because it's so raw and wild. How often do you brave this kind of stormy condition? I'm going to bet it's not common unless you must--I used to refuse! But the very reason we don't want to be out is exactly why it's so cool to be immersed in crazy weather. It makes you feel alive and a part of where you live. It's a chance to experience just a touch of Mother Nature's power and life force. The birds carried on as usual, twittering in the trees and flying about. On my first lap down to the gate I disturbed a pair of mallards who'd had a sleepover at our pond. Soon I heard the characteristic whistling sound of their wings as they took off and flew away--they are much too nervous to hang around even though I pose no threat. Good. The next person or creature might and it's best to assume we're all bad. :) I finished my walk just as large drops began to fall. Nice timing! What a great way to start the day, energized and full of vim and vigor! Ok class…can you tell me what day it is? WHY YES! It's Macro Monday!! And today's theme was another one that was seemingly hand-picked for me…ballpoint pens! You may not know this about me, but we have a small wood lathe and I learned how to use it! With this awesome machine I have created--or "turned"--dozens of pens. Both Steve and I are huge fans of exotic wood and when our attention is directed there, we love to make pretty things with our wonderful treasure trove of wood. If you're interested, I have an album of my pens that you may visit if you like which show the majority of the pens I've turned: My Pens Today's Macro Monday challenge was a lot of fun for me because I got to do some artistic photography with them. My main image is a close-up of a pen tip from one of my creations, with lots of others scattered around to create some cool bokeh. The light is shining in from outside and reflecting on the glass table the pens are on. Groovy. :D I've also included some other pictures as insets, I hope you enjoy the presentation! Pam, I know that you don't turn wood but your creativity shows no bounds. As I've said in the past, your collages are masterful things and a wonder for me to peruse and appreciate. Today I've picked out your September 19th Garden Collection Collage to remark upon and what a stunning collection it is! Although it doesn't illustrate the incredible artistic layering and delicate blending of elements as some of your other creations, I saw this first and simply must choose it. What a glorious collection of insect, bird and flower images. Wonderful to see at normal size, by enlarging on black, every picture's pretty details and lovely colors can be appreciated and enjoyed. What a fantastic display of the life where you live, Pam! Thank you so much for sharing your talents with us! I hope that today treats you well! *BIG HUGS from southern Oregon*! :D (+4 insets) (please view large!) :) It may be springtime but that doesn't mean the end of freezing cold mornings. I popped out of bed today with a resounding "BRRRRR!!!" I'd set my space heater too low since it's been a lot warmer lately--turning it up was the first thing I did. Cold inside meant it was REALLY cold outside. With all the windows (even double-paned), my bedroom gives a very good indication of the temperature, cold or hot. The thermometer read just 33 degrees but I know it had been colder because frost was melting and dripping from the eaves. I found patches of frost on my walk too and on the gate I admired lovely frozen droplets before the sun made them go away. Since it started off so cold I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share some frosty pictures! My main picture shows our front gate with frosty frozen droplets. I got this image on a particularly cold day and the frost was just incredible! I'm also including some other frozen droplet pictures for you to see! :) Pam, I had fun looking through your frosty images and ended up picking your Birdbath Ice Flower which is a perfect name! The lovely formations are such a joy to look at up close and personal. So cool. I hope your day was warmer than ours, 60 degrees isn't very cold but it was too chilly to be outside without a jacket! *MANY HUGS*!!! Explored on 3/26/19, highest placement, #5.

(+4 insets) (please view large!) :) It may be springtime but that doesn't mean the end of freezing cold mornings. I popped out of bed today with a resounding "BRRRRR!!!" I'd set my space heater too low since it's been a lot warmer lately--turning it up was the first thing I did. Cold inside meant it was REALLY cold outside. With all the windows (even double-paned), my bedroom gives a very good indication of the temperature, cold or hot. The thermometer read just 33 degrees but I know it had been colder because frost was melting and dripping from the eaves. I found patches of frost on my walk too and on the gate I admired lovely frozen droplets before the sun made them go away. Since it started off so cold I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share some frosty pictures! My main picture shows our front gate with frosty frozen droplets. I got this image on a particularly cold day and the frost was just incredible! I'm also including some other frozen droplet pictures for you to see! :) Pam, I had fun looking through your frosty images and ended up picking your Birdbath Ice Flower which is a perfect name! The lovely formations are such a joy to look at up close and personal. So cool. I hope your day was warmer than ours, 60 degrees isn't very cold but it was too chilly to be outside without a jacket! *MANY HUGS*!!! Explored on 3/25/19, highest placement, #6.

(+10 insets!) (please view large) :D I woke up to a very wet day but happily it wasn't raining when I went out on my walk. It's such fun to be outside in the springtime because the birds are so busy! It seems like every tree is a-twitter with birdies, and though I cannot see any nests, I'm sure they are there, hidden in the branches. I was delighted to discover exactly where a pair of nuthatches have theirs--it's in a hollowed spot of trunk near the top of an oak tree just off the road. I saw them leave as a pair and could see where they came from! What fun! By the way, if you've been keeping up with my bird sightings at the feeders, we've got new species showing up! Finally the lovely Lesser Goldfinches have found the feeders and we're seeing groups of up to 6 visiting! Yesterday I saw a mourning dove moving around under the feeders and when I turned away, Steve laughed out loud and said, "Another mourning dove flew in and crash-landed on the first one…RUDE!" :D I'll show these new bird species as insets below my main presentation. Today is SATURDAY SELF CHALLENGE!! YES!! *pumps fist in the air* The theme seems to be made exactly for me: "Close Up In Color". OK, I think I can do that! :D Happily, Wednesday was the first day of spring and I went on a photo safari around our property looking for all of the flowers which were in bloom. I managed to find several few new ones and I got some pictures of saxifrage too. (This is a flower I've mentioned but haven't shown any pictures until now.) It's a fairly plain flower but I'm delighted to say that I got some very nice images to share. I also got a much better picture of a flower I'd photographed in the past called Hairy Bittercress. My main image is a tiny hoverfly (.3"/8.46mm) sitting in a sea of bokeh with just its face in sharp focus. It landed on a stem right next to me as I was photographing a buttercup and wasn't bothered by me at all. This allowed me to take many dozen pictures in various apertures and different angles. In fact, I was the one that left, not him! The thing that sets this little guy apart are those incredible iridescent wings! Aren't they amazing?! This picture is magical to me because the bokeh turned the colors of its wings into fairy dust! You will find two more angles of this hoverfly as insets but I'm also presenting most of the subjects I photographed on the first day of spring. What fun it was to process them all. It was extremely satisfying to add some better pictures of species I've photographed before. I am not much of a fan of either Saxifrage or Hairy Bittercress but I actually got some attractive images of them--not easy to do, let me tell you! :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy the show! (I actually had to trim down the number of pictures…far too many so I'll post another set in a few days along with pictures of new flowers I've found since!) :) Pam, it was easy to know what to search for and I went in figuring there would be plenty of choices--hoverflies are pretty brave little guys and make fantastic subjects because they often just sit there, asking, "Do I look more beautiful from the left, or perhaps from the right? Oh? You'd like an image of me hovering? Why of course, here you go!" :D I picked your beautiful Hoverfly on Bradford Pear Blossom image… what a stunner. The blossoms are right out of Cinderella and that hoverfly is the perfect model! :) I hope you have had a good day my dear!! *BIG HUGS TO YOU*!!!! Explored on 3/24/19, highest placement, #1.

(+2 insets!) One of the things about our spring weather patterns is that it can be beautiful one day and pouring cats and dogs the next. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day dappled with huge armies of puffy clouds. Today, however, it started off with a small glimpse of sun which was soon covered by a bank of brooding clouds which moved in and covered the sky with shades of grey. Though it seemed that it would pour all day, it's merely been threatening. I thought I'd urge the issue by walking down to the gate to get the mail. That did the trick! By the time I got to the mail box the first drops began to fall and I hot-tailed it up to the house with my three pieces of junk mail. Into the trash with you! Since it's wet, cold, and pretty unpleasant outside, I thought I some droplet-covered blackberry leaves would be a good choice for today. It's interesting to me how beautiful some blackberry leaves are as they die--as pretty as autumn's leafy butterflies! I have an additional image of blackberry leaves as an inset as well as an picture of an oak and manzanita leaf laying on some moss which turned out nicely! Pam, it was a fun task to look up "droplet" on your stream…oh the choices! :D I ended up picking your image of acacia leaves drizzled with needed rain ! So pretty. I think those leaves are so elegant and even prettier with droplets on them! I hope that you are having a good day! *BIG HUGGGGZZZZ* from southern Oregon! :)

(+10 insets!) The days are more and more lovely with blue skies dotted with clouds and warm sunshine that greets me every morning. The explosion of greenery is a wonder to behold and the flowers are popping up everywhere. The transformation is such a wonderful sight. As much as I love the glory of autumn's incredible show, there isn't any way to compete with spring. What a special time. With springtime comes more and more birdies! Our property is home to many species and they really get busy when breeding season arrives. We've recently filled our three bird feeders to give them an easy supply to care for their babies and every day they get more popular. About two weeks ago I made my own suet cakes using the bacon and sausage grease we'd been saving in containers and it's been such fun to see the birds gobbling them up. It is a favorite pastime now to look out the back window to see who's at the feeders. Such personalities they have! Acorn Woodpeckers zoom in singly but sometimes in twos and threes and assume a very defiant, "YOU TALKIN' TO ME?!" attitude. They squawk and posture, letting everyone know they are in charge! Oregon Juncos usually fly in as a small flock of 5-10 and we call them "The Crew". They are equally happy to eat from the feeders or bounce around on the ground picking up fallen goodies. Fairly shy, they will fly away if challenged any other birds. We adore these smartly-attired cutie pies and love to hear their darling twitters. The tiny "Skateboard Punks" are a favorite too, darling mouse-grey Pewees. With adorable triangular wedges of feathers which stick up on top of their heads, they are similar enough to tiny mohawks that we gave them a fitting nickname. Hopelessly cute, they fly in, grab a sunflower seed and disappear. A moment later, it will return for another one! Back and forth, what a fun sighting! If the coast is clear they will grab a sunflower seed, place it between their feet and stand on it. Then they'll hammer away at the seed, gobble the treat within and repeat the process until they're sufficiently full or scared off by another bird. There are many other visitors too--California and Spotted Towees, Scrub and Steller's Jays, Lark Sparrows and just yesterday we began seeing White-Breasted Nuthatches and a Starling too! There should be a number of others as time goes on. We are quite surprised that we haven't seen any finches yet because they were always a common sight at our feeders. Hopefully they will catch wind of the tasty goodies and come to visit! Since today is when I post my Happy Fence Friday picture I'm sharing an image that I photographed through fencing on our back deck and shows an adorable pewee (with its fancy hair lowered) enjoying some suet! You will find insets that show all the different birds that we've seen at our feeders so far this year. (Archive images :) Pam, it was great fun to look for just the right birdy picture to talk about! After much deliberation the prize today goes to your awesome Easter Phoebe Collage , which is just perfect for this wonderful springtime mood! What a grand collection of fantastic pictures that showcase the journey of egg to fledging of these cutie pies. What a show. I loved it!! I hope you are doing well today on this lovely SPRING day!! :) Explored on 3/22/19, highest placement, #4.

(+10 insets!) Welcome to the first day of spring!! I cannot tell you how happy I am to have reached this wonderful day! I know that some of you are still waiting impatiently for spring to arrive where you live --> Ron Hanko is one who would like winter to please be on its way! I know there are many others who are frustrated by the cold and storms that don't want to leave. On the opposite side, spring arrived early for many and some didn't even get a proper winter. What a strange year for weather it's been. I've mentioned that we are about a month behind our normal spring schedule, and this seems very accurate. I went out today to wander around on our property and see how things were progressing. I found a bunch of new species to add to the list but a bunch of the flowers that should be in bloom are nowhere to be found. Hopefully when these flowers eventually bloom they will be properly pollenated. I ended up spending at least an hour looking around for flowers and I didn't actually look everywhere. We are so very fortunate to have 26 acres and a chunk of it is on a very steep hillside. Another part is in dark forest on the opposite edge from where I was. It can take quite a bit of time to walk from one side to the other when looking carefully for flowers along the way. However, I do know this place from living here for over 10 years. I am sure I've missed dozens of flower species but I'm familiar with what grows where so I felt pretty comfortable with my choice to come in after an hour. Definitely a balancing act to stop before you get burned out, and also, I needed time to work on my pictures and write my post! :) Today's image is a buttercup, and to me, it signifies spring perfectly! Bright and shining gold with lovely petals and such a joyful appearance. They can be a challenging flower to photograph because of their shiny petals. In direct sunlight, the shiny spots will blow out without artificial measures. But if a flower is photographed from below or behind, what you get is something very special…a magical view of what this lovely flower sees as it looks out upon its tiny world. :) I have to mention that I nearly went right back inside when I stepped out today. Though it was bright and sunny, the wind was gusting relentlessly. Looking over at the gorgeous daffodils waving around like dancing machines made me laugh. Pictures indeed…HAH! I didn't bother but I also thought that even if I didn't get a single photo today, it would be fun to see what was blooming on the first day of spring! I had an absolutely blissful time crossing our meadow and discovering buttercups. They were protected from the wind by bushes and yet were still in the sun. I was so happy. Then I found a gorgeous little hoverfly species with irridescent wings which hung around long enough for me to take dozens of pictures! YAY! From there I wandered here and there, discovering newly blooming species and feeling very connected to our land. It is so peaceful out there feeling as one with nature. What a gift. I am forever grateful that we live in such a pretty place with so many treasures to take pictures of. :) I didn't have time to process more than one picture today so I'll be sharing lots of neat images when I can…I haven't even had the time to look at the majority of them…to be honest, this was the very first subject I photographed and the fourth image of it! How's that for luck! :) Since I don't have other pictures from today I've added insets of some other buttercups I've photographed in the past. HOORAY FOR SPRING!! IT IS FINALLY HERE!!! HUZZAH!!! HUZZAH!!! HUZZAHH!! Pam, I did a search for buttercup and was totally amazed that you have exactly ZERO on your stream! Do you not get buttercups? I thought they were everywhere! But of course that's silly…so maybe you don't! Instead I found a wonderful image of a False Sunny from behind ! It's just beautiful and I'm so glad that you shared it for all of us to enjoy! I sure do hope that this wonderful day treated you well my dear! :) Explored on 3/21/19, highest placement, #1.

(+ 8 insets!) If you would like to see all of my Nice, France pictures, please visit my Provence, France 2018 album! :) Looking at some of the amazing photography here on ipernity, I am very often inspired this way or that. Sometimes I see pictures that make me want to run outside and go crazy with images of droplets, flowers, insects. Other times I want to work on my indoor shots. But I keep running into fabulous pictures of European settings of all sorts that have me jumping up and down (this makes sense, most of you live there! :D). So I think it's time for another presentation on our Provence, France trip! I sure have been learning a lot about pictures that seem like they are garbage but aren't. Like I said in my last France post, I got plenty of blurry pictures because of how I was doing most of my street photography. (Camera at my hip, tilted up to people coming my way, unobtrusively photographed) I cannot get over how the use of an appropriate filter can turn junk into an intriguing image! (Well, to me anyway!) For someone who values crisp focus on a subject, it's amazing how good an originally blurry picture can look given the right treatment. That's not to say that all of my pictures turned out blurry! But to me, saved garbage images which capture my attention and are worthy of sharing are totally fascinating to me. Today's main picture (without a blurry subject! :D) was a beautiful flower I found in a planter outside the produce market we visited. What a surprise to find that awesome bokeh when I took a look on the computer! The rest of the pictures are pictures of people…you will see a whole lot of filter work on these images which has turned most of them into artistic works but hopefully you'll find them fun and interesting to look at. I would be interested to know what you think! About these pictures: PiP #1: Steve and I couldn't believe how common "Segue"-style uni-wheel scooters are! They are everywhere! This picture is one I just love because it looks like something out of a graphic novel. PiP #2: I nearly deleted this pictures before I realized…wait!! He's a street drunk, this blurry picture will be perfect with the right treatment…well what do you know?! Did it work out for you? PiP #3: I loved this pair waiting for the bus…so different and so photogenic. I think the treatment makes this look like a cool stamp! PiP #4: Can you say "Jaundiced Stare"? LOL…I think she saw me taking her picture, what do you think? I couldn't help myself, isn't she amazing?! I'm just glad she didn't kill me! :D PiP #5: I call this one "Trekkin' Granny"! Isn't she fabulous?! I hope I look that good at her age, talk about AWESOME! PiP #6: This impressionist art filter turned this into something that I stared at and thought…that lady looks a bit like me! PiP #7: A typical street in Nice, I liked the angle and mood of this image…it was one of the first blurry pictures that I decide to try and save. PiP #8: This one is not a great success but I like it because it's a memory shot. Explanation: it's got Mr. Pizza AND one of the delivery scooter guys reflected in the glass! We encountered a very crabby rider the night we arrived in Nice on the narrow alley streets and were trying to find parking. We hadn't even gotten to our Air BnB apartment yet and we'd been flying for many hours. We were tired and anxious about finding our place to stay. This guy was annoyed that we were making it hard for him to get down the street and had a few things to say about it. Heh…but Steve's driving was totally AMAZING…negotiating between cars on these streets was a seemingly futile idea but Steve never touched a car, with mere inches on either side! At one point I had to get out to let him know if he would touch or not. He made it around a car with less than an inch at the mirror! INCREDIBLE! Funny thing is, the next day we saw that scooter rider and he remembered us. He was actually quite nice and helped us with directions! :) Pam, I'm going to take a wild guess that the flowers in my main picture are wild geraniums and once you let me know that I'd mistakenly labeled a wild geranium as a Redstem Storksbill. It was nice to have that pointed out to me! And so I took a look on your stream…I found one! This beautiful, artistic interpretation of a wild geranium is so classically Pam , since you have always loved to create these lovely spheres of your subjects. Wonderful! And I sure hope that your day is going ok! Big hugs from southern Oregon! :) Explored on 3/20/19, highest placement, #1.

(+11 insets!!) (please view large) :) Hey everyone! Guess what!! It's MACRO MONDAY!!! HOORAY!!! *bounces around squeeing happily* I neglected to look at this week's theme until a couple of days ago-- "Door Handles" (can be car doors but not windows and no knobs)--but I knew right away what I'd be photographing… When we moved to our home here in southern Oregon, we decided to replace all of the icky looking faux brass door knobs that were everywhere. Instead, we found some really nice brushed silver handles in different versions to take their places. We loved their elegant shapes and 18 years later we still love the way they look. The opportunity to do a macro study of them made me so happy and it just so happened that they are perfect for my favorite type of macro: a sliver of crisp focus that drops away to lovely bokeh. In fact, my main picture was the third image I took: the first one was just to see the angle…the second was to zero in on the dof…the third picture was just right. BOOM! :) I then went on to take a series of images of the various types of door handles in our home using different angles and lighting experiments. I also took some pictures of the few brushed silver knobs we had because I was interested to see how they would look. Finally, I wandered outside to our burnt orange Scion and took some pictures of one of the door handles. I got lots of neat images to share--including two door knobs for fun! The Scion door handle images turned out so well that I struggled with my choice for main image…elegant handle or juicy orange abstract? I asked my husband to look at the images with me and he thought I should go with the handle…so here you go! By the way, I've seen a number of people's submissions for the challenge and they are really terrific! Some really great ideas! :) Pam, I did a search on your stream for "handle"…NUTHIN! So I did a search for "door" and I did find a few pictures that might do. Then I found your gorgeous Christmas House card , which is just magnificent and so creative and cool. It's got a door…but we'll have to imagine a handle! :D I couldn't care less though, every detail of your card is charming and wonderful to see. :) It was bright and beautiful today…how about you? I hope that the positive energy going on outside your house with all of the spring madness spinning up has permeated every cell in your body! :) Sending many *HUGGGGGGS* your way!! Explored on 3/19/19, highest placement, #4.

(+5 insets!) (please view large!) :) I've just returned from a chilly but bright and sunny morning walk and my body is ticking with energy coursing through my veins. How vitalizing it is to get some invigorating exercise at the beginning of the day. It really makes me feel motivated and ambitious. After all, I've done something so good for my health and well-being at the very start. What better way to set yourself up for a series of wins, progress, achievements and successes?! Besides all of that, getting outside when the world is waking up around you is a wondrous experience with the twittering of birds and their songs and calls heard from near and far. It is a joy I missed out on for so many years. How lovely to get up early enough to be immersed in this daily marvel. Sitting down at my computer, I hop onto ipernity and check out the Explore section. Who is showcasing today?! Gazing at the selection of 27 pictures on the front page, I sit in wonder. So much talent. Such a vast variety of photography. The creativity boggles the mind. Pictures from literally all over the world, in all types of formats, from a dizzying variety of cameras. Exquisite images from seasoned professionals and from budding talent as well. Some have such a wonderful, recognizable style that you can tell who took the picture without glancing at the name. Others are unique and exciting and beg for a click so you can see what other pictures they've taken. Inspiration drips from the page. How grand to be part of it all. The community at ipernity is incredible. Wonderful, warm, intelligent folk who, like the pictures on Explore, cover a vast range of personalities and interests. Photographers can be very quirky and plenty of us spurn society for a gamut of reasons. But here on ipernity we can reach out and make friends. Isn't that wonderful. In my "real" life, the "in-person" friends I have fit onto one hand, perhaps two if I include family. But online, my friends and acquaintances number much closer to 100 or more! What a difference! In "real life" I am shy and very wary of people, but online I am extremely friendly and gregarious. Isn't it all so very interesting? I am extremely grateful to have the chance to be friends with people from all over the world, all walks of life, and who allow me the chance to know them. It is an honor and a true gift and I thank you all for allowing me to be part of this fine platform! *BIG HUGS TO ALL OF YOU!* Today happens to be St. Patrick's Day so I'm posting a picture that's very green! This fern was photographed in San Francisco a couple of years ago. Steve and I walked through part of Golden Gate Park to get to the Conservatory of Flowers' dahlia exhibit and on the way we stopped to take pictures of some of the fabulous plants found there. Ferns of many kinds grow everywhere and this one did not miss my gaze. (I'm also including some other green images for you to enjoy!) Pam, isn't it wonderful to be a part of this amazing group of people?! We are so lucky. And because of ipernity, we got the chance to meet…how cool is that?! :) Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to find a nice green picture on your stream and decided on a wonderful picture of a Ruby Throated Hummingbird sitting in a vibrant green oak tree. What a beautiful bird with her iridescent green feathers! It really is fun doing searches in your photo stream--it shows me how few I've actually seen and then I get the prize of appreciating them! Thank you for your lovely comment about my flower pictures! I'm so happy to read that you have been able to see a few of the flowers that are blooming for you now. I hope you can find great joy in these pretty spring sightings…one day at a time my dear! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 3/18/19, highest placement, #6.

(+11 insets!) Today is simply gorgeous! It might as well be March 20 because it couldn't be a more classic spring day. Sunny, warm, the rich smells of plants and earth perfuming the air, birds twittering in all the trees. We've filled our bird and suet feeders and the back and forth of the birds to their nests is constant and a great source of enjoyment whenever we look out the back window. We've seen Oregon Juncos, Acorn Woodpeckers, Pewees, California and Spotted Towees, Scrub and Stellar's Jays...still waiting on many types that we commonly see. The neighborhood is still learning about the new food source, at which time the feeders will be very busy all day! The only thing that tells me that spring hasn't truly arrived yet is the lack of spring flowers. I have been creeping all over the meadows, forests and hillside, and so far as I can tell, there are only six species in bloom at this point: Whitlow Spring Grass, Saxifrage, Buttercups, Bird's Eye Speedwell and two new finds: Redstem Storksbill and Spring Sandwort. I can't even include our daffodils because they are still in bud though they may begin to open in the next few days. It is definitely the latest spring in all the years we've lived here—about 15 years now. Saturday Self-Challenge has arrived, and with it, the day's topic: Signs of Spring! I thought about driving around and looking for newborn farm animals but decided to just stay on the property for the most part. I did ride my bike around our rural block yesterday to confirm that it's just too early for most flowers right now, and it's true. I found exactly ONE daffodil in bloom that I was able to photograph. Other than that, the native flora is only beginning to prepare for the yearly extravaganza. I enjoyed looking for different flowers and all of them are harbingers of spring. I didn't find any Buttercups or Saxifrage for my presentation but the flowers I did find were very nice subjects. When I could, I photographed them in bud, though some had glorious blossoms that rivaled flowers ten times their size! Today's main picture is a Redstem Storksbill flower and bud and though the face of this flower is quite beautiful, the back is truly stunning with wonderful hairy and striated, variegated details that shine luminously. The finished image just had to be my main picture! I hope that you enjoy all of the images I've added as insets. What a delightful SSC challenge this was! Pam, I wanted to find a picture on your stream that signified spring, and found this breathtaking and artistic crocus in a bubble with water reflection. It's so pretty and makes me so happy that you have posted these lovely creations for all of us to enjoy and be inspired by! Thank you! I do hope that today is better than the last few...I'm sending hugs your way my dear! :) Explored on 3/17/19, highest placement, #1.

(+ 5 insets) (please view large) :) It was another crisp, frosty, and beautiful morning for my walk today! In fact, it was warm enough this afternoon that I took my bike out for my first ride of the season! Just for the 15 minute distance around the block but it was lovely and I got the chance to look for Saturday Self-Challenge "signs of spring" in case there might be a flower or baby animal to take a picture of. Not much to find but I had a great time! Today I'm sharing an image I took yesterday on my hunt for "signs of spring" pictures. I wandered down to our seasonal pond in hopes that I might possibly spot a strand of frog eggs clinging to the algae. I knew it was a long shot but I thought I'd go see just in case I got lucky. I took a long time slowly creeping around our pond, crouching down and staring intently into the water. In the water I found aquatic beetles in large and nearly microscopic sizes, water skimmers racing around on the surface and little gnats in tiny clouds here and there. I found lots of aquatic plants growing like crazy in the water and rafts of algae floating on the surface. But I didn't find any frog eggs…or frogs for that matter. What I did find was an enormous sense of peace and serenity. Crouching silently, I could hear birds singing in the trees and I was quiet enough that a frog or two ventured a croak back and forth. Looking into the water was soothing, as were the soft plants I saw and the gentle movement of the insects swimming and flying around. I made my way around the edge and spotted something white clinging to some weeds. When I got closer I saw that they were feathers! I took some pictures just in case they turned out to be interesting. When I looked at them on my computer I was surprised at the detail and wonderful bubbles that I hadn't noticed before. And, as I worked on this picture I realized that it was a perfect candidate for a black and white image! I immediately thought of Valfal , who I'm dedicating this picture to. She's one of the admins for Saturday Self Challenge and a longtime friend here on ipernity. We'd had a really interesting conversation over the past few days about why we like black and white photography and why I don't often post them but I love the medium very much. This dedication is both a nod to our love of b/w and a tribute to spring. Ducks land in our pond to see if it's good for raising ducklings, but I'm happy to say they don't stay because it's not safe. However, I sometimes find a stray feather or two like this one and I've learned that pictures often turn out well! (I'm also posting a few of my favorite b/w images from my archives for you to see) Pam, I know that you don't prefer black and white photography but I happen to know that you do love dogs that are black, white, and a mixture of the two! :D I found a collage of black Flicka and black and white Lucas that was an instant favorite when I saw it the first time…I covered it with notes because I loved it so much! What fun to revisit this wonderful gathering of lovely images of your dear Rainbow doggies. How we love them. hope that today has been treating you ok…I know you've been through a lot lately so I'm sending many virtual hugs your way!

(+3 HFF insets and a panorama from this morning!) What a wonderful picture-packed day it's been! Pumpkin and I peeked outside when I got up and were very surprised to find it quite frosty. I wondered if it would hang around for more than a few moments after the sun came up but I didn't need to worry--it was a mere 28 degrees, yoiks! That's COLD! In fact, it was cold enough for very nice crystal formations. I went up to the spot where I take my panoramas and noticed something white down the hill. As I approached, I could see that it was a skull fuzzy with frost! That was enough for me. I returned with my camera and enjoyed myself with a large set of slightly morbid but very cool pictures of the long-passed animal of unknown species. Probably a deer but I didn't know for sure. (I'll post some pictures when I get to them!) Of course since I was out, I took pictures of our daffodil buds which were also a little bit frosty…they may be opening in just a few days but it's hard to say. In any event, they will hopefully make a nice choice for Saturday's Self Challenge: "Signs of Spring." It has turned out to be a gorgeous, sunny day that's warmed up considerably from this morning's frosty start. I went out this afternoon on a mission to find new flowers--and if I could spot them, flower buds--all for "Signs of Spring." I ended up finding two new flower species I hadn't seen yet this year but I was surprised that some species which should be in bloom now aren't ready yet due to the extended cold this year. However, the official start of spring is set for 6 days from now--March 20--and it looks like the show is really beginning to spin up around here! :) Today is also when I post my Happy Fence Friday image so I'm choosing a picture from my trip to San Anselmo back in January. I was really pleased with the way it turned out because it was such a cool surprise. In Nathalie's back patio she has a pot of beautiful Jelly Bean succulents and the back fence was nearby. This picture was unique the way the fence appeared and I don't know if you could even plan for that outcome! (I'm also including a view of today's frosty, lovely sunrise with the warm sun on the hills. Also I have added some fence pictures from my archives…enjoy!) Pam, are you a fan of succulents? I think they are really neat but for some reason I cannot keep them alive. I probably overwater them or forget about them…I don't know, but if I ever bring one home, a death sentence begins to tick no matter what I do! Well--apparently you have more success than I do because I found a totally outstanding collage of a Cholla Cactus beaded with dewy spiderwebs! What wonderful images and a total treat for the eyes! Incredible!! I was really sorry to hear that you smacked your eye socket yesterday…that must have hurt so badly AND pissed you off…at least, that's what my reaction would be. :( I hope you don't have a big bruise :( That totally sucks. I am crossing my fingers that you had a better day than yesterday… *HUGGGGGS* Explored on 3/15/19, highest placement, #2.

(+9 insets!) (Please view large against black) :) (If you would like to see the other pictures I've posted of Nice so far, here's a link to my Provence, France album ) Today I'm posting some of my pictures from our trip to Provence, France. I've been working on them when I can and the shocking part is that I've only dipped my toe into the first DAY when we were in Nice. The reality is that I'm not going to get to them all. There's just no way to do it so I will resign myself to having fun working on the pictures I get to. As I've been working on my pictures, I've done a lot of thinking about the problem of too many pictures and too little time. There are many schools of thought on the priority of processing pictures. I will often spend hours poring over images and deciding which ones to process. I while away the hours, happily choosing and cropping potential images in Adobe Bridge and RAW. The problem is that the pictures aren't actually processed. Basically, this translates to precious hours wasted with nothing to show for my efforts. Another of dealing with pictures is to pop around your folders looking at whatever grabs your attention and processing the ones that you like. That works well, especially if you immediately process pictures that you like and don't put it off to the side for later. Another way to deal with a folder of pictures is to look at them in order. Chuck them if they aren't good but when you find one that's usable, process it right then. What that means is that the pictures at the end of the line will be waiting forever perhaps, but at least you'll have pictures that are actually finished and ready to share. Yes, there may be some truly incredible pictures that won't get the attention they deserve, but if you don't see them, who cares? You might have remembered me mentioning that I've decided to just work on my France pictures in order. If this means I only share pictures from our first couple of days, so be it. I do remember some memorable pictures that I'll definitely get to but for now, working on my pictures in order has been really fun and interesting. About the pictures I'm posting today… As you all know, street photography is not my forte, but I really enjoy the opportunity to work on my technique. Since people usually don't want to be photographed, we hold our cameras at our sides, tilted up at people and interesting areas that we pass. The results are definitely hit or miss but I've gotten a surprising number of cool pictures as well. It's such a different facet of photography that looking at my pictures is really fascinating. Likewise, processing these pictures is a very different adventure too. One common problem with an unaimed photo is a subject that isn't sharp. So when I've found an otherwise interesting picture, I've had to process it in a way that the blur doesn't ruin the picture and instead becomes a planned element. This has translated to the use of a lot of filters and other techniques I don't normally use. The end result is that my Nice pictures seem to be taken by another version of me! It's been a delightful discovery and an awesome photographic adventure and I hope that you enjoy this set! By the way, just to remind you, Steve and I flew into Nice, France, spent the night in our Air B and B apartment and I walked from our apartment to a grocery store and back again to make breakfast. Later we went out and walked around Nice. It was really fun to walk around a busy European city. We loved the sights, the sounds, the language, the energy--all of it! Even the grime and filth when it showed itself. My main picture just makes me happy. I'm sure the plan was to get the whole person in the frame but as you can see, I only captured the feet. It would have likely been a nice picture as planned but to me, this picture is so much more interesting and shows such fun fashion. I used various filters to achieve the overall effect! PiP 1: This is an abstract of the sidewalk that I then applied filters to…isn't it pretty? :) PiP 2: Along our route I looked up and saw a cool palm tree and as I took the picture a seagull flew by! PiP 3: Steve and I enjoy taking pictures of each other while we're in photo-mode PiP 4: . We visited a really neat purse shop and outside were some purses for sale. (I have another picture of purses for another set of pictures!) PiP 5-7: Two pictures show collages of our shopping…into a grocery store and also to an open-air produce shop. PiP 7 shows a blue sequined flower that I also found in the produce shop PiP 8: A lady flashed by on a bicycle wearing a bandana to protect against gasoline fumes in the busy streets; I had a lot of fun keeping her in color and turning the rest to b/w. PiP 9: A man rode by with a terrier in the basket…this was a blurry picture and I decided to play with artistic filters to keep it! Pam, I looked up "feet" on your photo stream and though you didn't have anything specific, I did find an adorable picture of Flicka and Lucas waiting for treats and laying mannerly on the rug with their front feeties out in front of them! :) www.ipernity.com/doc/pamj/38634460 I hope that you had a good day today!! Sending hugs from southern Oregon! :)

(+2 insets) (looks best at full size on black!) (And please forgive me for the length of this entry, I had nothing to do for hours!) I planned to get up at about 7:15am this morning, but just as Pumpkin and I were beginning our morning conversation of happy chortling and contact calls, the house power flickered. This caused several devices around the room to beep in surprise and more importantly, the overhead lights automatically turned on. BLASTING RAYS FROM A THOUSAND SUNS BURNED THROUGH MY EYELIDS. Inside my head I screamed, "OMG MAKE IT STOP!!" The power went off. The lights went out and I relaxed in utter relief. A few seconds later, the power flickered again, the overheads went on and devices beeped at me. Pumpkin gronked at the unfamiliar sounds. I shielded my eyes with a hand and grumbled about the stupidity of lights that automatically turn on with power fluctuations. After going on and off for a moment, the power officially died. That's when our bedroom UPS* decided to speak up *(uninterruptable power supply). It's hooked up to our tv and dvd player. Yelling at me in loud, plaintive beeps in series of three, it screamed, "I don't have enough power to keep running these devices!" And that, quite frankly, made me very annoyed. How can a UPS which is less than a year old, no longer holding a charge in its battery? "BEEEEP-BEEEEEP-BEEEEEP!!!" I lay there in bed, mentally glaring at the stupid UPS. We have more problems with those dumb things. In the game room--which is down the hall, around the corner, down the short hall and hang a left into the room—I could hear another trio of bleating beeps...make that two pairs of triple beeps...both of our computers are plugged into their own UPS, and they were loudly objecting to the loss of power too. Soon Steve had the UPS's in the game room turned off along with the computers. We decided to go back to sleep for a while in hopes that the power would be back on soon. Thoughts of no espresso had us drifting away like innocent babes. Not that the feathered alarm clock cared. Pumpkin peeped at me every 15 minutes for the next hour until I really couldn't pretend to sleep anymore. Thankfully our hot water heater is large so I had a lovely shower and Pumpkin didn't seeme to mind the dim room, lit only by the light coming through the blinds in the bathroom. Once downstairs I realized that I neglected to cut up Pumpkin's veggies and fruits yesterday so I busied myself with that task while getting Molly's breakfast ready. Soon Pumpkin was set up in her day cage, the room bright with light coming in through the many windows. Steve readied our little generator with four intentions: power to our Monitor heater, to Pumpkin's floor heater near her cage, to the music ipod so Pumpkin has her Sarah Brightman/Annie Lennox playlist to listen to, and of course to the espresso machine! I went out on my walk and when I got back, Pumpkin was comfortable and rockin' out to her tunes, the house was warming up and the espresso machine was ready to go! HUZZAH! As I sit here typing away on my laptop, the power is supposed to be back on within ten minutes but who knows? We've got our fingers crossed! Can you see my glowering face as I stare daggers at the time on my laptop? 12:25. The power was supposed to be back on at 11. We did get a call from the power company saying that the updated approximation was 12:30. *drums fingers on the arm chair* Steve is off to get our two propane tanks filled. We had the brilliant idea to cook breakfast in our new RV! GREAT PLAN!! We busied ourselves with the gathering of 4 eggies, bacon, seasoning, a pan, plates and utensils and marched over to our "home away from home". Steve was hoping that there would be enough propane to cook our food but alas...though he got it fired up, the flame soon dimmed and spluttered out. He checked the propane. Yep. Empty. Well, it was a fine idea. We marched back over to the house, Steve gathered the propane containers and headed out to the local gas station. We need the tanks filled anyway, and his hope is that by the time he returns the power will be back on. He's back, it's 12:36 and nope...no power yet. *sigh* On top of that, there was no power at the gas station or anywhere for many miles in all directions. Thus, he wasn't able to get any propane either! ARGH! Well, at about 2pm we finally got our power back…what an ordeal! :D After all of the fuss of the day, I think it would be very nice to post a picture of a beautiful flower to look at. I ask you: what's better than sharing another dahlia from San Francisco's Conservatory of Flower dahlia exhibit? The only problem is choosing which to post…they all yell and scream for attention, the high-falutin' divas! Well, since they wouldn't stop jumping up and down, I picked the first one in my finished folder: she with the ever-so-fancy hair and amazing graduated colors of yellow, peach and orange. Totally outrageous beauty! Along with that picture I'm including two more: one of them is a group of breathtaking peachy-orange dahlias who are all trying to shove in front of each other to get a better position in front of my camera…CALM DOWN LADIES! You're ALL beautiful! The other picture is a rear view of a glowing, hot pink dahlia who's much too lovely to be bothered with the lime light! (I cannot help but assign personas to these flowers, they have so much pomp and character!) Pam, do you have any favorite flowers other than your beloved Snow Drops? I would understand if you can't choose one, since well, that's how I feel too…but I am curious if you do! I went to your photo stream and picked out a picture that made my heart swoon…and I fell upon your ridiculously gorgeous collage of bearded iris! I remember seeing that picture years ago and I was so smitten by the colors of your flowers that I put them in order of favorite so I had an excuse to stare at them and decide which I liked better. They are truly incredible! Here's hoping that you guys are doing well and that your heart is soaring on the warm winds of affection I am sending your way! *BIG HUGGGSSSS*!!! Explored on 3/13/19, highest placement, #1.

(+7 insets!) SO SPARKLEY!! SUCH TWINKLING!! What a lovely, frosty morning it was on my walk today! Without a cloud in the sky, the sun rose to shine warm, slanting beams across our meadow, melting the frost as it touched each plant and blade of grass. Our front gates--which had a sheen of white and a million twinkles from frosty crystals--quickly melted with the sunlight's gaze, the wetness soon drying with the warmth. In the distance I could hear flocks of Canada Geese, no doubt causing a ruckus along the popular Rogue River. They are likely having territory issues about nesting spots but who knows…I am not very familiar with those lovely birds. Canada Geese have landed on our property a few times but our pond isn't big enough for serious interest and frankly, that's just fine with us. There are too many predators here and we would feel terrible knowing there is no way a gosling would survive to the point of fledging here. Still, it's fun to think about a line of goosy chicks swimming in our pond. The image brings a smile to my face as I witness the transformation of frosty crystals to shining droplets while I walk up and down the driveway. *YAWN* It's too early. Daylight savings time began yesterday, so even though the clock reads 9:30am, my body says it's 8:30am and I am very sleepy…another cup of coffee will be in order soon enough. That's not my usual routine however. I usually have a cup in the morning and one in the afternoon and that's about it. Today I am going to need more! I plan to work hard at pushing my internal clock back--I have come to love getting up with the sun and don't want to miss the special time when the world is waking up all around me. Nature's priceless moments. And by the way, welcome to a new week everyone! Today is Macro Monday!! The topic this week is "shoe soles" and yesterday I spent some time taking pictures of the bottoms of many different shoes in our house. That's a bottomless pit of interesting pictures, I must say. Every shoe sole is different and many of them are quite cool indeed, especially at a macro level. My main picture shows the metal cleat on one of Steve's shoes which he uses to clip into his bicycle pedals. If you're not familiar, these cleats create a solid connection to your bike and allow your pedaling to be seamless and energy efficient. And, until I took this picture, I didn't realize what happy faces these cleats have! I've included a host of other pictures as insets since I really enjoy the chance to explore each week's topic as much as I can. Truthfully I really had to stop myself from really overdoing it. My husband and I have so many pairs of shoes that I refused to go into our closets--I only picked from the pairs which were immediately available. Otherwise I'd still be taking pictures right now! :D Pam, I did a search for "shoe" and for "foot" but found nothing, so instead I decided to sort your pictures by date and looked for a picture for this day…March 11…and I found this gorgeous peach blossom! They are such lovely flowers and so different than other fruit trees. I love the size and shape of the petals and the deep, rich pink. So pretty!! It is shaping up to be a truly stunning spring day and I hope that the vibrant energy felt here today can be transferred to you along with a great big virtual *HUGGGGGGGGG*! :) Explored on 3/12/19, highest placement, #1.

(+4 insets!) (Please view large!) :) This morning at 2am began this year's Daylight Savings Time…HOORAY for another harbinger of spring!! What's funny is that Steve and I were caught totally off-guard. Neither one of us realized that the time had changed except that for some reason the day seemed to be going by awfully fast! I mean, I get caught up in my photography and hours just disappear but somehow a whole hour disappeared and I didn't figure it out until Steve sent me a text! Spring really is stretching its wings around here. In the course of about 3-4 days it's gotten sunnier, warmer, and the energy outside is amazing! It's like the plants know they're behind and so they're growing like crazy! I have now seen four different flowering plants…Whitlow Spring Grass, Saxifrage, a Buttercup, and I saw a bunch of lovely blue Bird's Eye Speedwell flowers too. Petite little beauties! I'm so happy for this change in the season, it's so exciting! In celebration of the gorgeous day, I'm sharing a picture of a poppy I grew back in 2014. I had a lovely garden that was overflowing with colorful poppies and other flowers too. It was quite a sight and I was so delighted that the bees and other insects were crazy about my garden too. I could hear the bees before I even entered the garden! I'm also including pictures the flowers so far in bloom on our property: Whitlow Spring Grass, Bird's Eye Speedwell flower, Saxifrage and a Buttercup! :) Pam, I looked on your stream for a pretty flower to appreciate and found this gorgeous cluster of golden crocus! They are just so lovely. I also picked that image because as Steve and I were driving home a couple of days ago, I saw a garden with what looked like 100 of these beauties! Well, someday I hope to live in a place that doesn't have critters that eat every crocus I plant! Here's hoping your mood and outlook is as bright and beautiful as the day has been! *HUGGGGGGSSSSS*!!! Explored on 3/11/19, highest placement, #1.

(+4 insets!) Walking up and down the driveway this morning, I kept my eyes open for natural frames. That's because today's Saturday Self-Challenge is to create a frame within a frame, in black & white format. I could have done something easier with man-made frames but I thought it would be better to challenge myself. I grabbed my camera when I was done with my walk and headed outside again. The problem with natural frames is that you don't always have the match of a frame and a subject. I found so many keyhole openings, frames of branches, sticks and leaves, but there were never any subjects for the frame. I wandered here and there and ended up creeping onto the side of our steep hill. I was also checking for signs of spring and confirming that we really are late for spring's arrival. We normally have crazy amounts of flowers at this point but not this year. I did find some Saxifrage in our meadow (without any natural frame nearby) and then I found a buttercup on the hillside! The Hounds Tongue is just now sending up its beautiful, fuzzy leaves, but the beautiful blue flowers won't come for another couple of weeks I expect. It was good to see the signs of flowers though! As I was making my way along a deer trail on the hillside, I looked up and noticed the Lower Table Rock and thought, "Ok, now that would be nice if I can find framing branches!" It took a while but eventually I found branches that I could create a frame with…HUZZAH!! I am also including a bunch of other attempts with variable results. Do you think my main image was the right choice? I had a hard time deciding…b/w isn't my strongest suit so I'm not as confident with these pictures! Pam, I did a search on your stream for "black and white" and came up with only one picture, and it explained a lot! :D Your self-portrait looks really dramatic in b/w and I really like it! You also explained that you're not a huge fan of creating b/w pictures and you know what? I am that way too. I really love the artform but I usually leave my pictures in color because it's so important to me. Here's hoping your day is going ok! *BIG HUGGGGGSSSSS*!!! :)

(+6 insets!) This morning when I went out for my walk I couldn't help but look for signs of spring. They were there all around me but nothing was obvious except for the bursting green grass and sprouting plants everywhere. It's still too early--but how can that be? It's March already! I mentioned the other day that it's been cold enough this winter that spring has been delayed by as much as an entire month. On our property, we have a tiny little flower which announces to me that spring is just around the corner. I've been looking for Whitlow Grass buds for weeks now and I FINALLY found some yesterday! After I finished my walk I grabbed my camera and came out to get some proof that spring is officially on its way. Locating these flowers is both easy and difficult. Easy because they are all over the place…but difficult because Whitlow Grass blossoms are ridiculously tiny. The buds are no larger than a lowercase letter "o"! To see them, I must get my face right down at the ground and peer carefully at the tiny plants in front of me. Grass glistening with rows of droplets are everywhere to admire and distract. Tiny globes of water clinging to the ends of glowing green blades grab my attention. But I keep my eyes scanning for tiny white balls…and…THERE! Itty bitty buds, drizzled with dew, peek out shyly from the shadow of grass surrounding them. Then I can see more and more tiny buds…some opening, some tightly closed. I take many pictures at many apertures because I know how tough these little flowers are to photograph well. I cross my fingers for some useable pictures. Once I was satisfied, I stood up to return to the house when I realized that I should show you how tiny these flowers are! After all, it's one thing to explain how small something is. It's another thing to actually show how small it is. So I kneeled down and took a picture of a blossom which was a mere speck at that distance. Then I stood up and positioned the flower between my feet. I had to laugh…you can't even see a flower from my towering 5'4" height! At one point Steve and I were outside and I showed him some of the blossoms. He couldn't believe I'd ever found one to begin with! :) Along with my main image is another flower that has a friend on it! What a surprise…I had no idea it was there! And, as I'd promised, I'm including a couple of pictures of the inside of our trailer! They're not great photos but will give you an idea of what it looks like in there. Two bunk beds in the rear and a bathroom, a large bedroom area up at the front. Dinette, sofa, kitchen with sink, oven, stove, and microwave. The bathroom has a separate door outside so you don't have to track dirt through the coach to get to the bathroom. Outside there is a very nice awning over a small outside kitchen which will be great for barbequing. Oh yeah, this trailer has one "slide", which means the side slides out to create a larger space. The dinette and sofa are the area that slides out, and that's why it's so roomy in there! :) (If you've been in an RV without slides, you'll recognize how cramped they are in comparison. We would not consider a trailer without a slide!) Pam, since I photographed a tiny flower today, I did a search for "tiny" on your stream and came up with an itty bitty, teeny weeny bee that you photographed! So adorable and so very small!! Sending *HUGGGGGZZZZZZZ* from southern Oregon! Explored on 3/09/19, highest placement, #1.