I Heart Macro

Say a prayer before takeoff.

It's no secret, I love dragonflies, damselflies, skeeter hawks, whatever you choose to call them. they are my favorites in the garden.

They pose so nicely for the camera, never shy away and always seem to be smiling.

Each one with it's individual colors and markings, a work of art.

This guy, with his herringbone tweed pants, found an overripe cucumber that was hiding from view until it turned a bright yellow in the kids' garden.

The foxgloves that I planted this year are finally staring to bloom.

The hibiscus, along with the rest of us, are wilting in the extreme heat.

The figs are liking it though, they are ripening and bursting at the seams with sweet goodness.

It'll soon be time for fig jam and maybe even some candied figs (Sshhhhh) if we get enough before the birds find them!

Head on over to Lori's at Studio Waterstone for the rest of the macro goodness and maybe even join in!



I Heart Macro - The Blue Version

I feel like everytime I look up it's Sunday again, anyone else feel like that? This summer is flying by!

This is the underside of the wing of a black swallowtail butterfly that I chose for this week's I heart Macro over at Studio Waterstone.

In all fairness, i got this good shot because Mr Butterfly had a head on collision with a car and was rescued and brought to me by my Dad. He was still alive and we laid him in the sunshine and after a few minutes of shaking,  peacefully left us to just ponder his beauty.

The closeup of the wings look like draped tapestry

I was amazed to see that the tendril they drink with was curled up

Then my husband shared with us a rare sight, a flying fish that flew into his boat while he was about 100 miles offshore fishing at the Washington canyon. Reminds me of a dragonfly of sorts

Such beautiful blue coloring in him too

On friday morning I left work early to head over to the 24th annual blueberry festival held on Chincoteague Island. I had preordered a bulk box of 10 pounds of blueberries that had to be picked up and we thought we would beat the heat and crowds! HA!

We parked next to this wonderful trolley , named the Pied Piper, guess there are a few and they each have names but I was taken by the great colors and graphics.

I think I've had mail delivered by this one!

It was set up really nicely, vendors outside on all sides of the building and inside as well but it was far too hot already for most people to enjoy the outdoor activities. Even in the shade.

We made a quick pass through one side of vendors before giving in to the heat. i did purchase a few goodies from this vendor, the green iron hummingbird, those 2 chippy white wall flower baskets on the upper left and a green garden trellis which my husband had to come back for in his truck.

There was a lot of jewelry vendors, several doing fused dichroic glass and about 4-6 doing seaglass creations, one with handmade lampwork, no metalsmiths that i saw, so I felt there was a little too much overlapping for any of them to stand out. i did buy a pair of real butterfly wing earrings from one vendor outside.

Mom got the homemade blueberry pie from Sugarbakers Bakery

Dad and i got the homemade blueberry ice cream which was delicious from the Island Creamery vendor.

When we got home this was the reading on my outdoor thermometer which is set on the north side of our pool deck in the shade. We were told by us the heat index hit 118 and 2 towns away it was 122. so the next blue we saw was the water of the swimming pool!

I'm sure we would have enjoyed the show more had it not been so hot. Maybe next year.

Now head on over to Lori's at studio Waterstone to see what everyone else is loving this week!



I Heart Macro and Sunday Mornings

It's that time of the week again- Time for some Macro Love!

I went out in the yard this morning, camera in hand, to take in the early morning sights and beauty.

I have 4 hummingbird feeders and watching them fly around is like watching a symphony in motion!

There was a nice ruby throated hummingbird here but he got a little camera shy. This one however wanted breakfast no matter who was watching!

OK now you're starting to  Piss.Me.Off!

Not to be outdone, this dragonfly flew in and landed just as I snapped the pix of the hydrangeas in bloom. You can barely see his wings moving as he flew in.

Sunbathing

The daylillies are starting to bloom all around the garden.

I love daylillies!

Each one with their spectacular painted colors, all different.

There is a daylily farm here on the shore, Sterrett Gardens, about 45 minutes south of me, that i try to get to each year to add to the collection.

They give you a checklist and you can walk the fields looking at all the varieties in bloom, make your list and then return to the gazebo where they check you out and then go dig the varieties you have chosen.

They also ship and have a wonderful website.

This frog is a little skittish, I can only get so close before he jumps and hides but he has been livingin our little pond out front all summer so far so he must eat well here too!

I have been waiting for the rest of the birds to hatch out and leave the nests so that i can trim the bushes without anyone freaking out. Looks like i'll be trimming soon!

Head on over to Lori's and join in the macro love this beautiful Sunday!



It's Summer!!

Jun 9, 2011 11:54 AM Temp

97.0°FSwitch to Celsius 9mphHi: 97°F

Lo: 76°FRain: 0.00"

Gust: WNW 9Heat Index: 105°F

Humidity: 41%Dew Point: 71°F

Avg Wind: 9 NW

Pressure: 29.94"

Rain/Month: N/A"Sunrise: 5:39 AM

Sunset: 8:23 PM

Moonphase:

As reported at: Wallops Flight Facility Arpt

 

Actually not for another couple of weeks, but the numbers don't lie! And it's not even Noon yet!! Heat index 105* Turn on the sprinklers and head to the pool!
**Update-at 3PM the heat index hit 107*

I Heart Macro

For this week's I heart macro I thought I would share the fruits of my labor (pun intended)

If you remember this post you'll remember I planted some pots of strawberries right near my steps so that all summer long we hopefully will be able to just pick strawberries as we walk by.

Well, yesterday the first one ripened and before we ceremoniously cut it in half to share the sweetness, I took out my camera for today's i heart macro post.

Some we planted are june bearing and the rest are everbearing meaning we should have strawberries most of the summer. Yum!

Hop on over to Studio Waterstone to join in the macro fun!

*** I have been caught in the blogger glitch this week, unable to use my blogger account to sign in and leave comments but I just found that i can sign in with name and URL if you have it enabled on your site, otherwise, know that I keep looking at all the pix and would comment if I could***

Summer Ends...Fall Begins

The past 2 weeks we have celebrated many things.

The official end of summer, Labor day,  always marks the slowing down of our pace at the restaurant and is a welcome time. My daughter always has a picnic at her house and this year was no exception.  However, they surprised us with a cake in honor of our 30th anniversary and then my parents surprised us further, arriving from Florida to take part in the fun! 

Our family remembered how we enjoyed our visit to Ocracoke Island N.C. so they got together to give us a trip back whenever we can schedule it ( hoping the hurricanes leave us something to revisit!)

We spent several days at the beach soaking up the last summer had to offer. This is my favorite time at the beach, only a few people, warm water and temps in the 80's.

There are some things that never change, generation after generation

-kids will forever run away when waves approach

-They love to be buried in the sand

-they don't mind at all if you have to dig, redig and dig yet again, their little tidepool

By the third time while I was digging I asked my Mom why was i doing this again? She replied , "you are making memories" I told her to remind me of that the next morning when I couldn't move!

At one point while I was taking some pictures I heard all this ruckus behind me and turned to find that a flock of seagulls had ventured over to our cooler and stolen a bag of chocolate animal crackers and were dividing them amongst themselves. I'm sure someone has a pix of me retrieving the bag, thankfully, it hasn't surfaced!

We enjoyed the unexpected company and my parents left to return home this past sunday. On monday the 20th our son left on his first ever flight, a trip to Alaska for his new job ( started Aug 27th with LJT and associates, an electrical contracting firm for NASA, as a remote telemetrist)

He did well for his first flight and is very excited to be there. Can't wait to hear all the stories and see the pix when he returns. The aurora borealis is over where he is staying and I told him to take plenty of pix for me, i envy the opportunity! Our daughter ( pictured above with her boys) began nursing school on the 20th also. 

So we have had a busy couple of weeks and now I am playing catchup getting ready for ArtBliss this weekend, making charms for our swap and gathering tools and supplies!

So goodbye to Summer, and hello to Fall and all the adventures it holds!