Scavenger Hunt Sunday

macro

A Meyer lemon blossom newly opened!  I'm so excited!  One of the owners of Loveland Greenhouse gave this plant to me as a gift and said to treat it like a ficus.  It recently started budding and now one of the creamy white blossoms has opened.  The scent is heavenly!

found texture

 Seriously, what in the world is this?!!  *

home

Home is where the kitties live!  so cute how Oliver is snuggling this felt pillow!  (I can even forget how later, painstakingly, I will have to remove that white fur.)

cover

These cute little owls covered the door of a first grade classroom when I visited my goddaughter during a school open house.  

tree

as seen through a window in my house.  I love the shape and texture of bare branches silhouetted against the sky.

* My guess was that it is some type of fungus.  I googled "red mulch fungus" and got an answer.  It's a stinkhorn--Phallus rubicundus.   

LINKS:

stinkhorn   

history and uses of Meyer lemons

100 things to do with a Meyer lemon

growing  Meyer lemons

I'm having so much fun participating in this challenging, inspiring, and fun meme.  Come on over to Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Ashley Sisk's blog and see some wonderful, creative entries.  Link up, too!

I'm also linking up with Macro Monday!  

 

I'm linking up on Erika's blog, Artful Rising, for her  It's a Wrap Party.  come on over and link up!  Just link one of your favorites posts from the week before.  It's that easy!

photos by me © 2011

delicious Autumn

Autumn means gloriously Fall-colored produce--orange, gold, cinnamon, burgundy, deep purple, scarlet.  These were recently bought at Finn Meadows Farm, a local organic farm owned by my friends.  I belong to a vegetable CSA-- Community Supported Agriculture.  I love the way they run the CSA because I get to choose what I want.

Ѽ orangey-beige squash and other squashes including 2 kinds of pumpkin, a red/green pepper and a deep purple one (green inside), 3 colors of carrots (burgundy ones are orange on the insides), a long pink and white radish, and a deep red beet Ѽ
visually pretty and yummy, too! 

It's Fall Break over at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday!  "For this week our Fall break theme is Anything Autumn. Your post can be about anything related to Autumn in your own life... Halloween, pictures, stories, recipes...whatever strikes your fancy."
Come and join in the fun!  See more entries HERE.  You will be charmed and even enlightened in a delightful way!  Our generous Ms. Jenny is having a giveaway, too!  yipee! 
link to Finn Meadows Farm

photo by me © 2011

Ubiquitous Orange

I apologize in advance.  My photographic offerings today are neither alluring nor inspiring.  In a moment, you'll see why.

words

bad

worse

under

under construction

orange

fly

not flying ↑

Oh, if only I could fly like a bird!

always look on the bright side!

So there IS a happy ending after all!

This post was inspired by the fact that everywhere I drive within a 5 mile radius of my house, road construction is taking place.

Anyone else?

This is my third time participating in this challenging, inspiring, and fun meme.  Come on over to Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Ashley Sisk's blog and see some wonderful, creative entries.  Link up, too!

photos by me © 2011

simple autumn beauty

grasses sway in breeze

leaves crumble into color

vibrant berries boast

It's Fall Break over at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday!  The theme is Autumn Colors.  Come and join in the fun!  Your post can have anything to do with Autumn color.  Pictures, poems, stories, recipes...whatever strikes your fancy.    See more entries HERE.  You will be charmed and even enlightened in a delightful way!  There's even a giveaway!

I'm also linking up with SkyWatch Friday. Come join this awesome meme SkyWatch Friday and link up!  SkyWatch Friday is hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.

PS:  if you're wondering what the heck my "abstract" and "round" photos are, they are revealed HERE!

PSS:  My friend Linda is having a giveaway on her blog!  Come see HERE!

photos by me ©  2009  poem by me ©  2011
apron photo © by Linda Pruitt 2011

abstract and round revealed

Some of you were guessing what the two photos--abstract and round--actually are.  Now the secret is unleashed, the mystery unveiled....

abstract ↑ was actually a part of this ↓

 pumpkin--many of you guessed correctly!

round ↑ was a real stumper.  I love the guesses:  

bath beads in a gel candle

glass marbles

green grapes in green jello

This is a green glass vase that hangs on my wall.  (gift from my daughter)  It is filled with round clear marbles and a few green marbles that are round and flat.

photos by me ©  2011

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Come with me on a scavenger hunt!

abstract

Can you guess what this is?!  (above)

round 

fire 

seeing faces in unexpected/strange places

checking out the mirror--Oliver and

Earnest

stars 

photographed on a silk scarf I dyed

Come on over to Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Ashley Sisk's blog and see some wonderful, creative entries.  Link up, too!

I'm linking up with Artful Risings' It's a Wrap Party!  Come HERE and link up your favorite post from the past week.

photos by me ©  2011  fire by me ©  2009
The "abstract" is a pumpkin!

Zion

Zion National Park in Utah, USA, is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

I love the rock formations, the colors, and textures!  red, gray, yellow, orangey-brown rock, green foliage, deep azure sky, puffy white clouds.  Zion is part of an area known as the Grand Staircase which once was a great desert basin which became covered by a sea.

LINKS:

Desert Delights Splendid Little Stars post 

Zion National Park geology

Zion National Park US Park Service

Wildflowers in Yellow Splendid Little Stars post

HIKES in Zion National Park 

I've done my homework this week and am therefore participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Come and join in the fun!  You will be charmed and even enlightened in a delightful way!  See more entries HERE. This week our letter is "Z."

I'm also linking up with SkyWatch Friday. Come join this awesome meme SkyWatch Friday and link up!  SkyWatch Friday is hosted by Wren, fishing guy, Sylvia, Klaus, and Sandy.

photos by me ©  2010

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

How fun to go on a scavenger hunt!  Challenging, too!  Calling for creative visioning and interpretations.  So without further ado, here are mine:  

Landscape

I went on a bike ride both days this weekend, riding mostly on the bike path.  The weather was glorious! 

Complimentary or Triadic Color

While riding my bike, I saw many asters of various sizes and hues along the path.  Purple aster blossoms nod joyously against a background of goldenrod.

Black and White

Well, he IS black and white, isn't he?!!  Oliver was not too thrilled about having his portrait taken as you can see.

 Food

My friends have an organic farm--Finn Meadows Farm.  I joined their Vegetable CSA--Community Supported Agriculture.  Every week I go to the farm and choose wonderful produce, some of which I'd never seen before.  I wonder if you know what the green and orange items are.  Eggplants!  and good, too!  In the back is a dark purplish sweet pepper that when cut open is green inside.  The purple bean on the right turns green when cooked.  The onions are from the Farm;  the tomatoes from my garden.  

Blank Space

somewhat impressionistic.  open to interpretation.  blank yet rich with possibilities.

Come on over to Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Ashley Sisk's blog and see some wonderful, creative entries.  This is my first time participating.  I discovered this meme on Gemma's blog Meme-Aholics.

all photos by me © 2011

cheery cherry red

just for fun!  All parts of this treasury are clickable.
all photos are © 2010-2011 by the individual artisans

Bears!

While hiking in Glacier National Park in Montana this August, we saw these signs posted on most trails.  Do you see the small print?  "There is no guarantee of your safety while hiking or camping in bear country."  YIKES!

Did we see bears?  YES!  But thankfully not on trails near us.  Bears are very busy in the Summer eating and eating and eating in preparation for Winter.  Can you imagine how much vegetation a 300 pound bear must eat a day?  
The closest we came to a bear was a juvenile black bear on the side of the road.  Of course cars were stopped and cameras were clicking.  A park ranger, with help from bystanders, clapped hands and threw rocks to scare it away.

mother black bear with 2 cubs

INFORMATION:

◄ Black bears (Ursus americanus) are North America's most common bear, typically living in forests. Despite their name, black bears can even be brown, cinnamon, or blonde.

◄ Being opportunistic eaters, their diet consists mostly of grasses, roots, berries, nuts,and insects. They will also eat fish and small mammals.

◄ Black bears historically ranged over most of the forested regions of North America, including all Canadian provinces, Alaska, all states in the contiguous United States, and significant portions of northern Mexico.  They are found only in heavily forested areas in the US now.  In Canada, black bears still inhabit most of their historic range except for the intensively farmed areas of the central plains.  In Mexico, there are only a few remnants.  It is estimated that there are about 600,000 black bears in North America.

 mother black bear

You will want to know if we saw grizzlies, and we did!  We saw 13 bears in all--most were very far away.  We saw a mother black bear and her 3 cubs about 70-100 yards away.  (photos above)  They were happily munching away on plants.  Black bears are easily scared away.  But don't be aggressive towards a grizzly!  When we were hiking in bear country we had to make nose almost continuously even when other people were not that far away.  No bears want to attack humans; you must let them know of your presence so they can move away.  And always carry bear (pepper) spray when in bear country!*

 eating

LINKS:

black bear facts   
North American Bear Center Den Cam  (Thanks,Sarah!)

  cub pausing while eating

I'm participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Come and join in the fun!  You will be charmed and even enlightened in a delightful way!  See more entries HERE. This week our letter is "Y."  Y is for yellow--as in yellow sign!  and YIKES!

There are better photos of bears on the internet, but these are mine! 

photos by me © 2011 
* I'm adding more information, because I can see from the comments that some people might actually be out in bear country.  First of all, I'd say educate yourself thoroughly.  Black bears and grizzlies behave differently when encountering humans.  There are lists (which I am not recounting here) of what one should do if one encounters a bear.  Keep the bears away in the first place!  Carry bear spray and know how to use it!  MAKE NOISE!!!  not those little bells that people attach to themselves.  Clap hands.  Call out "Hey Ho!" or "Hear Bear!"  LOUDLY!  Know that if you are going around a corner, or up hill, the bears may not have heard or smelled you.  They don't want to encounter you either!  Don't assume that because there are others not far away even on a well-traveled path, that the bears are staying away.  There are reports to the contrary.  Stay safe!  Educate yourself!  

October 10:  linking up to Erika's It's a Wrap Party on Artful Rising.  Come on over and link up your favorite post from last week.