impossible to understand...

Our prompt for TT this week is celebrate. Of course, this was decided long before the events of yesterday. I tried to think of what I could possibly celebrate today. Then I heard these words.

Our hearts are heavy.


Full paragraph excerpt from President Obama's message to the American people April 16, 2013:

We also know this: The American people refuse to be terrorized, because what the world saw yesterday in the aftermath of the explosions were stories of heroism and kindness and generosity and love, exhausted runners who kept running to the nearest hospital to give blood and those who stayed to tend to the wounded, some tearing off their own clothes to make tourniquets, the first responders who ran into the chaos to save lives, the men and women who are still treating the wounded at some of the best hospitals in the world, and the medical students who hurried to help, saying, ‘When we heard, we all came in,’ the priests who opened their churches and ministered to the hurt and the fearful, and the good people of Boston who opened their homes to the victims of this attack and those shaken by it. So if you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil, that’s it: selflessly, compassionately, unafraid.

"the mom stays in the picture"...

If you haven't read this article, please do. It is SO important. I have spoken about the importance of this in my photography classes but not with the eloquence that Allison Tate does.

Please note this applies to all nanas, grammys, aunties, etc. The mama in this picture knows how important this is. I hope you do too.

rescue rose...

Many years ago, there was a large chain store that had a garden department. The chain store still exists, the garden department does not. The garden area was manned, as chain store garden departments often are, by people who knew nothing about gardening. If you were there within the first week of a delivery, you were in luck. After that, forget it. Needless to say, it was not my favorite place to shop. The garden department was never my sole destination but if I was there for some other reason, I would take a quick peek. One day, I happened to start talking to one of the employees. She was gathering the spent plants to throw away. I asked if I could take the pathetic looking miniature rose. I wish I had a before photo. She was happy to give it "to a good home". While it is not a rose that I would have chosen to buy, I have been happy to give it a good home.

It has thrived.
Later, she found out that this was not a store policy. She could no longer give me plants that were going to be thrown away.

I would have given them a good home.

a rose is a rose is a rose...

I am a flower lover but roses are not my favorites until they start blooming in my garden. Then I can't imagine loving another flower more. Whenever they are not blooming, I wonder why I don't use the space for something else. The April comes and I remember...
And the names! The names are so much fun. Yes, we enjoy dinner on the patio surrounded by Sexy Rexy, Barbra Streisand, McCartney (if they came out with a Lennon, Starr and Harrison, I would not be able to resist), Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn Monroe.

In case you would like a cup of tea with Marilyn, here you go:


Hope spring is finding you too!

and just one more...

Well, at least for now...

shooting ladybugs...

Endlessly fascinating as they scurry about their work - so quick, so photogenic.

on the tip of a tulip petal
on the tip of a daffodil bud

This one is my favorite, two ladybugs underneath the petals of a white cosmos.

Hoping spring has found you too!

lagging behind but a few pictures to share...

My resolution to keep up better with this blog isn't doing too well. Here are a couple of shots from today.

Gerbera daisies can make me and my camera happy for hours.


The first daffodils are blooming in the garden. The out of focus purple are pansies. Garden update coming soon.


I think this is from a Gila woodpecker but I might be wrong.


This was done for my Beyond Beyond workshop with Kim Klassen. Assignment - to shoot from overhead. I love doing that, especially with food shots. I processed it with "mary" a Kim texture. Kim is such a generous person, filled with knowledge to share.


Have a great weekend!