lemons into Lemonade

Central States Fairgrounds, Rapid City, SD

When your huge old Grandfather Cottonwood dies, find an amazing chainsaw artist and let him create!

a brand new Pair...

...of Terrible Twins to eat my flowers.

thistle Thought

Does this prairie thistle have its own Fairy?

Thistle Fairy, Cecily Mary Baker  1928

lots of thorns, not a Rose

Prickly pear on a prairie evening

upLand

Upland Sandpiper

One of my favorite denizens of the shortgrass prairie, it is always a treat to find one on a fencepost on a summer afternoon.

after the T-shower

the rain has stopped,  but water is still spilling off the roofs, creating puddles

and rainy daisies on the bricks below

kermit the Frog

visits Art Alley just in time for Summer!

in line, Please

How's this for keeping the family in line?

goin' Swimmin

right in a bowl of Cheerios, this morning

happy Father's Day...

to all the Uncles, Daddies, and Papas who help small people untangle their kite strings, their fishing lines and their dilemmas  in life.

a chorus Line

...performs for an audience of corn, soybeans and photographer

sky Stitchery

It seems to have been a busy day for jet traffic and one of very little wind at a certain level of the atmosphere. The morning sky was stitched with lines of contrails through the cirrus layer of clouds, holding the blue in place above the trees.

kids will do that to You

Parenting sometimes leaves you feeling pretty frazzled, my chickadees are starting to look a little tatty and worn from their parental duties. Usually dapper and sleek, they have a frumpy, frazzled aspect when they come in to the feeder on the deck.

lemon Thyme

Still life with lemon thyme and muddy fingers

Tiniest flowers ever! Wish you could smell the fragrance of the lemon thyme, it is amazingly herbal and fresh. I put it in for the contrast of  tiny variegated leaves with verbena and little petunias, but the smell is so pleasant that you have to brush the foliage when you walk by the plants on the deck.

new, new, New

Rachel and I went to look for the patch of wild daisies in the side yard a few moments ago, and found this in the freshly mowed grass! What a treat! Even if she grows up and eats all the flowers I just brought from the greenhouse (to replant the ones her sisters and cousins and aunts have eaten this spring!) We'll call her Daisy, unless she turns out to be a he.

We left her peacefully resting in the sunshine.

on with the Show

Today marks the beginning of year #3 of my adventures as a blogger. It began with a photo of Canada goose goslings, on a challenge from my very tech savvy children who wanted to "help" improve my photography skills. It has turned out to be way more than I expected! My photography is better and I hope more interesting, my writing skills are more to my satisfaction, and I have met some of the coolest, most creative and interesting friends out in the blogosphere. Thanks, Becka, Andy, Beth and Rachel for the "inspiration", and Nate, Erik and Mia for adding to my photo opps, too.

white clouds, clouds of White

Syringa reticulata   Japanese tree lilac

Clouds of blossoms and clouds of the cumulus persuasion on a Sunday afternoon in June.

lions and tigers and ...

monkeys and zebras

Part of the coolest driveway gate ever, in the middle of corn and soybean fields in rural Cottonwood County, MN

The folks who live on this farm raise exotic animals, we missed the baby giraffe this time because they take their animals to County Fairs all over the midwest during the summer season. We did see the kangaroos who didn't get to go on this week's trip.

world class Gymnast

Could you hang by your feet and get your head turned around like that just to see what the crazy lady with the camera is doing behind you? I think not.

moonrise, Sunset

Cottonwood County, MN 

 It seems like the Sun has a string attached to the Moon on full moon nights. As the Sun puts itself to bed, it pulls the Moon up into the evening sky. At the direction of Apollo and Artemis,  we mortals always have a bright orb in the heavens to keep us company.

busy Fingers

When you are 2, and it is your birthday, sometimes it is SOOO hard to wait for the cake and ice cream part of the party!

moving In

We've been landlords to a pair of violet-green swallows for several years, they favor the box on the side of the house outside the laundry room window. We are having the house painted at the moment, so I had to relocate their rental to a pole attached to the shed, about 25 feet away, with a south view. Apparently, the move is acceptable, she was busy building this morning. They are lovely neighbors.

string of Beads

Misty rain, no wind, the woodbine tendrils on the chimney turn themselves into jewelry.

awwww, Mom!

For anyone who has small children...when they are whiny or demanding or just into mischief. Finding a spot to just sit and catch your breath for a minute is heaven. Been there, done that.

 Ma and Pa Robin have fledged out 4 spot-breasted, very demanding kids in the past few days. Both parents are meeting the constant food demands at an amazing pace. She landed right above me when I was out filling birdbath, fluffed out her feathers and I swear I heard her heave a sigh and just sit for a minute and catch her breath before the Beaked Beggars discovered her whereabouts.

prairie Rose

It's a cool, cloudy day but the breezes brought a blush to the cheek of Prairie Rose.

Memorial Day 2012

An Oakleaf Cluster is awarded to those who win more than one high military honor, such as a Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross or a Purple Heart.

My father, my grandfather and my uncle are all decorated veterans. To them, their brothers in arms, our current military service people and their families, thank you.

pink Grapefruity

After 1.8" of rain in a couple of days (thanks, Ma Nature, love your gift) my pink iris has taken on the look of iced grapefruit.

shake your Tailfeathers

the dude had no intention of showing me his front view....

he was saving it for these ladies who seem bored with the whole thing.

the white One

Penstemon albidus

Love penstemons, this one and the larger shell-leaf grow in the natural prairie grass in the yard. They are marked and carefully mowed around till they have set seed. I have little "islands" of prairie wildflowers all over the place, we never look properly trimmed up in the spring.

Click on the photo and you can see the "landing strip" that white penstemon provide for the pollinators, ultraviolet drawing them right in to the pollen. The flowers don't usually have fur, but the cottonwood tree just north of us let go a blizzard of cotton and it is making everything furry looking.

i do see You

up there, peeking down the hillside at me.

pink Cheeks....

...after a shower

the Heirloom

As a new bride 95 years ago, Cora Stafford, my husband's grandmother, our daughters' great-grandmother, planted these iris at her first home in the Lake Champlain valley of New York. When the family moved to the "big farmhouse" in 1948, she took some with her to plant in her garden there. When the farm was sold several years ago, I dug some to save, these are growing next to our front door in the Black Hills of South Dakota. As those daughters moved into their own homes in Minnesota, some went there with them. For more than 90 years these iris have been growing in a family garden, some of them, miles from where they started. Cora would be so delighted to see them still blossoming 3 generations later. 

bath Time

Chickadees favor showers some days. I see them "leaf bathing" when I have the sprinkler running near the shrubbery. I turned the water on my nearly blooming peonies and new transplants, and this little dude was having a heyday with the drops flying over the top of him and the soaking tub under his feet.

furry Butterfly

The Painted Lady butterflies seem to think that allum and dame's rocket are hot stuff! They have been all over the flowers the last few days. I think of moths being the furry cousins, but these 'flies look like they are wearing a fur stole over their shoulders like an elegant lady from the 40s out for the evening.

bee Sweet

to your moms, grandmas, aunties, stepmoms, adopted moms, and honorary aunts on Mother's Day!

mary todd Lincoln

This is the second year that this robin has built her nest right outside the window of our office at school.
We are Lincoln Academy, so it was only fitting that she be dubbed Mary Todd, and he, Mr. Lincoln. She chose the tangle of wires and conduits that bring communications into the office, her previous choice is about 5 feet to her left, on the downspout. She is against a solid brick wall, under a 2 foot overhang and behind an 8' chainlink fence that protects gas meter, etc. The fiber optic guys worked around her last week and she stayed busy building. I am guessing we will have baby robins about May 15 or 16, just in time to distract 9th graders taking finals!

 From the underside you can see how much vegetation and other bits she hauled in to create a foundation to build the nest proper. At least with a roof over her head and a solid south wall she won't get washed out.

flower Birds

Known also as Cherry-bird or Cedar bird,the always elegant Cedar waxwings are notorious fruit eaters. They seem to find flowers to their taste as well. There was a flock of them in my cotoneaster hedge this morning, chatting to each other in their wheezy style and having flowers for breakfast. Favorite children's author, Thornton W. Burgess dubbed this fellow Dandy, the Cedar Waxwing in his books. A dandy bird for sure.

an admiral in King Arthur's Court

A medieval jousting tournament is taking place in the backyard this afternoon. With the sun full on rocks, trees and Adirondack chairs, the Red Admiral butterflies are going at full tilt. There are at least 4 who are claiming territory, or trying to, in about a 100 foot strip between the house and the pine trees. They sit in various sunny places and spread their wings flat out, in what I assume is an intimidation posture. Suddenly, they all leap into flight, mill around each other, dart back and forth and then go back to where they each started and pose again. They did not appreciate my being in their way when I was filling birdbaths. It is quite windy, so their choreography is a little tipsy.

the warbler Rainbow

I went out barefoot in the rain, trying not to go on my rear in the wet grass to catch the rainbow before it disappeared. I never saw the bird in the upper right corner. When I looked at my results in Photoshop, there was the bird. Zooming in, there were just enough field marks to identify it as a Yellow-rumped warbler known as  "butterbutt" to birders. Score a bonus point on that one. :o)

a shaggy dog Story

Captain Jack Sparrow needs to find a barber to turn him back in to a Schnauzer.

appleblossom Pink