the Apogee

The maiden trip of the sprinkler out of the shed for the season, the iris needed a drink. Weird sort of stop action gig.

yipes, Stripes!

(borrowed from www.nationalgeographic.com)

zebra stripes!

 zebra stripes?

lemon yellow, plum purple and orange Orange

 bull's eye for a bee

whiskered One

Next to daffodils, pansies are my favorite spring flowers, this one had a honey sweet smell. I am sure that the deer would find it in a nanosecond and make breakfast out of it. But....if I put it in a hanging pot.....

into the Wind

I know my coastal Florida blog-friends and dwellers of the southern reaches see gulls and terns in their winter dress, but they are spring migrants for us. This crowd of ring-billed gulls was just settling down on my favorite prairie pond for a wash and a brush up. They are the first I've seen since the ice went out, and seemed to have picked up a California gull along the way somewhere.

hot Pink

This hot pink cineraria just screams LOOK AT ME!

You could see it clear across all the baby tomatoes and geraniums in the greenhouse. 

she of the cornsilk Hair

Loved the "California Surfer" blonde mane on this equine girl. She's never seen any ocean but an ocean of grass on the prairie, but she and her companions seemed content in the sun.

flashback: FANTASIA

Go back and watch Disney's "Fantasia", the segment where the animators drew to the music of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. The koi are newly back in their outdoor pond at Jolly Lane,  their languid movements are perfect for the Arabian Dance that Disney chose for them.

there was a reason That...

...the house wren didn't choose the birdhouse by the chimney! This paper wasp's nest (about the size of a ping pong ball) was decorating the living room ceiling of the birdhouse. I found it when I did the spring cleaning of the places for rent about a month ago.

it's not all Uphill

The thing that caught my little donkey friend's attention was this intrepid bike rider traveling along the gravel road. We waved to each other, (the bicyclist and I) he headed east and I went west.

hey! you're no Meadowlark!

First day of Spring, I went on a short birding jaunt out to the prairie grasslands east of town, looking for the first of the year western meadowlarks. I did find one, but I also found this little guy as well. He was with his miniature horse buddies hanging out in a road side pasture. What a charmer!

...the vernal Equnox 3.20.10

 

"....When daisies pied and violets blue

   And lady-smocks all silver-white

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue

   Do paint the meadows with delight..."

 

Spring 

from Love's Labors Lost  

Wm. Shakespeare

 

happy Birthday!!!

H

Happy Birthday, RAS! Have a super day, kiddo!

blue on Blue

Finally, there he was! Can you see him? A piece of a the sky come to Earth in the top of the cottonwood tree by the side yard! They have been in the neighborhood for a week, but this guy was checking out my birdhouses and had been in my birdbath. Woohoo!

wearin' of the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
Irish blessing 

LeeRae's Mosaic

1

 ice covered puddle + Converse sneaker + fun-loving teenager = cool mosaic

gnomes, go Home!

Hokey garden art like gnomes and pink flamingoes make my husband crazy. So, of course, I tuck one in somewhere (in a very obvious place) in the yard every spring to get a reaction out of him. He knows full well what I am doing and resists the urge to say anything at all to make me crazy, pretends that he doesn't notice it. Total exercise in futility on my part, but some day...I WILL WIN. 

This branch stub on one of our big pine trees was just begging for some embellishment, so I obliged the "tree spirit" with a Sharpie I had in my shirt pocket. It does not face the house, so I am waiting for him to discover it and NOT comment. We shall see if I get the satisfaction of a reaction, or if I have to go find something more obnoxious yet, the possibilities are limitless.

daylight savings time, spring Ahead !

T

The daylily sundial says it is 10:05 AM today, even if your body is still saying, "noooo, it's only 9:05, let me sleep!"

;o)

tulip "Heart's Delight"

Here's a Delight for the soul, March 13, my Heart's Delight tulips have poked through the ground and are basking in the sun. I took the picture and immediately put fencing around them. You can best believe that if I found them, so will my local deer neighbors.

This is what they will look like sometime in April. I borrowed the picture from Van Bloem Gardens catalog, I'll have my own soon enough. Heart's Delight opens like a waterlily flower in full sun and has funky maroon and green leaves.

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Last Friday the teachers all had in-service, we paraprofessionals didn't, so I went off looking for ducks to take pictures of at Canyon Lake (Rapid City, SD). Forgot the ducks immediately as one of this pair flew over my car, also headed for the lake. I resisted the urge to run the red light in front of me and follow it. I know this snag was a favorite perch last winter, so I went looking and there they were! OMG! There was a guy driving a local Internet/Cable/Phone company truck who followed me in to the parking lot, also armed with camera and a longer lens than my small telephoto. We had a great time just admiring and taking what pictures we could, because, once again, we were in the fog. I wasn't playing hooky, but he was. I promised not to rat him out. :o)

I was very flattered when our webmaster asked to use the photo as part of the header for our Rapid City Academies website, we are the EAGLES! How cool is that for a chance encounter? Not ready for prime time (National Geographic), but what a nice compliment, thank you.