You Capture - Flowers

Beth's You Capture subject this week is flowers. I'm so glad to be back participating and it's a perfect week for me to return because when I started my flower beds years ago, I had one goal. Something must be blooming at all times so all my flower shots come from my own flower beds. And, just to prove that nothing's changed, I couldn't pick out just one or two and it wasn't because the pictures are so great - it was because the flowers are:

There they are. Peonies, hardy geraniums, and weigela - probably my all-time favorites.

For more Flowers (and who can get enough flowers), visit Beth at Ishouldbefoldinglaundry and for more fun, link up!

Memorial Day Weekend

Wow! What a busy weekend it's been!

And here are some of the highlights.

Trey our five month old grandson from Louisville KY visited. He got straight squash (not mixed in cereal) for the first time and loved it so much that he was grabbing for the spoon on the way to his mouth.

His brother, Ethan and his cousin, Noah played Nintendo in the playroom in their Amish hats. They look so cute that I'm thinking we should all become Amish.

Mr. Right and a couple of his sons-in-law got to go golfing Saturday afternoon and I think they all had a good time.

While at home, the kids played a game where they threw their shoes in the air and Noah's got caught in a tree. Ethan ran in to tell the tale but forgot to put his shoes on first so he was incriminated right away. Here's Sarah retrieving the shoe. I wish I could have gotten the shot where she was looking up and all four kids were pointing at it.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a cookout at Beth and Brian's. The kids played in the sprinkler.

And ate S'mores that Mike made in the house because all the coals went out on the fire and we were out of charcoal.

And the grownups and babies kind of chilled outside in the very pleasant weather.

Everybody left today. I had a hard time getting Trey to look at me for the family good-bye picture......
But after a great deal of effort I got his attention and he looked right at me. So did Mary, Ethan, and Sarah......
I'm gonna have to give Mike the business about that one.

Jack was so cute and Grammy-loving while he was here. I think he remembers when they stayed here for those few weeks because he definitely wanted all of my attention.

All he wanted to do was sit on my lap and when Amber tried to take him, he waved bye-bye to HER. LOL Amber's Grammy loved it of course and Amber just thought it was cute. Finally he was ready to go:

We've had lots of storms in the area today.

When I saw it was going to storm here, I took a couple pictures of my unusually beautiful-this-year peonies.

Now they look more like this:

And some of the smaller ones and older blooms even look like this:

And the pond that we're going to be working on this week now has lots of water in it again. But we need rain so I have to appreciate that we got some.

Now it's time to think about getting back to my walking, my diet, and that doggone big pond.

You Capture - Reaching

I'm almost hesitant to participate this week because it's so hard to put a post in front of the post I did yesterday. I did that one because I remembered that my blog is for me and I needed to express my pain and anxiety. And I did it with a lot of trepidation (because I felt like I was just feeling sorry for myself) but Beth encouraged me and then she pointed to me and a world of love and support descended around me from so many people. Thank you to everyone who offered their shoulder, their prayers, and their support.

Now on to You Capture which I'm doing because a) it's therapeutic and b) I need to shift my focus to include everything that my son would want me to include. Because he's generous and loving like that.

I thought 'reaching' would be hard but with a little guidance from Beth who said, "think Spring", I've once again got more photos than I should but, I promise, I've eliminated dozens!

First there was the group of brilliantly colored crocuses all striving to be the first to access the sun's rays.

Then there were the two, different but the same, reaching for each other in a common endeavor to feel the sun.

With this picture I'm acknowledging that not just the flower but every part of the flower, especially the stamen, needs the sun and reaches for it to fulfill its mission.

That's all the biology for today. Now on to the daffodils. Some have to work harder than others to reach the sun.


And some dafs have to power through whatever obstacles stand in their way.

The peonies are just reaching the crest of the earth but their unmistakable color promises some real beauty in a few weeks.

Everything reaches in the Spring. Everything needs the sun. But fortunately for You Capture and me, the colors are never more vivid and glorious than in the Spring.


And all winter long these pine boughs have been stretching and reaching but now that the sun is warmer and closer, they seem to shine with new life. And that's why they got included in this post.

Now to see reaching from many other perspectives and photographed much more beautifully, visit Beth at Ishouldbefoldinglaundry and join in. It's so much fun to share your photos!