Photos, videos and docs of Janet Brien, with the keywords: "bud"

Pictures for Pam, Day 203: Droplet-Covered Purple Bud

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 03:11:57 +0000

(+1 inset!) (I've produced another War & Peace tome but I wanted to make sure I had it all written down for myself! Hopefully you'll find it interesting!)

The title of this blog could be: "Janet and Steve learn more about RV reservations and reality checks!" Heh…

Last night we started making reservations for our next adventure! My-oh-my…how quickly itineraries change the moment you try to book a spot for a favored destination!

Our PLAN was to drive from our home near Medford, Oregon, up to Sun River, Oregon, and spend 4-5 nights. Then we'd drive over to John Day Fossil Beds area for a few days. Then over to Bend, Oregon for another few days and finally down to Diamond Lake for our last destination before heading home. *insert hysterical laughter* Yeah, right.

We noticed there might be a slight problem when we couldn't even get the first place booked as we hoped. Then we found out that our second destination, John Day, doesn't even HAVE campgrounds with electricity/water hookups! Third place: nothing available in Bend. Last place: there was so much winter and spring storm damage that Diamond lake is totally shut down until they get it cleaned up! *insert more insane laughter*

Steve wondered if we'd be forced to stay home all summer but I suggested we throw our plans out the window and start over with the attitude of a dandelion seed parachute...up into the air and where we drifted, we didn't know!

We approached our next trip in a different way...which RV-camper-friendly state parks were within three hours of us and had at least three nights available? After some hunting we found one! It was actually at the original place we looked at but instead of asking for five nights, we tried for three and found a spot, hooray!

Spot number two was found at a high-desert lake campground we'd never heard of before: Cove Palisades State Park We were delighted by its beauty and unique rock formations and look forward to spending time there!

We found another place to camp a few hours away in the northwest corner of Oregon at LL Stubb State Park Yet another park we'd never heard of, we realized how little we actually know about our state parks. What we ARE learning is that our favorite camping experiences have all involved state parks so we were confident this popular park would delight us as much as the others have.

The next place we found threw us a curve ball. There were lots of days available at Detroit Lake but we couldn't go directly from LL Stubb because there was a gap of two days.

Oh those two DAYS! ARGH!! They cost us hours of frustration and fruitless searching. Our nerves frayed but held as we worked together on this challenge. We wondered why that particular weekend was such a problem. I finally figured it out. The last day of school for K-12 would be the previous Friday. Logic shakes it out: that weekend and the following week would be when parents got ready for their summer get-aways with the kids, who would be out of school and available to help get ready too. The crazy weekend we couldn't find any lodging was likely booked up many months ago by wise and experienced parents who knew the drill, unlike us newbies! Oh well, live and learn.

With that in mind we looked for lodging outside state parks and finally found two nights at a place near Tillamook, which is actually on the coast! Only an hour's drive from our last destination, we were happy to learn about all of the wonderful hiking and biking available there...and I discovered a CHEESERY there too! Oooooo...we'll definitely be picking up some specialty brie from Blue Heron during our stay! HUZZAH!

A bit more than two hour's drive will take us to Detroit Lake State Park for our last stay and it promises to be a very nice place to spend a few days. We might even try out fishing! :)

Finally we'll drive south and spend a night at the first campground of our trip so we don't have to drive five hours to get home. Driving a 52-foot truck and trailer is not the most relaxing pastime and even though Steve is more and more comfortable driving our rig, it's still a serious responsibility. It's stressful, no two ways about it, and that includes being a passenger. We're relaxed about it but driving days are exhausting. We don't like to drive more than three hours if we can help it. As expected, it's easier to go longer distances as time goes by, and we'll need to get used to that, especially if we want to travel beyond Oregon!

We ended up spending hours last night working on our travel plans and today we were finally finished at about 3pm after beginning at about 9:30! It's a LOT of work to plan a trip!! After we finished, Steve opted for a cup of coffee and I dove into bed for a nap! We're so happy our next trip is planned, but we also know that if we want to try to avoid the problems we ran into, we'll need to begin our trip after this one sooner rather than later! SHEESH!

With all my time taken up with our travel plans, house work and so forth, I haven't had time to process any new pictures but happily I have a bunch that are already done so I'll pick a few to share!

Today's main picture is a droplet-covered flower bud I found in the meadow outside our RV when we stayed at the campground near Jedediah Smith State Park. There were so many lovely flowers that I took pictures until the rain forced me inside. The shocking truth is that the very next day they mowed down the entire meadow. Every flower that I photographed there was destroyed, including this one. So I'm very happy to share this picture because at least this beauty will live forever in an image. :)

I'm also sharing a picture I took of a wild Azalea I saw at Stout Grove. It was amazing to see these flowers everywhere. In fact, there were wild Azaleas and Rhododendrons all up and down the coast that we couldn't help seeing as we drove. Plenty were planted in gardens but we saw many thousands of wild ones too. What a treat.

Pam, I hope that all is well where you live...I've been reading about the crazy tornadoes in your neck of the woods and I hope that you and folks you know around there are all escaping the damage. Oh, and thank you for the lovely comments...I'm not at all surprised to learn that your caravans needed work too. It's a common theme, but I'm glad you guys were able to get yours ship-shape too! *BIG HUGS*

Explored on 5/31/19; highest placement, #3.

Pictures for Pam, Day 152: Mule Ears

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 01:51:49 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

(+7 insets!)

This morning when I got up I was amazed to find that it wasn’t raining! For the past couple of weeks we’ve had so much rain that the nearby Rogue River has flooded in some places. Thankfully we are on high ground but that gives you an idea of how much water we’ve been getting in this area. We’ll have a respite until this evening and then the faucet will turn on again for another week. I have to say that it’s really nice to have a normal spring. It’s supposed to be like this instead of the years of drought that plagued us.

The poison oak rash that I got from my trek up the hill the other day is finally starting to calm down. However, I was exasperated to discover a patch on one of my knees! Is there no escape from this wretched stuff?! I forgot to bring my knee pads when I went up on the hill and I must have knelt on some poison oak, crushing it enough that the oil soaked through my pants and onto my knee. Ridiculous!

Poison oak is bad but there is something here which is much more dangerous: ticks that carry Lyme disease. In fact, the previous owner was bitten by a tick here and he contracted this awful malady. It's no laughing matter.

That's why, when I got back from my sojourn up the hillside, I entered the kitchen where Steve was starting our lunch and proceeded to fling my clothes everywhere! Once I was in the altogether, I turned slowly so Steve could check for ticks. After all, I knew better than to chance it. I'd been basically rolling around in the bushes, laying on the ground and brushing against all types of vegetation. The odds of having a tick on me were about as 100% as possible. And yep…GIVE THAT GIRL A KEWPIE DOLL. A disgusting, nasty, creepy tick was spotted on my calf and already trying to take hold, the confounded stinker! Steve yanked it off me and washed it down the sink while I ran upstairs to toss all my clothes in the hamper. They would be certainly covered with poison oak oils from the rampant budding growth all over the hillside.

Later that day I went to wash something in the kitchen sink and what did I find waving it's graspy-grippy legs at me with the hopes to continue its attempt to suck my blood? That icky thing had crawled all the way up out of the drain and up the side of the sink as if drowning in scalding water was nothing! Glaring at the nasty creature, I grabbed it and seethed, "Oh, so you want to play the Flat Game then? Ok, let's go!" Squishing it between thumbnail and the counter, the tick was soon two-dimensional and moved no more. "I win." This time when I washed it down the drain it STAYED. Foul creature.

And now, something beautiful! Today I'm featuring the gorgeous Mule Ear flower! This stunning perennial fills large areas of our hillside with thick clumps of 4-7" blossoms which rise out of large, fuzzy green leaves that are reminiscent of its namesake, a mule's ears. I was overjoyed to see that after the wildfire razed our hillside, these flowers have come back more plentiful than ever. They love direct sunlight so without the trees and bushes obscuring the sun, they have really taken off, hooray! I couldn't be happier with Mother Nature's excellent choice in landscaping. :) Along with the main image, I'm sharing three others as insets plus a bunch of archive images from the past. Aren't they just glorious?! I hope you enjoy the show.

My dear Pam, don't these flowers look a lot like your False Sunnies? What better, then, to look for than our favorite happy-go-lucky golden blossom?! I decided on one that is adorned with a Monarch feasting on its nectar! Such a perfect pair. Both so lovely. I envy you so much for getting pictures of these butterflies. I've only seen them laughing at me as they fly around me blowing raspberries before flying away. Rude. Well, some day I hope to add one to my collection of wild-caught butterfly images! (Yes, I do have some really nice pictures of them, but taking pictures of butterflies in a captive exhibit is not the same as being outside and getting a hot shot like you've gotten!) ALL MY BEST!! MANY HUGS!!!

Explored on 4/11/19, highest placement, #1.

Pictures for Pam, Day 151: Henderson's Fawn Lilly

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 02:19:00 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

(+9 insets!)

I've been having a lot of fun working on the pictures I took up on our hillside the other day. When I went up there, the one reason that got me to make the trek was the hope to find Henderson's Fawn Lilies. As I had mentioned, these outrageous beauties are fairly small and feature blossoms that are about three inches at their widest point. Their petals range in color from nearly white with just a hint of lavender to a rich, shaded purple. Every one has its own unique appearance because the flowers open with the petals sweeping up and back. They are one of the most elegant wildflowers I've ever photographed and it will always amaze me that they grow in profusion on our property!

The challenging aspect of this flower is that they like to grow very low to the ground with their gorgeous faces positioned downwards. If you hope to do this flower justice, you must take your pictures from ground level so you can aim up and capture their breathtaking countenance.

This is when an avid fan must flop on the ground, contort in strange shapes and occasionally appear to be balancing on one's head to get a good shot. I'm used to these shenanigans of course, but this flower really makes me work for nice angles!

My hillside photography had me rolling around in the plants and twisting in strange shapes to get my pictures. And, when I'm focused on my photography I'm not paying attention to things that I ought to. Like poison oak, for instance. Did you know that our hillside is infested with this stuff? Right now it's exploding into growth and every one of the vine-like canes is covered with urushiol oil—that's the stuff that causes us to break out in a rash if we come into contact with it. At one point something brushed my eyelid and drew along the crease before I could pull away. I looked to see what it was. How nice...a poison oak cane. I rubbed my eyelid with a wet finger and promptly got back to my photography.

When I got back to the house I wisely changed my clothes, treating them as if they were radioactive. I was sure they were covered in poison oak oil but didn't think any of it had touched my skin. Well, other than my eyelid...and anyway, I rubbed it off, right? Yeah. That's right. NOT. At about 2am the next night I was awakened to itching. My eyelid was so ITCHY! In a sleepy stupor I wondered what that was all about. And lots of spots on my left hand were itchy too. As a professional recipient of poison oak over the years it didn't take long to sink in. Oh no. Poison oak.

Looking in the mirror, I could see that my eyelid was swollen and my hand was covered in welts. *whimper* I got a wet paper towel, heated it in the microwave and gently pressed it on my itchy spots. The heat releases the antihistamines that cause the itching and instantly stop the maddening urge to scratch off your skin all the way to the bone. Ahhhh...the moist heat gave me immediate relief and I went back to bed.

So, I did pay a price to get my pictures but I am fine with it. The rash will go away in a week or so and all will be well!

Today's main image appears to be a windswept model, her tresses blowing in the gale! Isn't she magnificent? The first two insets were also taken on the hillside the other day and give you other views of the colors and petal arrangements. The nearly white one I call my Cinderella...she looks ready for a ball, dressed in her finest!

I have also included lots of others that I captured in years past. I hope you enjoy them and can see why I am so very enchanted by this stunning flower!

Pam, I did a search for "lily" on your photo stream and found many pictures of the incredible orange day lilies that grow so nicely for you. I picked your Orange Day Lily as my choice today...what rich, gorgeous orange tones they have. Your picture is just perfect and does that flower proud! Thank you for sharing it with us, I adore lilies of all kinds and these are really lovely. Sending big hugs from southern Oregon!!

Explored on 4/10/19, highest placement, #3.

Pictures for Pam, Day 149: Scarlet Fritillary Blossom

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 01:13:21 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

(+6 insets!)

My goodness but the trees were brimming with singing birdies this morning! Twitter, tweet, beep, cheep, peep, trill, call! And in the distance, HONK-HONKs from Canada Geese and CAW-CAW from crows and ravens, and the cry of Red-Tailed Hawks were heard over the hills. My my. All was covered with raindrops from last night and dew coated everything else. The air wasn't too cold and overhead the storm clouds were drifting in diaphanous wisps towards us. It will rain soon but I got my walk in before the drops began to fall.

Yesterday I mentioned that I made some wonderful discoveries up on the hillside…and indeed I did! But first, a short story…

All the way back in March of 2012, I was exploring our ridgeline for flowers and plants that don't grow in our meadows or lower forest. I found it fascinating to discover that our 26 acres had a microcosm of its own. Our hill rises steeply to the ridge and the difference in elevation between the land down by the front gate and at the top of the ridge is quite a lot, and it's enough that some plants are found in only some places.

As I walked along, I noticed an unusual stalk of flower buds growing at the side of the trail. I kept an eye on them over the next couple of weeks and took pictures when it appeared they would be opening soon. Late one afternoon I saw that finally it was about ready and one petal had curled back. Enough to confirm that it was a Scarlet Fritillary! I was so excited but I'd have to wait until the next day before it was completely open.

The next morning I fairly raced up the hill and arrived at...the place the flower USED to be. *sagging shoulders* Something had come by and eaten the whole plant, leaves and all. I was so disappointed. Every year after that I checked to see if another flower had popped up but no, I didn't find any more. Sad Janet is sad.

Wind the clock forward to yesterday...

I went up the hill on my search for trees that might work for the Saturday Self-Challenge. I won't lie. I really wasn't in the mood to climb up there. However, I knew it would be a good idea to see how the hillside was recovering from the wildfire that swept up our hill a couple of years ago. Were there flowers everywhere? I convinced myself to go and up I went.

Immediately I was rewarded by flowers everywhere! The hillside was dotted with purple from Henderson's Shooting Stars. Then I saw a flash of yellow. "OH!!" I exclaimed. "MULE EARS!!" The outrageous golden blossoms which look like miniature sunflowers were growing in thick clumps all over the place...WHAT A SHOW! They are so stunning and I lost myself taking pictures of these showy flowers. (Sorry, no pictures to show today! They want their own spotlight!)

Then I began hunting for Henderson's Fawn Lillies, our most elegant blossoms and a most treasured flower to me. Small and growing low to the ground, these pastel lavender flowers will stop your heart with their incredible beauty. Scanning as I climbed, I suddenly burst out with, "THERE!" I spotted one nestled in some grass...and then another! Here and there, as I rose to the top of the hill, I found lots of the little Cinderellas and did my best contortions to get images from down low so their lovely faces could be seen. How lucky we are to have such a breathtaking flower growing wild here! (Sorry, no pictures of them today either! They refuse to leave the dressing room unless they get first billing!)

At the top of the hill I stared up at the dead trunk and branches of my majestic Madrone friend and then back down at the incredible vibrant growth—much taller than me now—circling its base. This tree had burned in our wildfire and broke my heart because I thought it had died. It had not. Seeing it recovering and growing larger each season eases my pain of its loss and instead fills me with joy to see it doing so well.

Skirting the Madrone, a flash of red just a few feet away stopped me in my tracks.

I screamed in excitement, "A SCARLET FRITILLARY!!!" I could hardly believe my eyes. Two buds, just about to open! I looked past them and...AN OPEN ONE WITH A BUD! And...ANOTHER FLOWER AND BUD!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I was so excited I hardly knew what to do with myself. Oh yeah...TAKE PICTURES!!!! I forgot about trees. I forgot about the Madrone. I forgot about the recovering hillside and I forgot about the fire. All I saw were those amazing flowers. They are so incredible!!

At some point I was satisfied and decided to walk over to one of the fence lines and then take some pictures of trees on the way back. I kept my eyes open for more Fritillaries and I found three more! In fact, my main picture is one of them and the insets feature the others! (I would discover later that all of the flowers near the Madrone had been damaged by insects. The flowers I'm sharing today were all perfect!

I hope you enjoy my triumphant finds—I'm so delighted that I found them! In fact, I feel like these special flowers were a reward for going up on the hill when I wasn't in the mood. And for that matter, the entire floral show was such a great experience for me...I'm happy that I made the effort and listened to the voice in my head that told me I really did need to go up there. :)

Pamy, since these flowers are so red and lovely, I did a search on your stream for "Red" and found your gorgeous Amaryllis Collage! Oh my, aren't they just incredible!! Your pictures are fantastic and perfect, how wonderful that you had a plant for the holidays! I am hoping that you are doing well on this very rainy day! I'm thinking of you and wish that we could have been there together to discover those lovely flowers together! *BIG HUGS*

Explored on 4/8/19, highest placement, #1.

Pictures for Pam, Day 127: SSC: Signs of Spring!

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 23:15:36 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

(+11 insets!)

Today is simply gorgeous! It might as well be March 20 because it couldn't be a more classic spring day. Sunny, warm, the rich smells of plants and earth perfuming the air, birds twittering in all the trees. We've filled our bird and suet feeders and the back and forth of the birds to their nests is constant and a great source of enjoyment whenever we look out the back window. We've seen Oregon Juncos, Acorn Woodpeckers, Pewees, California and Spotted Towees, Scrub and Stellar's Jays...still waiting on many types that we commonly see. The neighborhood is still learning about the new food source, at which time the feeders will be very busy all day!

The only thing that tells me that spring hasn't truly arrived yet is the lack of spring flowers. I have been creeping all over the meadows, forests and hillside, and so far as I can tell, there are only six species in bloom at this point: Whitlow Spring Grass, Saxifrage, Buttercups, Bird's Eye Speedwell and two new finds: Redstem Storksbill and Spring Sandwort. I can't even include our daffodils because they are still in bud though they may begin to open in the next few days. It is definitely the latest spring in all the years we've lived here—about 15 years now.

Saturday Self-Challenge has arrived, and with it, the day's topic: Signs of Spring! I thought about driving around and looking for newborn farm animals but decided to just stay on the property for the most part. I did ride my bike around our rural block yesterday to confirm that it's just too early for most flowers right now, and it's true. I found exactly ONE daffodil in bloom that I was able to photograph. Other than that, the native flora is only beginning to prepare for the yearly extravaganza.

I enjoyed looking for different flowers and all of them are harbingers of spring. I didn't find any Buttercups or Saxifrage for my presentation but the flowers I did find were very nice subjects. When I could, I photographed them in bud, though some had glorious blossoms that rivaled flowers ten times their size!

Today's main picture is a Redstem Storksbill flower and bud and though the face of this flower is quite beautiful, the back is truly stunning with wonderful hairy and striated, variegated details that shine luminously. The finished image just had to be my main picture! I hope that you enjoy all of the images I've added as insets. What a delightful SSC challenge this was!

Pam, I wanted to find a picture on your stream that signified spring, and found this breathtaking and artistic crocus in a bubble with water reflection. It's so pretty and makes me so happy that you have posted these lovely creations for all of us to enjoy and be inspired by! Thank you! I do hope that today is better than the last few...I'm sending hugs your way my dear! :)

Explored on 3/17/19, highest placement, #1.

357/366: Bearded Iris with Spiral

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:56:12 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

Bearded Iris usually blooms from late April through early June in southern Oregon, so when Steve and I visited the Harry & David public garden in April, their lovely bed of iris was just showing off the first blossoms, with most were still in bud. I loved the way these petals looked like spirals.

317/366: Garlic Marathon 9/9--Beautiful Garlic Flower

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 04:41:43 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

Here is the garlic flower in full bloom, its florets opening to the warm sunshine above. Down below among the blades of drying grass lays the discarded bud covering, gone but not forgotten. Thank you for visiting my pictures and watching this show!

316/366: Garlic Marathon 8/9--Tip the Hat

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 03:55:35 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

And finally, with the florets now spreading out and opening up, this bud covering will fall off with the next stiff breeze. It was a great experience taking pictures from start to finish, and something I'd always wanted to do!

315/366: Garlic Marathon 7/9--Jaunty Hat

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sun, 13 Nov 2016 03:46:37 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

It won't be too long before this cap falls off, but right now these garlic florets are giving this cap a decidedly jaunty appearance as they grow larger and pop out from under the covering!

314/366: Garlic Marathon 6/9--Pointed Hat

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 04:00:33 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

Here is another view of the cap as it's becoming unseated. By taking a picture from this angle, the cap appears vertical, but it's actually at an angle (look at the previous image).

313/366: Garlic Marathon 5/9--The Cap is Unseated

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 05:11:40 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

The bud covering is slowly losing its grip on the florets which are straining for their first peek at the great big world!

312/366: Garlic Marathon 4/9--The Cap Loosens

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 04:16:54 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

The cap is now beginning to lose its grip as the two halves of the covering is pulled apart!

311/366: Garlic Marathon 3/9--Opening the Drapes

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 04:06:50 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

It's such fun to watch the bud covering split more and more, exposing the ever-growing florets inside. Here the covering looks like curtains pulled back!

310/366: Garlic Marathon 2/9--Split Bud Cover

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 02:59:34 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

I looked at the garlic buds every day and took pictures as I saw interesting progress. Here the bud covering has split under the strain from the growing florets inside.

309/366: Garlic Marathon 1/9--X Marks the Spot!

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 04:54:14 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

We have a few garlic flowers in our front yard that were planted before we moved here and I love them! They make wonderful photography subjects and in 2012 I decided to take pictures of the buds as they grew and finally bloomed. There are 9 pictures in all, so I will post one each day with the hopes that you don't get too bored by the same subject. Here is the first one, which shows a pair of stalks that form an X!

308/366: Tiny Whitlow Grass Flower Buds

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 05:00:51 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

One of the tiniest flowers that I know of grows all over our property, and it's also the first flower of spring. It's called Spring Whitlow Grass, and its blossoms are only about 1/4" in diameter! Here are what the budding flowers look like. So tiny you can hardly see them, and yet, with a macro lens, I can show you their elegant perfection as they strain to rise above the moss around them.

293/366: Look at All That Fuzz!

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 03:58:00 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

Did you know that many flower buds, perhaps as many as half, are covered with fuzz? I will toss a guess that it helps to protect the flower inside from insect attacks, but it may also protect the tender bud from rain accummulating into large droplets which might sit for hours and cause deteriation. In any event, I love the "hairy" appearance! This is a rose bud preparing to open in July, 2012.

292/366: Alien or Dandelion Bud? [+1 in a note]

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 04:06:13 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

[+1 in a note above]

I adore shallow depth of field images of flower buds. To me, they look like strange, alien eyes or an alien with a round mouth of teeth. The textures and details of a bud are so surprising because they reveal so much more than can usually be seen with the naked eye. I liked this particular bud enough that I created two different crops: this one, and a vertical. If you roll over the upper right corner of this image, you will see the other version. Which do you like better? (That is, if you like either of them! :D)

258/366: Seed Pod on Magnolia Grandiflora

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 03:13:31 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

Last Fall, Steve and I joined our local photography club for a fall colors outing. We went to nearby Ashland's Lithia Park and had a wonderful time wandering around and taking pictures.

I was very surprised when I found what I could only imagine was a budding flower on a tree that looked just like a Madrone to me. However, Madrone's don't have flowers like that, so I am clueless as to what this tree is. To further confuse matters, this picture was taken in October, and that's not normally the time for trees to flower from what I know.

The mystery has been solved by one of our resident experts on ipernity, none other than Fizgig! Thank you for the identification and letting me know that this is a SEED POD! It all makes sense as it was developing at the end of the year! A big thanks also to Pam J for doing some research for me! It's so nice to finally know what this interesting this is!! :D

247/366: Lucky Timing!

nobody@ipernity.com (Janet Brien) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 03:40:29 +0000

Janet Brien has posted:

I admit it. I'm a poppy stalker. Once I discovered there was a fun game to play with them, I became a junkie! I'd pop out the house just as the sun was cresting our hill. Out into the garden I would creep and peer at all of the poppies that were opening. The game: see if you can find a poppy that hadn't yet dropped its bud case! This is actually more challenging than you might think. The buds break out of those cases in the matter of moments sometimes and the case splits open and falls to the ground.

This is one of the coolest shots I've captured! Within a minute the case fell off, so I really had some lucky timing!! :D

Explored on September 6, 2016. Highest placement, #9.