Look Over Here

Wow!  That has to be one of the most beautiful yucca blossoms I've ever seen!  And they don't normally nestle into the leaves like that one.  I think that with all those beautiful blossoms it was just too heavy for the plant to lift it into the air.  Very nice indeed.

Hold Onto Your Hat

We are going to the cactus garden at the Extension Service in Grand Junction CO and it's very windy.  If you are wearing open-toed shoes, use exteme caution.  And behave yourself because they have video camera monitoring.  And I'll warn you in advance that I have no idea what most of these plants are.  I'm too busy with my camers to make notes from the little posted signs.

Oh, look at this pretty little beauty.  The cactus is all in a cluster and the thorns appear to be minimal but I'm not getting close enough to check it out.  I can easily admire that beautiful blossom from here.  It looks like the blossoms are each taking a turn to open so we can return in a week and see the others.

Let's move on.

Did You Sing This Song?

I may have mentioned that I'm spending a lot of time creating an album of "My Story."  I've searched through thousands of photos and scanned quite a number.  I'm taking a Digital Scrapbooking class to give me some guidelines and keep me focused and am making good progress.  Although this isn't typical of my pages, it's a sort of fun one so I thought I'd post it here.  I'm really amazed at how long it took me to realize that the lyrics were "real" words that actually made sense.

This is another design inspired by a card I saw in a magazine.  I die cut the label but had to cut the matt by hand.  The leaves and butterfly pieces were also die cut.  I added flowers that weren't in the original design because I thought that butterfly should have something to eat.  I hand-cut a slit for the dark red flag and added a button on top.  I thought the butterfly was a little too plain so I added ink dots and lines.  The text is stamped and I rounded three corners.

Maybe it needed a smaller butterfly.  I couldn't decide.

Sun Drop

Happy Memorial Day - and thanks to all the military personnel who have sacrificed so much for our country.  Many in my extended family have served but fortunately have come home safely.  What a blessing.

This is another trip to my garden and, to be specific, the "native section.  Along with the dwarf broom comes this Sun Drop, a type of evening primrose if I'm not mistaken.  It grows along the perimeter of the raised bed while the primrose covers the top.  Rather a nice combination but I have to admit I really didn't plan it.  Sometimes Mother Nature knows best.

Little Bunny

A ceramic bunny is the best kind to have in the yard because they don't eat anything.  I can always count on this dwarf broom to be covered with little yellow flowers this time of year and since it's in the "native" family, it doesn't take much care - my kind of gardening.  And see that rock in the lower left corner?  It's filled with fossilized snails.  That's pretty cool, too.

Iris In Bloom

The iris are always outstanding at this time of year and I'm seeing them in all colors all over town.  I happened to snap this one in my own garden just after it rained.  Okay, I lied; it was just after the sprinklers were on.  I "enhanced" it a bit in Photoshop Elements to get the look I was after and this was pretty close.  They don't last a long time but they surely are pretty while they do.  I hope you're seeing some, too.