Favourite summer "stumble-upons"
Monday, September 6, 2010 At the end of this Labour Day weekend, I'm reminiscing about small surprises that delighted me when I turned the corner during daily walks with Piper this summer. Sweeter because unexpected. (And they partly make up for the small harvests from my two gardens.)
Soft, pink-tinged, frilly petals in a corner bulge garden. I adore poppies. Thank you, caring neighbours, who tend Vancouver's Green Street gardens.
Breaking free: a chain link fence can't contain the glorious ruffles, colour and scent of these roses.
Peach on blue: Hollyhocks, part of a mixed perennial oasis in a barren industrial zone.
A deep purple mop-top surveys the traffic circle
Enthusiastic Echinops - three tiny flowers seem to be saying "pick me, pick me!"
Symmetry and synchrony: bees on Echinacea
A meditative dragonfly in the kitchen garden
Good things come in three's: Double wedding ring quilt (#1) on a clothesline (#2) at the Back Porch (#3)
The setting sun's reflection on a window creates a gold shimmer on False Creek's silver
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Reader Comments (8)
Lovely.
Thank you, Lucy, for visiting. I enjoyed these in relative solitude and it's lovely to share the moments with kindred spirits.
Hope all is well with you. I know you have a big move coming up very soon. I will check in with you.
Gorgeous flowers!!
Thank you, meemsnyc. I often bemoan my small garden but one of its advantages is it gives me time to explore and enjoy nature beyond the balcony.
Lovely photos Elaine! I particularly like the echinops for their cornflower blue, and the focus you've acheived there is special. I like the idea of the roses escaping too.
Thank you, Arwen. Each moment was brief but special. I'm so glad I've developed the habit of carrying my camera everywhere as one never knows what's beyond the next corner. I also recommend taking detours from the usual path (first photo) and turning around to see what's behind you (last photo).
What a stunning set of pictures Elaine. I do admire your ability to isolate flowers from distracting backgrounds by being choosy about the angle you take your photo from. I think your tactic of carrying your camera with you constantly is really paying off.
I must have missed the quilt photo on your flickr stream - love that little domestic note among all the flowers.
Hello, Sophie and thank you for your comment. I do have to give the credit to my beloved 50 mm lens. It allows me to choose a very shallow depth of field -- or course you know this having the same lens :-). It doesn't always work they way I imagine in my mind's eye, though, I discard a lot of images with busy backgrounds.
Seeing the quilt was one of many lovely surprises at "The Back Porch", one of the stops on the Slow Food Cycle Tour. I've always dreamed of making a quilt (haven't yet) and Double Wedding Wing is on of my favourite traditional patchwork patterns.