Closeups

I got up close and personal with the flowers blooming on the retaining wall this morning. But first I mowed the lawn and I did it all in one go rather than taking a break between the front and the back yards. That may have been a mistake but when I went around the side of the house I was happy to see that one of the poppy buds had opened. I just love the orange petals and the deep purple center. I love the fuzzy green buds too.

The first closeup I took was the French iris. I'm taking these so that I can print them out and use them as painting subjects or inspiration.

The yellow iris is still opening flowers. I really like the yellow ones.

Looking at my purple irises I see that they're really blue violet, not the true purple of the ones that the guy on the corner has.

And then there's the Blue Star flowers. I admit that they're pretty and their periwinkle color has some appeal but I sure wish they were red or orange or yellow.

The Stella d'Oro lilies are sending up buds. They're on such thin stalks that I'm amazed that they stay upright when the flowers bloom.

My assistant and I enjoyed watching the squirrel's antics this morning on the cob corn. I just love the way they hang from their back feet while using their front feet to hold a kernel.

 

We also liked seeing this tiny baby bunny hop across the patio. We named it Flash. I was lucky to snap this picture just before it dashed behind the birdseed cans.

I didn't do much art-ing today. Just a few pages in 20 Ways to Draw a Tree--a seed head, a moth, a caterpillar, a (terrible) peacock feather, a dandelion, and a thistle. I get such pleasure from drawing these things with just a pen. I know it's not as interesting as a 10-Steps flower or a chibi but I sure like being able to draw them.

It cooled off today, only got up to 79 with a cool breeze, which led me to mow the lawn. It needed it. I was going to wait until Tuesday when it's supposed to be even cooler but I decided to just do it. Thank god for Gatorade.

I went to Home Depot looking to buy more coleus to replace the ones that got dug up but they were out. I was resigned to having to go to the garden center which I was sure would be mobbed but on the way I passed a hardware store with a parking lot greenhouse so I stopped. Score! They had what I wanted, on sale even, and I was saved from battling the crowd at the garden center. Now hopefully the squirrels will stop digging in the pots so that the plants survive.

--Barbara