CHARLESTON REVISITED

I didn't get any photos taken today. My morning was spent taking Willie, my cat, to her first vet visit. First, as in having been with us........can't say about her past since she was a stray. The ride up she let us know she was definitely unhappy, but really wasn't as bad as I'd expected. She has Siamese in her and she vocalizes a LOT.....and can be very LOUD at times. And once at the vet, well, it was all over before it could register with her that she should be acting badly.....given her usual character. Once home it took her most of the day to feel back to her normal, lazy and independent self. She still acting 'whinny'.

And we were off visiting friends in the afternoon and I hadn't brought my camera......All my excuses........... So, here we are raiding my files for some photos you haven't seen before. These were taken on the day of the endless sea gull shots.....or as Nancy so nicely calls them, Jonathan Livingstone Seagulls. The top photo is of the western marina with the cute little cottages in the background. The lower shot is of the waterway leading into the main marina from Coos Bay itself. Well, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

THE NEW TRIPOD

For these shots I was trying out my new tripod......one that finally holds my camera steady and secure. I really like it a lot and am anxious to try out all kinds of new things.
This first photo was taken from out deck looking out towards Battlerock and beyond. Those big ole' thunder-bumpers were working their way inland, but seeing the patch of blue sky was such a treat. We had a lot of short down-pours and maybe more tomorrow. I can tell how much those trees have grown too. Pretty soon they'll be blocking our view, but that'll just have to happen, I guess. That's a pretty steep drop down to the canyon, and many of the distant trees are not on our property.

This second shot was of a lily that had broken off the main stem. I found it after it had lain on the counter for a number of hours. It was still closed and I thought I probably should just throw it away, but instead put it in a small vase of water. After placing the vase in my kitchen window, I was so surprised to see it fully open about 2 to 3 hours later! Amazing!! Aside from that, I'm pretty pleased with the tripod. Look how clear and crisp the inner workings on the lily are. (Can you tell that I'm lacking in botanical vocabulary?)

SPRING BOUQUET

I received a beautiful spring bouquet recently and thought I'd share some of it with you. This first one is such a vibrant and alive yellow!! And one of the many benefits of photography, I'm finding, is the many little close-up details I really see now.....like the inner workings of this lily. Or other times, the fine detail and intricacy of a birds feather.....just amazing.

This second photo is a sweet little pink pom-pom something daisy. What I really like about this particular shot is that rich blue off to the left! I can almost feel it!! I just realized that this is Easter week as well as the on-coming march of all the beautiful spring blooms. I would think that in another week or two....or three, we'll be seeing all the aromatic wild azaleas up in the Langlois area of Hwy. 101. Well.....maybe the rhoddys come first. Which ever comes first they all bring a joy and welcome to the senses.

LAST GULL, I PROMISE!!

OK....just one more, and the last gull photo for a while! I don't ordinarily do bird photos unless they stand or fly perfectly still for me (don't try to figure that one out). And there are so many other photographers that do that so well. But this one I thought looked fairly sharp.....maybe 'crisp' is the better word. That slice of white outlining it's wing and showing how thin it is, is something I like the look of.

This other shot is one I took recently of Griff's down at the dock. For those of you who don't know, in another week you can purchase some of my greeting cards at Griff's. So, if you're down there, check them out. Also, the Compass Rose, as well as Milton's will carry some. I've really enjoyed putting them together......from the photographys through the editing and then putting the cards together.......the whole process I find very rewarding. Thank you, B.

GULLS OF COOS BAY

A little blurry.....but oh well. This feathered guy thought I might have some food for him so he was flying particularly low and almost overhead. I was careful.....and stepped back after noticing that the wind was blowing my way.

The second photo here is the same one from yesterday but I had fooled around a little bit with the colored pencil filter on my editing software. I think it looks kind of cool.

And didn't the weather turn out to be nice today? Not too hot but I feel the wind picking up. Tomorrow there are wind warnings again. I might do a little gardening.....definitely a walk.....and I have a good book I want to spend the afternoon reading. I'm looking forward to Sunday.....and hope all of you have a good one, too.

LUNCH AT THE MARINA

This boat was heading down Coos Bay to make it's way out to sea. Good luck with your fishin'!!

We did our weekly run to Coos Bay today. Since we're trying to watch what we eat we decided to get a couple of sandwiches at the market and eat out at the Coos Bay Marina. The sandwiches were sort of awful.....but filled our stomaches. I had a few minutes between rain showers to snap a couple. This sea gull turned out fairly well and I liked it even if it could be a little sharper. I like the composition and his pose.

It's a good subject too, to fool around with in Adobe Elements. I did one already....sort of a colored pencil, although it looks like no pencil drawing I've ever seen....still it's going to be fun to play around. Expect to see some of my creations from time to time.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

RE-ENTER, THE PANSY

The other day for some reason the photo of the pansy that Elaine gave me didn't show up on the emailed subscription blog. So, here I am re-introducing the pretty little red pansy that was my yearly gift.

I particularly love this first one because of the richness of that red....almost a burgundy color, huh? And the contrasting blue just helps it to stand out.

Today the rain returned. I was up in Bandon, and of course my camera was with me.....batteries charged and ready to snap. It poured buckets........some hail thrown in to show us that spring hasn't really quite arrived just yet. Although I did see new blossoms opening on my Asian pear and our Empress tree. I hope we get some pears this year. Sometimes our Bartlett, which always blooms first, is finished when the Asian begins........or a big wind comes up and blows the blossoms clean off! And I read that the bees are having another hard year.....at least in California. Anyone seen any of our little furry buddies around yet this year? Hope it's not yet another sign of weird weather patterns. I'm getting tired of them and want things back the way they were before........uncomplicated!! Predictable!! Does this sound like I'm going to launch into an insurance commercial? You never know......8-)

SKIPPIN' AROUND TOWN

I came across these two little scenes as we were driving around town one afternoon. The little house is so inviting, isn't it? The young trees in spring bloom and the classic little bicycle leaning against the white picket fence. It reminds me of something I might see back in New England.

Then, near by, was this sort of welcome sign, although I don't remember it saying anything...

There are times when all the fishing paraphernalia on fences or houses can get carried away and end up looking "a bit much'. This is tasteful, I think, with just enough to let you know that this is a fishing community and who ever lives here is happy about that. Reminds me a bit of the old Angela Lansbury series, "Murder She Wrote". I loved that show......I think mostly for the quaint little fishing village that it was supposed to be. And here we are.........

THE MONDAY BLUES---AS IN OCEAN

We made a quick turn around down at the dock yesterday. The sun had come out and it felt and looked just wonderful. I have to say, I really like the way this first shot came out. It shows a lot about the area we live in. The distant hills and fish rock really show the scale for that wee, little kayaker out there in the vastness of sea, all by his lonesome! And isn't the color of the ocean beautiful??

The second photo is of the cove right off the dock. Is that Nellie's Cove or is Nellie's around the next corner? Whatever.....the color of the cove's water was tropical looking in that wonderful blue/green. Who says that Rick is the only one who can enjoy that color water right now? The water in this photo of mine doesn't show the deep color like it did in person.....the light was hitting it and I didn't have my lens hood with me. Actually, what I really noticed when I took this was the fabulous formation of that big pyramid-like rock. Oh....I do think this is Nellie's Cove. I was up there recently taking distant photos of Canada geese lined up along that very rock but from the other side. (I think. Emily??) I posted this photo on Flickr and one of the comments was that our area looks like paradise. I may be prejudiced, but I agree.

HAPPY FACES ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING

I don't think I'm alone when I think of happy faces when looking at pansy's. Maybe it's the fact that they're one of the first of spring's flowers we see after a long winter, but they just look cheerful somehow.
My friend, Elaine, always treats me every spring with some pansy's.....and usually in a pretty little container of some kind. A couple of years it was baskets, and this year it's a hand made pottery vase from one of our local pottery artists. Elaine gifted me with the beautiful reddish pansy.
The blue ones were brought home to me by my husband, Norm. I see where I forgot to take away the white blemishes on this top photo. Ooops.

The two below I particularly like because they show the light and shadows from behind. It shows the fragility of the petals and I think makes the photograph more interesting when I'm not looking at it head-on. So, to my two friends, Elaine and my best friend, Norm......I say thank you for marking the first day of spring and for making me feel special.

KIDS SATURDAY

These are a few of the finished pieces of work from some of the children of Saturday's Art Class. All three are so telling of the children's talents and experiences.....The first one here was painted by Harry. Harry, I believe, had just come from the beach, so it makes sense that the sun, boats in the water, and the dark cloud (blue) on the left side would be on his mind. I think he did a very good job.

The second, lower left, was done by Quinn. He has so much artistic talent! The main red object here is a dragon's eye! Pretty imaginative, huh? Look closely at what lies under the green and you'll see the dragon's scales. He finished other pieces that day also, and he is quite an artist!

And now, we come to Gabe's painting.....Hope for the future is what I thought when I saw it. I see a lot of symbols here in colors and various objects. She has a beautiful heart.

I think there might be a future planning going on to make many of the children's paintings out there for the public later on down the year. Just thought I'd get your interest tickled a little.

BACK TO EMILY'S GARDEN

Here are the last two photos I have from Emily's garden.....the first one is a beautiful reddish camilla. Nice, huh? There weren't too many at the time but I don't remember whether the flowers were coming or going.

They have bamboo running along all or most all of a back fence. A wind break, maybe, but I just love the look. I like grasses a lot anyway, big or small and don't think we give enough notice to them.......I just finished weed whacking the "back 40".....or it feels like it was that much. My arms are aching and I really wasn't enjoying the grass myself a little while ago. Course now, it looks so neat........makes the entire yard look differently. I'm ready to get out there and do more spring clean-up in the back. Uh-oh.....rain tomorrow. Guess it'll have to wait for another day. What a shame! (show smile....now)

POT OF GOLD??

If the 'pot of gold' might be described as 'great treasure' then those of us who live on the south coast know that we have many pots of gold......just about where ever we look, as a matter of fact. Yes, sometimes we have to stretch our imagination a wee bit, but it is there if we really set our sights to SEE. This was taken a couple of weeks ago but I thought I'd better post it before summer comes and it really looks out of sync!
This afternoon at our place the temperature reached up to 70 degrees! Out in the back doing some gardening and it felt more like 90! The ground was still damp, though, which made most weeding fairly easy. But those blackberry vines!!! They've had a very healthy winter!!..Tomorrow afternoon I'll get out there and do the weed whacking! Everything always looks so cleaned up after I do that chore. Then instead of complaining, I feel pretty smug. 8-))

BANDON LIGHTHOUSE BACKSIDE STYLE

We were coming home from our weekly up in Coos Bay this afternoon and I was trying to think of an easy to get to place that I haven't photographed yet......Ah Ha!! Said she!! Bullard's Beach! Driving in, I remembered what a neatly kept, nice State Park it was. It looked liked they had yurts for rental visits, too. We drove on out to the lighthouse and I took a couple of shots of the backside of it. It was pretty windy.....looks like our north wind is getting in practice for the summer. So.....I didn't really feel like crawling around to the west side. I will next time. This other photo might not appeal to too many others, but I like rocks and I like grasses. They both have interesting textures, especially in contrasts to one another.

Today it was so wonderful to see and feel the sun! I think it might last for another couple of days so my garden will be getting so well needed attention. Lots of sore muscles coming up!!

MORE MARCH MADNESS

I like how these two photos shine off each other.....complimentary colors.

The first one is a type of euphorbia. It's pretty hardy and like most plants that have gray leaves, is fairly drought resistant. The second photo is I believe the Siberian Wallflower. One of my Flickr Friends just asked me about it and the more I thought about it the more unsure I became. I looked it up on the Internet and saw photos of orange and yellowed flowered.....one was purplish though. If anyone knows better, please let me know. I don't want to be spreading any untrue rumors around! LOL.