After the Rain in Janet's Spring Garden

We thought our late snow and rainy melt had taken care of "spring showers," but we were wrong.  The front that moved into the PNW moved right into NE Oregon, as well.  The forecast is for 10 days of some kind of precipitation, and the third day produced a full inch in the rain gauge.  There were short breaks throughout the day, with one of them around 6:30 p.m.  I drove to my sister's to photograph some new tulips she had raved about.  I also photographed some peony "seedlings" as we call them:  peonies our late mother developed by crossing wild and domestic peonies. These plants  bloom early with delicate flowers that don't last long.  They are beautiful after the rain!

P52 - Week #19

In the 8 months since we purchased our new vehicle, we've driven more than 11,000 miles.  Northeastern Oregon to western Oregon and back....several times.  And this is the reason--well, at least one-third of the reason.  Her parents make up the 2/3 of the whole.

This is Ava Maeve, 2 years old in April. 

P52-- Week #18

Since my first visit to Rowena Crest above the Columbia River, I've wanted to visit when everything is blooming....the Arrowleaf Balsamroot and purple lupine.  This year, I made it for the balsamroot, but the lupine was just beginning to bloom.  The land was glowing bright yellow with flowers, a glow that was difficult to capture with my camera.   This is my choice for Week #18 of P52 2019. 

P52 Week #17

This is one of those serendipitous photo opportunities:  my husband and I were driving to a wildlife refuge on the off-chance we could see some birds.  This highway is US Highway 30; this section runs from La Grande to Union and beyond.  This particular stretch of highway is presently flooded, providing wonderful reflection of the line of old trees.  In order to get this shot, I had to jump out of the car, lean out with my camera and try to capture the beauty that I saw in the afternoon sun.

The First Colors of Spring

I suppose the crocus is really the first color I see in spring, but I missed photographing them.  Now there are colors in my flower garden and along the road out in the country.

Raindrops on a daffodil

 Grape hyacinths around the yard

A second variety of grape hyacinths

 Maybe the most exciting spring wildflower...the trillium. This is small, probably because it was recently buried under more than a foot of snow. 

 Yellow Lily

 Pussy Willow just past the softest stage on huge willow trees

Fawn Lily 

When you find a buttercup, it is definitely spring!

P52 Week #16

I'm hoping to have an actual blog post with photos telling some kind of story, but that will evidently be in the near future.  Meanwhile, I am trying to keep up with my weekly P52 posts.   This week, my photo represents the true beginning of spring:  the return of the hummingbirds.   Each year, I make a note on the calendar: last year, it was April 13, the year before, April 12.  This year, heavy winter snow arrived in February and seemed to last "forever."  We were ready for spring and were dealing with snow.  When the snow finally melted, we had rain and flooding (nothing disastrous, but extremely difficult for farmers anywhere in the basin of the Grande Ronde River).  Spring flowers were late and so were the hummingbirds.  I put my feeders out on April 12 and the first visitor, a male Rufous arrived on April 18.  Today was a busy day at the feeders, typical for a rainy day.  Finally, I was able to capture the visit of a male Calliope, the smallest North American hummer.  (Note the tip of his tongue, too!)

P52 Week #13 Week #14 and Week #15

I am behind!  When I took part in P52 projects in years past, I rarely missed a weekly post.  But that was before we had a grandchild who lives across the state, and it was before my husband retired.  However, I am catching up for the late weekly posts.

Several years ago, I followed Kim Klassen's blog and purchased many of her textures for photographs. Then I took some of her online classes.  I do miss the days when everyone had blogs! Facebook and Instagram are great, but they just don't do justice to card-making and photography...in my opinion.  Whatever, I do like to add textures to photos now and then.  This week's P52 choice is one of those.  I used sunflowers from the grocery store, old books, and a great old lard can from Athena, Oregon, which is "over the mountain."

WEEK #13

WEEK #14 

These trees are perpendicular to the highway, so it's necessary to turn on a country road to get the full effect. 

WEEK #15

SPRING!   We spent 4 days in Hillsboro when the trees were blooming...magnolias, flowering cherry trees, weeping cherry trees (I think)....plus several other flowering shrubs. But it rained!  It poured!  I couldn't photograph anything, but the day we left, we had coffee at Human Bean and then I walked over to this amazing tree in the parking lot next to a Goodwill store, just to photograph the pinkness of spring.  I knew it wouldn't be available in NE Oregon.