Monday, July 13, 2009

If an accountant were counting his flowers...

Ha! I finished Accounting 501 yesterday. It's been so grueling! It's done. The only thing now is to wait for grades. As part of the waiting process, enjoy these flower shots I took in the butterfly garden tonight.



Before too long I will be leaving for Nashville, TN - Music City USA - to attend the Iampeth pointed pen convention. I am looking forward

to meeting many online friends, re-connecting with others, Meeting my hostess Marilyn and spending time with my good friend Donna. This should be FuN!

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Backyards and Birthdays

My butterfly garden changes weekly. Here are a few shots of what's blooming now. Well - I'm cheating. The beautiful hibiscus bloom is on friend Laura's deck.






SILLY BIRD IN HIS NON-GILDED CAGE




Natalie turned 18 on the 4th of July...here are some snapshots from our family party, which included Steve's fireworks...no photos of those.

HERE'S WHAT 18 LOOKS LIKE


PARTY BALLOONS in RED WHITE & BLUE


COUSINS


NATALIE.KYLE.CELESTE.KERRY



DYLAN REACTING TO SCREAMING MIMI FIREWORKS



MAMA/GRANDMA



TOOTSIES


SISTERS

Walkin the Dog - and other Oregon shots

I love this! As I prepared to snap the old granary building, a man rode by 'walkin' the dog'. I think they've done this before! Pup is on a leash and practically trotting. WALKIN' THE DOG

A couple of snapshots from the Japanese Garden, a lovely place in Portland. CRANES


WATER CASCADE


A view from picturesque Anne Amie (sp?) Winery. Two more at same place: A window at the winery, and a snapshot of some of the grapevines behind it. This area of Oregon is rife with wineries, and this was the most beautiful that I visited.
WINERY VIEW

WINERY WINDOW

WINERY VINERY

The last one is a touristy shot. Public sculpture in McMinnville yielded "BEN 'N' ME".

Thursday, July 02, 2009

There's More Than One Way to Fly!

And here are two methods...Photos from the hot air balloon ride I took with Beth near Portland, and photos from the plane at the start of my long journey home.

First, the mighty gas jets in the balloon basket.

Some vineyards as seen from on high.

Our partner balloon and our shadows - quite neat, huh?

Dinghies in the water - dinghies from the wingies? No - we only felt like we had wings.

Fellow travelers...

We did a maneuver called "Splash and dash" where we touched down on the river and actually floated like a boat for a short time before lifting up again. Apparently only skilled ballooners can do this. Ours was good.

Here is the reflection of a treeline in the river.

The reflections of our balloon and our partner balloon look pretty good, don't they. That's me leaning out of the spiral decorated balloon to take this photo.


This one is a favorite. It's us waving at our reflection in the river.

Here's the basket being righted in preparation for stowing on the truck for the ride back after our flight. OOPS! Lean your head to the left, please, in order to see the correct view.



As counterpoint, here's another way to fly...or not. "Waiting" is what I call this photo. No wonder flights are never on time. Planes need siestas, or maybe they just like to wait in lines.

Flight pattern.

On a wing and a prayer.

And of course, some go - some stay. If you're going anywhere this summer - have fun!


I'll try to post a few more Oregon photos before the fun begins tomorrow and Saturday...Fourth of July weekend!