Lava Beds

Lava is just cool! I would LOVE to see the red hot lava, either from a helicopter or other "safe" means. You know, NOT the scary volcano erupting and destroying my home way! We went on a little hike and saw some really cool lava tubes and caves. And it was really neat to see the plants growing again in an otherwise desolate place.

The Bugs & The Bees

Okay, so I can't get OFF this flora/fauna kick. But considering the fact that I don't have ANY flowers at my house, I am going NUTS over them when I DO get to see them! Even dandilions are a welcome burst of color!
I love Hens & Chicks. They remind me of my Grandmother and my Mom. I love this one, it combines a few things that I LOVE: Hens & Chicks, Old Glory and rustic things!This little lady wasn't wanting to "look" at the camera very bad! I think it turned out kinda cool anyway!
I liked how the colors turned out in this one. The dark silhouette, it's cool!But I think this is my favorite.

Desert Beauty

We took a trip to Lake Powell last week! I could not get enough of those mesas and red sand!! It has a unique beauty about it that I just loved. I could never LIVE in a hot place like that but I sure loved visiting it... especially when home is still having freezing temps at night! Instead I enjoyed 90° weather and water at 75°! It was glorious!

Most of my pictures were taken from my window as we drove by; I would have LOVED to stop every 30 minutes and take pictures of the new scenery!Just check out all the colors!
And funky formations
And caves
Peace. Right. HereLargest natural bridge in the world. AWESOME.Delicate

Memorial Day

To our military men and women, past and present... THANK YOU!

Pot of Gold

I just love rainbows, especially ones that are really vivid! We had a gorgeous double rainbow this afternoon! GORGEOUS! Well, everything except the mud pit I get to call yard!

Spring

Spring has finally arrived!! We have had a really wet spring. The sun finally came out and everything instantly turned green! The leaves are coming out on the trees. Tulips, daffodils and other spring flowers are up and blooming. I need to find someone who will let me take pictures of them since I don't have any of my own! It makes me very excited for lilacs; though I don't have any of my own lilacs either. Bummer.

I like messing around with focus. It's fascinating to me. Focusing on the leaves up close:
Focusing on the branches in the background Everything is better with water in it!And my two favorites:Must find a new subject. Have done a lot of flora & fauna & agua lately. Hmm... best get thinking!

Picture Perfect

So my sweet friend Mindy saw this picture from the previous post.Which was pretty good in it's own right, if you ask me. But she saw something more {so did I but unfortunately I have no editing program OR editing skills for that matter}. So she played around with it and she created something AWESOME!!! Check out her mad skills!!!

I love how the barn stands out more than it did before.
Even better! Check out that RED barn and GREEN pasture!!! LOVE IT!!But my favorite is definitely THIS one! I love how old fashioned it looks. I love LoVe ♥♥LOVE♥♥ it! It's exactly what I had in my head!! Rustic. Old. Country. Perfect!Thanks Mindy!! Feel free to edit my stuff ANYTIME!!! ♥hugs

Down on the Farm

I love farms. I love barns. Grain silos. Rusted machinery. Tattered old fences. Decrepit buildings. There is so much history there. It reminds me of my heritage and family. I have fond memories of playing at my Gramps' & Granny's farm. I long for room enough to have my own little hobby farm; complete with chickens, horses, cows and maybe sheep or a pig. I would have a HUGE garden. I think it would be thrilling to be self sufficient that way.

I need to get out on a day that is sunny!!

I love this barn! It's exactly like my Gramps'!I love this one. I love all the colors. I love the grain silo. I don't know... I just love it though!

River Front Property

I often dream of owning a great deal of land. On which, of course, would be some body of water; I'd take a river, stream, pond, lake... you get the point. I daydream of riding horses through the wooded areas and through the water. It would be even better if it were butted up to a mountain range.

I have found in the past 5 years that water is a must for me. The sound of a river or ocean waves is very soothing to my soul. I find peace and serenity. It's hard to describe the strength that I feel standing at the water's edge.
These last two are my favorites. I love the tree on the left of this one. The leaves are just BARELY making an appearance. I love the colors in this one. The red bushes. The rocks. The water. The cottonwoods. I just might have to come back and sit on these rocks every now and then.

Ahoy

When I drove by this house I did a double take. Then I flipped the car around and did a triple take!! They probably thought I was some psycho stalking them or something but then again; you'd have to be used to it if you lived in a house shaped like a ship!

Some Beach... Somewhere

Spring is always a funny thing around these parts. Sometime in March the sun will start shining and the snow will be practically gone. People will start working in their yards. The motorcycles start hitting the streets. And then Mother Nature tells us who's boss. Some of our very worst storms are the end of March and into April. This year was no different. We were hit pretty hard actually. The local ski resort got more than 5 FEET in 7 DAYS!!! HOLY SMOKES!!!
I am an oddity here though; I LOVE IT!! While everyone else is complaining that Spring isn't here yet, I am still peeking out the window every morning hoping for freshly fallen snow! Crazy, I know!

I thought I'd snap a few pictures of this conch shell that we got in Hawaii a couple years ago {sigh, was it really that long ago already?} The tile in my bathroom kind of reminded me of a sandy beach. I have a GORGEOUS sandy ocean picture hanging above my bathtub. So I started thinking of warm sunny days at the beach. It was fun!

I love these shells. I love the color and the texture.The ocean is therapeutic for me. Especially the colder ocean beaches of Oregon and Washington. I love the smells. I love the overcast skies and the breeze. So though I may not find a shell like this up there, taking these pictures brought back a lot of very fond memories. I may just have to take a little road trip this summer!!