Next week we are going camping again, and my favorite part is the campfires. Not for cooking, because that makes such a mess on the pots and pans, and washing dishes is so hard when camping, but just to gaze at and enjoy. The sight, the smell, and the soft sound of the flames in the quiet woods, is one of my top fave experiences. A photo is a small slice of that, but it reminds us.

In the I Ching, ancient Chinese system for understanding things, the symbol for Pleasure is Lake. Interestingly, the symbol for Danger is Water. But that’s another story.

In any case, this view of crystal-clear waters of a corner of Lake Cushman truly gives me pleasure. You can just see the fishing line of a person out of the frame trying his luck. I am content to just view the water, or perhaps get my feet wet. On second thought, let’s jump in!

For more watery wonders, visit Watery Wednesday.

So now I have this new rose garden, with 18 new rose bushes. It was so much work to create it, but the rewards are immense. I love to go out and clip the fading flowers so the petals don’t strew around in the wind. Sometimes I get a little over-enthusiastic in my deadheading and then I have fullblown roses looking at me soulfully in the clippings bucket. I rescued five of these and put them in a bowl of water.

For more ruby redness in photos, visit Ruby Tuesday.

It’s Macro Monday time. This Black-eyed Susan or rudbeckia plant is a real winner to me because it blooms midsummer and later in sun or shade and survives really tough conditions. This lovely blossom was in my friend Eileen’s garden. And happy Mellow Yellow Monday!

Today (Sunday) is the first anniversary of one of my favorite memes in the blogosphere, Flowers For Today. This idea was created by Luiz Santilli Junior one year ago today, and I am honored to be Guest Friend on this special day. Thank you, Luiz! It’s so true that everyone loves flowers.

Below is my photo which is posted on their site today. It was taken just a few days ago on my patio here in Seattle, and I grew many of the plants from seeds. Dusty, our cat who is posing so nicely, is the kind of kitty who loves everyone. If you visit, she will love you, too. She is an inspiration to me.

I thought I’d post a couple of extra flower pictures today, in honor of this special day. Below are flowers from my friend Cindy’s amazing deck and garden, and one of her dahlias. Enjoy this happy day.

While I was in the folder of Lake Cushman photos for the shadow shot below, I saw this photo, taken on the same day, and knew it needed to be posted for Scenic Sunday. Enjoy!

Here’s a shot from our camping trip to Lake Cushman a couple of weeks ago, before the really hot weather took hold around here. This was a perfect day, temps in the low 80s, and the smell of the woods and the oxygen and the lake nearby was heaven, as far as I am concerned. Thank you to Tracy at Hey Harriet for opening my eyes to shadows in a powerful way. I love shadows! Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more oh-so-interesting shadows seen everywhere.

This little bouquet photo is a companion one to a post a few weeks ago featuring a red dahlia, which you can see to the left. I try to post only one when there are two similar images I like, but I am making an exception for this lovely. Flowers just float my boat, is all. Happy Pink Saturday to you!

And welcome to the Color Carnival meme and visitors. I think this one is bright enough!

This is one of my favorite garden tips.

When cooking, especially in the cold winter months when you make lots of stews and such, save those stubby bits cut off of the bottom of the garlic cloves. Really, those teensy little things! Go outside and poke them into your vegetable bed, maybe an inch under the ground. If you can, put it with the cut side up. It will grow, I swear, into a plant, and in July after the green tops wither you will have a whole head of garlic! No need to buy special “seed” garlic and waste it by putting the cloves into the ground without using them first.

I learned this after observing that the sliced off root ends of onions sometimes sprouted in the compost pile. I moved that first plant into my garden, and I’ve been planting onion bottoms and watching them turn into big plants ever since. But this is the first time I thought to try it with garlic. Look what I dug up a week or so ago! And these two dozen plants grew in maybe a square foot and a half of space, the plants just a few inches apart.

Think Green Thursday is a site about living more “greenly.” To me, growing your own food is one of the greenest things you can do.

I was lucky enough to have lunch today in the luxurious Columbia Tower Club, members and guests only, on the 75th floor of the tallest building in Seattle, on yet another blessed sunny day. This is the view. For more watery wonders, visit Watery Wednesday.