My book launch party is on for Thursday, August 4, 6-8pm at the Conservatory, where else? I am so excited! I hope that everyone in the Seattle area will be able to attend this free event. The Conservatory, one of the last remaining Victorian glass houses in the USA, is having a special evening-hours Open House with tours, explaining the current push to finish the restoration begun a long time ago, and they have invited me to be there and sign copies of my new book, “Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month By Month.” Faithful readers of this blog will know that I’ve been visiting the Conservatory regularly and sharing photos from their fabulous showplace for tropical and rare plants. They are always so very perfect that it is a photographer’s dream.

Soon you will be able to order copies on the home page here, but not quite yet. I hope that you can come to the party, though!

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Blue Monday, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). And you can always see the complete and up-to-date blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or the banner above.

Visiting my friend and web developer Marsha Perry of Perry Internet Consulting (hi Marsha!) in Silverdale recently, we strolled along the water at a cute little waterside park. Sunshine, barbeques, kids, the works. I didn’t know what water it was and had to look at a map to learn that we were viewing Dyes Inlet, part of Puget Sound. You can actually see the tiny tip of Mt. Rainier right behind that boat, if you squint.

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We visited Astoria, Oregon a couple of years ago, on my birthday. Browing through old photos, I saw this view of the Astoria Bridge over the Columbia River, actually one of the most dangerous stretches of water anywhere, but so lovely on a clear spring day.

Enjoy more skies at Skywatch Friday.  Blue Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Scenic Sunday, and Watery Wednesday are also fun. Don’t forget, you can always see the entire blog  by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner on top. Thanks so much for visiting!

Lupines don’t last all that long, although if you deadhead them (remove the spent flowers) they can rebloom a bit. This amazing patch of them is in a neighbor’s yard. The other afternoon when it was sunny late in the day, I knew the light would be perfect for taking photos of them, so I hustled up the hill and there they were, in their glory. That was just a week or so ago, and this perfect peak has passed now. But the photo lives on!

As you’ve probably noticed, this photo is similar to the lupine header photo. It’s hard finding header photos that work in a very skinny slice! I thought you wouldn’t mind seeing a more rectangular composition of the same scene.

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Scenic Sunday, Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Mellow Yellow Monday, Color Carnival and Ruby Tuesday for more photo awesomeness. Do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. And thanks for visiting!

I think it’s so neat that you can see the white cloud reflected in the water. I don’t remember seeing that before, although I must have, mustn’t I? This taken just the other day at my favorite overlook over Puget Sound, looking south. Hope your day is a blue sky and puffy clouds type of day.

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Hope you are not tired of tulip close ups. It’s actually been sunny the last couple of days here in Seattle, so a morning walk was just the thing. Some tulips are still around, and this one was glorious. Now it can live forever on the internet at its peak of beauty.

Macro Flowers Saturday is back! Visit Maia there as she’s sure to have some lovelies. Also check out Macro Friday, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Today’s Flowers, Blue Monday and Macro Monday. If only you see only one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete display.

Sometimes photographic errors turn out kind of well. I didn’t expose this properly, but I love the deep, dramatic effect it gives that sky. The cityscape becomes quite unimportant, which in this case it is, because I admit it was those clouds that made me point that camera.

Visit Skywatch Friday, Blue Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Scenic Sunday if you’d like to see more photos with themes. Memes are great and I find them quite inspiring. Do post something yourself and join the fun. And try something like the “cloudscape” tag (lower right) here before you go.

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This Spring is late, late, late. I checked my garden photo archives and this sweet mini-bouquet was taken last year, two weeks before this date, and we are not up to several of these flowers quite yet. I did see a few lilies of the valley out there, yes on the violets, and the forget-me-nots definitely, but not yet for the blue bachelor buttons or lavender scabiosa. I don’t know what that magenta one is; maybe a kind of geranium. Soon all will bloom. We are waiting!

Visit Watery Wednesday (the water in the vase counts, doesn’t it?) and Wordless Wednesday for more photo fun. Also check out Today’s Flowers, Macro Friday, Blue Monday, Color Carnival and Macro Monday. After browsing around here, of course. If you see only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for more, and possibly more recent photos.

This was taken exactly one year ago, around the block from my house. Sunsets have an eternal quality, although they are so brief in reality. I do love this time of day with its soft, pink light, and hope you like this view of a peaceful moment.

Visit Blue Monday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Weekend Reflections and Scenic Sunday. Thanks for browsing around here first. And you can always click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see all the photos here.

These high, wispy clouds are some of my favorites. They are a high pressure kind of thing, but I think mean that low pressure, or rain, is on the way. I just love the streaky look they have, sort of painted on the sky. This is that fishing pier in Des Moines, WA, that you’ve seen in other photos below, from a different angle.

Visit Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Blue Monday and SOOC Sunday for more fab photos. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or the banner above, to see the whole blog.