That overlook near my house means a lot to me. I love scenic photos but it’s so challenging living a regular life with buildings and telephone wires always getting in the way of the sky. This blessing of a place has yielded several peaceful images of dusk over water, and I am grateful.

For you Seattle locals, there’s going to be a Bookfest in Kirkland this weekend, and I’ll be there signing my book at booth #20 AND giving a talk and slideshow at noon on Sunday, Room 2 at the Community Center. Please come and say hello!

Do visit Blue Monday, Pink Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday and Watery Wednesday. Please click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. Thanks!

While it’s still blissfully warm in Seattle, with one more day or so before regular temperatures and cloud cover returns, here’s a view that greeted us on our camping trip a couple of weeks ago. Doesn’t that just make you want to take a deep breath? And the new header photo of the boy in Wildcat Lake is just a picture of a warm day, for me.

Take a look at Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) for more interesting photos with a theme. Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

On the way back from our camping trip last week as we crossed the Puyallup River, our local volcano, AKA “the mountain,” was out and glorious. Taking lots of photos from the car window sometimes lucks out. This one is SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), not even cropped. Not bad!

Visit Skywatch Friday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Weekend Reflections, Blue Monday, and Thursday Challenge (theme is Blue). Do see what else is fun around here first! Click on the tag of “scenic” perhaps?

Camping! Can you just smell the woodsmoke? We love to get out in the woods for a few days and smell actual fresh air, day and night. Even a trek through the campground to the facilities can be a lovely experience. A warm day in August in the Pacific Northwest is like no other. I love the range of light to darks, with the blue sky peeping through, and I’m calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, and this week the theme of Unique Exposures Weekend Challenge is 100 Years Old (or more). It’s pretty close to qualifying for SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) but I did adjust the curves just a tad, so it doesn’t. But take a look there anyway. Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

Highline Botanical Garden is so worth a visit. Just north of SeaTac Airport, south of Seattle, this small but lovely garden only becomes more beautiful with time. Those gardeners and volunteers must work very hard!

Visit Skywatch Friday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), and Today’s Flowers. Returning to the latest post (if you’ve arrived from a link) is easy: just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above or here.

This is from last year when we went camping at the Dungeness Recreation Area campground in the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest. To me, the water and the pinkish, foggy air is even more beautiful than the big flying bird, but it was quite a moment in any case.

Visit Wordless Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Pink Saturday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday and Camera Critters for more photo fabulousness.

Last minute reminder: If you are in Seattle tomorrow on Thursday, August 4 at 6-8pm, please come to the Conservatory’s free Open House and book signing for my new book, Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month By Month. Take a tour and meet the author (me!). You can find more info about the book on the home page here, or order at pre-launch prices with free shipping on the Book Order page. Thanks for visiting!

A warm evening in the summer is heaven anywhere, but here in the Seattle area we feel particularly blessed when we can eat dinner on the patio and take in the garden view. This was last evening’s lovely view. Hope you can enjoy it with me.

Visit Pink Saturday, Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Color Carnival, Today’s Flowers, and Wordless Wednesday. Also, I think it is so cool that my new book and the launch party at Volunteer Park Conservatory on Thursday, August 4 got a mention in the Seattle PI garden blog!

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.

Oh, it was a glorious Fourth! In addition to everything else, the weather was PERFECT and warm and totally sunny. We were at a party on the shore of little Lake Burien in Washington state, near Seattle. Dusk and calm and trees and water make for a happy scenic-photo person like myself.

Like many of us, I’m a sucker for sunsets and am calling this simple photo my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Wordless Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), and Weekend Reflections. 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.

Visit Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday, Blue Monday, Weekend Reflections, Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday for more fascinating photos. Naturally, I’d love it if you browsed around here first. Clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos brings you back to the latest post here always.