Blooming, thunder, & rain

Right now I'm very glad I managed to get the back yard mowed late this afternoon.  Barely had it finished
before I started hearing thunder, then the rain about 20 minutes later.  The rain has blown over, but who knows if there's more coming yet tonight . . . oops, there goes the rain again!

When I pulled into the driveway this afternoon, I noticed Mr. B's peonies were blooming.  Mr. B and his family were living in their house when we moved in next door; I was 4.  I'm well beyond 4 now, and am very glad that Mr. B is still one of my neighbors.  God has blessed me with several very caring (although aging) neighbors.  I try to keep up with them as much as possible!

It was SO bright outside that getting a decent picture of the white peonies was tough.  It didn't help that I was using my cell phone . . .   I like that Mr. B has the white next to the bright pink peonies - they complement each other very nicely.

There are still a LOT of blooms to come . . . and a lot of ants, too.  I don't know how I managed to get pics with so few ants in them . . .

Anxious to be busting out of the bud into full fledged splendor!

 Those pink buds will be catching up soon!  Our peony plants don't get quite as much sun as these do, so it will probably be another week before they start blooming.

I love the delicacy of the mock orange blossoms.

I liked how the branch of the mock orange was resting against the red bud tree, providing a nice resting spot for the blossom.

I was going to go back out and take pics of the peonies and mock orange with my Nikon, but since the thunder started so quickly after I finished mowing, I didn't have a chance.  These aren't too bad, especially considering they were all taken with the cell phone!

Beautiful blooms plus rain showers to nurture those plants make for a nice spring evening.  The sun is now trying to break out again, but I'm thinking it's time to kick back and relax for the rest of the night.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the "super moon" tomorrow evening, and trying to take pics of it.  Just as I anticipate the beauty of those peonies and mock orange blossoms opening up, I eagerly anticipate more opportunities to stretch the photography skills.  Gotta keep stretching and growing . . . becoming stagnant is not an acceptable option in my book!