Head in the Clouds

Yeah, I'm cheatin'.  I'm using the pics I took yesterday while watering the plants for today's post.  When it's still 100 at 8 p.m. in SW Ohio, that's way too hot for me to be out doin' anything.

But, last night's pictures were so completely serendipitous, surprising, and fun that I have to share them with y'all.  The clouds were amazing enough, but then, the added surprises in the back yard practically had me singing one of the talented Billy Joel's songs (I Go To Extremes).

Not that I have to be at one extreme or another, but I do tend to find it happening a lot.

Last night is a great example.  I hadn't planned to take any pictures, but as I watered the plants and looked up, I saw the beautiful cloud formations and colors.

Of course I went inside and grabbed the camera to try to capture some of the texture and colors I was seeing.

I took several shots, then had to go back and check on the plants I'd left the hose on, only to look down and see this little guy.  Maybe he's not that big of a deal to you, but this is the first time I've snapped a grasshopper!  And gee, let's see . . . I went from looking at the expanse of the multi-colored clouds in the sky down to the little green grasshopper resting on green leaves.

Of course, I had to look back up, just to see what the clouds looked like "now."  Oh, so very glad I did.

That pink hue was pretty out in the front yard . . .

And a different kind of pretty in another direction in the back yard.  Yes, I was facing opposite directions when taking two of the previous shots.  I didn't realize that until now (hadn't thought about it until now, either!).

Then it was back to the plants, and checking on the mandevilla I'd just put in the ground last week. It seems to be doing very well, even with the extreme heat.  Once again though, I went from looking up, to looking down.

If you haven't noticed, I couldn't keep myself from looking up at the clouds every few minutes!  They were mesmerizing me with the light/shadow and changing colors.

 But neither could I help looking down at the plants (it's hard NOT to look at them when you're watering them).  I'd noticed these clematis bloom remains a couple of days ago, and thought they were interesting to look at.  Now I'm having a hard time deciding whether I like the bloom with the petals or without the petals better!

Not only was it an evening with my head in the clouds (at least watching them), but I think I was suffering from a case of temporary Adult Attention Deficit Disorder . . .  but then again, if I got pictures like these, was it really suffering, or being blessed with the opportunity to see a variety of subjects and take advantage of it?  I'm going with the blessing - there's enough suffering in the world that I can't do anything about.  I can accept this blessing and be thankful for it though!

Garden Tradition

One thing that has become a tradition for me is to take pictures of my step-mom's garden when I'm over for the 4th of July celebration.  She has a super green thumb, and her roses are always beautiful.  So, I'm using those pictures for today's post.

It's still way too hot for me, and about to get hotter.  I think I saw we're supposed to be in the triple digits for several days - pretty unusual for SW Ohio.  I'm glad I got the shots of the flowers 'cause with this heat, they definitely won't be looking this nice for long!

That's it!  The highlights of a beautiful garden.  I love the variety of colors and types of flowers, too.  There were a lot more, but I tried to restrain myself.

I had to laugh when I went outside to water the plants.  In some ways, it feels like I'm cheating by using pictures I took yesterday.  I can make all kind of excuses, but I am really enjoying the challenge of looking for (and finding) new subjects to photograph as well as varying perspective.  When I started watering the plants, I saw the way the setting sun was hitting the clouds, so I put the hose down (it was set to "Soaker" anyway) by the base of the plant, and went in for the camera.

Yup, got some more shots today, so even though I'm using pics from yesterday, I did take more today!  And, not just the sunset clouds.  I saw a grasshopper in the back yard, and got some shots of it.  I also noticed my re-blooming lilac was blooming, but wasn't able to get a really good shot of it (maybe tomorrow).  The mandevilla blooms are looking pretty nice, as are the butterfly bushes.  I also liked the "remains" of the clematis after the blooms fall off.  I think I may also have tomorrow's post pretty much taken care of already!  Hmmm . . . I thought I was procrastinating.  I'm gonna have to work on that some more.