white subjects on black backgrounds
My day got away from me today. I had a (minor) medical procedure in the morning, and gave a zoom presentation to the Tampa Bay Camera Club in the evening, then talked to my daughter in CA for two hours. Nevertheless, it left little time for STILL blog. Hence, white rice on a black background–one of the perks of this new black background is the ease (and swiftness) of shooting white subjects.
white basmati rice
I say tomato, you say tomahto
Tamaracks are native to Minnesota. The sight of a stand of tamaracks lit by low autumn light, when the needles have just turned golden but not yet fallen, well . . . I don’t need streets paved with gold in my afterlife. I’ll take a swamp gleaming like filigreed brass in late October, in Northern Minnesota.
(By the way, in England tamaracks are called larch. What side do you fall on?)
old and new Tamarack cones on a single branch
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Such sweet little (are they little?) cones! I didn’t know that a larch and a tamarack were the same tree! I always called them larches, but I much prefer tamarack so will call them that from now on :) Thanks for teaching me something new, MJ!
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play day
My husband, Steve, is a tax preparer. So April 15 is a big day for us. Since he often is working right up until midnight on the 15th, we typically take April 16 as an official Play Day. This year, however, I got a raging tooth ache on April 14, and needed an emergency root canal on April 16. I am finally feeling better, so today was our postponed Play Day. You know you’re getting old when what you do on the day you play hookey from your life is visit four different garden centers. I have a feeling many of you will understand.
peace lily flower
P.S. Happy Earth Day Everyone!
one day in April
There was a local television crew at my house today filming me do my foraging and arranging thing. Its alway a little awkward because I usually forage in the morning,
and arrange in the afternoon, and those several hours in-between is when I (subconsciously?) simmer on possible compositions. Anyway, this is what I gathered on my 15 minute stroll in my backyard while the camera followed me. This is April 20th in Shoreview, Minnesota in the year 2026.
bits ands pieces of an early spring day in Minnesota
PS Can you name the line up?
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Oooh, I love a plant “test”!! I’m gonna give it a shot.
Forsythia,
Trout lily leaf
Canadian ginger
Spruce
Honeysuckle
May apple
Scilla
Willow
Marsh marigold
Rue anemone
Elderberry
Trout lily leaf
Blackberry
Between loving wildflowers and gardening, I think I did pretty well… LMK!reply -
I was “iffy” on the spruce, the honeysuckle and the blackberry. Glad to see I was right :) And I am relieved that I you didn’t expect an ID on the leaf the scilla is poking up through, heh heh. This was fun!
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PS, no AI was used for this challenge, only what’s packed in this 80 year old head of mine!
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squiggle art
when the kids were little, we used to do what we called “squiggle art.” I would take a thick black sharpie and draw random squiggles on paper–any paper–and then we’d color in the shapes made by the squiggles. Sometimes we colored with solid colors, but more often we filled the various shapes with patterns and details. I adored doing squiggle art with the kids. We did it so often that they still talk about it today.
weeping willow branches in spring with catkins
