Tag Archives: spring

Ireland, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Happy St. Patrick’s Day= merry Spring

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The choice of the date for St. Patrick’s day can’t be by chance. It is all about spring.

St. Patrick's Cross at the Rock of Cashel. A stone cross with Irish countryside and a bit of weather in the background.
St. Patrick’s Cross at the Rock of Cashel (replica, original is protected from weather in the museum).

I am ready for it.

GIFing and PNGing: My Leprechaun Project

I have been working for this past month or so on my Leprechaun Project. I wanted to keep my mind from dwelling on stressors about which I can do nothing so I decided to work on learning Inkscape, an open source vector graphics program.

For seasonal fun, I decided to have a go at making Leprechauns. I started by looking up children’s art lessons on Pinterest. It was, and still is, a bit of a challenge to get used to using layers and shapes but it is fun and requires enough concentration that I find it relaxing.

My first attempt was a bit creepy:

But I got a bit better:

And better:

Mounds that are ancient passage tombs at Bru na Boinne, in County Meath Ireland.
Ancient tombs at Bru na Boinne, in County Meath, Ireland.

Then I started working on making series of my elfin friends to create tiny animations:

I still have a ways to go in refinement. I need to come up with a fresh idea now that St. Patrick’s day is over. Maybe next year I can refine my friends a bit. I have a bunch of ideas.

Picture Galleries, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Meandering through the ‘hood

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Every morning (usually late morning) the pups and I meander through the neighborhood. They sniff and do other doggy stuff and I take my camera and do some visual sniffing. Every day different things catch their noses and my eye. Today was a mountains and blossoms day.

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Ornamental plum blossoms are everywhere .

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Just a few clouds over the Olympics.

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Love this cheerful fellow!

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Forsythia is more reliable than a groundhog.

It felt like someone flipped the switch and now it’s really spring.
Meander

Picture Galleries, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Light and Warmth

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This is an experiment. I took three pictures of each subject one with the sunlight coming from behind, one from the side, and lastly front lit.

Driftwood and crocosmia leaves:

Backlit crocosmia leaves.
Backlit crocosmia leaves.
Side lit crocosmia leaves.
Side lit crocosmia leaves.
Front lit crocosmia leaves.
Front lit crocosmia leaves.

Dandelion:

Back lit dandelion.
Side lit dandelion.
Front lit dandelion.

Cherry blossoms:

Back lit cherry blossoms.
Side lit cherry blossoms.
Front lit cherry blossoms.

Daffodils:

Back lit daffodils.
Back lit daffodils.
Side lit daffodils.
Side lit daffodils.
Front lit daffodils.
Front lit daffodils.

It is interesting to see the effects side by side. In general I tend to like the back lit and side lit ones a bit better. What do you think?

Stories and Meditations

Verinbrunalis

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Winter blooming plant that smells good.Not very clever: it is Latin for “spring in winter”. It’s happening right now in Seattle. The news is full of blizzards, and for some that is marvelous (see post by Karyn here), but here the air is full of the scent of daphne odora  and “that plant that starts with an ‘s’, smells divine and blooms in January”.

two snowdrop flowers blooming in the moss.
Snowdrops in the moss.

The leaves and buds of bulbs are thrusting vigorously up through the mulch of partially decayed leaves…but winter is not necessarily over. This little party will end with a shift of the wind. In some ways that makes it all the more precious. For that reason it is also accompanied by a sense of urgency to get outside.

This differs from what we call the “pineapple express” which is warm but comes with a lot of rain.

Got to go and enjoy!

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Play Lexicographer.”