The heat has started to fry the flowers and the little rain we've had isn't enough to keep up with the need. Therefore, this week I'm looking back to early June at Grace Garden in downtown Durham, NC.
The light wasn't very good when I took these shots so I didn't use them in June since I had so many other flower shots to choose from.
I like the color of the lilies in the shot above. Those lilies are also in the first shot with roses beside and across from them.
I always enjoy this small garden when I have to work in Durham.
The roses above are one of my favorite colors for roses. I like the way the red roses below contrast with the green but I prefer the peach ones with yellow highlights.
The pansies below are probably all gone with the searing heat because pansies prefer cooler weather.
The impatiens below are probably not handling the heat well either. I'll be curious what I see the next time I work in Durham.
I think most of the low flowers below are pansies and the tall ones in flower may be lavender. I see iris that isn't in bloom yet and there is no telling how they did unless they bloomed pretty fast since it was unremitting heat after I took these shots through to the present.
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In October of 2008 people came together in downtown Raleigh, NC to hear James Taylor perform.
It was a sizable good crowd for Moore Square which had a makeshift stage.
People had to get pretty close together so everyone could see and hear him.
On November 4, 2008 people came together in their polling stations to elect Barack Obama and I was pleased that he carried my state of North Carolina.
The last shot was also November 4, 2008 at my polling station where the cars were looking for spaces on a rainy morning. Now if congress could come together to try and solve our many problems instead of being intent on fighting with each other, I would be much happier.
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This past week I've mostly enjoyed nature through glass in my air conditioned house or car.
I tried to capture the cardinal above and below in the front yard bird bath but it sensed me at the window and flew up to a nearby tree.
It was party central on my deck baths and I can shoot through the door standing back far enough that they usually ignore me.
The pair below were practically on top of each other at one point.
Then the cardinal left and let the finch have a private bath.
The bluejay below was fussing at a bird trying to come near.
The male cardinal below had most of the water from the bath in its thoroughly drenched feathers.
I think the bird below is a juvenile cardinal.
The next shot is all cardinals. The bottom one is a male cardinal but I can't tell about the top two.
The male cardinal below looks comfy in the bath and the female outside the bath seems a bit quizzical to me.
The next bathing beauty is an American Robin.
I've been getting a ton of shots of the mourning doves.
I posted some of the mourning dove shots on my other blog but I have so many I'm including a few in this post.
I love to catch a photo of the carolina chickadees.
I wish the bar on the door windows didn't divide the mourning dove below but I liked catching one with a chickadee and dove.
I think the chickadee was making sure the dove didn't turn around and come back to the bath before hopping in.
The finches below were getting ready for a bath.
Below is another American Robin.
There are a lot of American Robins that make their home in my yard.
The next shot is one I got in my car at a stop light of the birds on a Church Steeple Cross.
We got enough rain to help a bit but with record breaking heat we could use more.
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The bees were having a feast at the park.
Good to see the daisies doing so well in spite of the heat.
Many of the daisies were done blooming but others were just starting.
I was annoying the bees who moved on to the next flower when I got too close.
Fortunately they had lots of flowers to choose from so I didn't feel too guilty when they buzzed away from me and my camera.
Most of the rose were done blooming and some were clearly hit by the heat and gave up.
The verbenum was doing fairly well.
My first thought when I saw the theme was patch was patch work quilt, therefore, I'm going with that.
When we visited Tamarack in Beckley, WV, I liked the way the quilts were scattered amongst the other crafts and arts.
Although there was one area devoted to quilts, by and large they were scattered around in a variety of areas.
Since I like quilts it was nice to keep running into them as I wandered.
All the shots above and one more shot below are from Tamarack.
The rest of the shots were taken at the Beckley exhibition coal mine.
The last shot was in the single miner accommodation. The shot above was in one of the family homes and has a patch work quilt across the trunk where the quilt below is over the bed.
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