A week in the life . . .

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/09/11

I was together enough to write a WeekendCoffeeShare post, this week, for my Stray Coffee Breaks blog, but still have to write a haiku for RonovanWrites.

hoverfly/flower fly in the middle of a yellow California poppy

Flower Fly, California Poppy

The Scampers at Play

Closeup of the hover/flower fly on a yellow California poppy, head toward the center of the flower

Flower Fly and Poppy

white trumpet-shaped flower, one of many on the plant

Showy White

drops of dew, raindrops on overgrown blades of grass

Dew on the Grass

Playing a little bit of catch-up, having been sidetracked on household chores. My online photography workshop began on Monday (a 6-week course), and I am trying to decide how to approach the material and assignments. In the meanwhile, I also am sorting through fifteen years of photo archives, looking for examples of work that…I am pulling some of it from my Facebook download and using my JPGMag account as a quick index for locating other pieces.

In the meanwhile, these are a few of the photographs that I’ve taken since my last post.

I think that I will eat a sandwich, and then settle in to put together a post to the interactive closed workshop group. Such fun! (I imagine that I am the oldest person in the class, but still am waiting for the rest to post.

In other news, I learned that Al’s last aunt, Patricia, died in the middle of the night. Pat and her late husband, children, and grandchildren are centered in the Twin Cities and the Chicago area. I believe that one of Al’s sisters will be in the vicinity and able to attend the funeral, assuming that they can make arrangements for the coming weekend. With the respiratory problems and allergy season, it’s a given that I cannot make the trek south. I need a good, hard frost or two before the pollens are gone until spring.

I have not yet gotten through the first (17-page) course outline and discussion, so I am going to have an interesting night.

Best wishes for your week!
Lizl

Flower Flies

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/09/022018/09/02

Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae.

Photos from Saturday:

A few photographs of Sunday’s photographs:

Hoverfly, Close-up

Resting on a Blade of Grass

Hoverfly, Visiting

In Flight, Hoverfly

Wildflower

The smoke in the air from the wildfires has abated for the time being, and I think that the rains, last night, helped a little with the pollen. I have enjoyed getting outside with my camera. I am not certain that I will be exercising in the gazebo, today, however.

A week from tomorrow, the Photography workshop that I signed up for should begin. I am looking forward to that.

There was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night, which woke me. And so, I slept in until quite late. After eight o’clock, I think. As a result, the day has sped away. I am pleased that I took care of the laundry and household chores. Why are there always dirty dishes in the sink? On our next outing for groceries, we must also get some paper plates.

Best wishes for your day and week!

This is the Way | #ronovanwrites #haiku no. 140

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/08/162018/08/16

Revisiting an older poem, thinking of my mother’s quilts.

Quilted Poetry

Turning toward the wind,
geese cry to one another,
Here! This is the way!

Twist = turn
Shout = cry

Pingback: RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt #140: Twist & Shout

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Fooling Around With Flowers | #RonovanWrites #Haiku

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/08/152018/08/15

Written for the weekly Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge #214: Lack & Fool.

fooling around with
nature’s floral color schemes
mixing them about

recreating my garden
for lack of coloring books

Late Bloomer

False Colors

Blue Wild Flax

Shades of Grey

Morning Photos | Saturday, 11 August 2018

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/08/11

prunings from the cotoneaster trees, waiting for city pickup

Discarded

flower bud backed by another plant against the wall

Daisy in Waiting

blue wild flax flowers with flower buds between them

Wild Flax Close-up

Wild Flax

This morning, I decided to water the back garden before the sun gets high and the temperature, hot. These photos were taken in the south-facing side garden. As usual, the Scampers barked and tried to get through the gate (or, at least, get to what I was trying to photograph).

puppy, trying to get through the fencing to eat a tiny coreopsis flower — Eek! Scamper Attack!

I’ve been having so much fun, I’ve forgotten to eat, which is not a good thing. We still have smoky haze, and it looks as though the temperature will be in the low 90s F. Once again, the five top cities for pollen count, according to Pollen (dot) com, are in North and South Dakota. That’s me, folks! Whoopy!

Imagine I’m going to entertain myself again today by practicing arpeggios instead of pedaling my exercise bike, which is in the backyard gazebo.

Wild flax flowers, 6 August

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/08/062018/08/06

Wild Flax in Raindrops © Elizabeth Bennefeld, 2018-08-06

During the night hours, a thunderstorm came through the area. When I first took the Scampers out for the before-breakfast outing, I brought along my camera. In the course of taking photographs, I found raindrops coming down once more. Lovely!

Wild Flax in Raindrops © Elizabeth Bennefeld, 2018-08-06

Wild Flax Flower #6171

Wild Flax Flower #6163

Wild Flax #6160

Wild Flax Flower

The top photograph and the other wild flax flower that resembles it are growing in the south side garden, where I was in despair that nothing would grow, this year. I’ve more Baby’s Breath, a number of Blue Wild Flax, and the Plains Coreopsis; I am under the impression that the one version of the Wild Flax is annual and the other, perennial, but I do not know which, anymore. I do know that the flax plants that have the larger, smoother petals reseed like crazy. Only one of the other type showed up in this year’s backyard garden.

The only moth that I spotted today was resting on the outside of the back door, protected by the storm door. A smaller version of the other that I recently posted (on one of my blogs), but a bit darker and with sharper markings. (Ach! I will see if that photo is also close at hand.)

This morning’s moth

Insects and Flowers, 4 & 5 August 2018

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/08/05

Ladybug Wings

Green Grasshopper

Honeybee, On the Edge

Honeybee in a Poppy Flower

The weather was stormy, earlier in the week, with small clusters or lines of thunderstorms and rainclouds. This is the time of the year when the wildflowers die off in my garden. There are lots of seed pods on the blue wild flax stems. I do not know about the coreopsis, other than a few have appeared that might be from the second sowing of seeds, a few weeks back.

In the side garden, I’ve got mostly weeds, but a couple of Baby Breath plants have flowered, and also a Plains Coreopsis. Waiting to see if anything else appears from those seeds. They are supposed to be drought tolerant, once they germinate. Below are a few photos from my last outing with the Scampers, this evening.

The Scampers, Oblivious

Rabbit

Wildflowers

Plains Coreopsis

Baby’s Breath

I expect that ragweed season will soon begin, if it hasn’t already. I’ve just changed the filter in the air cleaner in my room, after Al gave it a good cleaning out. Hoping that if I stay inside on the breezy days and exercise in the gazebo (glass all around and equipped with a fan to maintain the direction of the air flow), my breathing will loosen up, again.

Hate giving up the out-of-doors for any reason, for any length of time, however short.

Retrospective – October 2013

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/07/31

Photographs from 7 October 2013

New Day, New Flowers

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/07/292018/07/29

Wild Flax

Hidden

Flowers at the Gate

orange california poppy in morning sunlight

Poppy in the Garden

dawn’s deep shadows
lighten as breezes flow
clouds fade away

the dogs have overslept and
now the rabbit takes his nap

I expect to be in the back yard, again, this second day of the Air Show, waiting for the Blue Angels to fly overhead. During their rehearsal on Friday, they came right over the house. The joys of living in an airport’s flight path. The rattling windows!

And the skies cleared…

by Lizl Bennefeld2018/07/262018/07/26

Coreopsis lanceolata

Orange-tinted California poppy, late afternoon sun shining through petals

yellow California poppy, late afternoon sun shining through petals

The sky was cloudy, and there was a mist of rain carried by gusty winds, until into the early afternoon. Then the winds died down and the sky cleared. Throughout the afternoon, I listened to the sounds of the airplanes going past as pilots timed and rehearsed their acts for the air show, this weekend. Too many mosquitoes, today, for me to sit outside and watch for the jets speeding past. They’ve another day for practicing, and so I might get out there tomorrow. Or wait for the shows on the weekend days. Normally we (our house) are close to the flight paths, so we have good views. (I dug out the weather-spotting binoculars, a few weeks ago.)

These photographs were taken just before the Scampers’ five o’clock dinner. I (unfortunately) frightened the resident rabbit away from the side garden (which has not managed to produce flowers, this summer). Thadd only took notice as the rabbit’s hind feet disappearing around the corner of the neighbor’s garage. After the dogs ate, we went outside, again, and I managed three and a half miles on the exercise bike in the gazebo. Far short of yesterday’s sixteen miles; perhaps I will have opportunity after the Scampers are in their kennels for the night.

yellows and oranges
rays of the sun soon to set
backlit petals glow

next after last, days go by
their glow passes…petals drop

The Moments Between

It's the Moments that Matter

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