Wall Lettuce

superbe portrait sur fond noir !! une belle astéracée

Thank you, Dan. Your knowledge of flowers is amazing.

Grandiose et impeccable sur fond noir... Bon jeudi.

The same to you, my friend.

Beautifully composed portrait of this enchanting wild flower!

Beautiful against the dark background !

Thanks, everyone. Missing the flowers with the snow and cold.

Beautiful...

Amazing in black!!!

Superb, Ron!

I'm waiting!

What a perfectly gorgeous trio, Ron! I adore Wall Lettuce, though I didn't know its name until now. The petals are so pretty to me, so detailed and delicate. You did a great job showing how this flower looks on the plant, but also, you got absolutely perfect, crisp focus on the seed parachutes too, as well as the details of the dead flowers. Really nice job showing the whole sha-bang, what a dramatic image set against the black background! :)

Both of your insets are equally wonderful. LOVE the bumbles on the Butter and Eggs flower, each is so pretty and detailed! And the Slender Cinqufoil is beautiful. Funny, each of these flowers must be appreciated close up to see how lovely the blossoms are. Otherwise they just seem plain. I'm so happy that you decided to take a break from Yellowstone to show us some of the pretty things around your home! :)

I sure do hope you can forgive my disappearance...I'm guilty of diving into a favorite game and it's taken all of my attention. I can't help myself from time to time...I've been playing online games for 25 years on and off when I just need a fix of alter-reality. Waste of time or not, I get the chance to be something impossible in reality and I love that. :) Anyway, it's probably not the worst thing for us to have some breaks between our War & Peace novels! :D

I loved your last wonderful letter, of course! Your description of Christmas shopping for one another at the mall sounds so AWESOME!! What a fun idea! The grocery store dinner hunt also sounds like a great time for everyone. :) Such wonderful ways for everyone to work together for a super time, be it Christmas presents or dinner! :) We never had anything like that in our family so it's awesome to read what you guys have done. The fact that it's a tradition passed down to your kids and their families...how cool is that?! :D

How wonderful to learn that we've both had "endless stories" told to us in our childhoods. Something so special about those tales. :)

Again, I'm really impressed at the efforts you make to help Neal's facility stay on track. I'm sure they must appreciate your insights very much. All of the bureaucracy must be numbing and so frustrating. *sigh* But it's great that you're helping out how you can. Glad the meeting went smoothly. :)

I'm hoping that you guys can find a facility for your parents so they can be together, and isn't too horrendously expensive. We looked into finding a place for my dad, even though he was dead-set against it. WOW are they pricey. And they hound you to DEATH to use them the second they catch wind of your investigations. Horrible sharks...so ruthless.

Speaking of medical stuff, Steve and I haven't had medical insurance since he stopped working at his past job and finally we looked into getting onto a new plan. That sort of thing totally freaks me out--I hate the paperwork so much--but Steve took on the project and we are apparently now signed up to a super plan...we just need the finalization before it's official. I hope all of it works out, it will be very relieving to have medical insurance again.

Is that lovely buck still hanging around? You took great pictures! It's a shame that such a pretty fellow would be shot very happily if he was in the wrong place. But then again, I have no issue with folks who hunt for meat. If they want the rack, fine, but wow is that morbid! I actually can't stay in stores that have trophies on the walls...the negative energy is horrendous! I'll never ever understand a desire to hang dead animals on the wall...

Your description of Manito Park has me bouncing up and down, squeeing in excitement. I just love having a place like that to crawl around in and just lose myself taking pictures. It reminds me of Buchart's little sister! :) SIGN ME UP!! I agree with you in regards to preferring natural settings but it's nearly equal in draw to me because I like both styles of photography and enjoy the ease at getting to the flowers and wonderful imagery!

Thank you so much for giving me some fun books to add to my reading list. I found an online library which as both The Pushcart War and The Mouse That Roared. I'm sure to love them. How nice that we share favorites too. I also love the Narnia books of course. Can't tell you how tickled I am that you don't turn your nose up at kid's books. There are so many marvelous stories...who CARES if they were written for the younger set? We can enjoy them just as much, and also, put ourselves into our inner child mode! What's not to love? :)

RE: Harry Potter books. Oh Ron, we're totally on the same page...I was totally against them for EVER because of the hype. But one day I got my hands on an audio version of the first book and, gritting my teeth, I gave it a chance. Wow. It was like turning into a kid, listening to Jim Dale narrate it. My reservations flew out the window immediately and I loved every moment. The books really are worth reading or listening to. Not overhyped at all, they are really that good! The movies are fun too, actually. :) Don't miss out on this series--you and I are pig-headed about hype but this series is just so much fun!

By the way, if you'd like to get a sampling of what Jim Dale sounds like narrating a Harry Potter book, please watch this video! It's a book party and he narrated a bit of one book. Close your eyes and enjoy! How I adore this man!! youtu.be/pjIdb6eZ0Aw?t=105 (the link brings you to where he starts narrating)

Finally, I'm so glad the concert turned out to be so great! What a treat! And isn't it nice to be surprised by such talent! :)

Ok, off I go. I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Delightful, and beautifully lit, Ron.

What an odd name.

Exquisite capture and PIPs!

Admired in:
www.ipernity.com/group/tolerance

Wonderful floral capture. Great pips also. Well done Ron Regards Tess.

Stunningly beautiful.
Congrats on Explore.