Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Subfamily: Asteroideae

Dahlia flowers always amaze me - they are always so perfect. This one was, unfortunately, partly in the shade and I could do nothing about it. Just a quick shot taken in the small garden at the Bowden Sunflower Maze. Three days ago, on 12 September 2015, I drove further than I've ever driven before in one day - a total of 410 km (254 miles). I met my daughter at 9:00 am and we headed northwards, with our main destination being the Bowden Sunflower Maze. She felt well enough now after her recent hospital stay, to get out for a day trip. The quickest route from Calgary is a distance of 96 km (60 miles), but I needed to avoid the main, busy route. Also, the backroads are more pleasant to drive - less traffic and, if one is lucky, one will find the occasional old barn. There was one barn in particular that I had seen last year, that I really wanted to show my daughter and this took us a little out of our way. We drove through the town of Olds, stopping briefly to take a couple of photos of the bright orange grain elevator. Haven't been able to find any information about this Pioneer elevator. Going north, we drove the roads to the west of the main Highway 2, and on our return trip we drove the roads to the east of Highway 2. I think this trip really convinced my daughter, more strongly than ever, that sadly she has a mother with almost zero sense of direction! This was the first time I had ever been to Bowden and the Sunflower Maze. For years, I had wished we had a field of Sunflowers somewhere within reach, as I had seen so many gorgeous photos taken by other people in various parts of the world. I certainly didn't get photos like those, but I was happy to get the shots I did get. Apparently, this past weekend was going to be the last chance to really see the flowers, so we were just in time. The maze at Eagle Creek Farms is apparently the only Sunflower Maze in Canada. There is also an adjoining Corn Maze, but neither of us wanted to walk through that one, thanks to remembering the horror movie, "Children of the Corn"! The farm also has U-pick vegetables and flowers. www.sunmaze.ca/ Thanks, Rachel, for spending the day with me - and for all your directions getting us there and back to the city! Lucky we went when we did, as it has been raining ever since.

Note: this photo is my "main" (i.e. very last to be uploaded) photo out of the three I've posted this morning. I uploaded the other two first and then uploaded this main image separately, to see if that makes any difference. I did try doing it a couple of times this way weeks ago and seem to remember that there was something I didn't like with the result, but can't for the life of me remember what it was, ha. Hopefully, Flickr (or something else) won't change the order of the way you see my photos displayed! Happy 1st August, everyone! Here in Canada, it is a long weekend, as Monday is Heritage Day in Alberta, an occasion to celebrate the heritage of the peoples of the province. The origins of the holiday on the first Monday in August each year seem to go back to a “day of recreation” first organized by Toronto City Council in 1869. This photo was taken last Wednesday, 29 July 2015, when I called in at the Reader Rock Garden after a volunteer shift. Summer is flying by and I wanted to take a whole batch of bright, colourful flower photos ready to post during the seven or eight cold "winter" months. It was so disappointing to find very little still in bloom! Many plants had already finished and had been cut down and a lot of the flowers that were left were past their prime. However, I did still manage to get some photos, including of this opening Echinacea bud - love these flowers. It had rained during the afternoon and some of the pathways were quite slippery. Also, the powerful sprinklers were turned on when I was still there and I was rather wet by the time I reached the exit! The things we photographers go through to get some of our photos, lol! The forecast for this afternoon is 28C, a very slight improvement over yesterday, when it reached 31C. I was out all day yesterday, having a great day with friend, Darlene, going west of the city. We first called in at someone's private property to see if there was any sign of the Red-bellied Woodpecker that had been reported. No luck, but we did see many beautiful Evening Grosbeaks and even more Pine Siskins, plus a Hairy Woodpecker and several other birds. Also, we saw a different Grosbeak, either a female or a juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeak or Black-headed Grosbeak. Didn't get a chance to look at my photos and crop to get a better look last night. Hopefully, someone will have been able to get the bird identified. After this visit, we drove to an area where I had been told that a Great Gray can be seen sometimes (no luck), and then along Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66) as far as Maclean Pond, just in time to see an Osprey with a large fish in its talons. So few birds to be seen or heard - maybe it was just too hot for them, and by then it was the afternoon, which tends not to be the best time to see birds. We got separated for quite a long time, through miscommunication, probably because when I yelled through the forest "Are you still coming?", it had sounded to Darlene like "I'm coming"! So, she waited for me to reach her and I had assumed that she was following behind me, some distance back. Apparently, both of us called a number of times after that, but we were out of hearing distance. Not a good feeling, each of us concerned about the well-being of the other and each wondering if we were going to have to call in a search party. At 31C, it was feeling mighty hot the whole time, too! When we finally found each other, we knew what we needed after our "ordeal" - an ice-cream, back in Bragg Creek, lol! A great day, Darlene - thanks so much for driving and for all the fun : )