Perth's Fair

On Sunday I tagged along to the Perth Fair with my sister and the MacRae family. There's always lots to photograph at the fair; including my sister not paying any attention to me...

...rides galore...

...and so many wonderful colours.

Of course it wouldn't be right if there weren't some cute furbabies to photograph; don't ya just love her ears?!?!
Oh, and who could forget the livestock...Emu anyone??

There are so many more but I think you get the idea!

Toad

I bet you weren't expecting yet another flower photo! I do apologize for the abundance of flowers I've thrown at you of late; it's not intentional, I've just seen a lot of them in the last few days.
This is a Toad Lilly (Tricyrtis hirta), my new favourite flower in the garden; I think this one even tops the dahlias I *heart* so much. It's a bit orchid-esque which is probably why I like it. It was a fun find for me at the nursery; there was only one on the bench and it wasn't in bloom but I was intrigued by it's name. I'm glad I grabbed it!

Prickly and still pretty

I found these echinacea plants around the corner. I had no idea that white varieties existed!

This is just a cropped version of the above shot.
I love colours and squiggles!

So pretty!

Top view

And in keeping with the prickly theme, I also found a thistle...

Where there are flowers....

....there are bees!
In preparation for my exam at the end of August I have been given a month off from my lab work. This means I don't leave the house nearly as much as I normally do so today I'm posting a shot of the newly-blooming dahlias in my front yard. This one just started to open today.

Every time I go out to check on my flowers, I see 2 or 3 bees hovering around these spots on the tree that my flower bed is built around. I'm not exactly sure what's attracting them but it must be good because they're always there.

Perfect Pink Peonies

In honour of our first wedding anniversary that's coming up next Monday I thought I'd post some photos of the peonies I shot this past weekend. They are hands-down my favourite flowers (except for the dumb ants that seem to always come with....) and I'm sure I've mentioned before that we used them for our wedding.
These first photos were taken in my mother's garden; strangely, I've never seen another peony that looks like these which is probably why I like them so much.

I really love this one, the vibrant colours (thanks to the sun!) and the perspective. I can't take credit for the set-up of this photo though, that I owe to my mom. She's always taking pictures while trying to get the lake in the background so I kinda stole her idea...haha....I'm sure she won't mind. I actually think she got the idea from our wedding photographer last year.....

This next one was taken at Brannon's mom's house. Her peonies are all of this deep magenta variety and I think they're my favourites of all.

In bloom

I know, I know....this flower thing is becoming like skies were for me a few months ago. I got home after the sun had set today so I really had nothing to take pics of outside. I took this yesterday and I like it because it shows a really pretty side of an otherwise quite ordinary flower - the geranium. This one is in the planter on my front step. I had never noticed that the buds were below and must rise upon blooming. I think it's quite interesting!

Flowers at Fran's

While we've been getting ready to move, Brannon's brother and his wife (Mason and Fran) have been baby-sitting our cats so that they're not in the way. I was in the area yesterday signing lawyer's documents etc., and popped by to visit them (the cats, Mason and Fran were at work). I also took a few minutes to look around their yard and here are a few of the shots that I came up with.

When I was a little girl, Lilly-of-the-Valley was my favourite flower!

I wasn't quite able to get this insect in focus but I like bugs so I posted it anyway.

We're not sure what these blossoms are; it's the first time the tree has bloomed since Mason and Fran have been living at their home.

Hens and chicks

An iris for Kathleen :)

Bleeding Hearts

I wish I'd had my camera with me in the car on the way home from work today. It POURED rain this afternoon but it stopped as fast as it started and then the brightest sun came out while the sky remained really dark. It would have made for some spectacular pictures and I would have even had time to take some from the car because I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic...Ggrr...
Anyway, I didn't get to photograph the sky today but I did find some pretty little bleeding hearts so that's my entry for today. I really should take some photos of my house (my current one); we're having the whole place painted and you should see what it looks like. I think it would look better if a cyclone came through......but the walls are looking very nice :)

May Flowers (almost)

I would have used "Steel Magnolias" as my title as it's my all-time favourite movie but I recall that Jenn used that one once before so I didn't want to steal it :)
I saw some magnolia trees in bloom the other day but it was raining and I was far too wrapped up in getting ready for my exam so I didn't stop to take any photos. I took the day off today and ran a bajillion errands and found some time to photograph my favourite spring blooms. When Brannon and I find 'our house', the first thing I'm going to do is plant a magnolia tree!

Pretty in Pink

It was a perfect day to be out taking photos but I had a million errands to run so I didn't actually get to take anything outside. I bought a bouquet of pretty pink flowers for my friend (her birthday) and thought I'd sneak some shots before I gave them to her :)