Another week and more slow progress on the weather front. We’ve actually gone three whole days now without rain, although the last downpour, on Friday, was quite spectacular in a brief and localized way. I was unfortunate enough to be caught in it on a long downhill haul trying to work my way out of the city to get to the barn. Couldn’t take my usual route, although I made various attempts, as most of the city streets are under reconstruction in the traditional summer fix-up frenzy and I was in major detour mode, starting with the one right outside my driveway. How people who aren’t residents or are relying on GPS systems to navigate can get anywhere in this town is beyond me. I’ve always lived here and I’m finding it challenging just going to my usual destinations.
So there I was on a long downhill road, no shoulder or any way to pull off safely to the sides, when the skies opened and suddenly there was no visibility, even with the wiper blades set at the maximum rate. Not safe to keep driving, but also not safe to pull over as I couldn’t get off the road enough and others might not be stopping, until they hit me, at any rate. So I was carrying on as slowly as possible, then it started to hail. At that point I did find a side street where I could park for a while until I could see. By the time I got to the street I needed to turn onto (at the very bottom of the hill), it had become a torrential river with no way other than the hard one of finding out how deep it was. As it turned out, it was fairly deep but still navigable, and with no large surprise holes in the bottom. I was quite traumatized by the time I got to the barn, although thankful that it hadn’t rained nearly as much there. It’s “dry” enough out there now that if only the farrier would actually come, I could get the shoes back on my horse and start riding again.
On to the photos. Shot one shows a rose that is in a container by my front entryway. This is another way of saying I go by it and have to look at it every single time I enter or leave my house. Normally this would be a good thing, but I find this rose to be about the ugliest one I have ever had under my care. I thought I was getting a soft mix of sunrise colours, but it has turned out to be a garish and rather violent set of tones, rendered even less attractive by the strange leprous mottled spots on the petals. It doesn’t even have a scent, although that’s perhaps all to the good as I don’t like to contemplate what sort of scent would be produced by something that looks like this. The main good feature of it for me is that it will die over the winter, not being a variety that is hardy here. Maybe I’ll have better luck next year.

Shot two shows a potential new neighbour, checking out the little house in the yard next door. We’ve had several sets of baby sparrows launched from our own birdhouses so far this summer, and it seems the process isn’t over with yet.

Friday I went out to my friend’s farm to photograph her old dog who is ailing but still looking good. I had to take the opportunity to get some horse shots (she breeds Paints) while I was there as well, and photo three is one of that series. This herd shot looks quite idyllic, but in reality these poor horses were being absolutely tormented by biting flies of various species. They are in the far north pasture and too far from the house and from view for a smudge ( a smokey smoldering fire, carefully contained and monitored) to be safely burned, unfortunately for them. The closer-in horses have keenly watched smudges burning in their areas, and as a result are virtually insect-free and much more comfortable. This photo is yet another example of how deceptive photos can be, as it looks so lovely but in reality was far from it for the poor horses.

Shot four is one I took on the weekend of an immature gull riding the wind currents over the river. He didn’t have the flight capabilities of the mature gulls who were swooping and doing aerobatics, so he just faced into the considerable wind and hung there like a kite much of the time.

For whatever reason, this has turned out to be a spectacular year for lilies. Nice that it’s been good for *something*!! We have a fairly extensive collection of both Asiatic and Day lilies, and shot five shows some of the beauties in our north backyard bed.

©Copyright 2010 by Judy Wood. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.