Bluebonnets: Baby Longhorns and Friend Jen

A few pictures from last year's bluebonnet adventures.
I finally just now got around to turning in my film from my non-digital cameras.
As with all of the following bluebonnet pictures, it is really worth clicking on the pictures to get the full screen effect.
Almost as good a being there in real life.

Bernie flew home last night from Austin and said from the air the ground looks like it has blue ponds and lakes and seas covering the ground...but the blue water really is just bluebonnets in bloom.
Next year I want to take a flight in a small plane or helicopter and see all of this from the air.

Isn't this the cutest baby?
Lucky baby longhorn!

Lucky Longhorn in the bluebonnet pasture.

My gal pal Jennifer visited last year from Oregon. She's my friend from dorm days at Oregon State, and was my Maid of Honor.

I made the above hat and just never cared for how it looked on me; I made it using a very bright magenta felt hat, which I styled the brim and crown then added a lily flower and shimmery silk organdy hat band.
Sometimes I make hats and wonder who they will work on.
In this case, it was Jennifer who looked perfect in the hat.
She wore it a few weeks later back home in Oregon for Easter.
Jen's retired now (lucky girl!) after teaching tobacco and other dependency cessation courses at Kaiser Medical center.
Now she devotes herself full time to her true passion: Horses and teaching dressage, which I call "ballet for horses."

Bluebonnets and them Longhorn cattle

Screensaver worthy!

Of course what would Texas be without our beloved Longhorns? Go UT?

Bluebonnets: The edge of Kingwood

And people barrel through at 50 miles an hour!

This is the "backside" entrance to Kingwood, still outside the snooty Kingwood proper.
The firework stand in the background is THE place to be on 4th of July!

Wildflowers in Kingwood

Evening Primrose

Tickweed

Love this close up of the Indian Paint Brush!

Bluebonnets and Evening Primrose

The pink Evening Primrose is a perfect shade of pink, it is actually a little brighter than I captured it photographically here.

They bloom all summer EVERYWHERE, so they really deserve a lot more praise than they get.

Not sure what this is called. A research project for later.

These pictures are all taken just as you enter Kingwood on Northpark Dr.

Bluebonnets and Indian Paint brush: Kingwood

As beautiful as Bluebbonnets are, they also have some beautiful flower friends. I would be remiss if I didn't pay homage to the other rollicking flowers abloom right now.
The coral orange is Indian Paint Brush.

You can see how tiny the blue bonnets really are.

Bluebonnets: April 2, 2007

It is a pity Picasa will only allow four pictures per post, and that I am too lazy to upload pictures one by one to make one long post.

I am just going to have to make do by posting over and over again, four pictures at a time, until I have posted all of the bluebonnets shots that I took on the road home from Austin last Monday afternoon.

I took pictures of an elderly couple who pulled up behind us at this patch, and them asked him to take a picture of me. I usually *try* to have a white and blue and pink outfit on (with sleeves) or a dress, and certainly A HAT (specifically my bluebonnet hat...) but the older man was there and Bernie was doing his usual thing (answering phone calls) so this is going to have to do for this year's picture.

I did manage to catch Bernie between calls, he climbed out of the car, his phone permanently attached to his hand, and of course it rang as I was getting him into a great location. Once he's in a conversation, he's a little hard to steer, but I think it turned out alright. Since he is also allergic to bee stings, I try not to have him linger in flowery meadows any longer than absolutely necessary!

Enjoy coming along with us and enjoy traveling a Texas Bluebonnet Trail: Austin to Houston, April 2nd, 2007.
(And make plans for visiting us to see the bluebonnets next year! It is an experience you won't want to miss.)

Bluebonnets and others

That's Bernie waiting for me in the Pontiac sedan. It was so hard not to stop constantly and shoot pictures; I was using a disposable camera since my digital camera's battery needed recharging.

I had to limit myself to twenty four shots!

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets: It's a Texas thing

Texans use their state's shape in a lot of places for decorations, as shown on this gate.
The other big motif is the five pointed star that is found on the state flag.

We pulled over to take a picture, then an older man and women pulled up behind us in a truck, then a red mini van pulled up ahead of us and these four children clambered out of the van and romped up the hill while their mom fumbled around getting her camera ready. I loved the oldest child, the last one up the hill walking with exaggerated steps.

Family pictures, baby pictures, dog pictures, bride/bride and groom pictures are being taken all over the state. Many families have a yearly shot of their children in the same bluebonnet location, and some brides plan their weddings around blue bonnet season.

I say: Smart parents, smart brides!

Bluebonnet fields along the roadside

If the above picture doesn't leave you twitterpatted and in love with Texas, I don't know what will!

You can see a gasoline station sign on the edge of the highway in this one.

Bluebonnets: The way home from Austin

Can you see how far the blue carpet went at this ranch?

How on earth do they get ANYTHING done this time of year?

The only thing missing in the pictures of the bluebonnet is the wonderful perfume that is carried along on the warm gentle breeze.

The scent is like nothing else; a mix of fresh cut grass, a touch of violet, a bit of lily...if someone could create a perfume that captured that scent, I would happily wear it every day.

Pride & Prejudice millinery

OK, so I can't sleep, and so I'm surfing around millinery sites and I found Louise MacDonald's site

http://www.louisemacdonald.com.au/costume_millinery.html

She did the hats for the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice.

On the site are pictures and a few comments by MacDonald concerning how she created the millinery for the movie and a few other movies as well.

Enjoy...and catch her fashion hats and bridal hat links too!

Jeff's Garden

Our son Jeff just sent these pictures to me of his garden. There were just a few daffodils and crocus blooming when I was there, so I am so glad to see the tulips and hyacinths in bloom.