The Vincas are Cascading

I posted in May about my excitement about finding cascading vincas for our porch.

They are really filling in nicely and we are enjoying them so much!

These blooms would make pretty stunning pressed flowers.  You may remember this post about my little pressed flower bouquet. I have a small stash of pressed blooms from past summers.  Even if I never use them in a project, the saving of them and the discovery of what they look like after you take them from the book or place you pressed them is worth the time to do it!

Scene and Story: June

The day was overcast and chilly and the view was spectacular!  We drove up Needles Highway in the Black Hills and I remembered the fear I had when 40 years earlier there was talk of brakes overheating and a conviction that my Dad didn't know how dangerous the road was.  Now, it's my husband and me in the driver's seat.  Kind of fun to not be feeling like I'm at the mercy of someone else.  Okay, there were a couple of times when I wasn't driving that I gripped the seat a little tight!

This is the summit and there were quite a few motorcycles around and people milling about taking a break after driving up.  I think we all silently wished that the others would leave so we could enjoy this space all to ourselves.  We were facing an hour's drive yet back to our cabin, not wanting to drive the way in the dark, and we were hungry, so we did not even try to outlast the other tourists.

Later I found out that one biker was quietly mocking me as I tried to line up the family.  Apparently my kids thought it was funny.  Hmmm....

And, if you've never been here, this is the "Eye of the Needle" at the top of Needles Highway.

I'm joining Sarah for Scene and Story. 

Fallen

Kim Klassen's Studio includes a monthly prompt or as she calls it a "spark" to inspire your still life photos. This month's spark is "fallen".  As the Western Salsify wildflowers or weeds are beginning to go to seed, this prompt came to mind.

So I took a few seed heads on a photo shoot.  

The float so beautifully when the breeze takes them!  (Or when your son walks by and you ask him to toss some in the air while you take a picture!!)

I needed a fast shutter speed to capture the falling seeds a little better, but I was out of time to take pictures so decided I would just like the blur showing the movement, ha!

Then I switched it up a bit so the delicacy of these seeds could be appreciated even more.

We've been madly working on gardening and house projects here.  I hope your summer is off to a good start. :) 

By Jill Ruth for Mary Ruth

My very dear friend sent me these pictures from her garden.  The boots are the ones she wore to work at a steel mill.  She retired in 2002 and planted them with these wonderful succulents, Sempervivum, hens and chicks.  The plants are thriving in them.  When I saw the pictures, I knew there was so much more to them.  They were metaphoric, more than just beautiful.  There was a story or a poem in them.  This morning it came to me.