A sparkle-spangled morning...

The sun comes early now, working its way to that longest day of the year. I was up before 6, and with my morning coffee I found sparkles twinkling in the front room through the holes in the blinds. The sparkles and shadows fascinate me, something so elusive....I had to try and capture them in the moment. Many pictures later, these are the best of the bunch. I'm pleased with the first one.. The second one isn't bad, and gives you a glimpse into my tiny cottage. A little doll from Patti can be seen leaning by the Rayo lamp. The lamp is an old, dented railroad lamp. I have it's gas parts, but converted it to electricity. My Dad found it, I know it's connected to one of the 3 railroads that ran through my home town. It seems I've had it forever.....longer than I can remember.

And of course someone who lives here...*S*....can't bear it if I am paying too much attention to something else....LOL. She looks pretty funny hiding behind that curtain to see what all the fuss is about. And her eye, with the curtain trim across it. I went outside to snap some flower pictues in the cool freshness of morning. The July heat of yesterday (it was in the low 90's) gave way over night...this morning found us with a lovely 54 degrees....very much like September. Talk about a change! The flowers pictures will keep, but I'll share my yellow shoes. Jean found them for me at a yard sale. They really are carved wooden shoes painted bright yellow. I plan on planting some sedem in them soon. Most sedem(like hens'n'chicks)have very shallow root systems and work well in odd containers.

They do make a nice spring picture, don't they? Help yourself with a right-click if it makes you happy....*VBS* I'll post it over in Webshots also.

How Green is my Valley...?

Unusally warm weather in April and early May, has brought spring to my valley much earlier than normal. Whether or not it can survive and stay remains to be seen. I was in search of trilliums on Thursday,WI's state flower. They are early bloomers and tho it's barely time for them, the apples trees are in full bloom and the trillums are just starting.

It's NOT time for apple blossoms, but we have them,and wild plums.. I found a few trilliums and will return to snap a pic of them. Inside the village limits(pics #2 & 3) the hillsides are nearly finished leafing out. They haven't obtained the deeper green that will come with summer, but the hill is a pretty uniform color. In the 1st picture, taken outside of the village, and you can see some of the 'green mist' I was talking about earlier. The hills are a sea of green, in many, many shades. It's very lovely. And with little to no rain fall, the farmers are getting an early start on plowing, disking and planting their corn.

The last picture is of the road home..the old river road. It's hard not to love the drive. It winds and meanders, curving this way and that, as it follows the river
for the first 4 miles. Then it angles off to the right, cutting through sections of sandstone bluffs. Almost perfectly straight up and down bluffs, put there by the last glacier. Rocks and bolders often tumble down the hill and land in the road. It's good to be alert on this road. Deer frequently cross, heading for the river below the bank, and wild turkeys are everywhere. Pheasants are part of the picture and a multitude of squirrels skunks, possums and racoons. It's a wild and wonderful journey on a moonlit winter night, and relaxed and charming one on a summer afternoon. There are only 4 roads to get out of Elmwood, and 3 of those are uphill...LOL This is the beginning of Coulee country.