A Golden Summer Day - Facebook Prize

With the latest winter storm leaving the USA I thought it would be fun to share this photograph taken in the dog days of summer. This was the choice of Glenda Ganis of Los Angeles, California, who won this 8x10 by participating on my Facebook page. Congratulations Glenda!

If you would like a chance to win one of my fine art photographs then head over to Facebook and "like" my page. That is where the fun happens. Then when the next contest rolls around you will be ready to win!

Stay warm my friends!

Golden Bliss
A dog days of summer photo of an inviting front porch next to a perennial garden full of flowers and a golden retriever dog basking in the warm light.
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Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Yellow Sweet Peas

The breeze gently stirs the fragrant wild bouquet of yellow pea creating the sound of sheets stirring in the night. I stoop to gather in the subtle perfume and feel the soft blue green leaves tickle my nose. A sudden urge envelopes me to simply lie down on the covered hillside and sink beneath the green blanket of blossoms. A lazy bee impossibly hovers nearby and adds his own splash of yellow to the melee. The moment continues and is forever part of me.

Sweet Peas
Wild yellow sweet peas, a common wildflower that grows on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, is found growing in a lush profusion of blue green leaves. This plant also goes by the names; Yellow Pea, False Lupine, and Buck Bean.
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August 2010 Free Wallpaper Calendar

August is a month of hot summer and bright flowers. We often seek a shady nook in the dog days to escape the heat. This creamy stucco garden wall is catching the last rays of the day and beckons one to pause. The flowers become vivid and light up as the shadows deepen on the dappled wall. Where do you find respite on a hot day?

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for August 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size"
at the top left of the page.
The file will then download to your desktop!

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Golden Hillside

The day was cool and misty. It suited my temperament and put an extra lift in my step. The scent of pine enveloped me and stole my attention from everything else for a moment. Then, as I gazed down the hillside, a sprinkling of yellow flowers had seemingly appeared in the instant of my attention. I had to get close to the earth and take in their beauty in a gulp. The fog crept closer and the trees beyond the little mountain meadow started to disappear into the mist. I felt small sitting in the dirt with my mouse view. The world shifted and I was suddenly no one and everything all at once. Nature once again stole me away.

Spring Gold
A grassy hillside is sprinkled with late spring blooming yellow flowers and the majestic pines in the background are shrouded in a misty fog.
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Lovely Locoweed

I was on my morning walk with my two exuberant dogs. The air still had the chill of a Rocky Mountain morning but the sun was warm. As I rounded the bend in the dusty dirt road I saw the mound of white blossoms that we locals in the West know as locoweed. It is so pretty and also so poisonous. The variety that commonly grows near my home is usually white but can also be a pale lavender. It is dangerous to grazing animals and also very tasty to them. I ponder this apparent conundrum in nature as we continue to walk through the dappled shade of pines on the dusty road.

Lovely Loco
The delicate spires of white blossoms of the locoweed plant are lovely and common throughout the West.
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Locoweed Road
White locoweed grows in a beautiful clump near a country road in Colorado.

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Rocky Mountain Wildflowers of Colorado

Spring came late this year with our last large snow in the middle of May. As many of you remember, I was gone the last week of May on family business, and when we returned home everything was bursting with color and new growth. Summers are short in the Colorado Rockies and the spring plants were mingled with the summer blooms all in a rainbow of exploding color. Here are a couple of my favorites; the Pasque Flower and Cushion Cactus. Enjoy!

Pink Cushion Cactus Blossoms
A mound of hot pink blossoms adorns the top of a Cushion Cactus in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
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Pasque Flowers
Delicate lavender Pasque Flowers, also called Prairie Crocus, are the earliest of spring flowers in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
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Graceful Resilience on Mother's Day

When you live in the Colorado Rocky Mountains you expect spring snows. I have long ago given up the notion to run outside and cover my freshly emerging spring flowers. They have to be tough! Grape hyacinths fit that bill perfectly. They gracefully bend low under the weight and then when the sun emerges to melt away the spring snow they slowly stand up again. They remind me that part of being a loving mom is graceful resilience with just a sprinkle of toughness. Wishing all you Moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day!

Snow Grapes
Deep royal blue grape hyacinths bend low under the weight of a fresh spring snow in the Colorado Rockies.
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May 2010 Free Wallpaper Calendar

A tiny spring rivulet of a creek bubbles and burbles down the hillside past lichen covered rocks. The bluebells lining the brook sway gently in the breeze as a slow meandering bee lights from flower to flower. The air is scented with earth and water; flower and pine. I hope you have a chance to go outside and enjoy your own unique spring walk. In the meantime, please enjoy your new wallpaper calendar for May.

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for May 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size"
at the top left of the page.
The file will then download to your desktop!

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

A Blush of Pink

A blush of pink tints the eastern horizon the color of a child's flushed cheeks. The whole world becomes saturated with pinkness. My own skin takes on a fresh young glow as the rose colored light permeates the room. Everything is awash with the rosy color of a new day.

Be sure to click on the names of these wonderful artisans to visit their Etsy shops and see all of their fine items.

Dancing In The Spotlight
by Urban Design
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Acid Rose - Scrabble Tile Necklace
by House of Six Cats
click here for purchase information on this pendant

Labrador Retriever Dog Art
by Ron Krajewski
click here for purchase information on this signed art print

Dreams In Pink
by Kristybee
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Hobbit Birdhouse Shelf
by J and D Woodcrafts
click here for purchase information on this birdhouse

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Iris in Bloom - Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I wish each of you a special day surrounded by family and friends. I will be with my own family today and thinking of my extended family in Ohio. My 80 year old Mom is cooking for my brother's family which has grown to fourteen this year. That includes four great grandchildren. Go Grandma! We love you!

Iris in Bloom
The light catches the delicate purple frills and folds of an iris in this artistic close up "photo painting."
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The Sweet Butter Swirl of a Calla Lily

The light is soft but warm. The room is scented sweetly of lilies. As I watch dust motes drift lazily through the rays of light my gaze lingers on the vase of lovely delicate flowers. An unexpected gift from my beloved, they bring happiness and a smile to my face, as I remember my beau walking through the door smiling holding the beautiful bouquet, a testament of love.

Yellow Swirl
A luscious curve of butter yellow flower petal swirls into the center of the calla lily.
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Butter Curl
Gentle curls of yellow flower petal catch the morning light on this calla lily.
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Yellow Calla Lily Flower Set
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Orange Orange

Today's post is all about color. I was inspired to pick orange by the fantastic sunrises I have been greeted by this week. They paint my bedroom in a warm orange glow making it easy to pop out of the covers and start my day. For some reason when it's gloomy it is much better to stay under the blankets. But orange rejuvenates me, gets my motor running. I hope you enjoy my guest photography today and click on the shops and photos. Oooo-aarrrrange you glad I picked orange!

love on a sunday morning
by myan photography
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Le Soleil
by Honeytree
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TTV Gerber Daisy
by The Eye
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Little Orange Beetle
by Starry Blue Sky
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Lanterns
by Ara 133 Photography
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The Blush of a Spring Amaryllis

The pots of giant amaryllis bulbs are lined up in a row in front of the eastern windows. All year long I wait, water and watch. It starts sometime in January when the first little green nub starts to push up through the dark soil. I wait more and check the other pots to see if there are any more tentative green shoots. Within the next month they all start to push upward in various stages. Usually the giant crimson flowers are first with the lightly blushing pink ones last. The display goes on in the eastern light for weeks filling my home with various shades of crimson, scarlet, white, and pink until finally the last bloom fades and they all rest once again.

First Kiss
The first tender color of blushing red emerges from an amaryllis bud.
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Deep Kiss
A brilliant red amaryllis is deeply revealed in intimate detail.
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Flaming Bud
An amaryllis bud in flaming colors of red, orange and yellow emerges into the spring light.
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Red Flower Photo Set -8x10 Set of Three Photographs
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Beautiful Tulip Fields - Amazing Photos...