June 30 - it's hard to believe the year is already halfway through! Where does the time go . . .
A sudden rainstorm in the middle of the night left lots of wet leaves, so out I go for my 'drip' photos! A lucky shot of the vine maple leaves against the sky - it doesn't look quite real, does it? But I assure you, this is the actual photograph! And below, water dripping from a maple seed reflects some of the twigs.

Another patch of wildflowers blooming now is Gaultheria, one of the wintergreens. I haven't seen it anywhere else, but there is a huge patch of them in the same area as the twinflowers. The flowers nod on tall red stalks.

The Twin-Flowers are blooming. There's a spot in the woods next door where the ground is covered with moss, and the sweet little flowers spring up out of the moss everywhere.

It's like a magical fairyland!

The first batch of swallow babies has fledged - here are two of the five sitting on the gutter. By standing nearby, I  am taking my life in my hands: the parents and all the aunts and uncles are swooping and chirping indignantly!

The first day lily is blooming - they are special to me because I brought them from my mother's garden in Ohio, and they remind me of her every time I look at them! So cheerful and sunny, too.

Full moon tonight, on one of the longest days of the year. Too bad, cloud cover! I did get some backlit clouds, and even got a quick peek at it, but this is the best I could do. I did have company: two does were grazing in the lawn, curious about the flashing lights on the camera, but not quite bold enough to approach any closer.

On the way home from Coupeville, we stopped at Fort Casey State Park to view the Admiralty Head Lighthouse. It was open, and I was able to go up the spiral stairs to the top. It is empty of it's light and prism now,

but has a beautiful view in all directions. Above is the view to the west, looking out the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

On the ground, the same trees spread dappled shade over a path to the beach. In the far distance are the bluffs of Ebey's Landing.

Very interesting clouds today - but they didn't last very long. Today actually felt like a summer day: warm enough to wear shorts!!

One of the projects I'm working on requires a Landscaping Plan, so I'm looking around Freeland to see what plants are being used. This is one of the planter boxes recently installed along Main Street.

First day of summer? HA! I say, HA HA!! Even the swallows are miserable, hunched in the cold rain on one of our chairs. (Well, it did eventually dry up and even had a little bit of sun, but not summer weather by any means!

I made a little accordion book today for a friend who lost her favorite dog recently. We had gone on a camping trip with the dog, so I had some photos of them. Above is the finished book.

I couldn't figure out a way to make my printer print a long skinny photo, so I printed each spread separately, and glued them to my long paper. Above, everything is printed out, and below they are glued in place.

I folded carefully, but of course the folds are not quite even, but that just adds to the home-made factor. Below, the pages after I trimmed them, and the covers are ready to glue.

Above, the finished cover: the brown paper is some that I made from cedar bark, and I glued it to a heavy black paper I had, for stability. Below is the finished book.

Toward later afternoon, the crows begin to gather in the tree tops. Today there was a battle going on for the choice perch at the very tippy-top of the tallest Cedar tree. This pair battled it out, chasing each other back and forth between the cedar and a nearby fir tree, while the early-rising moon watched from a distance.

The days are finally getting nicer - we had some nice sun today. Down in the woods, I found some tiny root fungus under the fir trees.

Near the swamp, the spring beauties abound, shining in the sun.

Last year's pansies escaped their pot, and are spreading around in the gravel walkway. Love those faces!

While David was at the dentist, I waited in a nearby coffee shop with a caramel latte and loganberry turnover. Yum!

In the evening I went to Suze's Zumba class at Dr. Craig's. It was fun, but I am no dancer, and had a hard time keeping my legs and arms moving at the same time. They say I'll eventually get it . . .

The sun came in the windows and lit up the floor.

Seems like I don't get around to taking any photos until later in the day, and today was no exception. But the setting sun lit the tops of the trees brilliantly: above, a fir tree shines brightly, while in the other direction, the far ridge glowed behind the shadowed trees.

It was pretty nice today, so it was a surprise to see a double rainbow late in the afternoon. By the time I got outside with my camera, it was already fading away. Part of it was pretty intense for a while . . .

A couple of weeks ago (actually, the last sunny day) I gathered some willow bark to experiment with. It was really nice to sit in the sun and peel the bark off the branches. The trees had to be cut down before they fell on the driveway. I split some of it, and tried a braid. It stayed surprisingly supple as it dried.

I also made a quick little pouch with the bark from a branch, laced up the sides with some of the peeled bark.

Sun shining down the driveway, and through some odd papery fungus on a tree.

Sorticulture, the Everett Garden Arts Festival. Suze, Jonathan and I had a very nice time viewing the garden and art booths, eating, and listening to music. Suze liked the giant chairs.

 There were lots of different glass arts, and when the sun finally came out, it shined through the colored glass.

The Fuscia booth had an incredible array of flowers to choose from.

The carnivorous plant booth had some really great pitcher plants, and sundews, which had already begun to accumulate unwary insects.

This artist had really cool faces to hid amongst your garden plants.

Meanwhile, over in the Passage, the Kite Boarders were having fun in the wind and waves, and then the sailboat race swept past.