Friday, June 26, 2009

Floral Pink

Thanks for coming by today. Just have a few floral pics to share with you. The first one is an orchid at Powell Gardens. I can't wait to go back there!



These next two are some rose pics I took and digitally edited. I really like the way they turned out. I got brave recently and put some of my pictures up for sale at imagekind.com. If you want to see what's there just go to http://SusanMHickam.imagekind.com/ . The following two images are there for sale. Scarey step! Just another part of the process to practice putting myself out there to be noticed(a very difficult thing for me personally.)



I really appreciate you all coming by today. I hope you don't forget to stop by Beverly's at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ to say thanks to Beverly for continueing to host this wonderful event. Take care and have a terrific weekend. Sweetpea Sue

Monday, June 22, 2009

Blue Monday

Hope your Monday is looking up!




Above are some pretty daisies I got yesterday over at the Old Train Depot in North Lawrence. They have remade the place in to a Visitor's Center. Below is a sweet fountain at the Country Club Plaza. All those little fellas are fauns.



Below is a structure for shade at Powell Gardens. Very Prairie Style I think.



Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your Monday is blessed as well as your week. Don't forget to go see Sally and all the Blue ladies today over at Sally's blog. http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/
Sweetpea Sue


Saturday, June 20, 2009

Good morning to you all! Hope this fine day finds you all in fine spirits. There is something wonderful about having a whole weekend stretched before you. Thanks for coming by for a visit. I finally have a photo of some sweetpeas to share with you. It is one of the photos I took at Powell Gardens a couple of weeks ago. When I was a girl my Grandma Marie had sweetpeas growing up her trellis on her front porch. It offered color, shade and privacy and was just beautiful to behold. Whenever I would spend the night with my grandmother, we would ususally sit out on the porch in the evening and watch all the people go by while we caught up on each other's doings during the week. My grandmother was a calm port in the storms of my life. I miss her everyday. These sweetpeas aren't as colorful as hers,but they do have just a touch of pink in them.


Roses from Powell Gardens
Pink Lilies- I have never been overly fond of lilies but these are ones I would love to have growing in my yard. When I looked up the origin of my first name- Susan- I found it meant lily and was a Hebrew name. It makes me think of Easter of course, ressurection, new life and God's Grace. I think that is pretty good conatations to have with one's name.


I saw these lovely petals scattered on the ground under a rosebush when I was visiting Powell Gardens. Everywhere you turned there was beauty. It quieted my soul wandering around that place. I can just imagine how it must have felt in the garden of Eden. Makes me homesick for someplace I was made for but never been too.


Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to visit. I treasure your kind comments. Don't forget to go visit Beverly and all the Pink Saturday ladies. Take care and I hope you have a wonderful and blessed week. Sweetpea Sue

Monday, June 15, 2009

Blue Plaza

Hope your weekend was smooth sailing. Mine sure slipped by fast! Yesterday my oldest neice and I drove to Kansas City to go down to the Country Club Plaza and take pictures. This is her last summer before she goes away to college(in Minnesota!) so I'm trying to see her as much as possible. Who knows where life will take her after this? She professes to wanting to live in New York City someday and I imagine if she does I won't see much of her then. I do threaten my neices and nephew that when I am an old lady(having no children of my own) I will take turns visiting them with my blow up air mattress and sleep in their laundry rooms. My nephew informs me he won't have one. I told him the floor in the living room will be fine then. He hasn't figured out how to get around that yet. Ha!


Above is a cute little tudor style apartment house that is just east of a little park with a wonderful sculpture in it. I loved the look of the place and can imagine how sweet it was in it's early days.
Above is just one of the wonderful buildings they have on the Plaza- I believe the Plaza was inspired by the developer's travels in Europe as a young man and his delight with Italy and Spain. Kansas City is Known as the City of Fountains-only Rome in Italy has more.

Both tiles above and below are on the exterior of buildings on the plaza- I just love them!




Last is some ironwork that perches on top of the building we passed by like a crown. It reminds me of the gate into heaven(even though it isn't pearly!)



Thanks for coming by today- I always love a good visit. Hope your week is blessed and beautiful. Don't forget to go see Sally and all the other ladies particpating today. Here is her link: http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/
Sweetpea Sue


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Pink June

Hope this Saturday finds you in the pink of health! I ended up putting up my post later than I planned(meant to do it last night but I got sidetracked with a great book!) . I have just a few pics to share with you today. The first one is my silly old cat Toby(he is 16 and 1/2) sleeping ontop of my little cabinet. I thought he looked pretty cute next to the JOY sign. It turned out a little blurry as he had the habit of moving whenever I clicked the picture. He is a joy to me(except at night when he decides the best place to sleep is on my head!) and I hope he is around alot longer.


The next picture is of a flower at Powell Gardens in Kingsville Missouri, just outside of the Kansas City area and about an hour and 1/2 from where I live. Last weekend my neice, an old friend and I went there to take pictures. I think I took about 200(limited only because I only have 1 memory card for my camera). It is a wonderful place to go and I defintely plan on going back later this summer. I can't wait to see what will be blooming later in the season. I had fun playing with the photo in the editing software at Picnik.com. It was a very bright day so one part of the flower was kind of blown out by the light. Anyway I was playing with the software and ended up with this. It doesn't look much like a photo but I like the way it turned out.
The next one is of some water lilys at the fountain area by the main building. There was a professional photographer posing a bride for official photos there so I didn't get but one photo of their lovely fountain. I think this one is one of the best I have ever taken. I am very happy with it.


The next two pictures I took last night when I decided to chase some lovely clouds I saw in the distance. I had just left the library, picked up some dinner and was on my way home when I spotted them. I just couldn't get pictures to do them justice where I was because so many telephone wires and electrical lines were in the way- I wish they were all buried! I started driving north to get out of town and find a spot that was good and ended up getting these two shots(among some others I will share later). It was a lovely sunset.


This little picture is of a tiny little lake called Lakeview. It is I think unknown to most of the inhabitants around her but a sweet spot I used to bicycle too when I was younger. On the other side, just to the left of this picture, is a road that divides this part from the part of the lake where people have a few homes right on the lake. I suspect the residents love having this little slice of heaven that most people are unaware of.



Well I am glad you were able to stop by today. It cheers me to no end to have a few visitors. I hope your weekend is blessed and beautiful. Don't forget to stop by Beverly's at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ and link to all the other ladies participating today.

Sweetpea Sue

Monday, June 8, 2009

Blue June

Hope your Monday is a beautiful blue! I have a few pictures to share with you from Powell Gardens in Kingsville Missouri. Last Saturday my neice and an old friend and I drove to the other side of Kansas City area and spent about 4 hours taking pictures. If you ever get a chance to go, don't pass it up. I'm sure I will put some more pics up later this week if you want to come back and see some more. Hope you enjoy.




Don't forget to go check out all the other participants today at Sally's blog- http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/