I know what you’re saying. I told you that my weekend was nothing but sunshine, so why am I writing about the return of sunshine?? Well, today is the day that my ray of sunshine, my baby, returns from his adventures in England and Scotland, and I can’t wait to see him and hear about his adventures.
Yes, teenagers can be a royal pain in the ass sometimes, I know that firsthand, but I have really lucked out with my boys. They are both awesome kids, and I have missed Daniel terribly over the last 9 days! He is our family comedian, and although he drives me crazy sometimes, he keeps us laughing all of the time. He is a ray of sunshine, and I can’t wait to have him home again.
On the weekend when I was planting flowers in my garden, this beautiful Coreopsis broke off the main plant, and it was so gorgeous that I brought it in the house and put it in water. It reminds me of the sun, so I thought it would make an appropriate photo for my return of sunshine post.
photos from the loonybin 
Aaaaaah… Enjoy Cindy!!! & beautiful photo!! 🙂 **
I know, that was pretty mushy eh? LOL Oh well, I can’t help it. I’m a mom :).
What a lovely image! It looks brilliant! =)
Thank you! It was a spur of the moment photo. I was sitting at the kitchen table and saw how pretty the flower looked with the natural light from the window hitting it, and I just had to experiment. Glad you liked it!!
Very good image with a nice background to make the flower stand out.
Thanks Rick!! This photo was proof that you don’t need expensive equipment because I simply propped up a cutting board behind the flower and covered it with a black sweater. I was really excited by the results!
Lovely Cindy! I really like the black BG.
Thank you so much :). It was just a creative moment that appeared out of nowhere, and I had a lot of fun experimenting! It was even more crisp though at full size before I reduced it to internet appropriate size. It definitely does lose a little quality when reduced.
The quality loss isn’t readily apparent on my screen, it just looks great!
Wow, thanks Jeff!! That means a lot coming from an awesome photographer like you :).
Ah, yes, I wrestle with the loss in quality all the time. First there’s the reduction down to posting size, and then WordPress “crunches” that already less detailed image to save storage space. In this case, though, your sunburst looks pretty sharp.
The native species of coreopsis here in Texas don’t have rays that look like little funnels. Do you know what species yours is?
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
I think I still have the little tag that came with it, so I will check when I get home from work because I have no idea. To tell you the honest truth, I had never heard of this type of flower before. That’s why I like your blog because I learn so much about flowers!! 🙂
For me the process works in the other direction: from what I’ve learned in my area, I’ve come to be able to recognize relatives in other parts of the country.
Hey Steve, unfortunately the tag from the coreopsis doesn’t have the latin name. It just says Jethro Tull Coreopsis (which I thought was kind of funny). When I googled it, I found that it’s a hybrid developed in Georgia. Hope that helps 🙂
I hope he had a great time!
Yes he did!! I wanted to hear more stories from him last night but he fell asleep right after supper and is still asleep now. He’s taking today off school to catch up on sleep and homework! I did manage to snag his camera though and put all his photos on my computer :). Plus I asked a friend of his for a cd with all of her photos because she took thousands and most likely tons of Daniel because they hung out together a lot. My favorites so far are seeing pictures of Daniel in front of Stonehenge!
There is nothing in this world that can compare with love among family members. Cherish every single moment!
Oh I do, and even more so lately because I am starting to realize that the empty nest syndrome is creeping up behind me very quickly! I know I am going to have a very hard time with it when the time comes :(. I have to tell you the cutest thing. Last night Daniel was so tired that he could hardly stand upright, and he wasn’t talking too much. He looked at us after supper and said something to the effect of, “don’t think that I don’t love you and aren’t totally grateful that you sent me on this trip, but I’m just so tired I can hardly think straight”. That really warmed my heart :).
You spend all week wanting them back and only a few days wanting to send them back… LOL….just kidding…. 😀
Actually, I must have really, really missed him because he has been back for over 2 days now, and he hasn’t pissed me off yet!! LOL 🙂
MARK THE CALENDAR!!! lol
Done! 🙂 LOL