By the side of the road and beyond

Wild grasses and flowers 

line our caliche road like spectators on a parade route, 

greeting the puppies and me each morning as we pass by. 

The crowds are thinning in the summer temperatures, 

but a few hardy souls still cheer me on my way.

Unfortunately, I find other things along the road besides flowers.

Ugh.

Colors are fading, 

but if I move off the road, 

I can still find patches of vibrant pinks, purples, oranges and reds... 

Closer to the house, 

my bougainvillea isn't wild, 

but it satisfies my craving for color 

(as long as I remember to water it!)

Next up... crape myrtles!

Stay tuned!

Whoo-Hoo! Time to Celebrate!

Four years of frustration, late nights, tired eyes, chewed fingernails 

deserves at least two days of celebration, don't you agree?

Here are a few moments I captured in my camera this past weekend as my middle son officially said 

good-bye to college life...

It was a blur, those four years...

The Eyes of Texas are upon you...

He's in there somewhere...

My parents were determined to be there...

The celebration continued the next day... 

a reception in the second oldest building on campus, overlooking the huge UT ceremony.

First, cake...

Rich, antique woodwork and cherubs... I'm in heaven!

I just really like this photo...

It's cool in black and white, too...

Heading out to the final ceremony in graduation garb...

Tom watching the festivities in air-conditioned comfort...

And the grand finale... I took lots of these...

Whew! What a send-off! 

Congratulations, again, Daniel! 

More from that Morning

Jillsy's "Guess Who" game was tougher than I thought it would be!

Others seemed to have just as much trouble as I did matching bloggers to photos, though.

Whew!

(The answers are posted now, by the way... You can go here or here to see them.)

This was mine, one of a zillion taken on one of a zillion morning walks.

Did you guess it?

If so, congratulations! (No one else did!) 

Here are a few of the others I took of that same plant that morning...

...and then I also took these...

(I bet you thought I was exaggerating about "a zillion"!)

Guess Who?

Jill at Jillsy Girl is always coming up with new games and contests. 

Here's her latest... I'm so glad I get to be part of it. 

Take a look at the mosaic on Jill's blog - it's really gorgeous!

I don't know the answers, either (except which one is mine!)

What a diverse and beautiful mosaic of images, no?

It just so happens that each of the above images came from a different photo-blogger.

Can you pin the photo to the blogger based on their individual photographic style and/or content?

Let's have a little fun and see if anyone can guess them all correctly!

Here is the list of bloggers who contributed one of the above photos

Even if you are not familiar with a particular photographer

please take a few minutes to browse through their blog, say hi, then come back here and leave your guesses below

 On Blogger blogs, the "dynamic" view has been linked for easy browsing. 

To leave a comment on their blog, just delete /view/mosaic in the URL window to get to their homepage

(#6) Amy @ Tilting Windmills

(#9) Kamana @ Journalling Through Photos

(#5) Lissa @ A Chance of Sunshine

(# 8) Beth @ Be Yourself

(#7) Barbara @ Long Hollow Photography

(#2) Gail @ Louisiana Belle

(#3) Vanessa @ Nessy Designs

(#1) Fiona @ Lady Fi 

(#4) Christine @ Creating A Life of Beauty

(#10) Jill @ Jillsy Girl Studio 

Now...off you go

and enjoy the photoblog tour while you're at it!

It's guaranteed you'll see some excellent photography!

Have Fun!

(I've fixed my self-inflicted comment problem! You can leave them here now - guesses will remain hidden until tomorrow.)

A Full Flower Moon and Wild Onion Angels

Full days, a full calendar, a mind too full and overflowing. 

Makes it tough to get up before the sun every morning.

A full moon greeting me through the kitchen window makes it all better, though.

I heard it's called the Full Flower Moon, because at this time of year 

it should be smiling down on fields of wildflowers.

Because of the drought, there weren't many wildflowers for it to smile upon

until a few days ago, 

when these wild onions popped up in the woods, 

looking like tiny angels 

lifting their arms to 

heaven, singing silent songs of praise and gratitude.

Just in time to welcome the Full Flower Moon.