Happy Canada Day! This sweet pea almost looks like our Canadian flag of red and white, once again I was taking photos in my friend Rita's garden. Here is another blue sweet pea with raindrops adoring it.

Another angle of the blue coloured sweet pea dotted with raindrops.

All the rain is giving this dianthus a bad hair day.

Is this peony poppy not just gorgeous?

Here is a red one breaking through the bud.

The seed pod looks very velvety to touch.

These pods are a bit more mature, I'm hoping to get some of the seed from Rita.

Rita's Garden is just beautiful right now. Today started rather cloudy after a rain shower this morning. I snapped this peony from two different angles to capture some of the raindrop still hanging onto it.The colour of it is just beautiful, it almost sparkles without any sun shining on it.

Her poppies are also beautiful, this one is almost in full bloom.

This one is starting to show it's seed pod.

This one in profile was just lovely with the raindrops hanging onto the petals.

Here is a longer shot of the same flower above, with some seed pods forming. I'll have to ask her to save some for me, I love this shade of pink.

Here is one of the peach poppies just in bud, are not the hairs on the bud just wonderful?

Here are some of her double snapdragons...she really needs a blog to show off her gardening skills, I'll take the pictures and she can do the writing!

When I downloaded this photo I was surprised to see the ant included in the photo. Look at about 3 o'clock on the left blossom.

Farther along the quay I found these pink daisy like blossoms.

I'm not sure what these are the seed pods for, but they remind me of a lion's mane or one of the beards from the guys in ZZ Top!

Are these globes just not perfect? The colour shows off so nicely in the cloudy skies.

Later in the day the sun shone through and bathed the flower in warmth, we've had a very wet Spring, but the flowers are shining through it all.

Leaving the L.A. area and heading into the hills before entering the valley, you can see how brown everything is, no wonder the fires move so quickly when they happen.As you get closer to the valley pockets of green and old Oak trees are seen.

Southern California gets most of its water from Northern California. A lot of riverbeds are dry as you pass by. In the north they a full of water.

This mural along with others is in Springfield Oregon, I like how the quilt blocks are incorporated into the painting. I'd love to spend some time and exam it more closely the next time I visit.

What a creative way to brighten up a municipal parking lot. Hey, the parking is free!

A wonderful collection of saying on these signs.

For all of my quilting friends...

Back home I came over to my friend Rita's place to take some pictures and her cat came out to check what I was doing.

Poppy seed pods are so interesting as they form.

A day earlier Rita had many more poppies in bloom, they don't like the sunny dry weather we've been having and drop their petals quickly.

Isn't this blue sweet pea just wonderful, it looks like it is blushing while having its picture taken.

This peony is just in front of my condo, the colour is almost fluorescent!

I spotted these lilies today when walking after breakfast, are they not lovely?

Colours of autumn on the west coast of Washington and the Oregon Coast. Last week I drove down to Oregon to go to the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland. Before the show we drove down through Washington state. These heart shaped leaves are coloured from beige to red on the same tree.

I'm not sure what these seed pods are but the red/pink colours are almost neon.

This tree has the same heart shape leaves as the leaves in the first picture.

As we drove north along the Oregon coast from Tillamook, we came across this interesting sky, with breaks of blue coming through.

This formation is called Twin Rocks, through the fog you can see there is a hole/arch in the left rock.

This co-operative young seagull showed off his feathers for me.

The different vistas along the coast are incredible, each corner bring a new view to enjoy and take your breath away.

Thursday morning found Haystack Rock on Canon Beach shrouded in fog and mist.

The sign says it all...

These starfish lights are in the downtown shopping area of Seaside, Oregon.

Friday morning the sun shone, so we went back down to Canon beach to walk along the beach.

The earthquake could happen on the other side of the ocean, not just here on the West Coast.

Haystack Rock without the mist and fog, I like the reflection in the receding water.

We didn't try the food here this time, but maybe on our next visit!

This has to be one of the prettiest manhole covers I've ever seen.

Heading home after the quilt show, we stopped in Centralia, Washington. There were several pretty murals in this town, but I liked this one best.

In front of the mural were different varieties of sunflowers.

Some were hiding in the shade of others.

Some had bees checking them out.

Some had a lot of petals.

Some were bowing their heads.

This sign caught my eye, I wonder how often all the beds are full?