This rose just started blooming in my backyard.
Posting for Cee’s Flower of the Day.

From challenge host San:
The Which Way photo challenge is all about capturing the roads, walks, trails, rails, steps, signs, etc. we move from one place to another on. You can walk on them, climb them, drive them, ride on them, as long as the specific way is visible. Any angle of a bridge is acceptable as are any signs. There’s no topic to this challenge. All you need have is the “way” visible and the main focus of your photo. To enter, simply add a link in your post to this post and leave a comment down below.
My way: Sculpture Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Posting for Cee’s Flower of the Day.
When self returned from the Philippines, end of April, this rose was in bad shape. It looked like it was starving: sparse leaves, riddled with rust and blackspot. But, as dear blog readers can see, it has since made a full recovery!
After a spring of almost daily rain (I know, I know, I shouldn’t complain), I couldn’t waiiiit for warmer weather. It’s finally here! Here’s to: roses, sitting outside, blue skies, and jellies.
The Fan of . . . challenge is hosted by Jez.
This is the second summer for self’s Moonlight Romantica. It’s grown huge, taller than self.
Posting for Cee’s Flower of the Day.
Oh, how self has missed the Squares Challenge!
It is so good to have Becky at Life of B back. For the month of November, the theme is Walking Squares.
Here’s another set of Walking Squares: London, June 2022. Old Map Man leads the best walks! We met outside the National Gallery, walked down small streets (Craven Lane was a memorable one), and ended up on the Victoria Embankment, when a thunderous downpour began. Self gives up too easily: even with the rain starting to come down horizontally, Old Map Man was quite willing to continue the walk. But self knew she had reached her limit and told OMM in a most urgent tone: “There is water inside my sneakers (dammit).”
Here are a few of the pictures she took, that memorable day:
To explain this challenge, P.A. Moed quotes Shivanand Sharma:
Working a shot is the photographers’ way of refining the shot; to make an extraordinary imagery from the ordinary scene. It is just like a writer wandering about for the plot of story or a painter re-working his canvas for a finished outcome.
Shivanand Sharma
Self had quite a hard time settling on a subject. So many possibilities! Which shows how many pictures she actually takes: for her, framing is all.
But, finally, she settled on her newest rose, Moonlight Romantica, bought just this past spring. It has entertained her with its beauty for months — all summer, in fact. It is not blooming right now, so these are pictures she took in July. (In addition, it has grown to a great height: it’s almost 5 feet right now)
The colors change gradually: from the bright orange of a new bud, to a pale yellow when first unfurled, to almost white when past its prime.
One of the greatest pleasures of the summer just ended has been the new roses self bought in the spring. All Dressed Up (pink) is just starting to bloom again, and her Chrysler Imperial (deep red) is getting ready for a spectacular show.
Posting for Cee Neuner’s Flower of the Day.