Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: dedication

With a heavy heart, I dedicate this dew-drizzled rose to Bobbie Blair, a beloved friend of Steve and mine. Before me, Steve met and married Dina Blair, a dynamic, whip-smart lady who captured his heart. Not long after, Steve would meet her parents and there a dear and affectionate bond would be forged between Bobbie and Steve. Though Dina and Steve's union wasn't forever, the connection between Steve and Bobbie was rock-solid and their mother-son-close friendship lasted through the years without pause. For me, I loved to see this relationship from my vantage point. Just like family, these two exchanged regular calls and Bobbie sent cards and welcomed me to cuddle under her wing as well. How fun it was to hear Steve chattering on about the latest, his laughter filling the house, the joy of having a surrogate mom to share time with. Hospice is a word that fills me with sadness in its unspoken finality. But, it is a comfort to know that Bobbie is with her loving husband and surrounded by adoring family and friends. Bobbie will be missed by all of us. I grieve for Bobbie and her family. I grieve for my husband, whose heart is breaking. I grieve for this sweet lady, who I never met in person, but whose sweetness touched my life nonetheless. Our tears fall. Explored on 12/05/20; highest placement #1.

(This is not the most up-beat post, my apologies) Today has been lovely outside, a bit too warm but pretty. But in my heart I am feeling very sad and unhappy ever since I learned about Marie-claire last night. It's got me thinking about my mortality and Steve too, has been feeling low. He doesn't know Marie-claire but I told him what a special person she is and how important she is to the ipernity community. Oddly enough, Steve read a post on his favorite idle-time website, "Imgur" that affected him very deeply, for a reason I'll explain. The post was about a guy who had an online gaming friend. One day that buddy gave him all of his in-game stuff and said that he was very sick with cancer and had to stop playing their game. After a few weeks without his friend logging on, he couldn't bear to play the game anymore because it made him too sad. He still checks in from time to time...last time he looked, his friend hadn't been online for over 700 days... This story hit home with Steve because we used to have a very dear friend who we met while playing World of Warcraft. So many adventures, so much fun...our very best experiences playing any online game involved our friend and his wife. Later Steve and our friend discovered they both loved another game, World of Tanks. They spent many hours playing that game together and developed a very close bond. About a year ago, our friend got brain cancer and even though he fought very hard, he couldn't beat it. The whole time though, Steve kept in touch, calling and giving what support he could. One day, our friend's wife let us know that he was gone. It was such a hard time for us because we loved him so much and felt incredibly sad for his wife who we care deeply for as well. Steve still grieves deeply for his lost friend, as do I. We miss him terribly and think about him all the time. It's just so hard to believe that he's gone. That Imgur post affected Steve deeply because he still plays World of Tanks and our friend's character is visible every time he logs in. It's been about 700 days since he logged on. Steve mourns his lost friend and sadly, my warm hugs cannot bring him back. :( It is amazing to us that so many people discount online relationships as inferior to "real" in-person relationships. I for one, can tell you that my very best friends (other than Steve, of course) are ALL online. Today I am missing Marie-claire and I am very worried and sad about her. She is my friend and I want her to be well and happy and posting pictures like crazy as she is so well-known to do. My picture today is, again, a duel dedication to both my dear friend Pam and also to Marie-claire. I am having a problem knowing what to do so that I can show proper support to each of my friends. I am hoping that they will not mind if I change my project name to join them together, like this pair of flowers that I am posting today. I don't know how else to do this. :( (Pam has let me know that she is honored to have Marie-claire added in my daily dedication) :) Pammy, I'm so glad you enjoyed my poppy pictures...it's such a bummer that none of your poppy seeds survived to give you flowers! Maybe it's like the Moonflowers and me...I have tried and tried and tried to get them to grow for me but they just won't! It seems that some flowers just aren't meant to grow in certain places, even when the habitats seem to be the same. It is a fact that I've planted zillions of different wildflowers and almost NONE ever sprout. Our properties seem to be inhospitable to most flowers, and yet False Sunnies are what grow for both of us and mean the most of all! *THINKING WARM THOUGHTS OF YOU MY DEAR!* Explored on 6/3/19; highest placement, #5.

(+6 insets!) (view large for a more hypnotizing view!) :D This picture is also dedicated to our dear friend on ipernity, Marie-claire Gallet . She is ill with a recurrence of cancer and I am hoping for a fast and successful recovery! Today I looked outside and it was just SO BEAUTIFUL! The warm sun coming up over the hill made everything it touched erupt with light and I knew I just HAD to take my camera out with me on my morning walk. Also, I just couldn't take the PRESSURE ANYMORE! Pressure you ask? What pressure? Stepping outside, my eyes were immediately drawn to a glorious patch of poppies which were positively glowing in the early sunshine. It's almost as if every one of those blossoms was singing a siren's song out into the heavens and I could hear every note! It didn't matter that I have countless unprocessed poppy pictures in my archives. I simply could not resist another day of their overwhelming gorgeousness and beaconing calls. I was immediately swept away into a dream of photography, surrendering to the luscious beauties posing before me. Their flamenco-like petal-dresses swayed and danced in the breeze, offered in so many lovely colors and combinations. I was not the only one hypnotized by their grandeur. Bees of all kinds buzzed and crawled drunkenly over the flowers in droves, stumbling over one another, completely out of their minds with desire. How familiar this scene was to me, I thought with a big smile on my face, and I watched them joyfully while I took pictures. I learned how poppies affected bees back in 2014 when I planted a garden for my first time. I scattered countless poppy seeds in the beds to be sure that if nothing else sprouted, at least I'd have poppies. Sprout they did…hundreds of plants all over the beds with so many flowers that I simply couldn't believe my eyes! For months, every morning would be another show with new blooms. And, as I walked to the garden, the sound of bees preceded me, getting louder and louder as I finally entered the garden. The bees were EVERYWHERE! Even though I wasn't worried about them, I soon discovered that I might as well be invisible because they couldn't care less about me. And what a wonderful feeling, to know that the seeds I planted grew into flowers which were feeding all those bees. To this day, every time I see bees falling all over themselves at poppies that I had something to do with…it makes me feel overjoyed. :) Oh yeah…did you know it's Saturday? Specifically SATURDAY SELF-CHALLENGE! And today's challenge is "Shadows". Ok, so when I first saw the theme I immediately thought about the cool shadows I see on our window blinds and walls when the sun shines through the trees. I do love shadows. In fact, they stop me in my tracks so I can appreciate them! But today my initial idea got tossed out the moment I was bewitched this morning by the poppies. Even as I was being magnetically drawn to those glowing blossoms I could see the shadows through their translucent petals. Shadows? I'll give you shadows! My main picture is called "Angel with Wings," and when I saw this poppy I couldn't help but say out loud, "OOOOOH, LOOK AT THE ANGEL WINGS!! I got one picture that also showed the shadow of a bee crawling around between the "wings" but I thought this picture was better without the distraction. I have six insets to share as well, and you'll see a bee in flight in two of them! I really had to force myself to stop processing pictures…I got so many lovely images that I want to share but I think this is enough! :D Pam, remember when we went in on poppy seeds together?! That was such fun! I still have poppies reseeding themselves from 2014! What about you? Did yours reseed too I hope? What wonderful flowers they are. Sending my love and *HUGGGGZZZZZ!!!* Explored on 6/1/19; highest placement, #1.

(+ 5 insets) (please view large) :) It was another crisp, frosty, and beautiful morning for my walk today! In fact, it was warm enough this afternoon that I took my bike out for my first ride of the season! Just for the 15 minute distance around the block but it was lovely and I got the chance to look for Saturday Self-Challenge "signs of spring" in case there might be a flower or baby animal to take a picture of. Not much to find but I had a great time! Today I'm sharing an image I took yesterday on my hunt for "signs of spring" pictures. I wandered down to our seasonal pond in hopes that I might possibly spot a strand of frog eggs clinging to the algae. I knew it was a long shot but I thought I'd go see just in case I got lucky. I took a long time slowly creeping around our pond, crouching down and staring intently into the water. In the water I found aquatic beetles in large and nearly microscopic sizes, water skimmers racing around on the surface and little gnats in tiny clouds here and there. I found lots of aquatic plants growing like crazy in the water and rafts of algae floating on the surface. But I didn't find any frog eggs…or frogs for that matter. What I did find was an enormous sense of peace and serenity. Crouching silently, I could hear birds singing in the trees and I was quiet enough that a frog or two ventured a croak back and forth. Looking into the water was soothing, as were the soft plants I saw and the gentle movement of the insects swimming and flying around. I made my way around the edge and spotted something white clinging to some weeds. When I got closer I saw that they were feathers! I took some pictures just in case they turned out to be interesting. When I looked at them on my computer I was surprised at the detail and wonderful bubbles that I hadn't noticed before. And, as I worked on this picture I realized that it was a perfect candidate for a black and white image! I immediately thought of Valfal , who I'm dedicating this picture to. She's one of the admins for Saturday Self Challenge and a longtime friend here on ipernity. We'd had a really interesting conversation over the past few days about why we like black and white photography and why I don't often post them but I love the medium very much. This dedication is both a nod to our love of b/w and a tribute to spring. Ducks land in our pond to see if it's good for raising ducklings, but I'm happy to say they don't stay because it's not safe. However, I sometimes find a stray feather or two like this one and I've learned that pictures often turn out well! (I'm also posting a few of my favorite b/w images from my archives for you to see) Pam, I know that you don't prefer black and white photography but I happen to know that you do love dogs that are black, white, and a mixture of the two! :D I found a collage of black Flicka and black and white Lucas that was an instant favorite when I saw it the first time…I covered it with notes because I loved it so much! What fun to revisit this wonderful gathering of lovely images of your dear Rainbow doggies. How we love them. hope that today has been treating you ok…I know you've been through a lot lately so I'm sending many virtual hugs your way!

"One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self." ~ Fred Rogers Today I was reminded of Mister Rogers, who had a show on television for children from 1968 to 2001. He passed away in 2003 and I remember how sad I felt then, remembering all the shows I watched as young child. He was a very gentle, kind man who delivered wonderful messages and lessons through his show on PBS. Today I saw an article about a wonderful music video dedicated to Mister Rogers that's gone viral on YouTube. As I watched, the memories of this man, and the sorrow of losing people in my life, and the eminent death of people near and dear to my heart made me cry, but also made me smile through my tears with the good memories I have too. I hope that you will watch this video. It's a very touching dedication by PBS Studios which I am sure you will enjoy. Mister Rogers Remixed | Garden of Your Mind | PBS Digital Studios If you would like to know more about Fred Rogers, Wiki has a wonderful page here: Wiki: Fred Rogers I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! Janet's profile (sfhipchick) Explored on June 7, 2012. Highest placement: #426.

SPECIAL AWARD NOTICE!!! I am very proud to share First Place in Natural Jewelry's droplet contest! 24 incredible images, and this image tied for first place and is on the group's front page!! I'm so happy!!! :) :) :) www.flickr.com/groups/natural_jewellery/ This image is dedicated to my dear Flickr friend Nadia! www.flickr.com/photos/67040808@N03/ This amazing lady was so inspired by one of my pictures that she painted it, and this beautiful watercolor is displayed on her photostream right now! I am so touched by this gesture, I hardly know what to say, but I have been floating on air all day, and this picture makes me think of her! Thank you so much, Nadia!! We are really starting to see the signs of spring around here! It's so exciting to me!! I have my new camera, my 100mm macro lens, and I am ready to ROCK THIS PROPERTY! :D What a wonderful sight to see these beautiful crocuses popping up through the grass. In years past, I've missed seeing them until they'd come and gone and lay wilted in a sad pile. However, this year I had my eyes wide open every day, looking for them, and HERE THEY ARE!! YAY!!!

[best appreciated at full size against black] Don't you just love how the world sparkles after it rains and the sun comes out to dazzle the world?! I have a hard time resisting the temptation to take pictures of tiny droplets on grass because it's so much fun to see how the bokeh turns out. I'm not sure what's being refracted in that droplet but it appears to be mushrooms! This image was taken in February, 2012.

Yesterday I took this picture of water droplets on the brake light of my Ford Focus, and all I could think about was Red Stiletto and her amazing All Red 365! Here's one just for you, baby!!! :D *high five* *feed the birds* What is "Feed the birds" ??? It's a gesture invented by Nathan Fillion of Firefly/Serenity and most recently, Castle. "Feed the birds" is used to show a person that they are clever, cool, or smart by "feeding a compliment" to them by using your fingers to simulate a parent bird feeding its baby with a downward jiggling gesture, while the person being "fed the compliment" simulates the baby with fingers jiggling upwards! Steve and I absolutely LOVE this gesture and use it all the time! We are also HUGE HUGE fans of Nathan Fillion and anything he's ever worked in!) Here's another video where he actually says it!! See 2:24: "Somebody Feed these Birds!" You can learn more on the Castle Wiki: Feed the Birds