Wild Chamomile

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week, and Wordful Wednesday to see what they are.

Just to show you that it's true, I really don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to flowers, I was sure these were daisies. Turns out, they're chamomile, like the tea. Whatever they are, they're lovely, and they were growing all over the forest where we picnicked last weekend.

Have I mentioned lately how very glad I am that it's finally spring? Flowers and sunshine, and Passover (and with it festival season and then summer(!) right around the corner), no wonder I feel my soul soaring higher again as the temperatures climb and the light lingers just a little bit longer with each passing day.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Dancing Poppy

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“Through the dancing poppies stole A breeze most softly lulling to my soul.” 

- John Keats, Endymion (bk. I, l. 681)

And yes, this time it's a poppy, not an anemone.

(I know this not because I'm a genius when it comes to flowers but because my children, like all Israeli children, learn this sort of thing in kindergarten and name the wildflowers for me.)

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more reds from around the world.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Split Personality

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This is one of a series of cloud images shot a while back as a test of a new polarizing filter. Nothing all that exciting but I liked the contrast between the dark storm clouds below, the white fluffy sun-kissed clouds above, and the blue sky peeking out above it all. I'm pulling it out of the archives today because spring seems to have done a temporary runner on us here in Israel, leaving miserably soggy gray in its place. Not only is it not photogenic it's downright ugly, not to mention pouring down rain. Ridiculous for this time of year, but the rain gods apparently didn't see fit to ask me. (Repeats to self over and over: it's okay, we need the rain, it's okay, we need the rain...)

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Through the Meadow

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week, and Wordful Wednesday to see what they are.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Blood Oranges

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The color of these deep red beauties always seems to make them taste fuller and more exotic than their common orange cousins, doesn't it?

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

Lips of Glass

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I hope you're not tired of the Chihuly's yet, I could look at his incredible work all day...

The title of this one is mine, these "lips" are actually a small section of one of Chihuly's much larger "basket" pieces.

Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what else people aren't saying this week, and Wordful Wednesday to see what they are.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Chihuly's Persian Window

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Another stunning installation from the Chihuly exhibit (here's the first one I shared, in case you missed it), this time of his Persians. Aren't they incredible? I could have stood there looking at them all day. The rich reds and yellows were particularly spectacular - and of course an excellent fit for this week's Ruby Tuesday.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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What do cocktails, Chihuly and hotels have in common?

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One of Dale Chihuly's stunning Ikebana, on exhibit at Tel Aviv's Litvak Gallery

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What a fantastic weekend! Thursday morning I ran off to Tel Aviv with 8 of my very best friends for our annual girlfriends getaway - 2 days and a night in the big city doing Grownup Stuff - art museums, art galleries, trendy restaurants, cocktails, shopping, and lots and LOTS of laughter. We didn't even let the weekend's truly atrocious weather slow us down much (though it did keep me from breaking out the camera as often as I'd hoped).

We set the tone for the weekend during a visit to a photography exhibit at the Tel Aviv Art Museum when we started making up pseudo-intellectual commentary on the Very Important (but oh so uninteresting) Photographs. By the time we were done there was nothing to do but order fancy cocktails with lunch and laugh ourselves silly.

On the better received end of the artsy part of our weekend, the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Litvak Gallery next door to the museum was every bit as spectacular as anticipated, and the artist feature at the restaurant we chose for lunch turned out to be the very current and oh so fun David Gertstein - the whole restaurant was full of his colorful and whimsical pieces.

That pretty much concluded the high culture portion of the getaway, after that it was pure silliness, just the thing for letting go of all the strife and stress of day to day life.

We had such a great time at this year's getaway in fact that we've already started planning next year's - Zichron Yaakov, here we come!

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Aaaaaaaaand the winner is...

Random.org has spoken, and the winner is:

#15 - Baseball Mom

Congratulations! You've won the $50 CSN gift certificate! Contact me to claim your prize (I'm away tomorrow night on a MUCH needed girlfriends getaway, so I may not get back to you until Friday).

Happy shopping, and enjoy that new bedding :).

Wild Cyclamen

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Sort of a pinkish red

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But you'll forgive me because I'm posting pretty spring photos, right? (Don't get too jealous, the weather is supposed to seriously tank tomorrow...) And besides, if you wear your sunglasses pink could look very nearly red. Sort of. If you squint a bit.

Have you entered the giveaway I'm hosting for a $50 gift certificate valid in any of over 200 CSN online stores?

Just leave a comment on my previous post for a chance to win!

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Almond Blossoms

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Click here to purchase this photograph on etsy

Did you know that the almond blossom served as a model for the menorah which stood in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem? I didn't, not until tonight, when I was searching in vain for a psalm about almonds to use for this week's Psalm Challenge. I didn't find one, but I did find this from Exodus instead:

"Three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on one branch, with a knob and a flower; and three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on the other...on the candlestick itself were four cups, shaped like almond blossoms, with its knobs and flowers" (Exodus 25:33–34; 37:19–20).

This particular almond tree is in full bloom right at this very moment in Israel's beautiful Ben Shemen Forest, just about 20 minutes (and one 4x4 jeep ride - thanks to a friend) from my home. We spent a few hours out in the forest on Friday and what a feast for the eyes, everywhere you looked something was blooming or growing - almond trees, entire fields of anemones, wild cyclamen, sabras... Spring really is a glorious season here in Israel.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Half a Heart

Have you entered the giveaway I'm hosting for a $50 gift certificate valid in any of over 200 CSN online stores?

Just leave a comment on my previous post for a chance to win!

A sister shot to my Teatime photo.

Click here to purchase this photo on etsy, and here to purchase Teatime.

Visit Sepia Scenes for more sepia tones from near and far.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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What would you do with $50? Tell me for a chance to win!

I don't normally host corporate giveaways on my blog but this one was too much fun to pass up - the folks at CSN contacted me and offered to give one of my US or Canadian readers (or those with a US or Canadian address to use) a $50 gift certificate valid at any of their over 200(!) different online stores.

I was mulling it over and decided to head over to their website to see what they had on offer before making a decision. TWO HOURS later I was still surfing from one CSN shop to another, imagining where I'd spend the $50 if I won - would it be new pendant lighting for over the dining room table, or some kind of cute kitchenware (a girl can never get enough of that) or even an old school slip'n'slide for the kids to use at Grandma's house this summer? Ooh, or a purse? What about a new purse? Or maybe something for the hubs, he just had a birthday after all...

I figured if I could have that much fun just imagining what I'd buy, one of you could have a whole lot more fun actually doing it.

If you'd like a chance to be that lucky someone just have a surf around the CSN family of stores (follow the link above) and leave me a comment telling me what you'd spend your $50 on.

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook (links in the sidebar on the right) or tweet about this giveaway for extra entries. (To make each one count leave a separate comment for each one you do.)

The old random number generator will pick a winner at 10pm Israel time on March 8th - one week from today.

The winner will then have 48 hours to contact me to claim their gift code :).

Happy surfing!