Although tulips are my favorite flower, lilacs are a close second. There is a lilac bush outside Jules' bedroom window, and I can't tell you how many nights I have been in that room, gazing at the moon illuminated shadow of the lilac leaves. On spring mornings, I open wide the window and breathe deeply the smell of lilacs. That bedroom may be the smallest in the house, but the dreams are full of white, moonstruck lilacs. Lovely.
I was afraid the lilacs weren't going to make it this year. The weather hasn't been kind to them, and due to their eastern exposure along the side of the house, they don't get a lot of sunlight. Jeri and I have been trading emails back and forth about our lilacs, keeping our fingers crossed that they will survive. Her flowering purple lilacs are committed to flowering; my flowering white lilacs are waiting. They bloom after purple lilacs anyway, so I'm hopeful they will bloom eventually. See all those little buds? They have to turn into flowers, don't they?
My lilac bush has also given me an opportunity to put some newfound photography knowledge to use. Ree, that sassy Pioneer Woman, has had some nifty tutorials going on at her Photography site. I picked up a thing or two from her "Blue Branch": Step by Step and applied it to this picture of my lilacs. Although I'm still working with Photoshop 7.0 instead of the snazzy Photoshop CS3, it manages for most of what I want to do. Especially in the area of making my photos appear more as I see them in real life, instead of all muddy like my camera makes them appear.
Here's the before and after:
First photo? Not so hopeful. Second photo? Bloom on, little lilacs. You're going to be just fine.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update on Operation Backyard...
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