The Color Red in Winter

As you know by now I am currently exploring color in my surroundings. I try to remember a tip from my beginner class about making the photo tell a story. Tonight I want to try to do that with what I am sharing with you.


Today is Valentines Day so it was a natural that I would focus on the color red for today's post. A week or more ago I heard a short interview on the radio about the custom of giving flowers and what they mean. What was said was that red roses mean "love" but red tulips mean "I love you". Now I did not verify this but in the week when the price of red roses dramatically increases I thought I might go with the concept of red tulips. I had been searching for a small red packet of coins that had been given to me years ago by a Chinese friend as a good luck gift to receive for Chinese New Years. That red packet would have been a great prop for a photo but I have not yet found it. But I did come across this red ring box which came with this ring, a first wedding anniversary gift from my Valentine. It seemed like a good combination with the red tulips.


Now I have a series of photos to tell a story. Yes, I know this is meant to be about red; they say robins have a red breast. But, the American robins? That looks more orange to me but for the purpose of my red story lets carry on with it being red. I was having breakfast a few mornings back when I happened to glance out the window and notice a lot of activity at the bird bath. Some years ago I had bought a heated birdbath for my feathered friends for when the temperature is so low that the water sources for them are frozen. To be able to plug it in I have to have it on the deck and the birds seldom find it. But this morning they did. And they had a grand time.


There was robins everywhere; some holding their place in the bath for too long so their friends and family had to wait in line.


Meanwhile, up on the roof, watching and waiting...


until seizing their chance, the starlings moved in.


This robin hung in there and waited. Success! Soon the starlings tired of the overcrowding and headed back to search the lawn for treasure - those blurry dark blobs in the background here.


And once more the robins could continue to swap stories around the water cooler to close out my little story. I was taking my photos through the glass doors, afraid that if I opened the door for a better quality photo I would scare away this lovely glimpse of nature.


Moving on to story number two, the dancing tulips.  If you often buy tulips you will know all about what happens to them. Several painters and photographers I know are very challenged by these flowers as they just do not hold a pose for very long. I arranged the tulips in the vase on Friday night and they had a graceful sweeping look to them peeking only a couple of inches above the top of the vase.


On Saturday morning when I walked in the kitchen to start the day they were standing upright at full attention as I opened the blinds on the door.


By this morning, Sunday, they are even taller and now they are opening up. I'm expecting that by tomorrow they will be past their peak.


Looking round the house to find red is not difficult. Here is a Little Red Schoolhouse quilt I made in about 1983. We were living in Colombia (South America) at the time and I had plenty of opportunity to sit and stitch. This quilt was hand quilted by me - and there have not been many (any?) that were done that way since as it takes a lot of free time. In front are three small clay depictions of some of the better known red tile roofed churches in Bogota.


Another of my red and white quilts - this one I call "Strawberries and Cream" and made in 2013.


The backs of my quilts are more fun now than they were when I made the Little Red Schoolhouse. I have flipped a corner here so you can see.


To close out I'm again showing something that is called red - a red cabbage - but which does not quite fit the color that we all think of as red. This cabbage had been bought a couple of weeks back when I was planning my purple post. But somehow it did not get used for the color purple. A few days later as I was cutting into it to cook at dinner time I paused a few minutes to marvel at the great pattern the cross section showed.

Oh red, it is not hard to find you. What was much harder was finding the time to do you justice. I may have to pick up this story again in another few days.