Do any of you have a "bucket list?" For those of you unfamiliar with what that is, it's a term made popular by the 2007 movie with the same name. Basically it's a list of things you'd like to do before you "kick the bucket," as the saying goes. One of the things I have on my list is to see the sunflower fields in France. This all came about because of a sequence of blogs that I have been following that each year posts pictures of the amazing sunflowers under the warm sunny skies of southern France. This year the photos are posted on the blog, Bob and Sophie's French Adventure.
This past week I mentioned wanting to see them and a friend of mine told me about sunflower fields planted by the State of Maryland near Poolesville, which is not that far from us.
It's a nice drive that includes a trip across the Potomac River on a ferry.
So, while Annie wandered around taking in the smells, I took photos.
After several minutes I started to wonder, just how do you get really unique shots of sunflowers?
I really have no idea...
But I do know that I went a little crazy taking photos. 
Okay, maybe more than a little...
And I was okay with that and I think Annie was too.
In the end, I decided that even though the sunflowers were not in the beautiful countryside in the south of France, they were amazing nonetheless. But I'm still keeping seeing them in France on my bucket list.
Care to share something that YOU have on your bucket list?
no bucket list for me. but i thoroughly enjoyed your sunflower photos (you did really, really nicely!) and of sweet annie!!!
ReplyDeleteBeing able to take beautiful photos like yours is going on my bucket list!!! My FAVOURITE photo of them all is the one with Annie amongst the sunflowers, she's so beautiful and looks so happy :) :) :)
ReplyDeletexx
This has become my favorite flower the last few years. My grandson brought a seedling that he had started in kindergarten and we planted it. Now we have a virtual sunflower forest without really trying.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim, never thought about a bucket list yet.....love your beautiful pictures of the Sunflowers, such a wonderful garden of them....and Sweet Annie too, Blessings Francine.
ReplyDeleteYour sunflower photos are breathtaking! It's just the ultimate summer bloom. Huge, yellow, sunshiny and happy. Thank you so much for sharing these. And Annie looks like she's sure smiling big in the field of sunshine!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to stand and walk on the Road to Rome. I would get an enormous charge out of that, i know it!
Angus's pictures this past week have really called to me,too! I always wanted to take that train trip that Jake Barnes takes in TheSun Also Rises - from Paris down into Spain. Maybe we could stop off at the ROFH on the way!
ReplyDeleteHow fun to go to a field full of sunflowers. The closest I get to sunflowers is someone selling them on a street corner. I have never really thought of things I would like to add to my bucket list. Maybe I should start one. Hope you have a wonderful week. How is Comet doing?
ReplyDeleteAna
Annie amongst the yellow flowers, perfect. A wonderful day for all. Those photos are all wonderful, showing colour, petals and leaves to perfection. Cheers from Jean
ReplyDeleteI think your pictures turned out fabulous and Annie looks so pretty amongst the yellow follows. I just wanted to say I really like the one of the back of the sunflower looking outward. very pretty.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the first couple lines of this post I was reminded of the sunflower fields in Maryland and was planning to tell you about them. Someone beat me to it and I'm glad you got a chance to see them. Were you there long enough to watch them turn to follow the sun?
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos ! Oh sounds and looks like you guys had fun ! Our sunflowers are slowing making their way mind you we only have a few and we didn't plant them a critter or bird must of and when I saw them growing a bit in my garden I decided to just leave them , now I cant wait for them to bloom ! Thanks for sharing your wonderful day with us ! Love your header ! Have a good day !
ReplyDeleteWell let me tell you two years ago last week I did see the sunflowers in France....absolutely beautiful beyond words...keep it on your list!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI would like to live on an island for awhile.....Maine......see Scotland.....go back to England.....camp in Yosemite in the winter.....see wolves....have a dog....hmmmmmmmm. Looking like a long list!!!!!
Live in Paris for 6 months...speak a second language really well...French...go back to Italy ......Umbria......
No bucket list here, but a few years ago my parents took a trip to France around this time of year and we teased my dad because it seemed that half of his pictures were of the sunflowers. He just couldn't resist their beauty. Love your pictures too.
ReplyDeleteCindy
You captured your love of the sunflowers perfectly! I can feel your enthusiasm as I look at your photos. I'm so glad that you and Annie visited them together!
ReplyDeleteHi Kim
ReplyDeleteWe love sunflowers too!!! So much!
And the photos you took are spectacular- and just perfect. You captured every mood the little sunflowers feel! So much feeling into each photo! And Annie enjoyed that special time with you too.
For my bucket list- I would like to go to Colorado- and walk the trails that John Denver walked. I believer there is a special park- where words to his songs are written on rocks, and such.
Yes- I want to go to Colorado.
I am so happy you saw these magnificent sunflowers, and thank you so much for sharing them with us,
love
tweedles
What a lovely day! How did you choose to take Annie? She looks like such a good travel companion! My dachshund would "honk" and be anxious the whole way..and probably bark when we got there! How great she can travel with you! Beautiful pictures, and of course the two of Annie have to be favorites...such a memorable day.
ReplyDeleteHi just came across your blog, what a great idea to go see those sunflowers! Here and in France! One of my best friends lives in Virginia I will have to tell her about it!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed my visit today, stop by when you have a moment, I love company, and new friends are always welcome!
You did a beautiful job with your photos! I'm impressed!!!! Will have to think about a bucket list and get back to you. I'll bet Annie enjoyed the trip!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool that you chose Annie as your companion for this trip. I knew from the minute you described her and I laid eyes on her - she was a special girl. I miss my Idaho sunflowers. We had a small garden in Coeur d'Alene...oh yea, and lots of sun!!
ReplyDeleteLove the beautiful photos, especially the ones with Annie. MOM's bucket list: to be dropped off by small plane on a remote lake in Alaska with her hiking boots, and fishing pole and picked up in 7 to 10 days. I think that sounds real cool.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Goose
I've got no bucket list, but if I did, this is one of the sights I would want to see. How glorious. I loved every one of those beautiful pictures.
ReplyDeletethank you so much for sharing.
You made a great job with this photos, I love the one with your dog. Annie seems to enjoy the sunflowers too.
ReplyDeleteI will go for the Lavender fields in France and for the Polar Bears in Curchill. Maybe with the help of other peoples photos :-)
Beautiful pix of such big bold flowers...and that pooch too!...all on your list!....:)JP
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous sunflowers, and Annie enjoying it all too, wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing those lovely sunflowers! Love the pic of Annie amongst them :0)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to France with you!!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things on my bucket list is to see the tulips bloom in Holland.
xo
Lynn
Gorgeous shots of the flowers and sweet Annie! xo
ReplyDeleteWhat splendour! I saw some of them on FB, but its lovely to see them all on the blog.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll have to re-think my own bucket list :)
Sending lotsaluv to you all,
c
Annie and sunflowers. How marvellous ! And they look every bit as good as French ones !
ReplyDeleteAnnie is such a great dog!!
ReplyDeleteThe other pictures were great too but Annie's the best in my book.
I love sun---big sunflowers too!!!
let all those tri~pod fancy schmancy camera people take a lesson . . . from our kim!!!
ReplyDeleteoh dear heart. these pictures are glorious! and best of all...
with that sweet annie sunflower in the midst of the common ones without fur! LOL.
love and cheery hugs!
What awesome photos of the sunflowers and the dogs. I love all of the picture. What a wonderful trip you took.
ReplyDeleteSo nice they allowed Annie to go with you. It is lovely. We saw a smaller sunflower field when we were in HI. You took gorgeous photos that will be great as a card. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
ReplyDeletekim, these pictures are absolutely beautiful!! And I love the way you often take at least one of the kids along. I'll bet Annie enjoyed the smells. Well, since you asked.... Visiting Golden Pines and hugging each and every four legged critter I could get my hands on.
ReplyDeleteLovely sunflowers,stunning pictures and such a cute Annie. One day I'd like to visit New York and Barcelona..
ReplyDeleteWhen SHE visits Leesburg (which will be again in October), they often go on the 'lunch cruise'--across on White's Ferry and into Poolsville for lunch. BOL! Great pictures. We also have lots of sunflowers around here...good ole canola oil.
ReplyDeleteXXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy
Your sunflower photos are lovely Kim!
ReplyDeleteAs for a bucket list, I don't really have one as such. There are a few places that I want to travel though, like London and Paris and I would also like to sing a solo for my choir one day!
What a great spot! Adorable photographs of Annie.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots of the sunflowers and Annie! I don't think you need a fancy camera.
ReplyDeleteBucket list... The last thing I took off my list was rock hounding because... I did however, check off 'Write a book', so all was not lost. I am forgetting about the hang gliding too.
Oh wow! They're so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have a bit of a Bucket List but really must add to it. Sunflowers truly are one of Nature's happiest flowers aren't they?
ReplyDeleteI hope you and the pups are doing well Kim!
xo Catherine
I would LOVE to see that in person. The picture of Annie with the blue sky surrounded by flowers is priceless :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous sunflower photos! I didn't get to see any when we were in France, but we saw some beautiful sunflower fields in South Dakota last year, just couldn't get hubby to stop for photos-imagine!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to go to New York and stay for a while but that's not happening any time soon! Gorgeous sunflowers...
ReplyDeleteI love these photos! And I love that you didn't need a passport to take them! There are sunflower fields in Kansas, too, I'm told, and scads of native sunflowers all over Oklahoma. In fact, the native variety come up all over my back yard every year. They're not the prettiest things, but they do photograph well.
ReplyDeleteBucket list - my Hunny keeps telling me I need to have goals and dreams, but I don't do that well. No bucket list. I let him dream for the both of us and try to make some of them come true. That's the fun part.
www.dogtreatweb.com
Kim,
ReplyDeleteBeen there and done it. Beautiful!!! The guy that use to run the ferry sold Strawberries and Blackberries when in season on the side.
That was many years ago. But the ferry picture and the area brought so many memories back when Dad and I went to Maryland to visit his parents, they lived in Salisbury and had a beautiful house to die for.
There used to be a famous crab house that offered all you can eat crabs,hush puppies and white corn.
I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip and thanks for the great pictures.
Not so sure about my bucket list lately.
Your photos are gorgeous! And what a gorgeous place to visit; the flowers are wonderful and looks like Annie had a good time too. Have to think about that "bucket list"!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness Kim! These flowers are just gorgeous and Annie looks So happy!! What a wonderful thing to experience! Xo Jeanne
ReplyDeleteNo fancy equipment needed for you! Those pictures are absolutely PERFECT.
ReplyDeleteThat picture of Annie and the flowers deserves a beautiful frame.
Hugs,
Lily Belle & Muffin
I don't have a bucket list but there are two places I would like to visit before I die. Alaska and Ireland.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post Kim, you did get some lovely photos.