Quartz and icy diamonds
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Is #Quartz a Girl’s Best Friend?

I sure am happy to be back with week’s Sunday Stills post. I had a great 1.5-week break while we traveled to Western Washington State to visit the town of Leavenworth and surrounding area.

April’s monthly color challenge features more of a lack of color, namely focusing on the “colors” of diamond and quartz. April’s birthstone is diamond. This image below may jog some ideas.

Gemstone colors
Original Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

But First, The Gem of West-Central Washington

Leavenworth, Washington is a Bavarian-inspired town established in the 1960s. Situated at the base of the Cascade Range north of Wenatchee, it is a tourist destination all year-round. As you drive from Spokane on the Eastern side, you will travel through the agricultural city of Wenatchee to get to Leavenworth.

Diamond Peaks of Cascade Range, Wenatchee
Diamond Peaks of Cascade Range from Wenatchee

We wasted no time setting up the RV and then walking to the town with the dogs!

Leavenworth Selfie
Sunday afternoon Selfie

After a rainy Monday (spent shopping of course), fresh alpine snow glittered over the town on Tuesday.

Bavarian-Inspired Town of Leavenworth, WA
Bavarian-Inspired Town of Leavenworth, WA

Diamonds and Quartz

In Leavenworth, I managed to find many instances of diamond and quartz-colored objects. As we strolled the shops, we stopped in the Kris Kringle store—Christmas all year round! The ornament is clear but has diamond designs on it. I’m sure if it was really filled with clear vodka, it would sparkle even more so! Or someone would.

Clear Christmas Ornament
Clear Christmas Ornament

In nature, I also found the colors of diamond and quartz in addition to the diamond shape. We strolled (rather, held on for dear life) the WINDY shores of Lake Wenatchee a few miles north of Leavenworth. The waves, wind, and snow-capped peaks gave us awe-inspiring views through teary eyes!

Lake Wenatchee
Diamond peaks, clear waves, quartz pebbles

A close-up of the quartz pebbles left by the diamond waves.

Quartz and icy diamonds
Quartz and icy diamonds

“See the raindrops on the grass now, just like diamonds lying there…” ~ Summer of My Dreams, Kathy Mattea

Lake Wenatchee foam
Foamy waves recede and leave sparkling diamonds

In case you missed it, I shared this wildflower plant earlier this week while walking in our neighborhood. Just down our street is a working farm/nursery, complete with transparent greenhouses filled to the brim with the promise of growing flowers and vegetables for sale later this month!

Diamond droplets on Myrtle Spurge
Diamond droplets on Myrtle Spurge
Transparent Greenhouses

A coating of melting ice on the RV window leaves diamonds in its wake.

Whitewashed world

A Bit of Nostalgia

“Heading out this morning into the sun, riding on the diamond waves, little darling one…” ~ Dreamboat Annie, Heart

For over 10 years, mid-April was the time my hubby and I would pack up the RV and windsurf gear and head to the Sacramento River Delta to enjoy wonderful weekends on the water. It occurred to me this weekend that in my previous life we would likely be spending Easter weekend setting up our summer-long camp area.

Despite my lack of talent with windsurfing, I really enjoyed the camaraderie and days spent stand-up paddling and kayaking with friends and dogs. You can see in the windsurfing shots the clear sails, wind-whipped spray, and diamond waves.

Straightened windsurf image
Yep, it’s me…hanging on in the early days.
Much better in 2018.

“And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine.”

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail), Hillsong

I am quite proud of this shot of a fellow windsurfer!

Windsurfer
Wind blowing dog's ear
Brodie loves the wind and waves

Back Home, It’s Easter!

For many, the beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers symbolize purity, virtue, innocence, hope, and life—the spiritual essence of Easter.

Easter Lily Close-Up

The translucent quality of this beautiful lily leans towards the milky quartz end of the color challenge.

There are other ways to lift your spirits…with spirits, nicely bundled into clear glass bottles. Cheers!

Bottom shelf of the alcohol cabinet. I see things I like!

Photo Challenges this Week

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I find it fun to incorporate these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

Sunday Stills weekly challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their diamond and quartz-colored photos. I add to these all week as new links are posted.

Between Easter church services and a family gathering, I will share links in my post as soon as possible and, as always, throughout the week.

For those who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter!

Behold, the empty cross!

I am super-excited to see how you will interpret April’s color challenge (diamond/quartz).

TErri Signature

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95 comments

  1. On our trip through Washington in 2020, we stopped at Wenatchee for some vehicle maintenance, and I remember traveling through Leavenworth on our way. Unfortunately, we didn’t stop to check out the place.

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  14. These were great Terri….I’m hoping to get a post up tonight or tomorrow, but not sure I have anything to share, but maybe I can get creative…we’ll see. Glad you had fun on. your trip.

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  18. Hi Terri, welcome back! I enjoyed your take on ‘quartz and diamond’ colours and the variety of shots you shared. Thanks too for the map as I really have no idea of the areas you visited without it. I’m a sucker for all things sparkly and I enjoyed putting together my post late at night after the family had gone to bed -= the grandkids have worn us all out with their non-stop activity over the Easter weekend, but I’m not complaining at all:)
    My link is here: https://debs-world.com/2022/04/17/like-a-diamond-in-the-sky-sundaystills/

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  22. Well it looks like your trip was quite an adventure Terri! Not sure I’d be up for the wind-whipped waves myself but then I’ve become quite the avoider of cold since moving south! Interesting to think of color when looking at quartz and diamonds but of course it’s there as you’ve clearly shown! Welcome back to the blogosphere!!

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  23. Beautiful photos and thoughts, as always. I have to admit the spirits photo brought me a grin and a giggle. Thanks for the laughs! Welcome back!!

    As an aside, I’ve not been able to comment on your posts in my Firefox browser lately. It tells me I have to be ‘logged in’ to comment. (I am logged in to my WordPress account.) It works fine when I switch to another browser. And it works fine commenting on other blogs through Firefox. Don’t know if you’ve heard about it from anyone else, but if you happen to know what might be going on, I’m definitely curious!)

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    • Thank you, Cathy! I originally used that photo for density back in the Weekly photo challenge days, LOL. How strange abut the commenting. I had the same issue with another blogger who participates in Sunday Stills, the exact same problem, and I was using chrome,. I couldn’t comment on his site from my phone or my PC without “logging in” even though I was logged in. Last I checked with that blogger, I can comment now. I didn’t do anything on my end either. Perhaps a restart to your computer or phone?

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  25. Hi, Terri,
    I’ve been to Leavenworth, but it was the other Leavenworth with a dark and foreboding prison…nothing like the cute town shown here. Would love to visit this one! Last summer, Helen and I visited Olympia and we looked for quartz and Agates along the shore of Puget Sound. I have a picture of my sister digging around for them. Have a great week (and keep your spirits up, LOL)! Joe

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    • I still chuckle when I think there are two Leavenworths, Joe! Where you were in Olympia isn’t much farther to go to get there near Wenatchee. A little diet tonic water helped lift mine this weekend, not that they needed more lifting!

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  29. Wishing you a happy Easter Terri, and good to see you back 🙂 I’m going to sit this one out as I’m not sure what I have to contribute and I’m behind on several planned posts after my own brief trip away last weekend and family visits over Easter. Next week’s Fabulous Florals theme will be much easier for me!

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  31. I believe it was in California where I discovered my first all-year-round Christmas store, Terri. I bought quite a few Christmas ornaments while it was mid-summer outside. We used to have some Christmas stores in the UK, but I believe the ones on the high street have now all closed down.

    I studied the map you included in this post, and the Olympic National Park looks like an interesting place. Not far from the border with Canada, either. I expect it’s a busy place at this time of the year? Have you been there yet?

    I loved your melting ice photo, so I came up with one for this week’s challenge.

    This diamond ice took a long time to melt while keeping the champagne cold. I took the photo at the wedding of my niece.

    I hope you had a wonderful Easter.

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    • We had a wonderful Easter, Hugh, a great service and a fun and drama-filled family dinner at the in-laws, LOL!
      In Washington, once you get over to the coastal side, there is SO much to see. Leavenworth area was a 3 1/2 hour drive by auto, from Spokane, very doable. I am still amazed that here in the “Inland Northwest” we are less than 2 hours from the Canadian border, one hour drive from Coeur D’ Alene (Idaho) and 5 hours from Glacier National Park in Montana. So much to see!
      Thank you for sharing that ice sculpture–wow, it’s immense. What a way to showcase champagne! Perfect for the challenge!

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  32. I’ve been wanting to get up to Leavenworth, Terri, and just haven’t done it yet. I’m going to have to book a trip. It looks so pretty! And thanks for sharing your “quartzy” photos. I love those shots of the wind-surfers. It’ will be spring soon and time to set up outside in your new home. I’m glad you had a joyous Easter. Happy Creativity, my friend. ❤

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    • Thank you, Liesbet! The challenges always seem to work out for my examples! We hope to spend a few days this summer at the delta as we plan to make our way south for an extended road trip. Happy spring to you, too!

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  38. Leavenworth is a place to return to more than once. I am sure you agree. May Day…Christmas.. Oktoberfest.

    it was a fun interpretation to your own challenge. lol. And I loved it! Love the tide shots, but dang if the windsurfer shot wasn’t spot on . Awesome. I just love your outlook on life . You certainly pursued a career that suited you. Donna.

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  39. So picturesque Terri, from the Bavarian-inspired town to the quartz pebbles rushing in with the waves. Brodie was enjoying himself wasn’t he? 🙂 I think Leavenworth must be a sister to Frankenmuth, Michigan. It is similarly a Bavarian-inspired town and has Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, a Christmas store that is also open year-round.

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  41. I had to grin at some of the wonderful pictures, like Brodie in the waves brought on a big smile, and you hanging on in the early days. What a fun post and inspiring for a hard-to-find color. We have had some amazing winds this past week. Today Vince said, “I think I’m in an alternate universe. The waves on Willow Lake are like an ocean!” We had just returned from 96 degrees in Scottsdale. Your pictures of Leavenworth brought back OLD memories. I had forgotten about the prison town. Amazing that Brian remembered something about it and associated it. It’s hard enough to associate towns in your own country let alone someone else’s! WOW! Your brief respite from blogging worked out well and it looks like everyone is back on track. I’m glad you’re back. Thanks for linking to WQW. 🙂

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    • Glad you liked the images, Marsha! I was going to settle for water droplets but once we got to the lake, the quartz was just lying there, LOL! I was surprised so many people outside the US knew about Leavenworth–just goes to show you not to name a tourist town after a notorious prison!

      Spring can be so capricious, we even had a dusting of snow on Easter eve! Melted fast but I told Hans this was the coldest Easter I’ve EVER lived through. All good!

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