Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Snow & Ice
I cleared the snow/sleet/ice/slush off my car this morning, and since we were on a 2-hour delay, I wasn't in any real rush. I grabbed the camera, trudged through some snow (in my new snow boots!) and shot some pictures of the ice on a Japanese Maple tree. I LOVE that you can see the reflection of the window in the bottom of the drop. (And this was with my 50mm lens!!!!)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, September 12, 2009
'Tis the Season
Chris noticed this great spider web just outside our back door tonight. Smart spider, made his web right by our light...lots of bugs! (He started moving and I got all creeped out. I'm such a girl!)
Monday, August 24, 2009
1st Anniversary Trip to Jamaica
We returned to Jamaica this year for our 1st anniversary and had a wonderful time. We stayed at Sandals Dunns River, just outside of Ocho Rios and loved it. Got hassled by some "vendors" on the beach (I think I was offered pot more times that week than I was in my entire college career!) and the beach itself was rather small for us (we're not "pool people"), but it was wonderful to just be together and do absolutely nothing for a whole week! Our room was upgraded to a suite and we had a fantastic view; we also met a lot of really nice people, both guests and employees alike! We enjoyed the trip so much, we've already booked to go back to Jamaica for next year!
I took the Rebel, thinking I'd get some amazing shots like I did last year at Sandals Whitehouse. I didn't take it out of the safe once. All of these were shot with my P&S, so some of them are not up to my normal standards....but it was a carefree week and I wasn't about to stress over perfect snapshots.
WARNING: there are a LOT of pictures in this post! ;)
A lot of the old tree stumps have been carved into various sculptures. This was was up in the pitch-n-putt golf course right on our resort.
Lizards all over. Little gecko-like things. We asked a staff member what type they were. His response? "Ground lizards." (So this one is on a wall...does that make it a wall lizard? We got a chuckle out of the seemingly obvious name.)
The resort had an anniversary cake delivered to our room!
I fry on the beach, even with sunscreen. Chris found these two chairs, right under a palm tree. He could bask in the sun while I could read in the shade. This was my view. Heavenly!
The resort has an Italian theme and so there were naked statues all over the place. I got such a kick out of nature trying to censor this statue. ;)
One of two cruise ships we saw leaving from Ocho Rios.
An ice sculpture at the Beach Party dinner. Yes, we literally ate dinner on the beach; they brought out tables and chairs and it really was a beach party.
They served food from a kayak at the beach party. Put the ice where your butt goes and put the food on top of that--so clever! (It was getting dark and the flash made for a horrid pic, so you get blurr instead!)
The gift shop made a flower from flip flops. Love it!
The exit sign in our hallway. We thought it was funny to run toward a rectangle.
A hammock we spent some time snoozing in one afternoon when we were avoiding the sun. So peaceful, tucked in a more quiet part of the resort near the spa.....just listening to the birds and bugs and trees and the breeze.
This picture will get me through the grayness of winter this year!
A statue at the base of the elevator. People don't want to take their cups up to their rooms, so they leave them. Chris commented that the dolphins must get awefully drunk. (And I snapped this when we got off the COLD air conditioned elevator....in the HUMID Carribean air....lens fog up much???)
This is called breadfruit. It's similar in consistency to a potato. There are 3 ways you can cook it....if you boil it, it's tastes like bread, but we've also had it fried...see below. Chris' foot is for size reference.
A gargantuan bean pod we found near the hammock.
Our room was right on the ocean, so we heard the calming waves all day and night.
A few days were quite windy--more than a breeze--and the surf was kicked up because of this.
Dessert at the International Buffet (where they set up tables poolside. Love all the outdoor meals!)
The marble gazebo where many people are married.
The almond tree that nearly killed me, lol! Almonds fall only when they're ripe....and they must fall with accelerated gravity! Great shade tree, though!
My dinner at the fancy restaurant, Eleanors. That thing that looks like a sunflower is a fried piece of breadfruit (see above). It tasted like a very bland (banana?) chip.
We attended a Concierge cocktail hour on our last evening (tons of fun with people we'd been hanging out with all week!) There was a special question at the end about the name of the closest Beaches property (Sandals is couples only, Beaches is the family resort in the chain). Because I am absolutely obsessed with a messageboard dealing with Sandals, my hand was up before he finished the question. As a result, we won a special surprise in our room later that evening. We returned from dinner (and the bar!) to find these swans, some candles, and a bottle of Appleton Rum (the local stuff!). It was a wonderful ending to a perfect week.
I took the Rebel, thinking I'd get some amazing shots like I did last year at Sandals Whitehouse. I didn't take it out of the safe once. All of these were shot with my P&S, so some of them are not up to my normal standards....but it was a carefree week and I wasn't about to stress over perfect snapshots.
WARNING: there are a LOT of pictures in this post! ;)
A lot of the old tree stumps have been carved into various sculptures. This was was up in the pitch-n-putt golf course right on our resort.
Lizards all over. Little gecko-like things. We asked a staff member what type they were. His response? "Ground lizards." (So this one is on a wall...does that make it a wall lizard? We got a chuckle out of the seemingly obvious name.)
The resort had an anniversary cake delivered to our room!
I fry on the beach, even with sunscreen. Chris found these two chairs, right under a palm tree. He could bask in the sun while I could read in the shade. This was my view. Heavenly!
The resort has an Italian theme and so there were naked statues all over the place. I got such a kick out of nature trying to censor this statue. ;)
One of two cruise ships we saw leaving from Ocho Rios.
An ice sculpture at the Beach Party dinner. Yes, we literally ate dinner on the beach; they brought out tables and chairs and it really was a beach party.
They served food from a kayak at the beach party. Put the ice where your butt goes and put the food on top of that--so clever! (It was getting dark and the flash made for a horrid pic, so you get blurr instead!)
The gift shop made a flower from flip flops. Love it!
The exit sign in our hallway. We thought it was funny to run toward a rectangle.
A hammock we spent some time snoozing in one afternoon when we were avoiding the sun. So peaceful, tucked in a more quiet part of the resort near the spa.....just listening to the birds and bugs and trees and the breeze.
This picture will get me through the grayness of winter this year!
A statue at the base of the elevator. People don't want to take their cups up to their rooms, so they leave them. Chris commented that the dolphins must get awefully drunk. (And I snapped this when we got off the COLD air conditioned elevator....in the HUMID Carribean air....lens fog up much???)
This is called breadfruit. It's similar in consistency to a potato. There are 3 ways you can cook it....if you boil it, it's tastes like bread, but we've also had it fried...see below. Chris' foot is for size reference.
A gargantuan bean pod we found near the hammock.
Our room was right on the ocean, so we heard the calming waves all day and night.
A few days were quite windy--more than a breeze--and the surf was kicked up because of this.
Dessert at the International Buffet (where they set up tables poolside. Love all the outdoor meals!)
The marble gazebo where many people are married.
The almond tree that nearly killed me, lol! Almonds fall only when they're ripe....and they must fall with accelerated gravity! Great shade tree, though!
My dinner at the fancy restaurant, Eleanors. That thing that looks like a sunflower is a fried piece of breadfruit (see above). It tasted like a very bland (banana?) chip.
We attended a Concierge cocktail hour on our last evening (tons of fun with people we'd been hanging out with all week!) There was a special question at the end about the name of the closest Beaches property (Sandals is couples only, Beaches is the family resort in the chain). Because I am absolutely obsessed with a messageboard dealing with Sandals, my hand was up before he finished the question. As a result, we won a special surprise in our room later that evening. We returned from dinner (and the bar!) to find these swans, some candles, and a bottle of Appleton Rum (the local stuff!). It was a wonderful ending to a perfect week.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Bug on screen!
I was taking the camera out to photograph some goregous (!) lilies in the garden when I noticed this bug on my screen door. He cooperated and let me take a few shots and when I returned from the garden, he was gone (yay!)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Catch up, part 3
More catching up! Warning: 2nd picture is of bugs!!!
For as much as I love lilies, I can never seem to get a pic I'm satisfied with! I thought this was a great close-up of the "innards" of the flower.
WARNING: BUGS!!! I mentioned in an earlier post that we get these bugs all over the buds on the rose bushes. They don't seem to do much (well, except creep me out), so we just kinda let them be. Here's a bunch of them on new growth on the plant--not quite a bud yet.
We have a huge vegetable garden each year. Last summer (yes, 2008!) we tried our hand at onions, starting them from onion sets. They grew, but didn't really produce anything worth picking. So we let a bunch of them go. All winter, all spring. They're finally to a size worth picking and cutting up! This is what the tops looked like in mid- to late-spring. This thing burst open and had a "flower" on top--lots of little white balls. DH thought maybe that's where onion seed comes from? They're still happily growing in the garden. We're hoping they make it into stew or something at the end of THIS season (2009).
The bud of a Star Gazer lily, by far my favorite type of lily.
There is a lone climbing rose bush on the fencline with the irises. I usually don't pay it much attention, but this year, they clustered so nicely. This shot reminds me of my grandmother. (She had "stinky roses" next to her garage...oh the scent, and big, beautiful blooms!)
This house seems to provide one project after another. This year has brought the beginnings of a new electrical panel and service. And DH being DH, decided he wanted electric in his shed. OK. (But DH being DH (an electrician), wanted to run it underground.) So he rented this machine, to dig the trench allllll the way around the yard. It was fun to watch. Not so fun to get the grass to grow again. (Follow-up....the trench in the front yard is STILL not filled in, 7 weeks later!, because the electric company took its sweet time in making up its mind about the telephone pole out front. Argh. So tired of jumping over piles of dirt!!! Hopefully this week it will FINALLY be filled in...) This machine made a trench about 30 inches deep and about 6 inches wide....just enough to be a pain, but not enough to lose a small child in!
For as much as I love lilies, I can never seem to get a pic I'm satisfied with! I thought this was a great close-up of the "innards" of the flower.
WARNING: BUGS!!! I mentioned in an earlier post that we get these bugs all over the buds on the rose bushes. They don't seem to do much (well, except creep me out), so we just kinda let them be. Here's a bunch of them on new growth on the plant--not quite a bud yet.
We have a huge vegetable garden each year. Last summer (yes, 2008!) we tried our hand at onions, starting them from onion sets. They grew, but didn't really produce anything worth picking. So we let a bunch of them go. All winter, all spring. They're finally to a size worth picking and cutting up! This is what the tops looked like in mid- to late-spring. This thing burst open and had a "flower" on top--lots of little white balls. DH thought maybe that's where onion seed comes from? They're still happily growing in the garden. We're hoping they make it into stew or something at the end of THIS season (2009).
The bud of a Star Gazer lily, by far my favorite type of lily.
There is a lone climbing rose bush on the fencline with the irises. I usually don't pay it much attention, but this year, they clustered so nicely. This shot reminds me of my grandmother. (She had "stinky roses" next to her garage...oh the scent, and big, beautiful blooms!)
This house seems to provide one project after another. This year has brought the beginnings of a new electrical panel and service. And DH being DH, decided he wanted electric in his shed. OK. (But DH being DH (an electrician), wanted to run it underground.) So he rented this machine, to dig the trench allllll the way around the yard. It was fun to watch. Not so fun to get the grass to grow again. (Follow-up....the trench in the front yard is STILL not filled in, 7 weeks later!, because the electric company took its sweet time in making up its mind about the telephone pole out front. Argh. So tired of jumping over piles of dirt!!! Hopefully this week it will FINALLY be filled in...) This machine made a trench about 30 inches deep and about 6 inches wide....just enough to be a pain, but not enough to lose a small child in!
More catching up....
You might have noticed a new design. I found this template specifically designed for pictures--to post them large, without all the other stuff typically found on blogs--and I've been using it for a while on my food blog. I figured it was time to make the change here. I LOVE the big pics!!! (And I can make them bigger...but haven't yet!) Still getting used to the pink color scheme...that might change. Let me know what you think!
So here's some more pics of the 400 or so I processed from this spring...
Another of the few successful plants in the "3-Season Cutting Garden" I attempted on the side of my house. I just love lilies!
The azalea bushes in the yard are just stunning in their prime. I can never seem to get a good picture of them, though. I thought this one was neat because you can see the stamen & pistol clearly (ha! My science teachers should be proud I remember!!! Wanna know which is which??? The pistol is the tube thing in the middle (on this flower it's pointing up) and the stamen are the ones with the dots on the ends that hold the pollen. I'll take my A now.)
After a shaky start, the rose bushes are BEAUTIFUL!!! Here was the first bloom of the season. (and it really is that deep of a red)
I spoke in my last post about the irises along the fenceline. Here they are! So pretty, it's a shame it only lasts a few days!
Dandelions are good for one thing: puffball pictures!
I am not a fan of peonies. There's one bush in my yard, however, that I'm drawn to take pics of each year. This one is among my favorite shots of that plant.
Another of the rosebuds. (Notice the little buggy things at the base? Not sure what they are, they're ALL OVER the buds just before they bloom, and they don't seem to do any harm...so we leave them.)
So here's some more pics of the 400 or so I processed from this spring...
Another of the few successful plants in the "3-Season Cutting Garden" I attempted on the side of my house. I just love lilies!
The azalea bushes in the yard are just stunning in their prime. I can never seem to get a good picture of them, though. I thought this one was neat because you can see the stamen & pistol clearly (ha! My science teachers should be proud I remember!!! Wanna know which is which??? The pistol is the tube thing in the middle (on this flower it's pointing up) and the stamen are the ones with the dots on the ends that hold the pollen. I'll take my A now.)
After a shaky start, the rose bushes are BEAUTIFUL!!! Here was the first bloom of the season. (and it really is that deep of a red)
I spoke in my last post about the irises along the fenceline. Here they are! So pretty, it's a shame it only lasts a few days!
Dandelions are good for one thing: puffball pictures!
I am not a fan of peonies. There's one bush in my yard, however, that I'm drawn to take pics of each year. This one is among my favorite shots of that plant.
Another of the rosebuds. (Notice the little buggy things at the base? Not sure what they are, they're ALL OVER the buds just before they bloom, and they don't seem to do any harm...so we leave them.)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Time sure flies.
I can't believe I haven't blogged in 2 months. I was shooting like crazy this spring, with all the flowers and animals that were in my yard. Just didn't get around to posting them. Last night I converted over 400 pics from my card, and tonight started the process of weeding and posting the best ones. My motivation is the 100 or so shots from my recent trip to San Diego...and I promised I would deal with the old before the new. I figured I'd do a few at a time, so to not overwhelm my readers, and also to get you back in the habit of visiting regularly.
A robin's nest in the front yard. One of two we had this year!
The flowers of the beautiful weeping cherry tree in the front yard. (The tree actually weeps now that we had a sucker branch cut off! So pretty!)
A pinwheel I bought for $1 at ACMoore on a whim. Made for a very fun (read: challenging) shot! I'm such a kid.
This is perhaps one of my favorite shots this season. First, we stalked this poor family. They built the nest right outside our backdoor and it made for a very interesting spring. (See prior posts with eggs and first sight of the baby.) DH and I tried multiple times to get pics of the momma/poppa feeding the babies (and I do have a few but they're not so sharp) I thought this was just fantastic. There was a third bird, but we only saw it pop up a few times, and we think something got to them, because the nest was empty soon after this shot was taken. Finally, this may be one of the only clear shots I have of an adult robin....they always seem to come out digital-ly, even with my best lenses.
My tulips survived the animals this year!!! They were so spectacularly pretty! These suffered a bit in some early heat, but I miss them already!
Lily of the Valley might just be one of my all-time favorite flowers. I was lucky to have them all over the yard when I bought my house, and they spread like mad, so there's lots and lots for me to enjoy. Walking past the beds, the scent is intoxicating. I pick some and put them in a small vase next to my bed (that's probably horrible for me, since I hear they're poisonous, but hey, I fall asleep and wake up happy, so it can't be too bad!)
Another tulip. Loved the pink ones this year.
The inside of an iris. These things are all along the fenceline between my house and my neighbor's. They really need to be lifted and divided and spaced out better. But I'm a chicken because I don't want to kill them. My friend MaryAnn needs to come give me an iris lesson!
I attempted a "3-Season cutting garden" on the side of the house this year. Limited success. I'm hoping next year things will fill in and it will look a little less pathetic. (Although DH says he's got other ideas for that bed. ?!??!!?) Here's one of the things that actually came up. No idea what it is. I just planted what came in the kit and hoped it would look nice! :)
That's all for the moment. Have no fear, though, there are LOTS more coming!!! Check back often!
A robin's nest in the front yard. One of two we had this year!
The flowers of the beautiful weeping cherry tree in the front yard. (The tree actually weeps now that we had a sucker branch cut off! So pretty!)
A pinwheel I bought for $1 at ACMoore on a whim. Made for a very fun (read: challenging) shot! I'm such a kid.
This is perhaps one of my favorite shots this season. First, we stalked this poor family. They built the nest right outside our backdoor and it made for a very interesting spring. (See prior posts with eggs and first sight of the baby.) DH and I tried multiple times to get pics of the momma/poppa feeding the babies (and I do have a few but they're not so sharp) I thought this was just fantastic. There was a third bird, but we only saw it pop up a few times, and we think something got to them, because the nest was empty soon after this shot was taken. Finally, this may be one of the only clear shots I have of an adult robin....they always seem to come out digital-ly, even with my best lenses.
My tulips survived the animals this year!!! They were so spectacularly pretty! These suffered a bit in some early heat, but I miss them already!
Lily of the Valley might just be one of my all-time favorite flowers. I was lucky to have them all over the yard when I bought my house, and they spread like mad, so there's lots and lots for me to enjoy. Walking past the beds, the scent is intoxicating. I pick some and put them in a small vase next to my bed (that's probably horrible for me, since I hear they're poisonous, but hey, I fall asleep and wake up happy, so it can't be too bad!)
Another tulip. Loved the pink ones this year.
The inside of an iris. These things are all along the fenceline between my house and my neighbor's. They really need to be lifted and divided and spaced out better. But I'm a chicken because I don't want to kill them. My friend MaryAnn needs to come give me an iris lesson!
I attempted a "3-Season cutting garden" on the side of the house this year. Limited success. I'm hoping next year things will fill in and it will look a little less pathetic. (Although DH says he's got other ideas for that bed. ?!??!!?) Here's one of the things that actually came up. No idea what it is. I just planted what came in the kit and hoped it would look nice! :)
That's all for the moment. Have no fear, though, there are LOTS more coming!!! Check back often!
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