Photohunters: Entertainment

Note - I am auto-posting this in advance but won't be at my computer until Sunday afternoon so my visiting will be late.
The photohunters theme this week is entertainment. We are lucky in my state to have free admission to the NC Museum of art's permanent collection.Given the current economy it's nice to have free forms of entertainment.
They also have reasonably priced outdoor concerts during the spring through fall which I have attended in the past, although I don't have any photographs of those.I must be getting old for my first thought in terms of the entertainment theme to be a museum.
Even when I was going to concerts and other forms of entertainment more, I didn't take photographs of them.The art museum allows non flash photography except when you are in the special exhibit areas.
The first shot was taken in the art park facing the museum and the last shot was taking walking around the art park. The smokestack almost looks like part of the outdoor art but it is what's left of the youth prison that used to be on the museum site. I took the outdoor shots in early spring before the trees fully leafed out.Home of the Photohunt

Nature Notes - It's a Jungle Out there

The combination of a wet summer with enough sun for growth has resulted in a jungle in my garden.

I like the lush growth and so do the butterflies, bees, birds, rabbits, and many other inhabitants of my garden. If it wasn't for the heat and mosquitoes, I would have no complaints.

I am fortunate to have shade trees which give me some cooler spots when I want to sit outside. Even as some flowers are getting a little faded, I can see the promise of new ones to come next spring.

The center of the black eyed susan above will have hundreds of seeds.
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Today's Flowers: Hibiscus and Morning Glories

I like the way some of my hibiscus (rose of sharon) almost look like a double flower because they are growing so close together.

Some of the rose of sharon (taxonomy is Hibiscus syriacus) are so tall they are trying to compete with the trees.

I have been enjoying the different shades of morning glories. Last week I showed you my white ones and I'm frequently posting purple ones. Today I thought I'd show me my light blue ones.

If the photograph sizing is funky for this post, I'm playing around with different hosting sites. I'm trying to stay within the free storage for photographs and that means I need to start using another hosting site before I use up the free space on picsa. There may be a few kinks at first since I have a rather slow learning curve. However, I hope it works because I like photbucket so far and they give you enough free storage space to keep my blogs going after I use up the free picsa space.

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Photohunters: Utensils

The photohunters word this week is utensils. The shot above is of my kitchen utensils and if you click to enlarge you can see me reflected in the spoon.When I looked up the word utensils, I found the following in Merriam-Websters:

"1 : an implement, instrument, or vessel used in a household and especially a kitchen 2 : a useful tool or implement" Therefore, I decided that garden tools were also utensils according to the second definition.One of my more useful garden utensils is my hand mower. It allows me to cut grass I don't want but stop and avoid flowers I do want.
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Nature Notes: Comparing Lakes

I was walking around Lake Lynn recently and I found myself comparing it to Shelley Lake. Both lakes are near my house but since Shelley is the closest that's where I usually walk.
All of the shots in this post were taken this week at Lake Lynn and one thing I was pleased about was how much easier it was to photograph the great blue heron at Lynn that it is at Shelley.
I suspect it's because Shelley Lake has such a huge park and trail system along creeks that the heron have more protected areas to get away from the people. I spot them at both lakes but have trouble getting close enough for decent shots when I'm at Shelley.
In addition to noticing ducks and heron fishing, there were a few people out on boats fishing. Not sure if they were catching anything but it was a pleasant morning to be out and about.
The shaded parts of the walkway always make it nicer to walk in the summer. Both lakes have shady areas and sunny areas. I definitely prefer shade when it's hot.One of the trademarks of Lake Lynn are the funny looking ducks which they don't have at Shelley. There are a lot of different ducks and geese at Shelley but not like the funny guys below.
No offense intended as these ducks probably think I'm funny looking too.
The shots of the great blue heron are all of the same bird but obviously the sun's relation to me and the bird make a big difference.
There are some things I like about both ways I was shooting so I couldn't decide which photographs to use. My solution as usual was to post a bunch of shots. Nature Notes Home

Today's Flowers: It's a Blooming Summer

My day lilies are blooming and I enjoy their splash of orange in my garden. I also enjoy the orange honeysuckle like the vine below which I shot blooming on a tree near my house.
I thought I'd end with a white morning glory. I tend to feature my purple morning glories but I also enjoy the smaller white ones which are starting to bloom. Morning glories help get me outside in the morning as their blooms only last until late morning when they close up. Today's Flower Home Link

Photohunters: Rock(s)

The photohunters theme this week is rock(s). I started with a shot from my garden with my frog sitting on a rock above. The next three shots are from a walk this past Sunday along a creek near my house. I like big rocks like these and when they are dry, I've been know to sit on them and read or write.
I wonder how the rock above ended up with those perfect holes which almost look like eyes to me.
The next shot was taken in Duke gardens of rocks and a small waterfall.The last two shots were taken at Linville Falle, NC. There are a lot of rocks there.I love rocks so I could go on forever. I literally have thousands of photographs of rocks but this seems like a good one to stop with.
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Nature Notes: Beauty, heat, and mosquitoes

Nature Notes

It's easy for me to obsess about the heat and mosquitoes this time of year but there is also a lot of beauty to enjoy with a brief step outside my door, or even looking out the windows.I took the shot above on my deck. The pecan tree's green leaves were right in front of my face with the red of my large crepe myrtle being further back in the yard.
My large crepe myrtle tree is one of the last to bloom but it's worth the wait. It's hard to get a real sense of the size from these shots because it's so big that I'd need to cut back a lot of growth around it to see the whole thing.I took the shot above standing under the crepe myrtle and looking up through the green part of the leaves but the dark pink/red blooms are on the top. This is where the bird tend to go for shade which is why I have trouble photographing them because they are hidden deep in the crepe myrtle.
Around the corner from my house is the line of crepe myrtle trees in the photograph above. It takes about four of these trees to equal the size of my one big one. I also have some smaller ones but they get bigger each year unlike the ones above which are severely pruned each year.
It amazes me how fast the Virginia Creeper above has taken over my peas and beans trellis. I'm letting it go crazy since I didn't plant peas or beans this year and I like the way the Virginia Creeper turns red and orange in the fall. However, I'll tear it all down after the autumn color in case I decide to plant snow peas next spring like I used to do.
I guess I'll end with one of my hibiscus blossoms and also on a happy note weather wise. It will be much cooler this weekend. Woohooo! Nature Notes Home Link

Today's Flowers: Lantana

My lantana is starting to bloom. I like the lantana for its orange scent and flowers. Hummingbirds and butterflies also like lantana.
I like the different stages of the blooms on lantana. I'm using a close macro shot on the one below which is only a little further along than the tiny early blooms in between the two larger ones above.I think it's interesting how those little pillow shapes open to form the blooms.
Once they are completely open they are like puff balls for want of a better description.If you want to smell like oranges, you can break off a lantana leaf and rub it in your hands. I like the scent of oranges so I do that sometimes.For other flower shots, please visit the home of Today's Flowers.

Photohunters: Garbage

The photohunters theme this week is garbage. Below, there is a brown garbage can to the left of the gazebo in the park.
In the next shot is a green garbage can on the left hand side of the walking path.
Below is a green garbage can to the left of the tree in the park. So that's it for garbage. I couldn't bring myself to share photographs of the garbage which ended up in the park's stream in spite of all the garbage cans the city provides.
On Saturday participants post their links at the home of the photohunt.

Nature Notes: Mid Summer

This is the time of year when they start mowing around the trails at Shelley Lake. I like the smell of fresh mowed grass but I also like the way uncut tall grasses look. I'm never quite sure why they mow around the paved paths since they won't get covered up like the dirt ones would.The shot below is one I took a few months ago at the same general area although I turned to photograph the tall grasses and didn't get the path in the shot. That's the grass that was mowed. I think if it was up to me I would have let it be.
The shot below is the area below my deck which barely has a path left to walk through the blackberries and butterfly weed. That used to be one of the few parts of my garden that were mowed and left clear. I remember as more and more of the yard became a garden my daughter said, mom at least leave me enough room to toss a ball. That used to be the ball tossing area.
The berries below are growing pretty high in some trees along the path around Shelley Lake. I'm not sure what they are but they remind me more of fall berries than summer ones.One of the bushes in my front yard whose name escapes me looks like it is confused. The red leaves are usually a sign of fall but we are barely into mid summer.
As a matter of fact when I first saw the red in the bush above, I thought it was a male cardinal like the one in the tree below. Usually when a flash of red catches my eye in a tree or bush this time of year, it is a bird.The female cardinals tend to blend in more but the one below caught my eye. It's red beak was poking out for all to see.For other participants, please visit the home of Nature Notes.

Today's Flowers - at the Park and at Home

I've noticed that more and more of my coreopsis are blooming at home and then I spotted another variety of the same flower at the park.
The coreopsis above is from my garden and the ones in the shots below are from the park.
I like the dark centers on the ones at the park a lot. I have a tiny variety with darker centers but my larger ones all have yellow centers.The next two shots are my old fashioned climbing roses which are a mixture of colors both on individual roses as well as each being different from the one beside it.I like the way one plant can provide such a rich mixture of flowers. For other participants, please visit the home of today's flowers.

Photohunt: Pink and Happy U.S. Independence Day

Update - I was relieved to read that TN Chick's husband is home now and recovering. When I went to the home of photohunters to put the link in my blog I saw some sad news. TN Chick the host of Photohunters has requested prayers for her husband who has been hospitalized. My thoughts and prayers are with her husband as well as with her and their children. I hope they will get good news soon. What a relief to go to her site today and see that he is home.
The photohunt theme this week is pink. When I saw the sky Wednesday night at sunset, I grabbed my camera and knew that would be one of my PH shots this week. The next shot is one I took this spring. Although the azalea is a dark pink, in that light it almost looks red. When I took the shot I thought it might be good for the Fourth of July since it looks like my front yard is red, white, and blue.
Since red is a mixture of white and pink, to stretch a point the U.S. flag could be said to have separated pink (the red and white aren't mixed on the flag but they equal pink).
I took both of the flag shots when we were in Wilmington, NC on memorial day. I took them from the car so the composition leaves something to be desired but I thought they worked for the U.S. Independence Day which is July 4. Also, to stretch a point they are separated pink.
I hope that everyone who celebrates it has a Happy Independence Day and I hope that TN Chick's husband is on the road to recovery. I am as usual early since Saturday is the Photohunters post day.

Nature Notes: Hot summer days

The cardinal below trying to beat the heat with a dip in the bird bath cracked me up. Looks like she's having a bad hair day but considering what my hair looks like after a swim I'm not one to speak.I always like to see signs of the next season far in advance of its arrival. The pecans below won't be ready until fall (autumn) but they are already beginning to show up in the tree.Another signal of the next season are the green dogwood berries. I think they usually turn red around October and I never paid that much attention to them at their green stage before.
More and more blackberries are ripening and ending up both in my mouth as well as in the birds hungry beaks.I never tire of the purple cone flowers (echinacea). They are at so many stages throughout my garden.
I have taken echinacea supplements to fend off colds but I've never tried to harvest my plants.
I've read that the root extracts are the part that have the most medicinal benefit although something certainly seemed to enjoy the petals on the flower above.
Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and even american goldfinch like to feast on the coneflower center.
I think I like the newly forming coneflowers about as much as I like the more colorful stages.
I've enjoyed photographing the grass seeds and plumes and there are often visitors like the one below.
If you look through the grass plumes there is a rose lurking in the middle of the shot below. That rose bush over time is in an increasingly shady part of the garden but the roses haven't gotten the memo that they aren't supposed to thrive in shade. So far they are doing just fine.The grass below is a weed and I guess I should pull it up before the seeds are viable but I thought it looked pretty interesting in a macro shot. Also, the birds will probably enjoy the seeds so I may let it be like everything else.I was pleased to see some cleome is coming up this year. I used to have it all over the place and it sets its seeds, returning in the spring and summer. However, one of our droughts seemed to eliminate all the cleome so I was please to see that some of the seeds must have stayed viable for a couple of years returning after all the rain we had this year. I'm pretty sure I didn't have any last year so that's the only explanation I can come up with.I don't know the name of the yellow wildflower below but I think it's pretty.
Please visit the home of Nature Notes if you have some nature notes to share and to find other participants.