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Friday, April 29, 2011

Photohunters: Square


I have four square garden boxes. I also have some rectangular ones in another part of the garden. Unfortunately at the moment they are growing weeds because I'm too lazy to start a vegetable garden this year.
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Click for the home of photohunters.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Nature Notes: April Showers


We have had a lot of April showers which hopefully bodes well for the flowers.
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It is common to see Canadian Geese at unexpected places this time of year. This pair was hanging out at my doctor's office parking lot.
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The one above was so annoyed by my photographing it that he or she stuck its tongue out at me.
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I always like to see the primrose (shot above) return. The swallowtail butterflies are coming back too.
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I posted some similar shots of the swallowtail in the azaleas for Today's Flowers but I took so many photographs I thought I'd use a few for nature notes too.
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The robins are very active and keep an eye on me from the roof too.
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My roses have been beaten down by the rain and wind but a few boughs have straightened up on their own while others are on the ground.
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I took the shot below at sunset last night but alas no sun.
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Click for the home of nature notes.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Today's Flowers: April winding down

Hard to believe that April is near an end and May will soon be here.
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My earliest azaleas lost most of their blooms in last week's storm but my later bloomers are still going strong.
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I had fun photographing this swallowtail butterfly which seemed to love the pink azaleas.
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Its wings opened and closed so fast that I kept clicking away to get different views.
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My earliest roses were blown off in the storm but new ones are blooming daily.
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Some of the tall boughs were blown in a messy tangle but eventually pruning should deal with it.
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Not only are flowers blooming the trees are getting their leaves back full force.
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The shots above were all taken this week. For the last shot below, I dug into my archives for a shot of the Easter Bunny which was taken years ago in the verbena. I used to have verbena all over my garden but most was lost to a drought several years ago and I didn't replace it. The purple flowers are the verbena.
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Click for the home of today's flowers. Happy Easter!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Photohunters: Dusty


I don't usually think of a reservoir as being dusty but I took the first two shots during a severe drought.
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The reservoir was at an all time low and the banks were dusty.
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Dirt roads can be quite dusty and I imagine if I'd shot looking back instead of shooting towards the front of the car, I'd have a shot of dust in the next photo as it was quite dry.
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I'd rather drive on the last dirt road when it is dusty as opposed to muddy or frozen. I was glad we didn't need to drive on it at all. We were on the paved road above it.
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For the record, my house is always dusty but I couldn't bare to photography that for you. Click for the home of Photohunters and Happy Easter weekend.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Nature Notes: Whimsical and Wild

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One way to look at the spring we are having is whimsical. One minute it's warm the next cold and the sky and wildlife seem to flit around in a playful, whimsical way.
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The rufous-sided towhee was flirting and singing in the pecan tree one day and hiding from the wild and frightening weather the next.
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I didn't get a shot of the hail totally covering my deck because when I first spotted it, I decided to hang out in my hall until I was sure the tornadoes had passed me by. I did get the shot above after much of the hail had melted.
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The robin took advantage of all the water that was left once the storm had passed.
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I love to photograph the hostas when they are soaked.
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I'm not sure if the damage to the leaf below was from the hail or insects.
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After the storm on Saturday, Sunday was a day made for walking.
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It's astounding how fast everything has gone from winter brown coats to green spring ones.
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The soaking storms will probably be a big help in terms of the summer like weather coming hard on the heals of cooler spring days.
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I have to say that summer is my least favorite season because hot humid weather gets to me.
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Lots of trees with their shade help and as long as mornings are cool I'm happy.
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As long as we get plenty of rain in the summer, and everything stays green I don't mind so much.
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One reason I'm thinking about summer is that we are having periodic days with temperatures in the 80s F although the nights are still cool. A few nights last week were close to freezing. We are also having a mixed bag with some days barely into the 60s F and it's not summer yet.
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The pecan tree on the left in the shot below is leafing out nicely.
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My azalea wall is forming one edge of my secret garden.
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My dogwoods and some of the azaleas lost a lot of their flowers in the storm but the damage was minimal and I was lucky. I'm certainly not complaining since some people lost their lives and some homes and buildings were demolished.
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An area of my garden is getting covered in honeysuckle but I don't mind. I love the smell once the flowers form. I don't remember when honeysuckle usually blooms.
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Today is overcast and very warm. The male cardinal decided to take a bath.
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Click for the home of nature notes.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Today's Flowers: Loads of blooms

LinkThis has been a great week for flowers and I hope there will still be many undamaged ones after the tornado that ripped through town on Saturday.
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I am preparing this post Saturday night and I haven't been outside to survey the damage. The tornado touched down in downtown Raleigh, NC and zipped through town moving past where I live at 70 mph. I hope there weren't too many people hurt. I know some buildings were totaled.
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The combination of the winds and loads of large hail probably didn't do the flowers any good.
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I felt very lucky though not to have any damage to my house or any large trees down.
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The first two shots are dogwood trees (white one and then pink one). The third shot is carolina jasmine. The shot above and below are of kolkwitzia amabilis.
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I think the kolkwitzia blossoms look like little bells.
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I sometimes think my azaleas like the one above are going to get big enough to support my house if it ever starts to crumble.
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I like the way the sun is shining through the dogwood above.
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More azaleas above and below.
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I spotted my first two roses this week. They look pretty lonely.
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I fear that the tall rose branches may have been knocked down in the storm.
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Click for the home of today's flowers.