Need a little zest in your life? Treat yourself to a pair of Spicy Shoes.
I know that's lame but when I saw that one photohunt theme was spicy and the other was shoes, all I could think of is what a good brand name Spicy would make for shoes.
It would certainly be easy to come up with an ad campaign for spicy shoes.
Click here for the Spicy Photohunt and/or click here for the shoes photohunt.
I like to use nature notes as a nature diary of sorts but in spite of lots of new growth, more of the same seems to sum it up.
What I mean by that is that, there are so many flowers ahead of schedule like azaleas.
Also, we continue to have some rain most days and some clearing most days.
The odd thing though is dogwoods which are usually amongst the first trees to bloom, are coming later than others this year.
My poor tulip was beaten down by a hard rain.
I think the web below almost looks like someone is spinning a hammock.
I worry about the oak trees already having their pollen capsules because they will be upset if the leaves form and we have a hard frost which is possible.
I am enjoying the trees that are flowering.
It lightens my spirits to see a sky of blooms.
It's fun watching the birds fly together and then separate as if a courtship is progressing slowly.
In the mornings I see so many different birds in the trees and the bluejay (below) usually announces its presence vocally.
The brown thrashers always crack me up.
This one was a contortionist as it primped and preened.
It used all the water and then fluffed out.
The feathers almost looked like fur, reminding me of a leopard.
I enjoy seeing more and more American Robins.
Even though I see some robins high up in the trees in the winter, they are more abundant and come to the ground and bird baths in the spring.
The female cardinals have such full beaks.
I also notice the red in their feathers after a bath.
Although the male cardinals are more flamboyant, I think the females have their own beauty.
Click for the home of nature notes.
The camellia below is my next door neighbor's. The rest of the shots are from my garden.
It's a stretch to say I have a garden since at this point I let nature take its course and what I have is a wilder and wilder yard.
The shot above is my variegated periwinkle and the shot below is from my redbud tree.
The narcissus below is one of my favorites but most of the buds formed too early and were frozen so I only have a few blooms of this variety.
The big surprise is some of my azaleas already have blooms and they are 6 to 8 weeks early. Our average last frost date isn't until mid April and my azaleas are too big to cover.
My azalea in the next shot is almost as tall as a tree. They have never started blooming this early.
My camellia in the next shot is always one of the early bloomers and it can handle some frost.
With the mild winter this year there is no telling what will happen. Winter may be over or it may come calling again.
It has been almost like summer this weekend.
I took a lot of pictures of my narcissus and couldn't decide which to use.
I seem to have trouble in general picking shots which is why I'm posting so many.
The flowers were all drenched by a downpour last night.
They look so different when they are holding onto the water droplets.
They certainly got almost more water than they could handle.
It always seems that there is either too little or too much moisture. I'd rather have too much than too little.
The last shot is of one of my redbud trees.
Click for the home of Today's Flowers.
The two photohunters themes, creative and play, go well together.
The first shot is of a children's museum and play space in Raleigh, NC where there are a lot of opportunities for creative play.
The NC Botanical Garden has an area in the herb garden where there are creative play opportunities for children and benches where their tired parents can rest (shots above and below).
The last shot is of children's art in the hallway leading to restrooms in the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Creating art can be a form of play.
Click for the Creative Photohunters and/or click for the play Photohunters.
I know the birds are going into spring mode because they are waking me up in the morning with their full volume calls.
The brown thrashers have such wild eyes.
The male cardinal and rufous-sided towhee below seemed comfortable sharing space.
The root-bark in the moss below caught my eye.
I love the way moss looks on rocks.
The three American Robins seemed happy to share the bath with each other.
The female cardinal was tilting its head back and forth.
I liked the way the American Robin looked with its feathers all plumped out.
Below is a diving robin going in head first.
And up she comes looking fresh as a daisy.
Next the male cardinal is doing the head tilt back and forth.
The sparrow took a bath after most of the water had been used up by the female cardinal, and before I re-filled it.
I think the sparrow saw me and was giving me a look.
I think the male cardinal was also giving me a look.
The sparrow was enjoying being in the water so he turned his back on me and stayed a while longer.
From a distance the birds in the tree below are camouflaged and look like part of the tree.
A closer look shows there are many birds hanging out.
This time of year I always see large groups of birds at the top of this particular tree.
Click for the home of nature notes.
