And Then What Happened?

I have few photo pairs for you - and in one case a trio of images - all which answer the question "And then what happened?"


I photograph this soft, fuzzy branch often. In all seasons. At all times of day. In all kinds of weather. From all angles. It's a young growth of sumac just behind the fence, alongside the walking path at my park. On this day in early May, I noticed that the buds were just about ready to open. And then what happened?




Well.. then I came back and photographed it just four days later. Four sunny, warm summer-like days later. Magic happened.





This hazy image is a reflection of contrails as seen in my local pond.





I looked up to snap a shot of the matching scene in the sky above. I decided to click a second time, from a slightly different position through the willow branches. A loud "GROK!" reached my ears. And then what happened?
 



A vocal heron in flight filled my viewfinder. His long bill was open in mid-GROK! A lovely surprise.





There have been some changes around my park over the past year. There are new benches, information areas which discuss wildlife and plant life in the area. There is a beautiful tree carving depicting the creatures which grace us with their presence. And there's talk of a couple of other things to come. One day, these bright orange balls appeared in the pond. I wondered about their symmetry and figured out pretty quickly that they were anchored down like that for a reason. I had a vague idea what they were about but I wasn't certain. And then what happened?





Just a few days later there were multiple hexagon-shaped pieces surrounding the place-keeping balls. Eventually, plant life will sprout from these forms and a floating island will be born. That orange glow behind it all was my first snapped sunset of the season. I'll have more from that evening coming up at some point.





On a dull evening, just before dusk, I heard this cardinal atop the tree, singing his heart out for a mate. And then what happened?





He found her. Perhaps. He took such a quick nosedive off of the branch, it couldn't be anything else. Perhaps.





Grape hyacinths are growing randomly in my front yard. I posted a different photo of them in a previous post. For this one, I had to get up good and close to them with the macro lens - they're so pretty. And teeny-tiny. And they look so colourful dotting the otherwise boring grass. And then what happened?



They ended up looking even prettier when my adorable neighbour Lily decided to pick them.

And that's what's been happening around here. More photos in a few days.

Colours of Winter and a Small Giveaway

It's been an exceptionally tame winter so far, this year. We've had the occasional bitter cold days and biting winds but for the most part, our temperatures have remained a little below or above freezing. Even the snow has been a brief and infrequent visitor.

Only the first two photos below were taken in late November. The rest were shot in December and though we've certainly had a hard frost or two since then, there is still much colour to be found this winter. Come walk with me.

This lovely, purple ornamental cabbage still has some colour today but it's not as brilliant as it was seen here, 6 weeks ago.

At a small, local butterfly garden, this lovely flower bowed its head to the last of the season's bounty.

Some of the local oak trees continued to cling to their golden leaves.

Other plants retained their colour but wilted with the colder weather.

A sumac plant always looks vibrant in the sunlight. This one was no exception.

Even burrs take on a golden hue with late-day sunshine. This one, caught my eye - it contrasted so nicely against the deep blue of the pond.

Red leaves could still be found in mid-December - covered with droplets after a rainfall.

And even some green leaves continued to thrive just three weeks ago. They looked like new growth to me, with its tiny red buds.

Thanks for joining me on my search for winter colour.

And now onto the giveaway. Over the course of a few days in December, I decided to create a 2012 photo calendar and I was satisfied with how it turned out. I ordered a few more and gave two of them away as gifts. I decided to keep the last one for my bloggie people, and offer it up as a giveaway to say "thank you" for all of your support and encouragement over the years. It's a small gift, I realize but I figure it's one you can make use of daily throughout the year.

There are no gimmicks, no hoops through which to jump, no need to become a follower nor promote my blog on yours. I'd just like you to comment as usual and let me know at that time whether you'd like to be included in the random draw or not. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I'll announce the winner on Wednesday's post, along with the Posts of the Week. Everyone is eligible unless you choose to opt out. That's it. Thanks for participating and good luck!

A Winter Sunrise

One morning, last week, I awoke to a soft, peachy glow in my bedroom. I hadn't slept well, and I thought about catching a little bit more but I realized that this lovely light in the room meant that there was a nice sunrise taking shape. And I didn't want to miss it.

Once out there, I took a few photos so you don't have to miss it either. Please remember to click on each of them to enlarge.



Stepping out into the park, the sun was just beginning to set the horizon on fire. The frozen pond was a lovely shade of winter blue.





I always leave a couple of peanuts on the branches of this tree. This morning was no exception. Peanuts first and then a photo.





Further along the path, I glanced up to see this die-hard oak leaf still clinging near the top branch of a tree. It was catching some of those early rays.





Despite the fact that it's dead, this is still one of the most beautiful trees in the park. It's a shelter to many birds throughout each season. And on this morning, it was looking its best, as it extended its branches to greet the rising sun.





Just a couple of moments later, I walked to the other side side of the tree. Its trunk and limbs were bathed in golden syrup.





The sparkling snow took on a more subdued reflection of the vibrant colours of the sunrise. Distant trees cast very long shadows.





By the time the sun fully rose above the horizon, it gave brilliant colour to everything it kissed. This sumac just glowed.





As I headed home, I caught the tail end of what appeared to be the neigbourhood geese rehearsing their icy stage production of A Chorus Line.





I told you it was the tail end.

Thanks for sharing the sunrise with me.

The Eyes Have It

On my recent walks around a few different areas, I began to find changes in the flowers which had been around for much of the summer - and like so many times since looking through the camera lens, I discovered things that I never knew before. Come along with me and I'll show you.


One day, while walking up near the cottage this unusual plant caught my eye. In fact it looked like it had literally caught an eye. I had to look this up to learn the name of this plant, which is White Baneberries or Doll's Eyes. Each of those little stems once held an "eyeball" but there was only this solitary one left by the time I saw it.





These are the seed pods from the Himalayan Balsam or Touch-me-nots which grows quite profusely in late summer and early autumn, all around Frank's place. Until recently, I thought they were a kind of Snapdragon, but they're not. Thank you, Google!








Seed pods of the Himalayan Balsam with a dew drop at the end of it.





If you take one between your fingers and gently squeeze it....





.. like this...





... the pod will pop with surprising force, and expose the seeds which will ensure next year's growth.





Spindle berries take all summer to form and acquire this brilliant pink colour. These will soon open up to reveal orange seeds on their underside. The pods and seeds will remain in full colour after the loss of leaves, through the autumn, and even into the snowy days of winter.





The soft, silky hair of the thistle plant.





Colourful sumac and asters brighten up the shoreline along the creek.





This pretty red and white plant is growing through the fence from my neighbour's yard. I have no idea what kind of plant it is. Does anyone know? Thanks very much to Maria who has identified this plant as Mina Lobata also known as Spanish Flag.

Thanks for joining me for another walk. As always, the company was fantastic!

Doggone It!

Last week, I visited my cousin and good friend, Marcy for dinner. Sadly, someone in her family is a kleptomaniac.

Marcy and I had our usual evening of chatting, laughing, eating and drinking - enjoyable as always. Her daughter was out for the evening so it was just the two of us and her three critters.

Ziggy, the oldest, is a cat who is a tad ornery, and has been known to hiss at company for no apparent reason. He's never treated me with anything better or worse than bored disinterest. Mostly he keeps to himself.

JJ is her large, goofy English Pointer. That's his photo up above. He's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier (his dimmer switch is perpetually set to low-lighting) but he loves everyone and everything on two legs or four. And he loves attention. JJ can sit in front of me for hours trading off paws. When I'm doing anything other than giving him my undivided attention, he'll lift a large, clumsy paw and rest it heavily on my forearm. Once this gets to be tiring (after 3 seconds), I'll remove his paw and plant it securely on the floor. He'll immediately lift his other paw and replace the first one with that. He can go on like this for as long as I can endure it, never tiring of this activity before I do. Eventually, he'll realize that I've had enough (when I'm curled up in the fetal position in the corner), and he'll wander off to chase Waffle.

Waffle is the newest member of the household - a fluffy orange kitten who thinks she owns the joint. Playful and rambunctious, as a feline should be, she torments Ziggy and keeps in step with JJ. It's a tad chaotic when JJ gallops through the house in hot pursuit of this little fur ball, but it's fun and endearing to see them play, while Ziggy watches from beneath the table, hoping that they'll just leave him alone.

At one point in the evening, I asked Marcy for a particular phone number and she wrote it down for me on a small slip of paper. I have a tendency to misplace small items like that, so I decided I'd best put it in my wallet immediately. We continued chatting and enjoying our Cuzzie time for a while, but eventually it was time to go. I grabbed my purse and found it to be unusually lightweight. Hmmm. a quick look inside confirmed that I didn't appear to have replaced my wallet. I began looking for it in the kitchen, which was where I accepted that phone number. It wasn't there. Marcy has an average-sized home. It's neat and uncluttered, and I hadn't been in too many rooms, so my wallet shouldn't have been hard to find. A first, second and third check of the dining room, living room, kitchen and bathroom did not reveal my misplaced wallet.

I began to wonder if I had even brought it with me. Perhaps I'd left it out at home, and I never even put that phone number into it. I didn't actually recall handling it, and neither did my cousin remember seeing it. In that case, the phone number would mostly likely be in one of my pockets, but they were empty. No, I had my wallet - it was just missing. Eventually, it occurred to Marcy that however unlikely, maybe JJ stuck his nose into my purse and took it. As a last resort, we went upstairs to where she keeps his crate and looked inside. There, along with a tissue and a small stuffed animal, was my missing wallet.

It turns out that JJ is a lot smarter than I thought, and Marcy has him trained well. Imagine what she could do with a pet monkey.

Below are a few photos taken from the last couple of weeks. Please remember to click on them to enlarge.



Mid-morning, the sun was hazy as it peeked through the branches of the trees. The surrounding grey-blue sky gave it an eerie glow. (please click to enlarge)




I was having a bit of fun with the macro setting. I found this string of dried out seed pods beside the pond and thought it made an interesting shot. (please click to enlarge)





There's a lovely old willow tree which grows across the dock and suspends over the pond. A few of its branches are in the foreground of this image which shows some unusual crack-like shapes on the surface of the snow-covered pond. (please click to enlarge)





A hanging willow branch as seen from directly below. (please click to enlarge)




This wayward branch reaches out over the lake and away from its surrounding brush to find sunlight. (please click to enlarge)





Cardinals and Sumac seem to add a splash of natural red to the winter landscape. Last week I posted Cardinals. Today the Sumac proudly flashes its colour against the backdrop of the icy pond. (please click to enlarge)




That hazy orb of golden sunlight rays reflects in the duck pond. (please click to enlarge)





Zoomed in a little closer, you can see one of the ducks having a good wing-flap in the water. (please click to enlarge)





Back on the macro setting, you can see the little barbs at the end of these spiky burrs. No wonder they stick to clothes like Velcro. (please click to enlarge)