Saturday, August 3, 2013

Snow in Summer and Other Simple Joys

Frank and I have been up at our new place for the past couple of days. There's so much to learn about our home, our surroundings, the wildlife and our own everyday life. I'm not here full time yet as I still have to return to the city to continue readying my house for sale.

In the short time that we've been here, we were greeted by a great blue heron upon our arrival, have watched an osprey fly by with a fresh catch, were serenaded by a family of loons (I can hear their haunting call right now as I type) and have had countless close encounters with hummingbirds and chickadees.

Yesterday morning, I watched the sun rise over the forested hill across the bay. It was beautiful sky and of course, I took photos so that I could share it with you, but Frank's laptop is being fussy about communicating with my camera and so they will have to wait until after my two week stay here is over, and I head back to the city to continue prepping for the real move. In the meantime, I'll offer some photos which I took around Frank's previous place a few weeks ago.

On this warm, summer day, it snowed in southern Ontario...

park path puddle
There's something especially nice about a sunny day after the rain. Perhaps it's partly because the many puddles duplicate the beautiful surrounding, providing us with even more of Mother Nature's finest.





female rwbb
They say that the early bird catches the worm. I think this female red winged blackbird would have to agree.





boy fishing
I suppose there were some worms involved in this boy's day also.





heron takeoff
Seeing that he had competition, the Great Blue decided to fish elsewhere.





daisy
The daisies stood all fresh and crisp to welcome the day.





tiger lily2
And tiger lilies seemed to open and soak up the warmth of the sun.






dragonfly1
This dragonfly had seen better days but he seemed to know when to stop, rest and have a sun bath.





clouds
These clouds looked rather innocuous.





cottonwood seed snow
And yet it snowed for days - at least a week.




cottonwood snow2
Cottonwood seeds. They're in the forecast every year.

I hope you enjoyed my snowy summer day. More photos coming up soon.

46 comments:

joeh said...

Great pic again.

Here is another post I thought was worthy of a POTW

http://thereseoneill.blogspot.com/2013/08/i-am-tangle.html

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

That reflection in the first picture is amazingly clear. You captured the heron beautifully. They're so neat in flight. That boy must be good at casting. He sure picked a spot with a lot of overhanging branches. And he's not wearing boots. What's up with that?

Linda said...

Congratulations on the new place. Those are great pictures!

ADRIAN said...

It looks an excellent place to settle.

Veronica Roth said...

Hi Hilary, I've been doing a little blog hopping and landed on your site. Love that you are Canadian...me too, and love the photos you take. I wanted to say Hi and now I'm off to have a good mooch around your site. :)

Mimi said...

Congrats on your new home! I hope you will have lots of happiness and laughter there.
Lovely photos, as always. The tiger-lily is perfect summer, and yet it was snowing up there.

Brian Miller said...

oh yeah you have plenty of exploring to do...cool pic of the dragon fly...lots of cool views...but that one jumped out at me...

happy saturday

DJan said...

Beautiful! I am looking forward to seeing pictures of your new environment, but I loved seeing the "snow in summer." :-)

TexWisGirl said...

loved your look at frank's old place. has he sold it? good luck with getting to your new place full time! sounds like it is marvelous!

Rosaria Williams said...

How exciting, snow on a summer day! Yet, there is a sense of fretting too, so much to take in as the weather is about to change...
Lovely catches!

Jackie said...

Thank you for taking me with you on your walk. I loved being here so much. The photos are lovely, and I especially loved the cottonwood seeds...with the delicate web in the sunlight. Beautiful, Hilary.
Thank you, again....

sage said...

Great photos, but that first one with the reflections is incredible!

stephen Hayes said...

Thanks for adding snow to MY summer day. Great pics as always. Seeing that Great Blue lift in flight was awesome.

Geraldine said...

Wow, you lucky woman, looks like you've moved to heaven! Wow, how lovely.

Lots of good wishes to you and your sweetie. Enjoy every minute.

Hugs, G

Rae said...

It looks like a wonderful place to live, even with snow in summer.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Thank goodness the snow was not the cold kind. Beautiful pictures and commentary. I enjoy my visits here.

photowannabe said...

We have Cottonwood snow every year too.
It drives my eyes bonkers.
I am so looking forward to seeing all the critter photos from your new place too.
Hope your place sells ASAP and you can get on with Life's Adventure.

Bob Bushell said...

Lovely place to live in, dream of it.

ds said...

Oh, lovely. And to think it is now "home." Wonderful!

Lisa Gordon said...

Congratulations on your new home, Hilary!
It looks beautiful there.

Shammickite said...

so you have a place at last..... well done! It's be wonderful, I just know it. Be happy!

messymimi said...

My favorite kind of snow! You are going to be out photographing so much, we won't see you often, but that's okay. You and Frank chose just the right place, as i knew you would.

Driftwood and Pumpkin said...

So pretty, those cottonwood seeds. I wonder...do they make you sneeze? Love the dragonfly too. He looked like he needed a nice long rest with those beat-up wings!

Gary's third pottery blog said...

oh! Cottonwoods, hmm? we have them too...exquisite flowers and what a new place you are going to!

Leave It To Davis said...

For REAL it snowed??? Wow! I wish it was cold enough to snow here. I am so sick of the heat!

Loved all your pictures, as always, and you just have a way with words that makes me get all relaxed. I guess I can go to bed now and have sweet dreams. :)

Anonymous said...

It all looks fabulous - Seems like an extremely peaceful place with wonderful photo opps.

Maggie May said...

What a variety of beautiful pictures. Love that dragonfly and the cloud formation and the fishing best.
Glad there are plenty of things to see where you ow live.
Maggie x

Nuts in May

Liz Mays said...

A snowy summer day...now that is just so interesting. You two sure picked out a beautiful area in which to reside.

So happy for this new adventure in life for you both!

Kerry said...

These photos capture the joy and beauty of where you live. Wow. I look forward to loon pics! I love the call of the loon.

And the fragrance of cottonwood as it leafs out in spring is my favorite thing ever.

Anita said...

There is a Great Blue Heron living in my neighborhood - we have quite a bit of wetlands. I love seeing it! In honor of it, I choose your Great Blue as favorite pic. :) The tiger lily and the place where the by is fishing are strong contenders.

Looking forward to your photos from your new home when you get settled in it along with your computer. :)

Suldog said...

In every group of your photos, there's always at least one shot that really grabs me. Usually, it's one with detail of a small object, and that was the case here. Love the dragonfly.

Also, we (that us, the place where I used to work) would always get 'snow' drifts in the parking lot, so I sort of knew where this was headed :-)

ellen abbott said...

so happy to see some pictures of your new home.

yaya said...

Looks like a great place to live and take wonderful photos! Good luck with the sale of your place!

Anonymous said...

I did, I did! Your photos are simple and amazing, revealing simply amazing beauty in the world around us that we tend to overlook. Thank you! Your new place sounds magical!

Joan Serinyà said...

Bellas imágenes de la vida natural; un placer descubrir tu blog con sus esplendidos paisajes. Te felicito!! Un cordial saludo desde Barcelona!!

A Cuban In London said...

Like you I also find beauty in sunshine after rain. It's almost as if the world's been cleansed and is ready to don evening clothes! :-) Lovely photos.

Greetings from London.

Daryl said...

soothing ... i loved looking and reading ...

Sharon Wagner said...

I'm sure your natural surroundings will be a joy for us all. I'll look forward to all the new photos!

Hena Tayeb said...

congrats on the new place.. and good luck on selling the old one..
look at all the gorgeous nature that surrounds you.

Rita said...

Cottonwoods!! You are so funny!
LOVE all your pics. The huron probably figured it was safer to be away from flying hooks--LOL!
Won't be long and you will be at the new place full time! How exciting! :)

Unknown said...

Hilary: I'm excited for you and Frank. What a magnificent adventure! I was awed by your capture of the female red winged blackbird! What a camera! What a photographer!! :)

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

NOW I understand the title! (I kept thinking, "No way!")
Those shots of the flowers are fabulous. I can hardly wait to see your pictures from the new place!

Dave said...

Snow in the middle of summer? You must live in an odd place Hilary? :-) - Dave

Betty Manousos said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Betty Manousos said...

i LOVE each and every single one of these! terrific macro's and that photo of the dragonfly is one of my favourites.

so much beuty here, my wonderful friend, what a great showing!!

big hugs to you!

Anvilcloud said...

Try getting a card reader. Remove the card from the camera, and plug it into the reader. I never upload from my camera.