March 29, 2009

One of the first dandelions of the season
Just in case you were disappointed by the coltsfoot last week ;-)

Frog eggs in the pond

The forsythia by the pond is coming on but...

...is nothing like the neighbor's! Looking up the row...

...and down the row from the far end. They have quite the hedgerow.

It was such a grey, overcast, misty, blustery day that I did not expect much of a turn out on the pictures I took. The daffodils in this shot were bobbing in the breeze and the lighting seemed very poor, but, well let's just say this one brightened my day! This one is worth looking at the larger size even if I say so myself!

All photos were taken today for those who are keeping track of such things ;-P

March 22, 2009

I have got to find a better way of choosing the six for this. I feel like I spent more time choosing what not to post than I did taking the pictures to begin with!

Anyway, here are the survivors. Three taken Wednesday then three taken today.

Sunflower seeds and cracked corn in the bird feeder.

Forsythia: Promise of Spring

I like the contrasts in this one.

My favorite person
(Oh, yeah, I knew this would make it here as soon as I saw it!)

I like the contrast between the bright new flowers and the faded old leaves.

And now a nice little sunset for Nan!

March 15, 2009

The post that almost didn't happen...

About 5 o'clock this afternoon I went to see what I had so far for photos this week. NOTHING! Not one! I was surprised because I thought I had taken a few early on, Monday or Tuesday. Nada, zip, zilch. I wasn't much in the mood to try and be creative or whatever it is one is supposed to be with a camera. Too much rain all week and still really dreary. But I also did not want to skip a week either. So, feeling totally uninspired, I took the camera for a walk just hoping to get six shots that weren't completely horrible. After all nobody says I have to post anything. ~lol~

Well, again I found the process good therapy. Even got some pics I really like! Here are the six I narrowed down to from the 23 I shot before the rain chased me back inside after only 30 minutes. I'd love to do a little cropping etc. on some of them but here they are in their natural state aside from resizing to 800x600 and the copyright notice.

OK, enough with me nattering on, here come the pics!

Bubbles!

I wonder who left their feather here?

A daffodil in our garden.

Roof moss

Razor wire at an undisclosed location. ~grin~

Goldfish in the pond.

March 8, 2009

Here are three from Thursday and another three from Saturday.

I thought I had enough pictures of this barn but this one just had to be taken. Like it Nan?

I saw this fly on what was left of the eight inches of snow we had. I'm looking forward to spring but would just as soon the flies went somewhere else!

A long shot.
I'm kind of proud of this one. It was taken hand-held in the middle of a field and somehow turned out reasonably sharp.

Well, I had to try again and see what would happen with two objects 240,000 miles apart. Some days I guess I just get lucky!

These clouds remind me of the underside of some sort of arachnid. Maybe a scorpion. I think most of us would prefer arachnids far away like this.

The moon isn't really that far away you know. It got caught for a while in the tree in my backyard. Here's the picture to prove it!

March 1, 2009

Thursday - At home.

Thursday - In the village.

Friday - At home before the rain.

What can I say about cloudscapes? I guess you either like them or you don't. They tend to make my finger press the shutter release! ;-)

The last three were taken Friday afternoon when we had some unseasonably warm weather, as opposed to the 6 inches of snow we had when I last looked out this evening!

Murdock on his rock.

Abandoned (?) woodpile.

Amy taking advantage of the warm weather to do some outdoors reading.

February 22, 2009

Tuesday - Cliffhanging gazebo. Part of the semi-defunct attraction The Land of Oz atop Beech Mountain, NC.

Tuesday - Mare's tails at home.

Tuesday - Mare's tails over Beech Mountain.

Friday - Shopping carts at the Dollar General store in Roan Mountain.

Friday - Sunshine on bottom of Buckeye Lake, Beech Mountain.

Friday - Patch of sunshine on stream at Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary.

February 15, 2009

I have been pretty much uninspired all week and had resigned myself to giving this week's Sunday Six a pass but the sun broke out for a bit this afternoon and Amy and Vanessa went out to see what they could shoot and I did too. So, here are six from today after all.

First shot was of these little shelf fungi on an old chunk of wood.

Then a tiny holly tree

It took a couple of tries but I liked the "dimple" from the dripping faucet. Vanessa noticed the two hearts when I showed her the shot.

After walking around near home we drove over to Roan Mountain State Park as we wanted to get a few shot of the waterwheel and whatever else caught our eyes.

Looking upstream on the Doe River from the waterwheel

Doe River ripples

Close up of part of the waterwheel gear works

So after a week of non-inspiration, the Sunday Six made me go looking for it. Thanks Helen!

February 8, 2009

Monday - More snow.

By Saturday the snow was mostly gone and the high reached about 70 (F)! We visited a neighbor and went out to see her newborn kid goats. This is part of her barnyard with her buck in the foreground and the sunshine all over. :yes, yes, yes:


Later I stopped by a church near our house and was captivated by the late afternoon lighting in the sanctuary.

I love the mural on the back wall of the baptistry but that single glowing pew was amazing.

Closer shot of the glowing pew.

Mural closeup #1

Mural closeup #2

February 1, 2009

Why my post is late...

The weather has not been so nice last week and as Sunday was predicted to be the warmest and nicest of this week the family decided to go for a drive--birding, photo ops, just get out of the house for a while. Destination: Carver's Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

The weather was nice, a bit on the cool side and a bit breezy, but then what could I expect over a mile up? The elevation here at Carver's Gap is 5512 ft. The Appalachian Trail heads north through the fence here and climbs 314 feet (and about a mile along the trail) to Round Bald. The trail used to go straight up the bald but due to serious erosion problems has been redone and winds across the bald and through the spruce forest to the left.

About a half mile up the trail. Exiting the spruce forest.

Putting the "blue" in the Blue Ridge.

Round Bald

For some unknown but much speculated reason some of the summits in the area are treeless or nearly so.

A great surprise for my secret half-birthday celebration--my "holler." I had no idea that I would be able to see the valley I live in from Round Bald. I just wanted to make the climb when I got the chance. You can't see my house from here because of trees but it is near the upper-left corner of the large meadow just above center. It is about 11 miles by road and another mile by trail from home to this view and still quite some distance as the crow flies but 12x made it look like a short stroll!

Looking east into North Carolina from Round Bald.

Oh, right, why my post is late? I fell asleep at the computer while trying to decide on a "new" or "recap" Sunday six! All those half-birthday's and a mountain hike caught up with me!