A little color in the back yard

Saw this beautiful cardinal out by the bird feeder the last few days. Sorry, the photos are alittle blurry, but had to take them through the glass door--Any movement --they would fly away!

Quilts at the State Fair meeting

Saturday I went to our State Fair Assoc. spring meeting. All the fairs( approx 50 )send representatives to hear speakers & have workshops--one was about communicating in the 21st century using blogger, myspace, facebook & Utube! All of the individual fair send their quilt winners ( applique & patchwork) to this event to compete to win the state title. The etries from my fair took 1st in the patchwork & 2nd in the applique--here's a look at a few of them.... Not sure if this one won anything, but I liked it!

This was the applique winner by Donna Thomas--more photos can be seen at

http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/goshenaggie/Quilts%20at%20the%20State%20Fair%20Meeting/

Finally, a little open water!

Stopped this morning at Tyler Lake to see how much ice was still there--too much! A month ago I did a blog posting with photos of the same lake during a snow storm!

Patches of water can be seen and it's going to be 60 today!

Tulips & a shovel

Noticed these tulips drooping over a shovel near my back door--thought they made an interesting shot....Enjoy!

Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine

This is a beautiful spot on the coast of so. Maine. It starts( or ends) in Perkins Cove and goes
1 1/4 miles to Ogunquit Beach. There are benches along the way & the path is paved. I have been on it in 3 seasons of the year ( only missed it in winter)

In Perkins Cove there are lots of little boutique type shops and a few restaurants. At the other end it's a short walk to motels, restaurants and Ogunquit Beach.

A little side note : Last night we went out to eat with some friends that just recently got engaged. They were in Ogunquit last summer ( stayed at a hotel at the Ogunquit end of the Marginal Way--) & went in a jewelry store--she saw a ring that she loved; unbeknowst to her; he went back & bought the ring & surprised her with it last weekend!

Blooming snowdrops!

Those tiny stems that I posted photos of a few days ago are already blooming! We had 60 degree weather yesterday, but it snowed this morning! Luckily, nothing accumulated!

Roses

Now that there's a little hint of spring in the air I have started thinking about flowers. I love roses! I have several bushes in my yard, but also love to go to Elizabeth Park
http://www.elizabethpark.org/ in Hartford, CT. It has the oldest rose garden in the US. The planting grew from 100 bushes to the two and a half acre garden of some 15,000 bushes that is the center piece of Elizabeth Park and is known throughout the world. I can't wait for rose season to be able to go & take photos of all the different colors of flowers. They also have a perrenial garden. I will be looking for more of my pictures of these gorgeous diplays!

This is one of my favorite shots! I love the variety of shades of pinks & beiges & peaches!

A few more butterflies to share

I just wrote in the comment section, but I can't figure out how to do the slideshow and have text also. Everytime I try writing something, the slideshow doen't work! I will keep trying to figure out. The camera shown is actually the camera I have!

Cape Cod slide show

Finally.....a little sign of spring!

I was so excited when I went outside yesterday & saw the tiny shoots of a few plants finally poking up out of the ground! Of course I went inside & got my camera..... Enhanced photo

Then the original--these are my snow drops. Also saw the beginnings of some croci (crocuses?) and daffodils. Now I think I can start thinking about my vegetable garden!

A Quincinera

One night in January when we came out of Olivia's after a wonderful meal, we came upon this group of kids on the street. The girl was celebrating her quincinera & was nice enough to stop so I could snap her photo. Does every 15 year old girl have one? We didn't start sponsoring Gabriela until after her 15th birthday & I never thought to ask if she had one. I guess that's a topic for another email!

My favorite cats from Isla trip

There seemed to be less cats out & about this year when we were on Isla. A few of the hotels had only one cat that was always around--like they've staked out their territory. This guy was at Buho's ( Maria del Mar) everytime we went out there--was very friendly--loved to run around, climb the palm trees and let himself be petted by young and old alike! Reminds me alot of one of mine except he has a tail ( mine is a Manx)

This one lived at the place we were staying. He would greet me every morning when I went out for a walk.

Obviously this cat lived at Nautibeach. I went over there a few mornings to vosit with a friend who was staying there & he was always on the steps, around the pool or up on a chair! Noone tried to shoo him away, so he must be a fixture.

Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco

I have been fortunate that over the years I have been able to travel & see alot of the United States--I think at last count I've been to 39 states & Puerto Rico. Just added Alaska last summer! One of my favorite cities ( after Boston) is San Francisco. I've been there once a decade for the last 4 decades! Every time we go , we delight in the new things we find & the familiar places we revisit. Golden Gate Park is one of those & the Conservatory of Flowers is a favorite within the park.http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/ My husband hates big cities, but he has said " if he was told he had to move to a city of more than 500,000 he would move to San Francisco in a heartbeat!"

The conservatory opened in 1879 and most recently had major work done after severe wind damage in 2003.

There are a variety of plants from a 100 year old philodendron to aqautic plants --approx. 1700 in all--a must see if you go to San Francisco!

More Butterfly photos--in my yard

Happened to be out in the yard one day & spotted this butterfly around the rhododendron. These are a few of the pictures that came out......

Flower macros

I love going into a garden--mine or any other --and taking closeup shots of the flowers. These are from my yard, lots of early morning dew! We always have heavy dew here, so 1st thing in the morning is a great time to be looking for potential shots... If you don't have dew, a small spray bottle will help with the effect! Just spray the flower or object lightly .

I think this flower is called Lenten Rose--will have to check--I know they bloom early & for quite awhile!

That's what it's called--
The subtly spectacular Lenten rose is a herbaceous perennial garden plant that is evergreen in warmer climates and much admired for this trait. Like other members of the Helleborus genus, the Lenten rose blooms in winter, sometimes even pushing through a blanket of snow. The distinctive foliage is dark green and leathery and is one of the plant's most appealing features.

Same river, different time of year!

These photos are from April, 2007. I was up visiting my family and watched the river move across their back yard--not quite enough to flood the basement! this happens when they get lots of snow up north ( in NH ) and in the spring it melts! As you can see, the yard is totally under water! And the river is moving right along --in the yard!

The video shows my brother, Tom, up to his waist in the water ( in waders) with a rake, pushing limbs and other debris back out into the current so when the water recedes the cleanup won't be so bad. They usually end up with alot of sand. It washes away plants, bushes and sometimes a tree or 2!

Along the Merrimack River

The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an earlier spelling that is sometimes still used) is a 110-mile (177 km)-long river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire,[1] flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport. It also flows right behind my brother's house! This video was taken lat dec. 2008. You can see that the river was pretty high; there were chunks of ice floating by, too. Another day I will post a video from the same place taken in the spring when the whol yard is full of water!
It is a beautiful spot to have a house --most of the time! They kayak from here, get to see lots of wildlife and enjoy beautiful breezes when most people are sweltering!

A little snow to start off the month of March!

Ok, so they ( the weatherman) prepared us for this storm. But for our area of the state they said we'd get between 5-8 inches. We already have 1 foot! And it's still snowing! My driveway--it was plowed at 4:30 am--a few more inches have accumulated since....

Rafe loves being out in the snow--has his ever -present frisbee in his mouth! He can hope, but I was out to shovel & take pictures!

Luckily, it 's fairly light snow, but I'm taking my time to shovel. Did one section & came in; will go back out in awhile. This storm is dumping snow up & down the east coast--even in places in the south that rarely get any snow--Vee-how did you fare?

Is it Thankgiving time already?

Just happened to look out the patio door & saw a flock of turkeys under the bird feeder. They are predicting up to 8+ inches of snow for us tonight so I guess they are stocking up! Thought the feathers were interesting....

They are very skittish--very jumpy--I'm surprised they travel in a pack. Between the ones by the feeder & on the lawn, there were approx. 12. The dog finally noticed them & started barking so they ran off into the trees. A few minutes later I saw a few of them ( or new ones coming back.) When they took off into the trees I went out with my camera--there was a total of about 25-30 of them! A couple had their feathers opened in a fan, but I couldn't get close enough in the trees to get a good shot...will keep watching!

On the front lawn...