The rest of my early moring walk.

I will pick up at the pond from my last post, (cue the sound of geese).

I can see home in the distance so turning my back on the pond, I head for it. In a few weeks you will barely be able to see it from the main road (that is fine with us).
This picture is a close up of our big elm. It gets these lacy little buds before the leaves come in. How pretty is that? I think spring is saying, hang on, I'm coming.
There are what sounds like a couple hundred other birds flirting in the trees as I walk past. I could not even begin to guess how many kinds. They are apparently all camera shy this morning and will not let me get close enough to photograph. It reminds me of the mountain ladies from Morocco, I have several photos of their backs as they whirled away to keep me from taking their picture. These silly birds won't even let me take pictures of their backs.

Excuse me for just a minute, I need to put a lady bug outside.

O.K. where was I, oh yeah, by lunch time, the sky on one side was as blue as could be, on the other side, it looked like trouble coming. My Sweet Hubby and I decided to head out for our walk a little early. This picture was taken shortly after we left the house. I love the details in the clouds, see how they look like they are mirroring the shape of the frame?

More clouds, so many shades of blue. This looks like a meadow, it is a field of baby pine trees. This particular batch is a couple of years old and a few are nearly three feet high. I love watching the cycle of all of this, not just in seasons, but in years and hopefully, decades.

The clouds started to look a bit more threatening so at this point, I put away my camera and we headed back to the house.

Excuse me, I need to go put another lady bug outside.

Nope, that is not snow. My camera actually managed to catch the raindrops. They were coming down so hard! My Sweet Hubby and I timed it just right, we felt a drop or two as we got to the yard, but that was it. We have had so much rain lately, our yard is saturated.

OK, here is another one, I wonder what these guys got into that causes the white specks? Oh well, out he goes.

It is hard to justify complaining about the rain when it results in things like this. The tiny flowers in the center are on the biggest of my rosemary plants. This is the first time it has bloomed!

Camellias from the side porch, after the storm.

Remember the old rhyme:

March winds and Aprils Showers,

Bring forth Mays Flowers.

We are a little ahead of the game here. The best part is that even with all these signs of spring, it is still cool enough for a nice long snuggle in the morning.

What? Another Lady Bug?

Oh my, out he goes.

Cheers,

Kat

It's all about the lighting, (Lots of sunshine) and an award for me

One of the secrets of good photography is lighting. It really is all about the lighting. Just look at the pink from the sunset on the side of the house. Beauty! I got this one on the way back from our walk the other evening.
This lovely old tree stands at the end of our driveway. The lighting almost makes it look spooky. It really isn't spooky at all. We call it "The Guardian".
The barn looks one way in the evening light, you can feel it is the end of a long old day. I don't think it looks tired, just relaxed. It looks different in the early morning, like it is just waking up. I feel like having a big stretch when I look at this one. I love the way the sunlight sparkles from the dew on the magnolia leaves.
The view from our front porch, with the railings back where they belong. Isn't it a lovely sunset?
Here is the same sunset from the road a few minutes earlier. How about this one for awesome? Love it!
Bright sunshine filtering through the trees in the early evening, this was taken earlier on the same evening walk.
You know I love classic cars! This is SUNSHINE! (I wonder what people think when they see the crazy lady pull over to take pictures of their cars).

What says sunshine more than a tree full of birds?

Now for the award.

Thanks to Jeanne Klaver from Daily Reflections from Atwater Pond who was kind enough to offer me this award. Apparently she enjoys looking at it (that makes me happy).
The instructions are as follows;

1. Thank the person giving the award.

2. Copy the award to this blog.

3. Place a link to their blog (so far so good, all easy stuff).

4. Name seven things people don't know about you (that is a little harder).
5. Nominate seven bloggers who you admire (this is the hardest part, I love reading your blogs).

6. Place a link to these bloggers.

7. Leave a comment on their blog notifying them of the award.

So, here goes

1. Earl Grey, hot with milk is my favorite tea but any British tea will do just fine. I am enjoying a cup of "P.G. Tips" right now.

2. My favorite incense is Egyptian Rose, I also like sandalwood and several others. Incense is much nicer than nasty chemicals from an aerosol can.

3. I do not like butterscotch and am not fond of black licorice.

4. I like to do calligraphy and illuminated letters.
5. I am just a little nuts about heraldry, (the whole "Knights in Shinning Armor" thing).
6. I have lived in Utah, Illinois, Idaho, Great Britain, New Mexico, and South Carolina (as well as two long months in Texas and a total of about three months in Italy).
7. I grew up in a big happy family. I was the youngest so my older brothers and sisters had quite a bit to do with raising me (they will tell you, I have always been spoiled, but that is OK, I deserve it).

As for the seven bloggers I admire,

1. Life Through Reflections...

2. Richard Jesse Watson: My Inner Zoo

3. We Three, Ginger cats tales

4. Drawing a line in time
5. Cottage Garden Studios

6. WaystationOne

7. Corner of Cat's Mind
I know I have nominated number three before, but it is such a great blog! There are several others that I read and enjoy regularly. What is your favorite?

Ok, one more picture of sunshine. Spontaneous says hello (she is even cute when she is grumpy).

Kat

Summer goodies

Summer time! My school schedule is pretty hectic right now, but my sweet Hubby makes sure I take time to enjoy life too. I had a birthday this month, (I won't tell you how many this is). This is part of my birthday pie.
Birthday pie? Yup! Pumpkin pie is my favorite desert. My sweet Hubby makes the best pie, so every year for my birthday, he makes me a pie. He usually makes an individual one as well as the regular size. It was good!

This elk is from our last visit to the Smokey Mountains. Isn't he magnificent. I wish there was some way I could show you the size of this guy, he is huge. He was wary, and kept an eye out, but he knew he was bigger than me.

A summer visitor on the back steps. I can't believe how close he let me get. He is a salamander. They are supposed to be lucky. I like them because they eat bugs.

Charleston beauty! One of my favorite summer goodies is a trip to Charleston. This window box is just one of many lovely examples.

This little mini garden is around the base of a fountain in front of Charleston Place Hotel. No we don't stay there, but we do pop in for the shops on the ground level. They have a Godiva Chocolate shop among others.

Charleston has impressive old and new ironwork. There are a few artists still producing and repairing it. Lovely.

From a peak into a garden.

A new shop we found. "V. Smith Gallery" This is the owner, Vicki Smith, showing off crystal to my Sweet Heart. She has quite a selection of crystal at very reasonable prices, as well as original paintings and jewelry.

She is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about everything she sells.

Charleston is one of those cities where you really have to look up. The sky line is full of great architectural details. The next three photos are just a few examples. Do be careful though, I frequently stub my toes. The side walk is not always even.

See what I mean?

The weather cooperated perfectly. This rain storm cut loose less than five minutes after we got back in the car.

What sort of goodies are you enjoying this summer?

Kat