Summer Synopsis

I'm going to start with an early summer walk at the JC Raulston Arboretum at NCSU.



I always photograph the lath houses when I walk around this arboretum in Raleigh, NC.



Out in the rest of the garden this whimsical tree caught my fancy.



I don't think it's alive but makes an interesting feature including being painted in spots although that doesn't show up well.



Above is a rufous sided towhee on my deck.



We've had so much rain this summer that by and large everything has stayed very green.



Appropriately the two shots above were taken on a greenway walk. 



I think there almost needs to be a Canada geese crossing guard.



Peter Cottontail was frozen with fear so I took the snaps fast so he could be on his way.



I had surprisingly good weather at Topsail Beach, NC in late July.



There was a chance when we went to the beach to join some friends that it would be stormy the whole time.



Fortunately the storms were scattered and didn't interfere with much.



We had a stormy lunch and a stormy evening but the weathered cleared each day for walks on the beach.



I prefer fluffy clouds against a blue sky over all blue.



I definitely had some beautiful skies to shoot.



The only time I prefer a solid blue sky is when it's been raining for many days in a row without a break.



In spite of having a wet summer we have had enough breaks in the rain most weeks that I'm mostly glad for the rain to keep things wet.



The humidity has been pretty intense some days but usually improves after a shower.



I had trouble picking shots from the beach.



The shot below was taken when it was muggy and I had trouble keeping my lens clear.



I took a bunch of shots that looked like there was dense fog.



Most of them were unusable.



I guess I'll stop here.

Sunday Walks in April, 2016

The first set of shots were taken a week ago on a Sunday walk at the WRAL Azalea Garden in Raleigh, NC.



After a hard freeze several nights prior to that walk, most of my azaleas which bloomed early this year lost most of their blossoms.



The good thing about this garden is they have so many different azalea varieties that plenty of them were blooming.



Some of the larger azaleas at the garden had lost their blossoms like mine but there was still plenty to see.



The garden also has a lot of rhododendrons and other plants in bloom.



I like to see birds taking advantage of feeders in gardens.



The rhododendron below reminds me of one I had that lasted 15 years after I planted it but I lost it in 2008 when we had a prolonged drought.



We've had so many rainy years lately it's hard to believe how long that drought lasted.



I really have lucked out though with beautiful Sundays two weeks in a row.



The rest of the shots are from my walk today at Shelley Lake (also in Raleigh, NC).



Saturday was was stormy but today was beautiful.



That's happened a lot lately (raining on Saturday and sunny on Sunday).



I love buttercups. They remind me of my childhood and making necklaces and headbands with them.

SkyWatch Friday: Half way through April

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SkyWatch Friday: Moving towards mid April

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SkyWatch Friday: April Fool's Day

I headed out on a walk during lunch in honor of the first day of April.



The temptation to go walk about and never return was very strong.



It was an absolutely perfect day.



Not too hot and not too cold.



I needed a light jacket to begin with but was pealing down by the end of my walk.



I am lucky to have a park and garden close to where I work.



I used to park in the parking lot that was right at the garden but my company gave everyone parking passes and we have to park in the lots closest to the building we work in now.



Since there are four main buildings that house the various departments in the company I work for, it makes sense to divvy up the parking. Now I have to remember to cross the street and check out the garden periodically to see what's blooming. 



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SkyWatch Friday: Spring is in the air

I looked through shots I'd taken since last week's sky watch after work and was surprised that the only day I had taken any photographs at all was on an overcast Sunday walk.



Thanks to daylight savings time, I had enough daylight left to takes some shots before preparing this post.



I had intended to go outside and take one shot specifically for this post.



I ended up taking 75 photographs in my yard and in the street capturing some of my neighbor's trees.



All of the trees in this post are mine except for the second one of my next door neighbor's Japanese Magnolia. The last two shots are of my redbud trees which I love this time of the year.  Click for the home of sky watch Friday.