Too Much Water...

Just in time for Theme Thursday I started filling the sink to wash dishes, then went online and forgot about the running water...

...reading blogs does get you in trouble!

Jump!...

Even if I don't actually enter them, I am still trying to do weekly photography assignments as proposed by online Digital Photography School ...It is inspiring to have a new topic to work on weekly and fun to see the many, many different submissions...from great to so-so. Sometimes the assignments are technical but this week the assignment is "Jump"....So over the weekend my daughter and her family obliged by taking a few jumps for me...

...Even Mr. O. jumped in!..

For half of the shots I had my camera on the wrong setting...and the bright overhead sun made it challenging for me to get the correct exposure... but I did learn more while doing this and everyone had fun...and that is the whole idea!

Posing with the Daffodils...

I have managed to take pictures of my grandchildren sitting amongst the daffodils in my yard every spring ...They really do not like to pose and I don't blame them...so looking at these pictures I realize how kind they were being by putting up with Gigi and her camera...Most of the shots I took by putting my camera on continuous shoot and just holding down the button... See how they have changed over the years....

Mr. J.

2006...

2007...


2008...
2009...

........


Miss E.

2008...

2009...

Under the Rainbow...

The front that brought New England warm summery weather this weekend, also brought a rainbow to the town I was visiting last Thursday...

...In some places rainbows are rather commonplace, but not here and I still get excited when I see one...

...I didn't really notice all the wires at the time...I only noticed the abrupt difference in the sky on each side of the rainbow...

...and then the dazzling sun...

Fire...

Where there is smoke...and Theme Thursday...

...there is fire...I thought fire was quite fun to photograph...

...these shots were taken when I first got my new camera...

...they remind me that we could use another brush fire to clear up the yard...

Natural Light Portraits...

Although I'm not taking a photography class right now I am trying to do an online assignment each week...just to make myself take pictures I generally wouldn't take...This week's assignment is on natural lighting and I have my usual models...Here I like how the light is coming through the window while he waits for his piece of birthday cake...

...and I like how the sun is shining on her face...

...He isn't always serious!

Spring Yellow...

Spring has its own special shade of yellow... the balloon was a happy surprise...

Refinishing Floors...

How did spring cleaning get so carried away?...

A New Filter...

After thinking about it for at least I year, I finally ordered a Lensmate adapter and a polarizing filter for my G9 camera...



...I take a lot of pictures by the water...at the beach, the pond, and when sailing...and I've finally taken enough pictures to realize that it can be difficult to get a good exposure on a bright, glary day...


...These are the first pictures I've taken with the filter...

...It's always fun to try something new...

...I think the colors are better in these pictures...

...I'm not sure if I like having my little camera made so much bigger with the adapter though!...

Getting Warmer...

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month." - Henry Van Dyke

Compost, Soil, Earth...

In honor of the theme "Earth", I went out to check on our compost pile...

...We have composted our organic waste for years according to the three-bin / two-turn method I drew from Thalassa Cruso's book "Making Vegetables Grow" published in 1975...

...She was quite a character and I remember seeing her appear on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson...

.......Mr. O. built the three bins out of fencing and it still exists although covered in vines......The new organic waste goes in the first bin...which is later turned into the second bin... then the third...then it is finished compost...

...The finished compost is ready for spreading in the garden...it is rich and brown...

...and full of earthworms...

Chionodoxa...

I had never heard of them when I was taken by surprise one early spring day more than 30 years ago by a yard which was carpeted in blue...The first three pictures are of that yard...

...when I see them for the first time each spring they take my breath away...

...Photos don't do the deep blue or the sheer number of them justice...

...They blossom just about the same time as crocus yet they don't seem as popular or well known as crocus and I don't know why...Eventually I planted some in my own yard ... the following pictures are of those I planted ...

...The plant is named for the Greek word for snow,chion...and glory,doxa...it is commonly known as Glory-in-the-Snow...

...Not only do they spread easily but they are so hardy they keep coming up through stones on the walkway and by the gravel driveway...

...The only plants I seem to be able to grow are like this...hardy, tenacious, unstoppable!