A Walk in the Land Trust…

Last weekend we had such glorious weather that instead of working in the yard or on the boat Mr O and I decided to go for a hike…

The Land Trust is a place we haven’t hiked before…it begins at a historical cemetery…

…There was a carpet of lily of the valley…

…and many wildflowers…

At the back of the graveyard there was a surprise hidden in the stonewall…

I was so tempted to keep it…but left it for others to discover…

 

…knowing it would put a smile on someone’s face.

The entire length of the  trail was lined with wild mountain laurel on both sides…I’m hoping to return in one to two weeks when these tight buds will be in bloom…

If you walked off the path you would have to be careful…

…because there were so many lady slippers it would be difficult not to step on one…

At one point the trail opens up and overlooks Block Island Sound…It’s hard to believe how close Block Island looked…you could even see the white cliffs.  Mr O says things appear closer under certain environmental conditions…

I decided I needed a moss identification manual during the hike too…

Our hike took us a lot longer than we had originally intended…I was tired by the time we found our way back…and then we had to make a decision between ice cream shop or oyster bar…

Except for a little bit of cropping these photos are SOOC…straight out of the camera…I’m getting used to the manual settings…

Stop Action at the Beach…

One reason I decided to upgrade my camera was to make it easier to take better action pictures of my grandchildren…

 

They tire quickly of posing quietly…

and rightfully so…

so action shots are the way to go…

But every time I try to get my perfect shot…

 

I realize how complicated photography really can be…

Here I had my camera on continuous shooting…

but kept my focus on AF….

too many slightly out of focus photos for my taste…

Hopefully I will have many times to keep practicing…

Porch Weather…

Most of the year it is too cold, or too hot, or too wet, or too buggy…but some days are just perfect porch days…

Today was a porch day…

May Day…

Needing a break from mowing the lawn and working in the yard, I took some time to play with Photoshop…I’ve been trying to teach myself how to curve those letters….as well as how to add a couple of layers…So instead of the traditional basket of flowers I have this one blossom to give to all…

What’s Blooming in Arcadia…

The Saints of April

by Todd Davis

Coltsfoot gives way to dandelion,
plum to apple blossom. Cherry fills
our woods, white petals melting
like the last late snow. Dogwood's
stigmata shine with the blood
of this season. How holy
forsythia and redbud are
as they consume their own
flowers, green leaves running
down their crowns. Here is
the shapeliness of bodies
newly formed, the rich cloth
that covers frail bones and hides
roots that hold fervently
to this dark earth.
      --For Jack Ridl

"The Saints of April" by Todd Davis, from The Least of These.© Michigan State University Press, 2010.

Blossom time doesn’t last long enough…If it gets too hot,  too rainy,  too windy,  the blooms fly away…But for this one week of the year…I luxuriate in crabapple blossoms…

…and cherry blossoms…

…and dogwood blossoms.

I do wish they lasted all summer…

My blogger friend Susan at Bear Swamp Reflections shared an Andrews Sisters apple blossom song…here is another.

…and if that isn’t enough…while I was browsing throughYouTube I discovered the Puppini Sisters…Love them!

Easter 2010…

It seems that every year our holiday traditions have to change…This year I was fortunate to have both my daughters and their families as well as a niece and nephew here on an unseasonably warm Easter day. 

…There are some old eggs and some new eggs decorating the tree…and lots of help hiding eggs…

 

 

 

 

There were only two children hunting for eggs…but they were VERY competitive…especially Mr J…If I had known how competitive he would be I believe I would have assigned them each different colors…

Not Just Rain Happening…

Suddenly it has been three weeks since the Rainstorm and it looks like I have been washed away…Not so!…I have still been taking photos…just not as many as I have in the past…I’m not sure why I haven’t  been as motivated…the weather has been stunning, I have a wonderful new camera, my computer is working faster than it has in a long time..I just haven’t had that creative urge …I do want to share some spring photos here though…

One morning was spent dying hard boiled eggs…Mr J and Miss E look so serious in these pictures!

I had forgotten how fast two children can dye a dozen eggs…and what serious business it can be…

Flooding…

 

Not only were all records of rainfall in RI shattered during the month of March, but my computer decided to breakdown too…

 

…so as the water rose in the basement and we tried to pump it out as fast as it came in…I could take photos but I couldn’t share them.

 

We were actually lucky… our furnace worked after the water receded, the road to town was reopened in two days, and we only lost power sporadically.   As for my computer….I finally got it back and I’ve been busy putting all the programs back in…