Time Passages

I have been busy this week taking photos of everything in bloom and boy
what a show! I've taken 200 or so just of Dogwood blooms. They are so
beautiful this time of year and we are blessed to have so many on our
farm. We even have a pink dogwood but it has yet to bloom. It always shows
a little later than the naturalized variety.

These precious little visitors made their grand appearance at the end of February. I considered myself pretty lucky to get a shot of these Canadian Geese as they were meandering on our pond. I was able to get within 50 yards without frightening them. Please, double click on the image to see the full size version.

These little beauties are about to bloom, in fact they typically appear around Easter and this year of course it will be a little later. In fact, I was a little surprised to see these blooms so early. I must attribute the early blooms to the wonderful weather we had last week, a couple of days in the 80's but this week we have had really cool days. This morning there was even frost on the ground. I am hoping that this cool stint will not deter my little blooms. Azaleas are beautiful for about 2 weeks and reblooming cultivars (Encore Series) will appear again in the fall. Just thought I'd share. I don't usually fertilize my azaleas but some people do. I just don't think it is necessary.


Anyway, this week I plan to plant a Saucer Magnolia 'Rustica Rubra' in my front yard. I am trying to replace a 30+ year old apple tree that has succumbed to rot. I am not sure what selection it was, perhaps a Granny Smith. Growing up I can clearly remember picking the apples off so my grandmother could stew them. The fruit was small and we always picked them while they were green, because their flavor was so tart. Now, I seem to be rambling so I guess I better get to work.

These mums were given to my grandmother following her surgery (by the way she is up and about and doing great) and of course I jumped at the opportunity to take a few images. I shot about 100 various images of closeups, macros with and without flash. Here are a few of my favorites of the lot. I did have to edit the images slightly but I restricted it to cropping adding saturation and warming the colors.


















I have also been busy antiquing a small unfinished bookcase I purchased from a local store. It turned out quite well, as I used a black semi-gloss paint and then sanded it to reveal the wood underneath. I have images but will have to post later. I also, have stumbled on a family treasure, a 150 year old treen. It is absolutely beautiful and has survived many generations and a fire.