Reblogs

Reblog: A Week of Flowers | Day Two

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Cathy of Words and Herbs is inviting everyone to join in with her annual “Week of Flowers” to spread colour and cheer just when we need it most as …

A Week of Flowers | Day Two

Hey Jude has posted this beautiful poppy photo as part of the “Week of Flowers” project. Please click the link above to join in and to “spread colour and cheer just when we need it most.”

nature, Photography

November Highlights

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It was a rather rainy month but we definitely had some beautiful colours to admire, if only for a short time. Here’s a selection.

A fiery red maple and some blue sky, so it wasn’t raining all the time!
A sweet little duck looking for lunch among the leaves.
Leaves were everywhere.
I loved watching this swan family.
Lots and lots more leaves.
The hydrangeas lasted very well.
A lace leaf maple at the height of its autumn glory.
A little late afternoon sun. As the month wore on, the overcast took over and decided to settle in.
It rained a lot …
… and snowed a lot, but all that white stuff stayed in the mountains!

The beauties of autumn are mostly gone now but we’re entering a time of year for seasonal celebrations and lots of light displays. Not as good as nature’s shows but definitely also a lovely time of year.

Season’s Greetings.

nature, Photography

Weather Buffet

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We had a little sun followed by a little cloud followed by a little rain (which in the mountains was snow), so the weather has been very mixed.

A little sun seeps through to shine on one of the lake shores …
… but it quickly recedes …
… and we’re enshrouded again.

It has been very overcast and rainy but I’m very happy to report that we’re still snow-free here in the valley bottom.

Happy December!

nature, Photography

A Weather Break

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We had some sun! The wind was rather chilly but after all these grey, rainy days, it was nice to enjoy a bit of brightness.

Silvergrass – so pretty in the late autumn and winter.
There are still a few leaves around. Do you see the decorative bauble?

As we moved into the afternoon the sun started to disappear behind some cloud, but my, it was a terrific little break!

Happy Saturday.

nature, Photography

Antarctic Penguins

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National Geographic has released its pictures of the year, including this amazing shot of penguins getting ready to follow one of their number into the ocean from an incredibly high ice sheet.

Photo courtesy of Bertie Gregory for National Geographic. Gregory photographed a young emperor penguin leaping off a 15 metre (50 ft) cliff in Atka Bay, Antarctica.

You can see all of National Geographic’s pictures at this link:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/graphics/pictures-of-the-year-2024

Happy Thursday.

nature, Photography

Is It Winter?

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Here in the valley we have had buckets and buckets of rain which in the mountains is coming down as snow, and as low as 800 metres above ground (2625 ft), to be exact.

On the nearby mountain tops it’s snowing …
… but here in the valley it’s an almost non-stop light rain.

Our neighbourhood ski resort, Apex *(https://apexresort.com/), is opening soon but there are other undeniable signs, too.

There’s a proliferation of barberries and I’ve noticed that the ducks, geese and coots are all starting their winter huddles. Today during my walk, I could see my breath a bit too, despite the fact that it was 5° (41F).

But probably the best indicator is the snow on the mountains. That’s a pretty definite sign!

So I’m thinking that winter is surely here, and no matter how we parse it, we’ve got a good two months before there will be an inkling of a change. Happy winter Wednesday. ❄️

* For information only. This is not an advertisement nor have I been paid to mention Apex ski resort.

Sometimes, life is like that.