Season’s Greetings!
December 20’s Friday Fleurday
Tag Archives: nature
Winter Sunset, Part 2
Two weeks ago we experienced a phenomenal winter sunset; I posted some of the pictures of it here, but there are several additional others that I quite like.
The rosy winter colours were particularly beautiful …
… and I loved the reflection on the lake’s surface.
The lake was so calm that it was an almost perfect mirror.
I stood watching this lovely show until it was over …
… so happy that I hadn’t missed it.
I hope you have a very happy – and very rosy – Thursday.
Reblog: A Reader’s Lake
This was taken with the exposure biased 1-2/3 stops darker to keep the little human figure from being washed-out. Mid-tones were then tweaked …
A Reader’s Lake
This beautiful picture is from Jon at Helluva Times. Please click the link above to see more of Jon’s gorgeous photography, especially of plants and flowers.
Are They Monochromatic?
We recently had a very wet snowfall that lasted only a couple of hours before melting. During this snowfall, though, the overcast that settled into the valley was extremely thick and low to the ground.
We were seemingly enveloped in grey. But then again, I have a question for you: has the above photo (and those that follow) been photoshopped to appear monochromatic or is it a “colour” picture of a monochromatic environment?
So, what do you think? Have I been playing with Photoshop to produce these monochromatic photos or was Penticton’s environment just rather grey?
The answer will be revealed in the comments.
Happy Wednesday.
Cascade Mountains
We are back home now after a lovely mini-break holiday in Victoria. On the way home we drove through the Cascade Mountains which encompass an incredibly large area from Kamloops in British Columbia all the way down the Pacific coast to northern California.
In Canada, there are a number of subranges of the Cascades, including those on the west side of our home in the Okanagan Valley, the Okanagan Range.
Although some snow had fallen, the trees and shrubs were covered in a layer of frost caused by the cloud and mist which treated us to some very beautiful seasonal scenes.
We arrived home to 5C (41F) and were happy to be back after our little break.
Reblog: Images from the Coho Ferry
Mt Baker from the Coho Ferry These are a couple images that I took from a trip across to Victoria from Port Angeles on the Coho ferry. The top one is…
Images from the Coho Ferry
A beautiful picture of Mount Baker from Allan J Jones. Please click the link above to see more of Allan’s beautiful photography.
Richmond
On our way back home from Victoria, we stopped in Richmond which is just south of Vancouver. M grew up there and we took a little tour around to his old teenage haunts.
The seafront has an eclectic mix of fishing vessels, sail boats, restaurants, coffee shops and townhomes.
After the wind storm that walloped Victoria and Vancouver had died off, the weather was gorgeous with a flat ocean calm and clear, sunny skies.
The weather was so good, in fact, that I spotted someone paddling an ocean kayak (the small red vessel toward the mid-right of the photo).
Sunny December days are a gift and we certainly enjoyed this one, especially after the weekend’s storm.
Happy Monday.
Windy Victoria
We awoke to a very windy day. The ocean was extremely churned up and lots of surf was being flung about.
With the gale gusting to about 80 km (50 mi) we definitely needed raincoats against the wind-whipped spray.
Although it was windy the temperature was about 9C (48F) and it wasn’t raining, so in a good windbreaker/raincoat, I was comfortable.
I found a group of periwinkle flowers growing in a rock garden next to the ocean, but despite being soaked by seawater they seemed completely unperturbed.
I very much enjoyed watching the surf and listening to its pounding roar – the heart of all life on earth.
Happy Sunday.
Emerald City
During the winter in particular, the city of Victoria experiences near rain forest conditions. As you can imagine, that means lots of green.
Because of all the moisture, the moss is particularly well developed.
It ranges from these little yellow bits …
… to these long, luxurious strands …
… and can even envelop whole tree limbs to such an extent that other plants decide to grow in the moss. The thick layer of moss on this tree branch is now providing a home to a fern family.
So not only is the grass still green and many of the plants and shrubs are still vibrant, there is the added and ubiquitous presence of moss and its lovely hue, a distinct counterpoint to the overcast and rain of the season.
Happy weekend.
December 13’s Friday Fleurday
Because we’re in Victoria’s very temperate climate right now, we’re seeing lots of late-flowering plants and shrubs that are absolute December delights.
Happy Friday.
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 