Shadow memories of summer for Shadow Shot Sunday

I love Hollyhocks. While growing up on the farm, some of my earliest memories are of hollyhocks. They grew just ouside the back door by the side of our house. In the first picture above I am standing in front of hollyhocks on our old home. The cute little boy beside me is my husband David. Although I didn't meet David until I was 21 , through the magic of photo editing I have added him to the old picture.Today we have hollyhocks growing in a flower bed beside our garage and on any sunny day in winter I can see the shadow of one of their dry stalks with seed pods reflected in shadow against our garage. Also the shadow of a Juniper tree can be seen.. This shadow is a very pleasant reminder to me of what is to come with the return of summer and the changing of the seasons.
To learn more of Shadow Shot Sunday and perhaps to make your own contribution please click on the icon on the right sidesbar of this page to go to the meme homepage. Happy Shadow watching to all. Ann

"Daily" Nature notes for Photo Hunter

For several years before I started blogging I kept a daily record of nature sightings each day. I included a list of all the yard birds seen that day anda daily species sightings check list as well as pictures taken that would hifghlight each day . Then sfter the accumulated pages got to bedifficult to keep in order I would create a cover for the time periodand have them bound with a plastic coil binding. If you click on the above photo you can see the time period I recordered was for the winter months of December 2001, January 2002 . Below is my daily page entry for February 27th,2002. We had had rain all day long and I had seen three coyotes that day, We had had 11 different species at our feeders that day including a Northern Cardinal A white and a red breasted Nuthatch, also a Redpoll ( I have seen none this winter) It is interesting to look back and to compare sightings of previous winter. If I kept daily nature notes this winter I might have quite a few blank pages as this winter has been quite lacking in birds at our feeders. Each page might include only Chickadees, Goldfinch and aHairy Woodpecker and occassionally a Mourning Dove.
Anyway this is my contribution to the meme photo hunter where the topic featured today is "daily. To learn more of this meme please click on the logo on the sidebar on the right of this page.
and February 2002

Winter Carnival( Festival time

This is the time of year when many Canadian communities celebrate winter with outdoor activities and competitions. such as snow or ice sculpture. The snow and ice sculpture above is fron an old scanned photo taken during the winter of 1967 when the school I was teaching in held a winter carnival. My grade 7 class and I built this replica of a prehistoric dinosaur, a Stegosaurus. We won 1st place. Other years I remember my class and I placing first with a giant turtle. Its as much fun as building a snowman but on a larger scale. To add a bit of contrast to the picture I used a photo shop filter of dark strokes to highlight the icy plates on its back.

Winter Beauty for Outdoor Wednesday

A seasonal annoyance due to cold, wet, dampness slippery roads and poor driving conditions of winter often detracts from my appreciation of the beauty of the outdoors this time of year. Not so this week I was immediately attracted to these tree trunks, shown above outlined with snow. The contrast of white on dark was very striking and I knew I just had to capture the scene with my camera. I had been out looking for Waxwings in this area but had no luck with that activity.
What is more timely a topic this week than a mountain top covered with snow as seen above. This is not quite Vancouver as our the Appalachians of Eastern Canada are old,worn and rounded with age, but nevertheless a winter scene considerably kindly to the eye.

A suddensnow squall at the railroad bridge set the scene for the photo above. The snow didn't amount to anything much, just a busy flurry for a short while, but it served as a seasonal reminder that winter is still here despite the warmer temperatures and melting snow that we have been
experiencing recently.
Outdoor Wednesday is a delightful meme where you can enjoy almost any aspect of outdoors. This meme offers a wide choice of topic. To view contributions of others or to post your own contribution, please click on the Outdoor Wednesday pic on the right sidebar on this page and enjoy. A Happy Wednesday wish to all.

Dogwood and British soldiers for Ruby Tuesday

Part of the joy of enjoying the approaching spring season isobserving with anticipation the signs of change provided by nature. Each morning I have been watching the reddening of the branches of our Dogwood bush as can be seen above. Looking further for more red provided by nature I sought out and old tree stump where I knew I would find the colorful red lichen, British Soldiers as seen below. Happy Ruby Tuesday to all. Ruby Tuesday is a meme hosted by Mary, the Teach that celebrates red. To see more contributions to this meme or to share your own red for
Ruby Tuesday please click on the Ruby Tuesday icon on this page on the right hand side.

All I could find was deer!

Maybe I'll find something more interesting today on my back roads travel!

yellow-tipped tail feathers for Mellow Yellow Monday

We had two very welcome, surprising feathered visitors in Bird Alley yesterday. We have had this species visit before, but not this winter. This winter season interesting bird visitors have been quite scarce! Two Cedar Waxwings appeared on the bare branches of our flowering crab apple tree, then flew to our high bush cranberries. How beautiful they looked with their yellow tipped tail feathers!. I shall stake a drive around our area today in hopes of finding a small flock of them.
Happy Monday to all. To view a wonderful variety of yellow-themed photos from other bloggers around the world, just click on the link below
mellow yellow

bench shadow for Shadow Shot Sunday

An invitation to relax and sit awhile for Shadow Shot Sunday

My appreciative thanks to Tracey, at Hey Harriet, the host of Shadow Shot Sunday for this interesting idea; for more information on this shadow meme,please click on the icon in the side bar.

a stained glass sky of golden hues

A stained glass sky of golden hues
heralded the close of day
As dark tree branches outlined the golden clouds full of absorbed sunlight gathered during the day .

weekend sky... almost sunshine!

Its a Goldfinch Day for Outdoor Wednesday

We have had very few birds show up in Bird Alley, our feeder area, this winter. This morning we had lots of American Goldfinch, a couple of Chickadees and one Mourning Dove . With so many birds today it seems like a celebration. The cheering is in the background as I am watching the Olympics on tv and I see a small flock of birds land in our trees... cheer !!!! I am so fascinated and keen on watching both, the birds and the athletes! as they perform such amazing feats of skill and endurance during this winter period.

I have found the meme ,Outdoor Wednesday, which offers a wide choice of topics as long as its outdoors!. I love the wide open topic choice that it offers, just as the outdoors does. To see more about this meme or to contribute your own pictures please click on the outdoors Wednesday icon on this page.

A Valentine Surprise for Ruby Tuesday

This post is about human nature and the training of young children to be giving and caring. One evening last week before Valentines Day four very excited little girls rang our doorbell and gave us a delightful, Valentine's box ful of delicious home baking and fresh fruit. This was a joint effort, part of a Children's ministry from the Pioneer Clubs of two local Baptist Churches. The box was decorated with stickers and Valentine cards. The little girl that had decorated it was with the group of girls and she very proudly accepted praise of her lovely work from my husband.
As you can see above the contents were varied . molasses cookies, banana bread and other sweet breads, biscuits and rolls, and muffins , andheart shaped cookies and some valentine candies
The box was full of baked goods and in the bottom of the box was fresh fruit.!
The little girls were thanked and they received our appreciation gracefully. What a wonderful undertaking for these young kids( pre-teen, elementary school age to be involved in! And how heart warming it was for us being recipients of such a wonderful Valentine gift.
To see other Ruby Tuesday entries please click on the Ruby Tuesday icon on this page.

yellow Roses for Mellow Yellow Monday

Thsese yellow Roses add a cherry look to our window that looks out upon bird alley. If you look carefully you can see that the outdoor thermometer is reading 0 degrees C and snow is falling. I have a lot ofCchickadees outside our windows today. As this little rose can be planted outdoors also I shall dream of planting it outdoors on a warm sunny day. Happy" Family Day" to all Canadians today. Also it is a golden day in Canada today as Alexandre Bilodeau of Quebec won Canada's first gold last night in men's mogul! Go Canada! Well done! Congratulations Alex!
To see other Mellow Yellow entries please click on the logo on this page.

My shadow for shadow shot Sunday

We have had a lot of sunny days recently this past week and on one day I was trying to get a good picture of the melting snow in our driveway. Here is my shadow.To learn more of shadow shot Sundsy please click on the icon to the right on this page. Enjoy and Happy Valentine'sDay!

Vancouver, B.C. for scenic sunday, the place to be! Go Canada!!.

Vancouver Canada. I am standing upon a huge rock on Kitsolano Beach which was just a few blocks from an apartment I had in 1966. (such a long time ago! disclaimer: I don't look like this now!)I have since traded my black hair for white. In the background is English Bay We used to walk down to this beach almost every day. While watching the Olympics on tv and hearing mention of locations within the beautiful city. I find I have forgotten many of the streets in the city. I do remember the Hudson's Bay Company which was just across the street from where I used to work. Stanley Park was a wonderful place to spend a Sunday.
To see more views of Scenic Sunday please click on the icon to get to the home base of this meme.

reflections at the rink for weekend reflections

There are lots of reflections to be seen here. Surrounding the rink at the community arena is an indoor community walking track. I can be found here almost every day walking a mile or two. It is wonderful to have access to such a facility. , a place to walk indoors avoiding the winter weather, but an ice rink is traditionally a cold area, yes, but the firm even footing of the track is wonderful to walk on and I look forward to using it every day, I had taken a few steps out the open door when I and saw my reflection which my camera took advantage of. To share your weekend reflections with others or to view contributions from others, please click on the logo on the right side of this page. Enjoy.

Skywatching

Red-tailed hawk for Ruby Tuesday

I have nothing new for Ruby Tuesday today, but rather these older photos showing the 'red tail' of a Red-tailed Hawk. The hawk seems to proudly displayed its colouredtail, the source of its name.

To view other contributions to Ruby Tuesday and to perhaps contribute your own just click on the Ruby Tuesday badge on the right column. Happy Ruby Tuesday to all.

a mellow yellow view of winter for Mellow Yellow Monday

Perhaps this had been a sunny day. I found this filed with some old winter pictures while looking through some old pictures hoping to find something for mellow yellow today. It shows two sides of winter: white, icy, and snowy on the tres lining the roadway and a backward view of brightness suggestive of warmth showing where we had been. I am going to suggest that this is an optimistic orward look of where we are headed on the seasonal calender... SPRING!
To see more mellow yellow photos please scroll down the right hand side of this page until you come to the mellow yellow icon. click on it to add your own 'yellow themed photo or to enjoy what others are sharing today. Happy Mellow Yellow to all.

WinterViews Along Highway #785 for Scenic Sunday

To view other beautiful scenes drop by at Scenic Sunday and take a look

Snowy Trail Shadows for ShadowShot Sunday

The subject of White -tailed Deer is a repeat of yesterday'spost, the main main focusbeing; Deer. Yes, as the winter depens, they become increasingly common to see. The woodsy setting in this photo also featured some lovely shadows to enjoy on this bright sunny daythat this picture was taken on.My appreciative thanks to Tracey, at Hey Harriet, the host of Shadow Shot Sunday for this interesting idea; for more information on this shadow meme,please click on the icon in the side bar Posted by m

an average number of deer for photo hunter

It is about this time of year when I start seeing groups of deer rather than singly. Two nights ago I took a drive around the block and saw these four, shown above, ( an average number in a sighting) by the senior citizens hall. There is most always a group about a mile up the road near a farm where we counted 12 a week or so ago. The deer tracks which crisscross our yard suggests that they move in groups rather than just a single one. The theme for photo hunter today is 'average' ( not the easiest theme. To check out more on photo hunter please click on the icon to the lower right of this page. My thoughts are with those today experiencing a blizzard along yhe Atlantic coast.Wishing a good safe Saturday to all!

daylight morning moon for Skywatch Friday

Earlier this week on Tuesday morning I saw this beautiful full moon above my neighbour's house. My camera did not pick up the details on the moon , only its brightness, I think this was the Wolf moon. To see other contributions to Skywatch Friday or to post your own please click on the skywatc icon on the right side of the page. Thank you to the hosts of this meme.

Wood pile reflections for weekend reflections

It wasn't until I was sitting with my morning cup of coffee that I saw the reflections of my neighbour's woodpile in the glass pane of our french windows door that leads into our sun room. I knew it was a reflection as the woodpile cannot be seen from the direction I was sitting in. The subject of the reflection is a fairly important winter matter. The weather forecast today announced a temperature of -9 degrees C with a wind chill equivalent value of a -29 degrees C... brr, If I had a wood furnace in our basement I wouldn't want to run out of fuel ( such as my neighbou's woodpile.) We have an oil furnace but I grew up with wood heat, and there is nothing like it on those freezing cold winter days. So the reflection in my window today warmed me and brought back memories of warming myself in front of the old potbellied wood stoves on those long ago winter mornings.
To connect to weekend reflections please click on the icon at the top of the right hand page, Happy weekend to all.

X is for Xanthochroism: something different for Thursday Challenge

Its not often that you see a male Evening Grosbeak which doesn't have any black on it, but I did; on two different occasions! This is an example of the condition called xantho- chroism, which occurs when yellow replaces the normal colouration of the feathers. In this case the yellow coloured male Evening Grosbeak shown here is lacking the black feathers that a male usually displays. You can see the com- parision of the normal and abnormal colouration in the first photo, and also in the one below as two Evening Grosbeaks perch, one on each end of the feeder.

To learn more about the weekly meme Thursday Challenge click on the yellow coloured grosbeak at the top right hand of the page. Each week the theme challenge changes. today's theme is 'something different. seeing this yellow coloured Evening Grosbeak indeed was something. Thaank you to 'spun with tears' for hosting this challenge.