02/29/24

 Happy Leap Year Day!  It's a special extra day that should have a special photo it seems.  So, I decided to share a Monarch image since it's always a joy to see them due to them being endangered.  I had several opportunities this past year and I was even able to capture some with my phone camera which was the case with this one.  This past September there was a Monarch visiting the Goldenrod near one of the garages.  It was cooperative as I was able to catch a few images of it.  I hope to see them around again this year soon.

02/28/24

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is Dotted Gayfeather which blooms in August and September.  This flower is attractive to butterflies as I always see a lot on them while they bloom.  Gayfeather can have a taproot that is 15 feet deep so it is very drought resistant.

02/27/24

 Today's image is another of the American Kestrel that I was able to photograph on my trip to Missouri in late November.  I had a really great opportunity to take several photos as it hovered in place hunting.

02/26/24

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Today's image is o closeup of one of my African Violets.  I usually like to share these backlit because I love how the little hairs catch the light.  This time I decided to share the blooms from the front as they are interesting in their own right with the ruffle look.

02/25/24

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  I am looking forward to warmer weather and being able to do steam things again.  This is our locomotive and passenger cars we restored.  It is at the C&H Railroad where we go play as we did this past autumn on a day off from work.  The locomotive is a 1947 Ottaway coal or wood fired steam engine that was built in Wichita Kansas.  It runs on rails that are 12 inches apart.

02/24/24

 It's a double digit day!  😺  We have been having spring like weather so I can share more winter images without feeling too cold.  We had a good mount of snow this past January and this is an image I took near sunset one evening with a bit of color in the sky.  The snow was quite lovely with the way it clung to the trees.

02/23/24

 It's Friday, TGIF!  This image was chosen because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!  I am looking forward to summer and seeing butterflies again.  This Great Spangled Fritillary was visiting my Milkweed this past summer.  I have it for the Monarchs but was happy for anyone to enjoy it.  I loved the bubbly bokeh in this image.

02/22/24

 I am looking forward to summer.  Today's image is of one of my favorite grasses from summer that I find out on Konza Prairie while hiking.  This is June Grass which gets its name because it blooms in June.  I love to capture it backlit as I find it very photogenic in the way it captures the light.

02/21/24

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is another of a quite lovely one.  This is a close up of a Showy Evening Primrose bloom.  They bloom in May and June.  You usually have to be quick to see them as their blooms only last a day.  They open in the evening and then close in the morning as the sun heats up the day.  They will stay open longer on cloudy days.

02/20/24

 One day, last weekend, I was working at my desk and looked out the window as I saw some movement.  To my surprise, a Red Tail Hawk landed in the Walnut tree just outside the window.  I quickly grabbed my camera which only had my 70mm lens on it and was able to grab this one shot before it flew off.  I think it may have noticed me through the window.

02/19/24

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  My Kalanchoe plant is in bloom right now and creating some lovely color.  I love the look of the blooms with their pointy petals.  😊

02/18/24

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is an oldie but a goodie.  I took this photo from down in the canyon by the Animas River looking up to the High Line of the Durango and Silverton Railroad as a train was heading back to Durango.  My favorite photographer, William Henry Jackson, photographed the D&SRR from a similar spot back in the early 1900s.  

A link to one of WHJ's D&SRR images.  D&SRR Animas Canyon

02/17/24

 Today's image is another snowflake I was able to capture in mid January.  I loved the design of this one and I included a fragment of another that was off to the side.  I got lucky with a few flakes not being broken up due to the wind.  This is a 9 image stack.

02/16/24

 Happy Friday, TGIF!  Because Friday's Are Bokehlicious, I chose this one to share.  This is an image of some Hackberries, I believe, with droplets resulting from the melting hoar frost.  The light and drops produced some fabulous bokeh in this image.

02/15/24

 I am looking forward to seeing these around the pond again this summer.  I took this image of this Twelve Spot Dragonfly on a flower stalk near the garage though.  It was a non common occurrence of capturing a dragonfly away from the pond.

02/14/24

 Happy Valentine's Day if you celebrate!  Happy Wildflower Wednesday!  Today's wildflower is one that could be associated with the day.  This is a Prairie Wild Rose bloom that I captured last summer.  These bloom May through July.  It is resistant to drought due to it's roots being able to extend to 20 feet down into the ground.  The flowers will darken and get more pink as they age.

02/13/24

 Today's image is of one of my favorite birds, a Dark Eyed Junco.  These birds are winter visitors to my area and I love to watch them as they get food from my feeders.  I captured this one while it was taking a break in the River Birch tree during a snowfall.

02/12/24

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  I was given an Amaryllis bulb for Christmas this year.  It has sent up 2 flower stalks which is something I have never seen before.  One is taller than the other and started to bloom this week so I had to share.  

02/11/24

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Last year I finally was able to get my garden railway up and running for the first time in several years.  It had been over run with weeds that I finally got cleaned out and did a bit of track work to get it running.  I had been constructing some new buildings in the meantime.  One of them was the fire station that the train is passing by in this image.  It's a kit that I bought on-line.  I decided to do this image in B&W for an old time feel.

 

02/10/24

 Today I am sharing a snowflake that I was able to catch in our snow in January when it was very cold and windy.  This a very neat one I think.  It is, at least, 2, if not 3, snowflakes stuck together.  It is only 9 images stacked but I was able to get it all in focus so I was happy with that as well.

02/09/24

 It's Friday, TGIF!  Today's image is from when we had the lovely hoar frost event here in the beginning of January.  This image was taken as the frost was melting and turning into lovely water drops on everything.  I captured these drops on a head of grass with the sunlight on them and some lovely bubbly bokeh behind.  It's a great image for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

02/08/24

 Today's image is another summer one.  I was able to see and capture these guys several times this past year.  This is a White Lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth that was enjoying the Marigolds in late summer.  I hope to see them around again this year. They are fun to watch as they hover around the flowers.

02/07/24

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is Prairie Phlox.  It blooms May through July.  It usually grows between 8 to 30 inches tall.

02/06/24

 Today's image is another that I have been bale to capture of one of the male Cardinals that visit my yard.  They have been a bit more cooperative than usual.  This might be due to the cold that they sit and puff up to stay warm.  It was around zero degrees F when I took this image of it in the Walnut tree in the backyard.

02/05/24

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  My Gerbera Daisy seems to be struggling while indoors for the winter as it is losing a large number of under leaves at various times.  This must be fairly normal though as it seems to be healthy due to the fact that it is flowering well.  I loved the way the blooms were catching the light about a week ago.

02/04/24

 It's an interesting date day today.  😁  It's also Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of the full size locomotive that I am able to work on during the show in Minnesota over the Labor Day weekend.  This is ex Soo Line switch engine 353 which is now 102 years old.  It's great that it is still in operation and it's quite fun to fire.  It is a coal fired engine.

02/03/24

 Today's image is one that I took last month when we were having some snowfalls.  We had more snow last month than we have had in about 2 years I think.  It was lovely clingy snow and made for lovely views around the yard.  This is an original stone house on the property from the late 1880s that was looking fairly picturesque due to the conditions.

02/02/24

 It's a double digit day!  It's also Friday, TGIF!  We were in the mid 60s this week and it felt like summer compared to what we had been having.  Today's image is one from late this past summer when the Asters were beginning to bloom and a Painted Lady butterfly was visiting them.  I chose this image for today due to the lovely bokeh created by the Aster blooms because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

02/01/24

 It's February!  January seemed like quite the loooong month with all the cold and snow.  Now that we have gone the opposite way and are unseasonably warm, 65F for a high, I am going to share a snowflake photo.  😁  I took this one during a snow in the middle of January when it around 10 degrees F out.  It was windy that day so I only lucked out in capturing some flakes for a short time.  This one is more unusual as it doesn't have many protrusions from the "arms" they are just more like bars and it is just very plain looking.  I found it rather interesting.  It is 9 images stacked for focus.