It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is one I lucked out with as I captured a Monarch Butterfly in flight and it was in focus! 😂 I hope to get more butterfly photo chances this year, we shall see how it goes though. I loved the bokeh in this image as well and posting it for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
Today's image is one that I was able to capture of a Collared Lizard where I know a spot that I can regularly see it and keep an eye out for it. It's on a route I take for bike rides somewhat regularly. This is most likely a male due to the green color, females are more muted in color. They are named for the black band that is seen around their neck. They like rocky areas where they can sun themselves.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog and I am late posting! Eek. Today's flower is one of my very favorites and will be one of the first to bloom though this variety is not wild in our area. This is a Columbine which is in the Buttercup family. This version is more wild in places like Colorado. Columbines normally bloom in April and May. Ruby throated Hummingbirds and bees love them.
It's a double digit day today! 😃 Today's image is one I was able to get in Florida. This is a Great Blue Heron. This bird was relatively close to me and unbothered by my presence, unlike here in Kansas where I can't seem to get within a quarter mile of them most times. There is also another bird in this picture, I believe it's a female Mallard but could be mistaken.
Happy Monday and happy new week! Should be a warmer week too! I grew a few Gladiolas for the first time this past year. They produce quite lovely looking blooms on tall stalks. The colors were bright and vibrant on the ones I had. This was a red variety and I also had an Apricot color one.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! I have a project coming up where I need to do some photos that look antique so I decided to practice with a great subject for that, trains! This is locomotive 353 from the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion that I get to help fire on processed with an antique look to it.
We have had so much snow this winter compared to other years, it's been crazy. With what we received this past week we are up over 20 inches total now. Most of it has been icy or tiny broken pieces but we had one very small flurry where it was producing some lovely flakes. This is one of them. This is a 5 stack image. I use Affinity Photo to stack and process the image.
TGIF, it's Friday! We are supposed to be in a warming trend now and by next week it is supposed to be in the 60s when as I type this is is only supposed to be 6F out. Crazy. I still need to be warmed up right now so how about a mini Allium flower with some lovely bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious as well!
Today is supposed to be the coldest we have been in any time that I can remember, -14 actual in the morning. I need something to warm me up. How about a Dragonfly that I captured on a railroad tie by one of my gardens. I am pretty sure that this is a Twelve Spot. I love having Dragonflies visit, they are such cool looking creatures.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is one that can be heard to spot as it is usually fairly short. This is White-eyed Grass. It usually blooms April through June. It is not actually a grass, it is a member of the Iris family.
Today's image is of another bird I was able to capture while walking on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean in Florida. This Pelican was flying down the beach and flew very close as it passed over. It was very neat to see and be able to capture.
Happy Monday and happy new week! My Kalanchoe plant is blooming again. It has gotten rather leggy and I should trim it back but I have always had trouble with this. I am always worried I will kill it or it will never bloom again, etc. I need to get over that. 😂
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is one I took right before my shift of firing the 353. It was approaching the station to stop and pick up passengers and this is also where shifts change. It was a beautiful clear day in Minnesota over Labor Day Weekend.
This is another of the interesting frost patterns images that I was able to capture. As I have mentioned, I really like their fern like patterns. It also reminds of an abstract painting. I took this one while it was dark out in the morning and they were lit by the porch light.
TGIF, It's Friday! It is also Valentine's Day for those who celebrate. This is a rose with some delightful bokeh behind it because as you may know if you follow the Blog, Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
I need to feel warm as we are very cold once again. The Almanac was sure not correct this year. It was supposed to be warm and dry and it has been cold and wet. 😒 Anyway, here is a summer shot of a Dragonfly at my pond. I love to see these guys around, like flying dragons.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is an interesting one. This is Catclaw Sensitive Briar and it usually blooms May through September. I love the pom pom type blooms of it. These are in the Bean Family. They are interesting in that you can run your finger along a leaf stem and the leaves will fold together. It is actually a nutritious plant for livestock as well.
Today's image is another quite lucky capture I got with my phone. I was walking in a different direction than normal and what should fly across my path? This Barred Owl which then went to perch in a tree. I only had my phone with me because I was not expecting to see anything on the path I was taking but my phone really impressed me with the image I got. It also made me sad because I keep thinking what a fabulous image I could have gotten if I had had my actual camera but, oh well.
Happy Monday and happy new week! Today's image is a moody shot of my double bloom Hibiscus. I am overwintering my 2 plants and they are constantly dropping leaves but yet still flowering so I guess I am doing OK with them. 😅
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is a steamy shot of locomotive 353 pulling out with it's load of passengers for a trip around the grounds. Locomotives open their cylinder cocks to let water escape that may have condensed while sitting and can damage the pistons if too much has built up and it tries to move against it. This creates all the steam as the locomotives move out after they have been sitting awhile because steam escapes along with the water.
This winter we have had some bitterly cold temperatures, at 0F and below even. On one of those mornings while it was still dark out as I was getting ready for work, I noticed these crystals on one of the storm doors so had to quick take a few photos. I just love the fern-like patterns they make as they spread across the glass. They remind me of an abstract painting as well.
It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is this bubbly bokeh filled image of some of my Zinnias from this past summer. Zinnias are a nice easy flower to grow from seed that are butterfly magnets. I chose this image for today because here on the Blog, Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
So late this summer, early autumn, while I was watering my mums I would see this gal hanging out on them for a few days. It must have been a good spot to catch dinner for this female Praying Mantis. She was pretty cooperative with me taking a photo or two. 😁
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's image is of a trio of Missouri Evening Primroses. They usually bloom May through July. The flowers generally open in the evening and close by mid morning the following day. Night flying moths are the pollinators. They are very drought hardy plants and can be found growing in very rocky soils.
The Bald Eagles come to our area to over winter because, usually, there is plenty of open water for them to hunt in. This winter we have had some extreme cold and heavy snow so there have been areas of the lake that have actually frozen over. This is one by the dam where a couple of them were standing on the ice looking for food. I was rather happy with this image because I shot it rather quickly from a moving car. No, I was not driving at the time. 😂
Happy Monday and happy new week! My mother-in-law had a beautiful Orchid that was blooming while I was there in late December. It was so pretty and full, I thought it was fake at first. I had to take a photo of it. I did a little processing to make it more of a high key look to it.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the blog! It's also a double digit day! 😀 Today's image is a perfect one for today as it is very steamy. This is the Wagner locomotive being "blown down" to have some work performed on it. To "blow down" a locomotive means to let the pressure off fairly quickly, usually by opening a special valve on larger locomotives or boiler plugs on smaller ones. Under normal circumstances, you don't want temperatures to change quickly on a locomotive as it stresses the metal. However, blowing it down a bit at times can help clear and sediment or gunk that couple be in the boiler. Generally you want the pressure on the boiler to drop to 0 before you drain it. On this day we were wanting to do a quick repair so we could resume running for the visitors to the show.
Happy first day of February! The year is really moving along which is nice because I am tired of the cold and snow. The snow hasn't even been good for snowflake photos which has been horribly disappointing. It has been pretty good for ice crystal images of the storm doors though. This is one I took on a cold morning on the west side of the house when the sun had not melted it off yet. I love the fern-like patterns the ice makes on the glass.
