More March Photos

Since I haven’t been able to draw due to tendonitis in my right hand I have been shooting more photos.  (You can read about my hand here )

Here are a few more photos of spring.

The other night I was looking at the stars as I usually do each night and I just had to try to get a picture of that slice of the moon with Venus and Jupiter close by.  Spectacular!

And here is that same sky during the day.  There is nothing like the bright blue sky of March unless it is that of October!

On Saturday Pepper and I went for a drive in the country.  There is lovely little creek a few miles from our house and we took a walk along it and got some beautiful photos of the water, plants and even some little minnows swimming in the rippling water.  Pepper liked exploring and all the smells of the woods but he wasn’t interested in getting in that still cold water.

I also got a few shots of some more flowers blooming in and around our yard and a beautiful bright green anole sunning on the birdbath as you can see below.  It was 82 degrees that day!  It feels as if summer is just around the corner and there are still a couple more days left in March.

I hope you are enjoying spring as much as Pepper and I are!

Spring has sprung!

It’s finally spring!  Well, not by the calendar just yet but by the plants that are sprouting and blooming all around.  Here are a few photos I’ve taken recently.  All except the peach trees are either in our yard or in my mom’s yard.

There are the first leaves of a fig tree, some pear blossoms, peach blooms, wisteria, azaleas and a few flowers that I don’t know the name for.  Also a few of my wildlife photos include a beautiful green anole that was sunning on the bricks and a busy woodpecker on a pecan limb.

Fig leaf with bug

New fig leaves

Pear trees

Pear blossoms

Peach trees in bloom.

Peach blossoms and buds.

Wisteria

Wisteria budding

Azelea blooms

Yellow blossoms

Tiny white blooms

Anole climbs the brick wall.

Woodpecker hard at work on pecan limb.

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of spring.  More photos coming soon.

Wild Friends

As usual, I have been photographing the wildlife around our house.

The cutest squirrel hopped on our St. Francis of Assisi bird feeder and I was quick enough to snap his picture there.

One sparrow too many tried to get on the feeder that hangs in our pecan tree!

Close up of one of the little cuties.

A pretty Chickadee sits on the Jasmine vine waiting for his turn at the feeder.

I mentioned the beautiful kitty who visits on our deck everyday in my last post. He might not exactly be “wild” but he won’t allow me to get near him, so I added him to this post anyway.  I have given in and decided to feed him.  I look forward to checking each afternoon to see if he’s back on the lounge sunning himself.  He usually is!

One more of the bird feeder : )

Thanks for visiting.

Dearest Companions

It’s been a while since I posted new photos.  I hope everyone had happy holidays and is enjoying the new year.  As promised this post is featuring photos of our pets, which I prefer to call “companion animals”.  This describes them much better as they are always here for us no matter what with the dearest unconditional love and loyalty.  Humans could always learn a few things from them.

Daisy waiting for her favorite treats

Daisy is our son’s dog but she visits us frequently so she’s definitely one of the family.  She is a sweet, three year old Walker Hound mix that Jamie adopted from a man who rescued Daisy and her three brothers.

Pepper resting after playing ball at his Nana's house

Pepper is my “baby”.  He is our eleven year old Schnoodle and my protector as well as my companion.  He loves to play ball more than anything and more than any dog I’ve ever known.  He is also best friends with our youngest cat, Alex.

Pepper thinks Judy is sneaking up on him!

Judy sitting in her favorite position : )

Judy is our oldest kitty and she will be 20 years old in March.  We adopted her for our son when he was four years old.  She has been his companion as long as he can remember.  Judy is suffering from renal failure now and is not feeling so well most days. She has to have sub-cutaneous fluids daily but is a precious little lady who never complains.

Jennifer just after a nap on our bed.

Jennifer is Judy’s 18 year old daughter.  She was one of four kittens that Judy had and was the one who chose to stay with us, and with her mommy.  She was “the little tiger” of the litter.  Jennifer is a sweetheart who loves to nap by the window and watch for birds outside.  In this photo she had taken a nap on our bed for a change.

Alex perched on one of her many favorite spots

And now we have Alex.  She is our youngest kitty and our busiest.  Alex is a four year old grey and white tabby that I found behind my husband’s parents’ house.  She was about three weeks old and barely alive.  I took her directly to the vet’s office and she has been with us ever since.  She is far beyond curious and wants to know everything about everyone and what they are doing as well.

Alex in another of her favorite places.

This kitty has decided to make himself at home on our deck every afternoon.

This beautiful kitty does not live with us officially, but frequently lounges on our deck in the sun on these cooler winter days.  I see him around our neighborhood but we don’t know where he calls home.  I certainly don’t mind him spending time here as our cats are all indoor girls and he doesn’t bother anyone.  I rather enjoy watching him sleep and play near the pool.

The cat who's made our deck home loves to play with the dog/cat wind chimes that hang by the pool.

I hope you have enjoyed meeting our feline and canine friends.  We also live with two birds, a Cockatiel and a Parakeet as well as two Angelfish and four Australian Rainbow fish.  They all bring us so much joy, teach us things no human could and make our lives brighter everyday.

Please remember:  Be kind to animals, adopt don’t buy your next companion, and always report animal cruelty if you see or suspect it.  Our furry and feathered friends depend on us.

The Colors of Fall

I have been talking lots of photos lately of the beautiful colors of fall.  I am not a cool weather person.  I love summer but the colors this time of year are always inspiring.

Here are a few photos for you to enjoy from the amazing leaves to a few I shot at the Georgia National Fair.

Clear blue October sky

Greens and reds

Red maple

Potato vine is still beautifully green

The vines on the deck are still green, too.

Rides reflected in the lake at Georgia National Fair

Colorful toys at the fair

Rides at the fair light up the night.

The ferris wheel at the Georgia National Fair

Candied apples

Colorful cotton candy

I hope you enjoyed these colors of fall.

I’ll be back soon with photos of our companion animals.

Feathers and Flowers

I always hate to see summer winding down but our yard is still full of beautiful summer color and feathered friends.

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks that I’ve taken to share the birds and blossoms with you.  Enjoy!

This little cardinal baby had just left the nest.  When my husband was trimming some shrubbery we saw him hopping about.

His mom and dad were not far behind seeing that he found his way out into the world and that we meant him no harm.

Many of the flowers are still full of color around our yard.

The lilies beside the pathway to our steps and some little purple beauties that return every year are my favorites.

I don’t know the name of the purple ones but the seeds for them were given to me by a dear friend who was 90+ years of age at the time.    She shared my love of nature and was always sharing plants with me as well.  She is no longer with us but the little flowers beside the ivy which were her favorites are always near.   They are the subject of a new color pencil drawing that I am working on.

After a day of photographing the colors in our yard the sunset was so beautiful that evening that I had to capture the silhouette of the pecan trees against it as well.

I thank you for visiting and hope that you will take a moment

each day to enjoy the colors that surround you as well.

Panama City Beach

We took a trip to Panama City Beach, FL last weekend so I wanted to share some of my many photos from our visit.  Panama City Beach is on the northwestern coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico.  The beaches are of beautiful soft white sand and the water transforms from gorgeous emerald green to shimmering turquoise.

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St. Andrews State Park is only a few miles from where we stayed.  It is a more “natural” beach with dunes covered in sea oats, a beautiful jetty, and lots of places to watch wildlife.  No hotels, high-rise condos or shopping malls here.

It was good to get away to the beach again.  I love being near the water.  It provides a calm and inspiring atmosphere like nowhere else.   I hope you enjoyed sharing it with me here.