2gether for 2sDay

Last Friday we had a wonderful walk down by the bay and saw more than we had expected.  We went in search of the osprey which has a nesting platform at Zwick's Park.  We also saw Canada Geese, Mallard ducks, Mergansers, and lots of birds (robins, killdeer, chickadees, sparrows, downy woodpeckers).  I'll share some of those photos in later posts.
But my favourite capture through my lens for the day was a pair of swans, just the perfect couple to share on 2sDay.

They arrived 2gether with the beating of their wings as they landed on the still waters of the bay.

They glided 2gether.

They hunted for food 2gether.

They flew 2gether.

They made the perfect picture 2gether. Look at the wonderful reflection in the water.

They were the perfect lens friends.
Thanks for visiting 2day.

Mosaic Monday Mystery

Spring ... with a promise of warmth, growth, and wonder.
There is lots happening in the garden despite the cool, wet weather.
Here are some plants that are poking through the ground.

I'm always excited to see the new growth.

It's a mosaic Monday mystery.
Do you recognize my five Monday Mystery plants? Perhaps you have them in your garden. I can't wait for them to bloom.

I hope you have time to do a blog hop over to Mosaic Monday and see some other wonderful mosaic photos.

If you tried guessing the plants and want to know if you are right, click here.  Let me know how you did.
Thanks for visiting. Have a great day. Edit:  I cheated for Mosaic Monday on May 2.  I had prepared this post for last week but due to the Easter Weekend the host did not run it that day.  I know that some of my regular visitors from Mosaic Monday have already commented on this post.  Thanks if you have stopped by again.

Lens Friends in Flight

We took advantage of a nice Friday morning and went for a walk down by the bay in search of some lens friends.  We were lucky to see swans, osprey, Canada Geese, Mallards, Buffleheads, Greater Scaups, and lots of other birds.As usual I took lots and lots of photos, (over 200) and I want to share three of these gorgeous birds in flight.

I thought this was a common merganser approaching the water. But looking closer at my identification books I don't really think it is. Thanks to Garry at Birding and more I have now identified this as a male bufflehead.

What a gorgeous pair of mute swans.

Then there was the honking Canada goose.
 This quiet inlet was a busy place for viewing wildlife.  Nature never fails to amaze me.

I'm sharing these lens friends with Camera Critters.

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the weekend.

In Anticipation

I'm waiting in anticipation.

The ruby throated hummingbirds are beginning to be spotted in our area.  If you check out this map, you will see if they are near you yet.

I've cleaned out the feeder and filled it with freshly made food.  Last year I spotted the hummer on April 19, but it is a little cooler than last year, but I'm hoping to capture one through my lens soon.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

Earth Day 2011

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 each year.  It was started about 1970 and gradually spread to many countries around the world. In so many places you see the saying that Earth Day has to be every day.  I'm a believer in that.

Something I started at work this year is composting.  I have always composted at home, in fact I have 4 large composters.  I work in a school and the class I'm in has a cooking class once a week and runs a breakfast program each morning.  We make soup and sell it as a fund raiser and makecbreakfast for students before school.  But until I went there all the peelings, rinds, odd bits and pieces went straight into the garbage.  After seeing this the first week I went straight out and bought a hand held compost bucket and started explaining to the children what parts of the food went into it and why.  Twice a week I bring home this green bucket full of scraps and empty it into my composter at home.  And wouldn't it be nice if some the children talked about it at home and they started to compost too.  So our class is reducing the amount of garbage sent to the landfill each week and doing something worthwhile for Earth Day every day of the week. There are so many things you can do on a daily basis.  Remember to use the cloth bags when you go to the store, use a refillable water bottle,  think about what you buy in unnecessary packaging,  save water, avoid chemicals in your garden, join Freecycle, and many more.How about you?  Are you doing something to benefit the Earth every day?

Be sure to check by Jan's blog and see what other gardeners are doing to help make the planet a better place to live.  Enjoy Earth Day.

Springtime Teacup

This teacup is the perfect springtime cup because the colour reminds me of robin egg blue.  The lovely ring of flowers around the edge of the saucer and inside the cup look like anemones.

You can just see the petals forming around the outside of the cup.I just wish the weather was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a cup of tea while I watch the robin busily hop around the lawn looking for tasty morsels to eat while she finds bits of grass and mud for the springtime nest.  Stop by Rose Chintz Cottage and join in for Teatime Tuesday.Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

Raindrops on the Honeysuckle Vine

True to the old verse - April showers bring May flowers - we have been having April showers.  Yesterday morning when I opened the blinds I could see the raindrops sparkling on the honeysuckle vine so I just had to pop outside with my camera and capture them through my lens.

Naturally when you resize a photo to post on a blog it tends to loose some of that sparkle.  But if you look carefully you will see the raindrops on the vines.  You can also see lots of leaves opening up on the honeysuckle vine.

So it was time to switch to the macro setting and get a much better look at the raindrops.

I love the little beads of water inside the leaves.

I'm sharing these photos for Friday's Flower even though the vine isn't in bloom yet.  But just seeing the leaves unfurl is very exciting

I hope you have some Friday flowers to enjoy. Over at Tootsie Time you will see lots of bloggers sharing their blooms.
It is also Garden Bloggers Bloom Day which happens on the 15th of every month.
Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

Spring Cleaning

Spring is here and it's time to do some spring cleaning.  Not around the house but at my plot at Blotanical and here at my blog.  I haven't been that active there lately especially in the picks department.  But with some time on my hands I thought I had better get more involved again.

If you are a member at Blotanical you know all about that faves section.  Your points determine how many faves you can have, but there are so many wonderful blogs out there it gets hard to choose. I decided to look at posts from the blogs that were in my faves and discovered that some of those blogs hadn't been updated in a long, long time, and some had even vanished.  So it was out with the old and now it will be in with the new and some of my previous favourites.

I've got upcoming surgery in early May and I won't be as mobile in my own garden, but I will be able to enjoy the gardens of others.  So what better time than to discover new blogs, add them to my faves section and enjoy them.  There is also a section about favourite Blotanists and I'll have to check into using that more as well.

If you haven't visited Blotanical be sure to click the button on my side bar and pay a visit.  You won't be disappointed. And because it is 2sDay here is a photo of 2 lilac buds.  Did you ever notice how at the end of most lilac stems there are 2 buds?

 The spring cleaning at my blog invovled setting up some pages for the top which now have all the links to my various craft projects and garden posts.  I also added a new blogger feature of the most visited posts. And I've been changing the template to find a new one that I like. There is still more tweaking to do at the blog but it will all get done eventually.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

Spring Growth

Just look at what is happening in the garden. It is so exciting.

The plants are enjoying the warmer days and poking through the ground that was frozen just a week or so ago.  The leaves are reaching up for the warmth of the sunshine.  There are tulips, daffodils, daylilies and lady's mantle in the above mosaic.  And each day I check them out the leaves are a little bit bigger.  I'm anticipating some lovely blooms soon.

I hope you have time to do a blog hop over to Mosaic Monday and see some other wonderful mosaic photos.

What's starting to grow in your garden?
Thanks for visiting. Have a great day

Reflections on Calm Water

The waters at the Bay of Quinte were calm yesterday morning and some wonderful reflection photos were captured through my lens.

The morning started out quite foggy and even when it lifted it was still a dull morning.

The trees are reflected perfectly in the calm water.

This has to be one of my favourite shots.  The tree created the perfect reflection.

I'm joining in with Weekend Reflections and Shadow Shot Sunday.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great weekend.

The Weather Vane

We had some lovely days in the second half of March and of course I fell to temptation and put out some of the garden decorations.  I only chose those ones that I knew could withstand the cold nights we were still getting.

One was this lovely weather vane that was given to me by a friend.  I set it on top of the posts in my farmyard garden (more about that later) and then noticed the wonderful shadow it cast on the wall.  Perfect for capturing through my lens. It is perfect for sharing with Shadow Shot Sunday. Stop by and see some great shadow shot photos.  I've been neglecting my blog posts for awhile, guess I just needed a break.Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.