The last three photos of the Photo-a-Day challenge and a wrap-up

Welcome to the last post of the year, the last of the daily photo challenge, and a little write-up of my thoughts on this year-long challenge. 

Day 363-

I have inadvertently had dog hair on many of my posts. We have two long-haired dogs and they shed a lot. With our dining room table open with a leaf in it, the passage between the tree and the table is a little tight. One white dog doesn't seem to mind knocking into the tree to get to the sliding glass door to watch for squirrels or birds. Consequently, her fur is adorning the ends of the branches of the Christmas tree. Last time the vacuum cleaner was out, the branches were vacuumed. 

More dog hair

Day 364- 

The kids, grandkids, and I took a walk along the shoreline of our lake since the lake level is down for the winter. The wind was blustery, and waves crashed on the sand. Our lake is a man-made lake, so there are remains of trees where there had once been dry land. During the summer this stump is under about four or five feet of water. That is our dock in the background. The little ones had a great time finding shells, rocks, and sticks. They jumped on rocks and had a great time.

Tree stump

Day 365- 

I wanted to have a special photo for the closeout of this year-long event. The moon was close to setting as the clock passed the midnight position into the last day of the year. On the left you can see the constellation Orion. It will be a full moon on the 3rd of January. It will also be a Super Moon. If you have a clear night, be sure to check it out. 

12:09 AM 12/31/2025

Thoughts on this challenge-

I think my photography has improved a bit over this year. I know I take a lot of photos, but to be critical of subject matter and composition is a work in progress. Almost all of the photos were taken with my cellphone. It isn't a new one, Google Pixel 7- think Pixel 10 is the newest version now. Editing the photos was limited to what the phone app offered. There was one Prisma app photo used of Fiona, my fluffy Border Collie. 

There are a few photos that were never taken. I drive by a small cemetery, near the Gnome house, that I kept meaning to stop and get a photo of some of the older headstones. It just didn't happen. Driving up to the airport the other day I saw a field of tall browned grass. Sitting in the field was a black cat, grasses covering up to her shoulders, watching something. The contrast of the shiny black fur and the brown grasses would have been a great photo. I  was driving on a rural highway, not a place to stop. Also on the trip to the airport is a row of rusty old tractors. Another missed opportunity for a photo. I did take a few photos of church steeples; there could have been so many more! 

I will still look at my immediate surroundings to see if I can get 'that perfect shot', but without the pressure of having to get a photo to share. 

I have a link to the entire year's photos. You are welcome to enjoy the whole year. I tried to vary the photos so that it wasn't all flowers or trees or my dogs, but there are a good number of those kinds of photos, it is who I am- a gardener with a camera and dogs. 

TheQueenOfSeafordphotos2025  Let me know if you have a favorite or two. Thanks for coming by and seeing all my photos. 

Happy New Year to you!!

©Copyright 2025 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet, The Queen of Seaford.

Photo-a-Day Week 52

We have reached week 52, but have 3 more days to complete the year's worth of daily photos. We still have kids and grandkids here, so tonight's summary will be brief. Come back Wednesday night for the year's conclusion. 

Day 356- 

This Christmas stocking has been with us since a year before we got married. This past June, we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary, so it has been around just a few years. The names of us, our kids, their spouses, their kids, and all of our pets over the years cover this relic. Instead of a wreath on our front door, I like having this on the glass door so you can see both sides of the stocking.

A Stocking for Everyone

Day 357-

In the winter the views of intermittent creeks really stand out through the woods. On some of our warmer days you can hear chorus frogs singing in the wetlands.

Intermittent creek

Day 358-

The late afternoon's sun's ray shine through the woods. Our maple trees keep their leaves long into the winter. The leaves really glow, making for another long angle sunshine photo. The pine needles hang on the branches like tinsel on a Christmas tree. 

Backlit Maple leaves

Day 359-

Turning the lights off and leaving the tree lights on a timer makes for a magical look. The lights from the tree reflect off all the windows, making it appear as though we have multiple trees. 

Reflections

Day 360-

 I know I have shared snails before, but this one being so dark looked different to me. Not sure what happened to its tail end. It is kind of cut up or scarred. Of course there is dog hair on the tail. 

How I'm moving OR Snail with Dog Hair

Day 361- 

Greenville-Spartanburg airport parking garage. Since I drove to pick up part of the family, I could only grab a photo once at the airport. Good angles and shadows of the parking levels made for a decent photo.

Stairwell

Day 362- 

Our three little grands came the day after Christmas and we celebrated once they arrived. When we were at the beach this summer they had cousin crew beach towels, so it was perfect for the kids to have t-shirts for this gathering. 

Cousins

Like I said at the top, come back Wednesday for the final installment of the 365-day Photo Challenge. 

©Copyright 2025 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet, The Queen of Seaford.

Photo-a-Day Week 51

We are so close to the end of the year! My week count is off a little, but the daily numbers are on target. With Christmas in just a few short days, there will be more holiday items in the daily photos. Come along and read more about the photos.

Day 349-

We went to a concert in Honea Path last week, and I wanted to photograph the decorations on Main Street. The concert venue is called Fiddle and Bow, a small former storefront building that hosts intimate concerts. This week was a bluegrass show. Small-town America really does Christmas decorations well!

Honea Path

Day 350-

Another day playing with the dogs in the driveway. It made me laugh when Liebling had the ring caught on her ears. She was ready to run after the other ring, not noticing she still had one on her head. 

I did drop it, throw the other one

Day 351-

We had another cold snap, and the water in the ditches froze in an interesting pattern. The curvy patterns caught my eye as I walked Fiona. 

Curvy ice

Day 352-

The tree is up and decorated. Millie has found a safe spot to hide from the dogs and check out the ornaments that are within her reach. I chose not to put the icicles on this year, some of Millie's favorite ornaments. She loved to knock them off the tree and scoot them around and tuck them under the edge of the rug. Not this year, sweetie!

Quality control 

Day 353-

If you could choose a rotten day to drive an hour to go to Costco, this would have been it. The traffic was crazy when we got up to Greenville, and the crowds were what you would expect right before Christmas. UGH!! 

Rainy foggy day

Day 354-

This winter bloomer is one of my favorites. Prunus mume 'Hokkai-bungo' is blooming a little earlier than usual this year. I look for it to be blooming by New Year's Day, but never before Christmas. Our weather has been different than previous years. Some days were a lot colder and others a lot warmer. If you can find a Flowering apricot, they are really nice to have, especially loved by the honey bees.

Flowering apricot

Day 355-

I was spreading some wildflower seeds on our septic drain field and noticed the holly berries on the Possumhaw holly at the corner of the lot. It is a native holly and grows wild in our area. Ilex decidua, like other hollies has male and female flowers on separate plants. 

Holly berries

The ones I didn't use-

While riding to Costco, I was taking a lot of rainy, foggy pictures. It was a toss-up whether to use this one or the one I chose. 

Here's another picture of the curved ice. Because I was walking Fiona, it was a quick couple of photos. Sadly, this one was blurry. A better view, but blurry, of the curved ice formation.

 I got out the kaleidoscope again to capture some Christmas magic. Do you see Santa? 

Thanks for reading through another week's worth of photos. 

©Copyright 2025 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet, The Queen of Seaford.