Photo-a-Day Week 45

Sunday is almost over, time to get my post written! I spent a good deal of time outside today, working in the garden, spreading some wildflower seeds to new locations. Removed a good amount of blackberry brambles, though there's a lot more to get rid of. Not sure where the rest of the day went, but here we are, after 10:00 PM, and I am just starting the week's post. Let's get right to it.

Day 307-

Liebling is nine years old and starting to get gray around her muzzle. Her eyes are so expressive. There are times I forget how old she is, if the toys come out of the closet, she is jumping and barking- ready to go out and play.

Sad Eyes

Day 308-

A quick snack of some leftover snacks from bridge. Yogurt-covered pretzels and spicy Sriracha mixed nuts. I made my own mixed nuts with cashews, pecans, almonds, and peanuts. It is a quick and easy recipe. Spicy Sriracha Mixed Nuts a hit in our house! 

Spicy and Sweet

Day 309-

Coming back from the doctor's appointment, over hill and dale, we came upon a logistics company, Amplify, a Landstar agent's yard. Charlie worked with Ranger Landstar in Florida for a year in a program Army calls "Training with Industry". Some families have a yellow punchbuggy call out while on a trip, we call out Landstar trucks and trailers. To see a whole yard of trailers was kind of fun. 

Landstar

Day 310-

While waiting for the moon to rise on the night of the Super moon,  I was able to enjoy the sunset. The best place to view sunsets and moonrises is down on the dock. Our house faces south, and the lake is to the north. East and west views are hidden by the woods. To get clear views, the dock on the lake provides long views. 

Sunset on the Lake

Day 311-

Goldenrod blooms have faded into puffy seedheads. I love how the sunlight dances and sparkles on the seeds. Of course, no photo in my garden is complete without a strand of dog hair. Today I scattered some of these seeds in our drain field. Solidago sp.

Goldenrod seedhead

Day 312-

The low angles of the sun make for wonderful photo opportunities. The dogwood along the driveway is in its full fall colors, and the light behind it is something to behold. 

Dogwood with Sun

Day 313-

This photo was from a series of a number of photos, trying to get the best angle to show off the tiny mushrooms. I have the "not chosen" ones included with the one I think was the best.  A small, tight pinecone with several small mushrooms popping up at each crease caught my eye. I was next to the pollinator garden, hanging a bird feeder in place of the hummingbird feeder (long taken down) when I noticed the pinecone and all its adornments. Do you like the one chosen or those I discarded?

Pinecone with mushrooms

Some not in focus

Again, not the best

Different view, still not my favorite

This brings us to the end of another week of the photo a day. Hope you are still enjoying the variety of photos. We are getting close to the end of the year!  

©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 41

Week 41 seems to have more blooms with butterflies; Fall brings an abundance of these winged beauties. I need to read more about Fritillary butterflies. I have seen some that are quite a bit smaller than the ones I have pictured below. 

Day 279-

I noticed this tiny mushroom in the garden and bent down to photograph it. After looking at what I captured I realized there was a small snail on the mushroom. Before the photo, I thought it was a bump on the mushroom. Pays to lean in and look closely!

Snail on Mushroom

Day 280-

The Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans, blooms in October and it attracts Cloudless Sulphur butterflies. With the sun behind the butterfly, it really glowed. 

Cloudless Sulphur on Pineapple Sage

Day 281-

These beauties are Gulf Fritillary butterflies. As I mentioned above, I have seen smaller Fritillary butterflies, and after reading more, I found that there are several Fritillary butterflies in South Carolina. Perhaps the ones I see that are smaller are the Variegated Fritillary.  These are enjoying the nectar of the Ironweed that is blooming in the garden. 

Fritillary butterflies on Ironweed

Day 282-

We arrived at the grocery store this week to find a fire truck sitting by the entrance. I have no idea if anything was wrong. I tried a few views of the truck to see if I could get a good photo. While I used this one, I had others from which to choose. Still not sure if this was the better choice.  One of the other choices is below.

Fire truck at the grocery store

Day 283-

I have had this Encore azalea for years. The deer have pruned it over the years, taking flower buds away with the tasty leaves. For some reason, the deer allowed it to bloom this fall. Encore azalea 'Autumn Twist' blooms twice, once in the spring and then in the fall. 

Encore!

Day 284-

We went to a concert in Greenville this week, at the Radio Room. I like the open ceiling where you can see the ductwork and structure supporting the ceiling and lighting throughout the area. 

Radio Room

Day 285-

I try to use fewer paper napkins. By the dining room table is a basket full of colorful cloth napkins. When the kids visit, everyone is assigned a color, and that is their napkin for a meal or two. They wash easily and when they are worn out, they make good dusters. 

Rainbow Selection

Discarded photos-

I didn't choose the black and white image of the fire truck because I wanted a bit of the color to pop. This filter is from an app called 'Prisma'. Some of the filters are free, and others are behind a paywall. I only use the free ones.

The day I chose the Cloudless Sulphur on Pineapple Sage, I also had this little beauty in the possible photos. It is interesting to see the inner spiral of the snail shell. While not the first choice, worth sharing.

This brings another week to a close. There are only eleven weeks to go! Keep coming back, at the end of the year I would love to hear which were your favorites! 

©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 34

Welcome back for another week's roundup of the photo challenge. Once again, I will include some of the photos that didn't make the cut. Not every day has more than one photo from which to choose. Let's look at this week's photos. 

Day 230-

I really love the structure of the Butterfly weed blooms. Asclepias tuberosa is native to our area, and I have it planted in a few areas in my gardens. The one that is doing the best is this one, in a pot on the deck! 

Butterfly Weed

I had another photo in mind for this day, but the Butterfly Weed won out. Here's the runner-up- Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine' was glowing in the front forest. The morning sun was hitting it just right to really highlight its bold yellow foliage. 

Day 231-

More dreary days. This photo might look as though I added a black and white filter, but no, it is just as seen! This is a garden ornament windmill in my front garden. While weeding under it on a windy day, I was surprised by the shadows of the spinning arms. On the ground, it looked like a snake was moving through the garden!

Windmill

Another discarded photo- Cypress vine bloom. Love how the white pollen dots the bright red petals. 

Day 232-

This time of year, we have lots of dragonflies and damselflies. This one was so tiny, it was hard to get a good photo. This is an Orange Bluet damselfly. Pretty little thing. 

Orange Bluet, damselfly

A rejected photo was a Blue Dancer damselfly. Too blurry to use for the photo of the day. 

Day 233-

I was at the Charlotte Douglas Airport, and near my gate was a sculpture of an airplane tail. I liked how the light bounced off the floor. Using a black and white filter really accentuated the light and shadows.

Charlotte

Day 234-

This photo was in the Philadelphia Airport, looking out the window as I walked to my gate. The rail transit is another way to get to the airport. A photo taken quickly and not edited. In hindsight, I would have cropped the bottom up a little bit. Oh well. 

Transit

Day 235-

On the drive home, I was routed through town; usually, we take a truck route around town. They were resurfacing the truck route, so I had the opportunity to capture a quick shot of some of the downtown area of Clinton, SC. I like how the different storefronts are different colors. (FYI- I was at a stoplight)

Clinton town square

Day 236-

More rain, now more mushrooms. I like observing some of the different mushrooms around the yard. Again, using a black and white filter, bringing the shadows and shapes into view. 

Fungi

The unused photo is the photo in color. Which do you prefer?

That's a wrap for this week. Come again next Sunday. 

©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 25

Another week done! As we enter the heat of summer, photos will be taken either early morning or late afternoon. 

Day 167-

After the rain we had earlier this month, I have seen some interesting mushrooms in various spots in the yard. This is an old tree stump, breaking down a little bit every year. The sunlight was shining just right for this capture. Above the mushrooms are the branches of the Japanese maple 'Garnet'. We brought that to SC with us from Virginia, and it is doing well in this spot.

More fungi

Day 168-

The hummingbird feeder in the front yard is a prime spot for some of the Anoles to get a drink of water from the ant guard, or grab a quick bite, as ants love to try to get to the sugar water. 

I like it here, go away

Day 169 -

A drive into town afforded me the opportunity to get a good picture of this church steeple. I was waiting at the light, so I grabbed my cellphone and took a couple of pictures before the light turned green. It is the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood. 

Steeple

Day 170-

There are quite a few buildings around our area that have lovely, intricate brickwork. The craftmanship and beauty of these bricklayers are evident in this building. It was once called the Barksdale Building, and I found a link with some old photos of Uptown Greenwood from years gone by; this one was depicted in the early 1900s. Currently it houses a men's clothing store.

Brickwork

Day 171-
We were working on our irrigation pump and pipes again a few days ago. While waiting for the glue to dry before we tested the connection, we sat on the steps that go to the water. There was a Blue Dancer damsel fly and this Eastern Amberwing dragonfly flitting around, teasing me into to trying to get a photo. It was so bright it was hard to see the screen of my cellphone. I wasn't sure I even had their image in the frame. This photo was the last of the group,, I finally gave up, and when we came inside, I saw I had a good picture of the Amberwing.

ps- the pump works and the pipes aren't leaking, yay us!

Eastern Amberwing

Day 172-

Our wedding anniversary is June 21st. My wedding bouquet is silk flowers. My mom made the bouquet, she also sewed my wedding dress, and put together the veil. She was a very talented lady. I miss her. To protect the bouquet from dust and dirt, I bought a large brandy snifter and topped it with a small plate.  It sits on our antique hutch on the upper shelf. 

45 years

Day 173-

It was quiet on the lake late yesterday afternoon but for a lone water skier. I got out my big camera and waited for the boat to circle back around so I could get a photo. While zooming in on the anticipated spot where the skier would come into view, I spotted a hummingbird resting on a branch in the shade.

Hummingbird silhouette

That's all for this week's photo a day, next week is halfway through the year!  I have my notes and will be working on writing the post about the community garden while on the Fling. This week it will get done! 

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

Mush Mush Mush Mushrooms

This past summer was wet, a lot wetter than previous summer since we moved to South Carolina.  Besides the joy of not having to worry about watering plants, we enjoyed a bumper crop of mushrooms.  They were varied, colorful and popped up in multiple places... everywhere except the logs that I had inoculated with mushroom spores after hearing Tradd Cotter from Mushroom Mountain give a talk to the Master Gardeners.  I shared with you how I drilled the logs and plugged them here.

These inedible ones popped up in the mulch in the backyard that had reddish caps.

Some where wide and white, peeking out along the rocks-

Some were wavy and orangish in the pinestraw-

The gills were open -

Some looked a little dirty-

This one had a yellow tint to its upturned cap--

What does this one look like to you???

I marvel at how different they all are, this one's cap is kind of fuzzy looking-

These little ones were all lined up-

looks like the snails like mushrooms.  

Aren't they cute?

This one looks as if the cap is part of the stem--

This is the gnarliest one I found in the yard.  Almost looks like a pinecone.  

Finally, a year after plugging the logs, I finally found an edible mushroom!!  I was sure this was a Shiitake, up until it was time to eat it.  I had to send a picture to Tradd for verification.  Call me a scaredy cat..or cautious, but I wanted to be sure!!!  This is the first one I had harvested --waiting for them to start popping. 

Looks like some"body" took a bite of my first mushroom!  Do you grow mushrooms?  How long did it take for you to harvest the first one?   I also plugged some Oyster mushrooms, waiting on them to appear.

©Copyright 2013 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.