Photo-a-Day Week 49

Another week is in the books! Hope you enjoyed this week's photos. Let's take a closer look at each and see what might not have been selected. 

Day 335-

I hope you enjoy live music as much as my husband and I do. It is great to see artists in person and feel the energy of the crowd. This night was standing room only, and we were able to get up to the rail along the left side of the stage. This band is American Aquarium, lots of fun.

Live Music

Day 336-

I love our cabinet pulls; you saw some in a previous day's photo of the day. This door hook is part of the collection. It is a great spot to hang my aprons. 

Mustache

Day 337-

I planted a number of Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine' in the woods and along the driveway. During the summer, even though they are bright yellow, they don't pop in the landscape. In the fall and into the winter, once the other leaves have faded, these yellow leaves shine. The nice thing about the Illicium is that the deer don't like them; the leaves have a strong licorice aroma.  Their flowers are small and rather unnoticeable. During the winter, the low angle of the sun finds its way to shine directly on some of these shrubs. 

A Couple Spots of Sunshine

Day 338-

This is my cereal bowl, full of plump blueberries. I liked how the milk settled into the recesses of the berry. 

Blueberries with Milk

Day 339-

This time of year, I find myself at the post office mailing our family calendars across the country. I put these calendars together every year. All the members of the family have their photo on their birthday date, and each month is a photo of something blooming in my garden. It is fun to see how the little ones grow and change over the years. We currently have two birthday doubles, my grandson and my brother, and my granddaughter and my sister. There's a new member of the family due to be born around the grandson/brother date, so we shall see if that date will have three born on that day! 

PO Box

Day 340-

We had a cold blast of weather this week, and it is nice to be able to turn on the gas logs to take the chill off the room. These are vent-free logs, so they do warm up the room nicely. 

Cozy

Day 341-

I know many of you have Robins in your gardens, and they aren't a novelty. I noticed a large flock of them in my front yard, high up in the pine trees. They were making a lot of noise, fluttering and calling to each other. If it were springtime and a nest was nearby, I could understand the commotion, but that wasn't the case. I did a photo book of the birds in our neighborhood, but there were no Robins. I have updated the book a few times with newly observed birds, so it might be time to update the book again!

Robin

And the also-rans- 

I took a few photos of the band and the stage for the photo of the day- trying to get that perfect shot. The black and white one was kind of flat. The one with the yellow spotlight didn't measure up either. 

Driving to the concert I tried using a slow shutter speed and get the lights of traffic. Will try this again in the future. 

The day I posted the fireplace, the frozen bird bath caught my eye. Again, it was kind of a meh, not too exciting.

The last one not used was a flock of Canada Geese swimming on the lake. Getting a photo through the trees was not easy. You can see the gray, dismal day.  The fireplace photo took the spotlight for that day.

Thus ends another week for my photo a day! Come back again next week. 

©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 46

Week 46! We are closing in on the end of the year quickly. Here is last week's photos with some rejects and explanations of the photos taken. 

Day 314-

We have had a crazy fall, drought conditions, and then a big rainfall and warmer temperatures. My spring-blooming azalea started blooming again in the fall. So I have a little fall color where none was expected. 

Mixed up Coral Bells

Day 315-

My husband won this truck and tank set earlier this year. So many others had photos of their veterans on Facebook, I chose to share a fun military vehicle set. At some point, our grandson will get the set, still a little young for now.

Happy Veterans Day

Day 316-

This oak leaf was dangling on a thread of spider web, twisting and turning as the breeze blew. A little portrait filter, blurring the background, and a light adjustment made for a super photo. 

Leaf on a spider web thread

Day 317-

We went to another concert, surprise, right? While waiting for the show to start I took a few photos of the lights, the stage, and my surroundings. I liked the two fiddles on the stand best of all. There's another one below, my beer glass with the blue lights behind it. We saw Kelsey Waldon, a Kentucky country/Americana music singer. We saw her at Albino Skunk fest a few years ago and really liked her. 

Twin fiddles

Day 318-

My Christmas/Thanksgiving cactuses are getting ready to bloom. Nestled in one of the pots is a little garden gnome that I bought on one of the Garden Flings I went on, though right now I can't remember which one it was, maybe San Francisco?? Or Denver? Or Portland? Who knows, but I like it in my cactus planting.

Pot Gnome

Day 319-

While walking the dog in the late afternoon, I noticed how blue and clear the sky was. The pines, standing in a line, left after the lumber harvest, made a good foreground to set off the blue. Enjoy our sunny day.

Blue Skies

Day 320-

Kind of at a loss for what to get a photo of for the day, I was taking the bird feeders out of our new trash can, where they reside overnight. The raccoons are too destructive to leave the feeders up after dark. I put my Bird Buddy back up with a cage around it to deter the squirrels, the lightweight cage would not hold back Mr. Raccoon. Anyway, the empty can has a nice pattern in the metal, making for a good photo.

Night home for bird feeders

The also-rans- photos thought about using but decided against them-

While going outside after dark, I noticed the leaf with its shadow on the stone wall. It caught my eye but I still felt like the daylight photo was better than this one. 

Beer with a backlight of blue. I thought this was going to be "the" shot, but after we got home and I looked through the other photos taken at the concert, I liked the fiddles better. 

 I shared a number of our Aurora Borealis photos on social media, pretty excited to have the experience AGAIN! Seeing the Northern Lights has always been a bucket list item. To see them twice in South Carolina was amazing.  I read we would have more on the following nights, while the reds and greens didn't show, the lights and clouds made for a cool photo.  

Late afternoon walks with Fiona are a great time to see low-angle sunlight through the trees. My neighbor has an American Beech in her front yard and this time of year it just glows.

That's all for this week, thanks again for stopping by. Let's see what next week brings!!

©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.

Queen Bee

and the Honeylovers. Wait, is this a bee post? No, but it mentions bees in the band's name. 

Let me back up a little bit. Last Saturday night after watching Austin City Limits debut performance of Ray Wylie Hubbard, a different show came on. Funny how that works, right? Anyhow, Charlie was asleep and the remote was on his side of the bed, so I just watched as I drifted off to sleep. It was a a show on PBS UNC called Echo Sessions. My interest was piqued by the performers for this week's show. Queen Bee and the Honeylovers. This band is from Asheville. For those who have read my blog for a while know I fell in love with Asheville when I went to my first Garden Blogger's Fling. 

The first two points in their favor are 

1. bees - we like bees- even if it is the name of a band.

2. Asheville- the name of the CD, I gave this band a listen. 

They are billed as a Swing Jazz band. The songs performed on this CD are original, written by Whitney Moore, the lead singer, or Whitney and Michael Gamble, James Posedel, or Steve Karla. Subject matter for this set of songs were legends of Asheville, many from Whitney's grandparents' stories. 

A few more points in their favor go to the songs themselves. 

3. One song is about Cornelia Vanderbilt, as she comes of age at the Biltmore hosting a masquerade ball. I love the Biltmore. During the Fling we toured the gardens. Charlie and I went back to tour the house. What a remarkable place. 

4. Zelda Fitzgerald- song title 'Legend of Zelda Fitzgerald' caught my ear as I listened to the show. Our neighborhood book club read a story of Zelda.  Guests on Earth  by Lee Smith, where it talked about her time in a hospital/sanitorium in Asheville. 

5. I am The Queen, appreciate other royalty.

 The next morning I Googled this band and found their website. I ordered their CD and it arrived Tuesday. This morning I did my curbside pick up for groceries, I grabbed the new CD and drove into town. What a fun CD, the music is light and jazzy- just what they advertised- Swing Jazz. Whitney's voice is reminiscent of music from the 20s and 30s, with fresh songs. I love the ties to Asheville as she is a 4th generation Asheville native. 

Their website mentions new material coming out, shows on television, like Echo Sessions, and radio interviews. Our favorite radio station, WNCW had their 'Asheville' CD on the list of listener-voted poll of top 100 albums at #41 for 2019 (I think I am late to the party with this band!!). 

Give a listen to the old standard  'Until the Real Thing Comes Along' 

All comments and thoughts are my own, no compensation for this review. Hope you like them as much as I do.

©Copyright 2021 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

From Albino to Thunder and Waiting on Chocolate

It is that time of year again, Albino Skunk Music Festival!  This is the spring festival (rather FEST---TUU-- VAAAAAAAAALL) for Albino Skunk.  You might remember we have gone a few other times, each one a wonderful experience.    I didn't  post the first one (for some reason!?!) and the second time we went the post is here.   As in the past, the directional signs were professionally done and easy to read. 

This is Mr. Albino Skunk.  

 Music is what we are here for!!

We went on Friday, music started about 2:00 PM.  First up was Darby Wilcox and her band....called Darby and the Peepshow.  Darby is a local gal from Greenville, SC.  I would call her singing sassy and spunky.  Great band to open the festival.

Some random folks enjoying the festival.  It was a beautiful day.  

After Darby was a band called Brushfire Stankgrass from Asheville.  They claim it isn't bluegrass, but stankgrass.  According to their website stankgrass is mixing their bluegrass chops with a pinch of jazz, reggae, rock and punk.  

The venue is comfortable under mature oaks on nicely sloping land making for a great view of the bandstand.  On the backside of the stage area is the camping area.  Behind the camera are the vendors, the kid's area, food and drinks, and the merchandise table.  

The band we were looking forward to seeing was next.  Hurray for the Riff Raff is great.   A folk/country band from New Orleans is their description, but only scratches the surface of the band.  Lead singer and songwriter is Alynda lee Segarra.  Her voice is amazing.

After Hurray for the Riff Raff came Rayna Gellert and Scott Miller.   I enjoyed Rayna's smile...and her singing and her fiddle playing ...but boy -- great smile.  Scott Miller, songwriter from Virginia/Tennessee, had a lot of fun narrative to go along with his music.  Love his song 'Lo Siento Spanishburg West Virginia'

The Brushfire Stankgrass guys came back for another set around dinner time.

 Hurray for the Riff Raff also came back for another set.  Junebug Waltz was one of the numbers they did.

A repeat to the Albino Skunk Music Festival was next-- Town Mountain, a bluegrass band.  Great musicianship with these guys.  The finale for their set was Orange Blossom Special....out of this world.

Town Mountain finished about 10:30 PM and we decided it was time to head home even though there was more music to be played.  Looking forward to the fall festival...not sure who is coming yet but I know it will be a great time.  The Albino Skunk Music Festival goes for a couple days, but we had other plans for Saturday.

Saturday found us heading to one of our other music spots...Newberry Opera House to see Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.   Last year we saw Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder perform their bluegrass show.  This year they combined bluegrass and country, pure bluegrass has no drums, usually just mandolin, banjo, fiddle and guitar.  Look at Ricky's hand....he is an outstanding mandolin player.

This is the full set when additional players came out for the country numbers.  What a great library of hits.

Oh, did I mention Chocolate?  Well this is the best chocolate money can buy.... plain and simple.  (this is a lovely surprise from my husband)

 This isn't the kind of Chocolate I was talking about.... though I am enjoying every last bite!

Coming up in May is a concert I am really excited about....Carolina Chocolate Drops!!  We will see them at the Handlebar in Greenville.   We saw them last July at the Handlebar and look forward to seeing them again!!

It has been and will continue to be a musical spring.


©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.