Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Sunday, August 24, 2025

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.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

On Again, Off Again, On Again....

Sunrise from the airplane
How did this spring get to be so busy?  Will the early summer be just as busy?  Probably.  For those who are still around, reading my words, thanks!  With hope I will have you coming back again and again.
Just what has been going on over the last three (!) weeks? Covering a lot of ground!  Or should I say, air?
Very early in the morning, a few Fridays ago, we made our way to the airport in Greenville to fly to Oklahoma City for a family wedding celebration and baptism.  Would you believe on the way to the airport we saw an Armadillo??? Here, in South Carolina!  Right outside our back gate!!  I had heard that they were here, but this was my first sighting since we lived in Texas.


It was wonderful to see all the family members present in OKC.  There is a ten month old great-nephew, four year old great-nephew  and a 5 month old great-niece (the one getting baptized).  They grow so fast.  Since we had some time to kill Saturday afternoon, we went downtown to the Myriad Botanical Gardens.  What a beautiful place.  OKC has really done a lot of work in its downtown area.    This is the Crystal Bridge, spanning the water.  All around the grounds are beautiful garden areas.

As we walked around the grounds I had to keep reminding myself we were in downtown!  Just beautiful!
 The banks are richly planted with grasses, Oakleaf hydrangeas, Itea virginica Virginia Sweetspire, and azaleas.  Love how the grasses swayed in the breeze.

 The upper levels have walking paths lined with lots of blooms.  The pollinators were busy at every spot.

 From a distance you see the banks of the gardens, so inviting!

What about this Crystal Bridge you might ask?  It houses a large conservatory.  One end had very tropical plantings and at the other end, it was more arid.   There is a catwalk across the top, giving you a wonderful overview of this magical garden.
 
At the floor level there are so many beautiful plants to see, many colorful foliage plants.

At this point I had to stop taking plant pictures, forgot my battery charger and still had family events to photograph.

Our trip home was longer than expected, flight got cancelled and lines were long to get re-booked.  So very glad to be home!!
It was good to walk through my own garden as many blooms had opened in my absence.
Amaryllis, first time blooming outside

Amaryllis, from one of my York County Master
Gardener friends.  Thanks John!

Kalmia latifolia 'Carol', moved from the front last fall as it
was almost dead.  She lives!!

Kalmia latifolia 'Sarah', had two tags on it, 'Sarah' and 'Carousel'.  Had
to wait until this year's bloom to know which it was.
Off in the woods the Blue-Eyed Grass is blooming.  
Sisyrunchium sp.
 Spring is the time that Spirea 'Goldmound' shines.  The yellow foliage accented with the bright pink blooms.

Home on Monday from OKC and then off again to Seaford and parts north on Friday.  Was able to make a quick stop at Freda's house for a wonderful visit and a nice lunch.  Her driveway curves around to the far side of her yard, so the mailbox with the house number wasn't seen yet, but as I drove by her house, I saw a very familiar garden....just like in the pictures on her blog.  Beautiful.
I was up in Virginia for my daughter's bridal shower in Manassas.  Drove my mom and Charlie's mom to the shower.  Great day!
A few shots from the shower, was too busy having a good
time to take a lot of pictures.

Came home with a few plants, courtesy of my mom and my friend Linda.  From my mom's yard I collected a few ferns, Woodwordia virginica 'Virginia Chain Fern' and some hostas that my mom had collected years ago from her mother's garden in Pittsburgh.  A few Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis, were tossed in.
Once the shed is painted (primer coat on now) I will plant most of these babies in the shed garden.

My dear friend Linda gave me a couple of her Yorktown Onions from her yard.  Mine are missing after a hard rain, tiny foliage was covered with silt.
How lucky am I??
Allium amperloprasum
 I brought my mother in law home with me for a visit.   Since the weather has been so nice we went over to Park Seed for a look around.  Well, yes, I did buy a couple plants.   We looked at the gardens in the front area.  Love the purples all together.


Pretty Clematis in the Rose garden area, no label.
 I love the blooms on Borage, had some last year, but the bunnies ate it. So I bought this one!  Will sow some more seeds around the plant I bought.....hoping to have lots next year!  Doesn't the bloom look like a tomato bloom or a Shooting Star bloom?  Same shape. .....except BLUE!!
 In addition to the Borage I bought a couple Foxgloves.  Last year I bought a purple one, so this year, a couple 'Camelot Cream'.
Digitalis purpurea 'Camelot Cream'
 Charlie took his mom home this week and I took another stroll through my garden, the Mountain Laurel blooms are pretty even when they are on the ground with a bed of lichen.


Finally, in the family garden Clematis 'Prince Charles' is in full bloom.  He has grown past the trellis and is nestled in the Gardenia shrubs.

I will be around your blogs to get caught up with what you have been doing.  Sorry for the absence....life, it has a way of getting in the way of things.


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

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

I have been missing from the internet for a bit.  My online time was short and intermittent.  Why?  Well, we just finished a trip to visit family.  The truck clocked a little over 3,300 miles.   I don't want to get in the truck for a while. 

Our first stop was Richmond for a 90th birthday celebration....during Hurricane Irene.  Great to see members of the extended family we hadn't seen for a number of years.

Found this sign along the trip!
 The day after the birthday celebration there was a baby shower for niece and nephew's soon to be born baby girl.

Isn't this the cutest? 
All sorts of goodies for the new baby...and a few fun things for big brother. 

After the shower we headed to Seaford to check on my mom.  She lives next door to my old house....in low Seaford.  I thank Les, Racquel and David and others keeping me posted on Hampton Roads conditions.  The Weather Channel and other national news outlets seemed to ignore any land mass between the Outer Banks and New York City.  I knew before we got there that Seaford had minimal flooding, a lot less than Isabel.  Hooray!  We got up Monday morning and cleaned up Mom's yard ....making runs to the dump to join the rest of the residents of York County getting rid of the storm debris.

No power for the time we were there.  The first shower, after all the cleanup was not bad.....the shower the next morning before we headed out was a bit chilly.  Power finally came back on for Mom a few days later.

From Seaford we headed out to Kansas to visit my sister and her husband.  Two days to get out there.
Love seeing the landscape as we drove.  Lots of beautiful vistas!



One of the few sunrises I have seen since Charlie retired.  Ok, it is pretty....just a tad early.

While in Kansas my sister and I went to a place that is named 'Top of the World'.  Big views and lots of wildflowers and LOTS of wind!  This is my sister....say hi!

 We had a good time checking out the flowers in the fields around us.
Liatris sp.

Ironweed, Vernonia fasciculata

And views that go on forever---

Rustic beauty.

Great varieties of blooms.

Kansas...grasses blowing in the wind with a sunflower -- perfect!

I love this one....one of those postcard pictures!

Another little bloom.  Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata

After the Top of the World, we went to Tuttle Creek Dam Lake.  Very pretty.
Sumac

Snow on the Mountain, Euphorbia marginata

Thistle and Sunflowers

Beautiful mix of wildflowers

The night before we left we had one of those picture perfect dinners. Recipes for this meal are on my sister's blog.  Bags by KZK   Venture on over there...good eats!!

Driving through Kansas we saw lots of open fields....

We headed to OKC to visit Charlie's sister and family.  There was a baby naming ceremony for another nephew's baby boy.  Saturday was filled with football, then a ride into downtown OKC.  The OKC Federal Building Memorial Sight is quite moving.  If you have not visited it, certainly worth  a stop.
Each chair has the name of one of the victims of the bombing.

There is a beautiful reflecting pool in the middle.

The sunlight shining through the chairs is just beautiful.
Quite a somber place.

Time to head home, the dogs had been in the boarding facility long enough.

  We headed home in time to drive through Tropical Lee. 
Storm to the left of us....yikes!

Visibility was limited.

Downtown Atlanta....through the raindrops
Close to home, Ware Shoals, big dark clouds

Heading this direction doesn't look good!
A few miles before we got off the highway the rain came down so hard and fast it was like someone dumped a bucket of white paint on the windshield.   So glad to be home. This is just a brief overview of all our activities during the last week or so.   Picked up the dogs today and gave them a bath....boy did they need it. 
The gardens need tending, the voles and the heat have taken their toll on my poor plants. 
Hoping to get back into the swing of visiting everyone's blogs.    



©Copyright 2011 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.