Spring is More Than Welcome

It's been a particularly cold winter this year. Moving to Missouri made it even more so, with all the snow and ice that seemed to last forever to this southern girl! This past Monday was officially the first day of spring, and the weather has been really nice...cool in the early morning and evening, but warm enough to go without a coat through the day. I'm ready for it to be warm again!

Everyone has told us that springtime is gorgeous in these hills. I'm already catching a glimpse of the colors to come...purple flowers (who knows what they are?) alongside the road, bright yellow flowers and pink ones...bursts of beautiful color everywhere! I can't wait to see what the landscape will be like in another couple weeks!

Here's my first offerings of spring. I hope to get more as the days pass by, but for now these will be a start.

Flowering Pear | Canon EOS 40D | EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 |  f/9 |  1/320 | ISO 200 | Focal Length 135.0 mm  

Magnolia at Night | Canon EOS 40D | EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 | f/5.6 | 1/50 | ISO 400 | Focal Length 90.0 mm

 Magnolias Grandeur |EOS 40D | EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 | f/7.1 | 1/320 | ISO 200 | Focal Length 65.0 mm

 Magnolias in Pink |Canon EOS 40D | EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 | f/7.1 | 1/640 | ISO 200 | Focal Length 47.0 mm

 Shadows on Silk | Canon EOS 40D | EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 | f/8 | 1/100 | ISO 200 | Focal Length 109.0 mm

Winter Wonderland 2

Today I woke to a beautiful, white, bright, cloudless day. The sun was glistening across the landscape, making the fallen snow from yesterday twinkle like glitter under its brilliant rays. It was a great day for photos, and after walking my "girls" I grabbed my camera and headed out.

What to select? It was all so beautiful to behold. I was fascinated by the snow accumulation on the tree branches...this Floridian had never this kind of snow before! Trudging through the fluffy whiteness, and being VERY careful where I placed my feet, I walked around just shooting what attracted me. The snow on the limbs, the rounded balls piled up like headless snowmen on the weedy shoots...everything that caught my eye was food for my camera.

Such wonder in the quietness of the hillside so early in the morning made me realize just how frail we as humans are and how majestic our God, who created such glorious beauty, is. It was a tremendous feeling to be out there alone, hearing the birds call and seeing the wonder of the landscape.

Just beautiful, I'm just saying.

All photos taken with a Canon EOS 40D with 28-135mm f/3.5--5.6 lens.

It's a Winter Wonderland!

It snowed again today. Much more than the first week we came. Sleet bouncing against the window woke me about 4:30 AM, and my hopes as I lay there listening to the sharp pings against the panes were that the power would not fail.

It's been a very blustery day. A mix of sleet and snow fell until around lunch, then turned to snow in the afternoon. As I walked my dogs, giving them a romp in the white stuff, the sound of the wind whipping through the ice-laden limbs was sharp and crackly. 17 degree temps took my breath away. The dogs paws made crunchy sounds as they walked through the snow. It was a great opportunity to get some shots, and I loved being out in the crisp, cold air!

It's been a beautiful winter day and I'm grateful that this winter storm that is supposed to make history has been, so far, gentler here in Blue Eye than was originally expected. My husband and I are Floridians, and as we've never witnessed snow or sleet to this degree, it has been interesting observing the weather as it changed moment by moment. The wind has kicked up something akin to dirt devils...or snow tornadoes...as it flurries furiously in circles. Ice hangs on the trees (and power lines), encasing the limbs in its frozen fingers. Icicles drip from any available surface, reminding us that the temperatures have been VERY COLD.

It's absolutely mesmerizing, absolutely gorgeous, and absolutely mysterious. It's a Winter Wonderland.


All photos taken with a Canon 40D with 28-135mm lens.

Thursday, January 20, 2011--FIRST SNOW DAY!

Our first snow day in Blue Eye, Missouri! I was able to capture a few quick snapshots of the landscape and my two "girls" as they adjusted to their first snow. It has been quite chilly here, and bundling up just to take the dogs on a walk is a great adventure. Mittens or gloves, long coat, NEED SOME SNOW BOOTS!, knit cap on my head....wow, what a change from Florida life!

I hope to capture better photos when it snows again. The effort to get out and really get some good shots paled to the unpacking I still have to do...so come the next snow I'll be ready!

Two Months Later

Wow. Where do I start? For the last two months, I've been packing, selling, moving, unpacking, hunting, creating and learning.

• Packing, because we moved to central Florida and started a new life apart from that which we had been accustomed to over the past ten years. It took 3 weeks to pack!

• Selling, because we had too much stuff to move. For six weekends we did yard sales at my Mom's to "liquidate" all our belongings. That was tough, but a necessary evil.

• Moving, because our lives took an unexpected direction, and staying where we were just was not an option in our minds. Central Florida had opportunities and we took them.

• Unpacking, because my husband doesn't like stacked up boxes everywhere. It took one week to unpack! (And the majority went to storage).

• Hunting, because we needed work. Although my husband couldn't work due to his health, I had to begin job hunting...and what a hunt it was!

• Creating, because during ALL this that was happening, I stumbled across Zazzle.com and began building a store to showcase and sell some of my creations on-line!

• Learning, because my hunt for a job did finally pay off and I have been training in a job position that is new to me...and what a learning curve!

So it's been a busy few weeks and I've not devoted myself to my blog...but I'm back and up and running!

Here are a few Christmas lights taken at Lake Mirror in Lakeland, Florida.

On Vacation

I suppose there's a lot to be said about taking a vacation. You long for it, grow impatient because it doesn't arrive fast enough, and then, when it's over, the aftermath of recovering from it is tiring. Such was the experience this weekend as we returned from cruising the western Caribbean on the Carnival ship lines.

We sailed from New Orleans, Louisiana and visited Belize City and Cozumel. Isla Roatan was cancelled due to inclement weather, causing us great disappointment since we have not been there. The ship's staff said it was beautiful, but I suppose we'll have to catch that one the next time around.

All in all, the experience was good, but I was more than ready to get home to "rescue" my two beloved dogs from the boarding they were enduring. So, a few photos later, I'm back at home, settling back into my "normal" routine, washing a mound of clothing, pampering my "girls" and generally enjoying life. It's all good.