Picture This. . .: July 2009

Fire in the Sky

We were at the Pleasantville Organic Farm this past weekend. They were showing the movie Babe in the courtyard and I snapped this while waiting for the show to begin.

Visit all the other wonderful sky watchers by clicking here.

Who isn't distracted by shiny things? It's even better when it's shiny money!!

Please join in the fun and show us all your shiny stuff. All I ask is this:

1. Post on Thursdays - Mr. Linky is available now - so jump right in.
2. Choose your favorite, because only one picture is allowed each week.
3. Use the button code below in your post (putting it in your side bar is optional, but much appreciated).
4. Visit all the other distracted photographers out there.

Please sign up with Mr. Linky and leave a comment (I LOVE comments). Can't wait to see your shiny stuff!

Orange Sailboat

Sorry, not quite wordless.

Final sailboat in my series of four. Click here to see the other three.

To see other wordless wonders, click the icon above.

Yellow Sailboat

Here is the third in my four part "Sailboat" series. Yes, I know it's more white than it is yellow, but the yellow is what stands out to me.

To see the other sailboats in the series, click:

Red Sailboat

Blue Sailboat

Oops, you'll just have to wait until 7-29-09

Visit everyone else with "Yellow" fever here.

Dew Drops

We woke up one foggy morning to find the spiders had been very active the night before. There were spider webs everywhere. Perhaps, they are always there, but we just don't notice until the glisten of a dew drop captures our eyes.

Macro Monday is hosted by Lisa at Lisa's Chaos - take a moment to visit the other macro photographers!

Fresh

The green of this fern is a fresh color as it is, but I think the water droplets make it feel even more so.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday is hosted by Murietta 365. Please visit all the untouched (except for cropping) photos here.

Razzle Dazzle

I have Raspberry Razzle Dazzle Crape Myrtles in my front landscaping and they have just burst into flower. This is just one stem. Eventually, the entire bush is covered in these flowers.

There is information on this plant at my gardening blog. If you would like to see these flowers in your yard, read up on the plant and see if it's right for you.

Please visit the virtual flower garden - click here.

African Royalty

Several years ago, we were at The Animal Kingdom in Disney World. While riding around on a tram tour, I snapped this pic.

I remember, at the time, being disappointed in the shot because you couldn't see the golden hues of the lions contrasting with the green of the tree. But something kept drawing me back to the photo.

Over time, this has become one of my favorite photos. Seeing just the shadows of the lions against the blue sky give them a more majestic presence.

It looks like something right out of The Lion King, doesn't it?

Happy SkyWatch Friday everyone! Enjoy the photos of all the other sky watchers here.

23 Cents

It's almost Thursday!!

Blue Sailboat

I have just a few words to say, sorry.

This is the second of a four part series. The others are:

Red Sailboat
posted on 7-27-09
posted on 7-29-09

Please visit all the other wordless (and in some cases not-so-wordless) bloggers out there by clicking here.

Red Sailboat

There were several men racing remote controlled sailboats on one of the lakes here in Pleasantville. It was so captivating and my girls loved it!

This is the first of four in a short series. I have several pictures of these sailboats, but this series will only highlight one boat at a time. I presented a photo of the boats racing together in the Sweetsauer Photohunt Challenge as my entry for Air/Wind - to see it, click here.

Since it is Ruby Tuesday, I decided to present the red sailboat first. The others are:

Blue Sailboat
posted on 7-27-09
posted on 7-29-09

Please stop by again!

To see all the other ruby hunters, visit here.

Lilac

What's the difference between Lilac & Lavender?

Some think it is the same, but, as seen below, there is a difference.

Lilac is a warmer color, closer to the reds/pinks.

Lavender is a coolor color, closer to the blues.

See all the other macro shooters here.

I also have a posting about the care of lilac bushes on my gardening site.

Oh, and one more shameless plug for my third blog (the one that started it all for me), Life Makes Me Laugh. There is a contest to name the top ten Babes in Babeland. Please visit, and if you like my stories, vote for me :)

Before the Berry

We've never had berries on our Holly bushes and they're going into their third season in our landscape. Then I saw this little flower. I'm pretty sure that means there's going to be berries this year! We'll just have to wait and see. . .

You can see many other flowers at the virtual flower garden here.

Lasting Affection

Zinnias, in general, symbolize friendship & thoughtfulness. Each color has a little more distinctive meaning.

White - Goodness

Yellow - Daily Remembrance

Scarlet - Consistancy

Magenta - Lasting Affection

To visit all the other participants, visit Murietta 365.

If you're interested, and want to know more about zinnias, visit my gardening blog.

No Wind

What can I say?

Just one more cool thing to see in Pleasantville. There's actually two of them, one here by the canals, and one at the organic farm. They, among others, are landmarks. We say things like, "Turn left at the fountains and follow the road a ways until you see the windmill. Turn left at the windmill and we're on the right side of the road."

Visit all the other skywatchers here.

Fraternal Triplets

Curiouser and curiouser!

This is indeed one Balloon Flower plant. There is one white flower, one purple flower and one double purple flower.

It's weird enough that there is a white flower on a plant that is normally flush with purple flowers. But I didn't even know there was such a thing as a DOUBLE Balloon Flower.

This is one of my favorite flowers in my landscaping - I've got about a dozen. To see more on this plant, visit my gardening blog - just click the "Goofy Gardener" on the tabs at the top of the page.

True Blue

It's Thursday, time to share your shiny stuff!

If you've never played before, here are the rules:

1. Post on Thursdays - Mr. Linky is available now - so jump right in.
2. Choose your favorite, because only one picture is allowed each week.
3. Use the button code below in your post (putting it in your side bar is optional, but much appreciated) .
4. Visit all the other distracted photographers out there

Please sign up with Mr. Linky and leave a comment (I LOVE comments). Can't wait to see your shiny stuff!

Lost Ladies

Visit all the other Wordless Wednesday participants here.

Wagon Wheel

Ruby Tuesday is hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Visit all the other ruby hunters here.

This wooden wagon wheel is all that remains of an icon of the American Old West - the covered wagon.

Got Rust?

Macro Monday is brought to you by Lisa's Chaos where you can go to get other macro shots.

Tetanus is often associated with rust, especially rusty nails, but this concept is somewhat misleading. Objects that accumulate rust are often found outdoors, or in places that harbor bacteria, but the rust itself does not cause tetanus nor does it contain more of the bacteria that causes tetanus.

The rough surface of a rusty nail merely provides a prime habitat for the tetanus bacteria to reside, and the nail affords a means to puncture skin and deliver the bacteria to the wound.

Just thought you'd like to know. Thanks Wikipedia!

What's In A Name?

Visit the virtual flower shop here.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
William Shakespeare

No Fear

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday is a meme hosted by Murrieta 365. No photo tweaking (with the exception of cropping) is allowed. Visit this week's straight shooters here.

"Fear is the highest fence."

Dudley Nichols

Beautiful Butterfly

This beautiful Monarch is the same one flying high in my SkyWatch Friday photo.

I followed him around until he landed on my Butterfly Bush. Then, I slowly crept toward him until I could get this close.

Awesome, isn't it?

Fly With Me!

My larvae only eat the milkweed plant.

My pupa looks like a pretty green vase and becomes translucent as I transform.

When I emerge I am not a Viceroy even though we look alike.

I fly high and far.

Who am I?

Visit all the other Sky Watchers by visiting here

Ooooo, Shiny!

(a new Thursday thing)

I made my announcement on Tuesday - I'M DISTRACTED BY SHINY THINGS!!!

It only took me an hour to make my way through Lowes to get 1X6 board and a fan balancing "kit" - there are a lot of shiny things in the lighting department. This beauty was up there screaming, "Look at me! I'm so pretty!" I couldn't help myself.

Now I want to see your shiny things. Leave your mark with Mr. Linky (and a comment) so everyone can see what you are distracted by.

Go here, to see the rules & grab the code for the sparkly button above.