Beatiful, and, Ummm...not so beautiful...all in the same day!

We are starting to get out in the woods a little more 

although

not as much as I'd like yet (too busy, dang it!)

to get photographs.

But I was glad I DID get out one day,

because

THIS

is

what I saw!:

(A face only a Mother could love)

See THESE claws??:

(Let's just say that I did NOT attempt to pick him up for a picture of his backside!)

He was smack in the middle of the road.

I got out of the car to gently nudge him with my feet to the side of the road

so he wouldn't get run over.

But then I remembered I had SANDALS on....

(HE had other ideas about the whole "she's jabbing me with an unprotected foot thing".)

HIS idea was:

I DON'T THINK SO.

So I just said: 

SHOO...SHOOOOOOOOO

And HE said:  NO WAY.

So, I did what any sensible Blogger would do.

I took many photos of him and got in my car and left.

(Luckily, on the way back through, his body was not squished in the middle of the road, so he MUST have finally crawled to the other side of the road).

That same day?

We also found something beautiful:

TRILLIUMS !!!!!!

And,

apple blossoms!:

You never know what beauty may show up in your day.

Just make sure you don't get distracted by the

"not so pretty" of your day.

*******************************************************

Do YOU know what day this is????

It is the LAST day you can send in a photo

for the FREE PHOTO CONTEST for June 2011~!!!!

Hurry!

Send me your photo by midnight tonight for the theme of:

CIRCLES!!!

Just follow THESE RULES.

You don't have to be a Blogger to enter.

Spring Into Summer...

More photos today of Nature's garden gifts.

Nothing purer than a dandelion in the summer!:

I can't tell you how THRILLED we were to see a Baltimore Oriole in our yard. He has made several appearances and each time I run for my camera:

I LOVED this one...it had been raining and he had just shook his feathers hard and was a huge fluff ball!:

Blue Jay in the rain:

Tulip center magnified:

I loved the softness of this pink tulip shot. I think Heaven must have some like this:

Forget-me-nots:

Another tulip center:

Fresh growth:

New pine needle growth:

Miracles. 

Everywhere.

Do you see them????

****************************************************************************

You only have today and tomorrow 

to get your photo into the

FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!!

This month's theme is:

CIRCLES!!

Get your photo into me by midnight, June 30th, 2011

following THESE RULES.

You don't have to be a Blogger to enter.

Spring's Wonderful Bounty

Today, we will continue with some more photos

of

my spring garden's flowers....

We were very lucky when we built on this property.

There were two areas full of Vinca Minor vines that faithfully put out their violet/blue flowers

every year:

Red tulips enjoying the spring sun:

Double pink tulips and primrose after the rain:

Our property has HUGE boulders on it.

When we built your house, I had a bulldozer push them into some areas, forming a

semi-circle and then I put gardens into them...they make nice "backdrops" for

the blooming flowers.

A grouping of pink tulips:

I love buying a bag of "mixed tulips" and planting them in the fall.....

and

then waiting to see what colors come up in the spring.

One of my favorites is this two-toned yellow/red one:

Close-up of a Vinca Minor:

Our first tree to blossom is this plum tree.  We never get plums, but the birds LOVE this tree:

Yellow primrose!:

Tulip Drama

after the rain:

Nature doesn't fool around when it comes to beauty.....

More Garden Blooms...

My garden in the spring has over 300 tulips blooming...

It used to have over 500 tulips, but our cold winters have taken their toll on them

and

the chipmunks ate some bulbs too. (Sigh)

But, the ones that are left, along with some other spring flowers

always

excite me and make me so happy.

These are primrose:

Pink double tulips against a background of red/gold primrose:

I love looking wayyyyy inside tulips.  These had white trimmed in purple inside them:

The double tulips this year were huge...they reminded me more of Peonies:

Nothing cheers me up more on a sunny spring day than a group of red tulips:

And this year, my orange with yellow bi-color tulips did well:

They reminded me of poppies with their black centers:

Stay tuned...there will be more photos of my garden flowers.....I had to capture them with my lens before they all disappeared into summer!

************************************************************************

I KNOW it is summer, and I KNOW you are busy...

but, don't get SO busy that you forget to enter my 

FREE PHOTO CONTEST!!

This month's theme is:

CIRCLES !!!!

Send me your photo no later than midnight on June 30th, 2011

following

THESE RULES.

You don't have to be a Blogger to enter.

Blooms and one bird....

I just love watching all our Spring/Summer birds

that don't stay here year-round.

Especially the colorful ones.

Like this little goldfinch:

And of course,with Spring

comes spring flowers!

My primrose did especially well this year:

And the tulips were wonderful too!:

And the combination of primrose and tulips definitely sing SPRING!:

Lovely, romantic forget-me-nots:

Raindrops on tulip petals, oh MY!:

Yellow primrose:

Now, these tulips have all been through their life cycle and are only memories;

That is the only thing I don't like about Spring.

It is over before you know it!

***************************************************************************

The month is almost over!

Did you forget to enter the FREE PHOTO CONTEST ???

This month's theme is:

CIRCLES

Enter your photo to me by midnight June 30th

following

THESE RULES.