We're home safe, somewhat sound and a little more than EXHAUSTED!

I feel like I have tons to catch up on ... laundry, emails, lists, planning, crafting & blog visits(I have gotten through my first rounds of checking in, but have a lot more to go) ... and then there's the reality ... I am wiped out (and seriously thinking that I am part bear in need of hibernation ... or could use another four days of vacation) ... so ... I promise not to torture you with the 800+ photo's that I took this past week, but instead will leave you with just a handful ... and a promise to be back soon ...

On the night we left, it was 74 degrees (at 8:00PM) here in sunny Florida and this is the sunset we were treated to as we loaded the mini-v:

We were on the road about an hour after the above photo. 1100 miles later (& a white out that reduced driving to five miles per hour for a couple of hours) we arrived at our West Virginia destination ... the day of the first "big" snow (if you're like me, you might not know that this doesn't mean first snow, but the first snow where it sticks for more than a few hours). It was about 2:00PM and 30 degrees - brrrrr! The sky was really, really gray (I was concerned that I wouldn't be treated to any good photo light ... luckily, I was wrong) ... the next day we woke up to a beautiful day. I walked about along the fence line a little ways from the house and turned back to snap a shot of the house we stayed at (it's the building on the left).

The next few photo's are random close up shots of things that caught my eye ... the crazy range of colors between the white snow, brown twigs/leave and green mossy stuff:

strange little pod things (sorry, I really don't know what this is ... or was) that look a lot like distressed styrofoam balls to be used for art doll heads:

little pockets of ice & green caught in nooks, knots and crannies of trees

And wildly wonderful leaves with their twisted twiggy tendrils still clinging to thorny green stems:

pretty amazing, actually. It was a wonderful visit ... but I am really happy to be home (even if it does mean that I am back at work).

*grins*

May you be treated to a day of happy moments!

Tomatoes and Buds - More Macro Shots

I think that I mentioned that it's the green-thumb-spouse that gets the credit for the beauty and the bounty in out yard. The other day when I was out taking yard snap, the tomato plant was a super easy target. The next three shots bear green tomatoes - ready for frying? I have to admit that I have never had a fried green tomato, but I do hear they are pretty tasty. The last tomatoes that came from this plany were super yummy, and these already look prettier than the last bunch, so I imagine we are in for some good salads and salsa (did I mention that wonder-chef-spouse makes the worlds greatest salsa? no? ... my bad - if you're ever in the neighborhood, let me know and I'll be sure to have him make a fresh batch).

I really like the above shot - there's something about the light on the tomato and the blue sky peaking through that makes me smile.

The wire is part of the support that's around the plant ... kind of looks like the tomato is coming out of it, don't you think. weird.

The one above may not have the best lighting, but I seriously think I need to photoshop a pair of eyes in there and call it the tomato queen. :)

The next few shots are of the blooms. Just by tilting the camera from the inside of the plant, I was able to capture better shots of the blooms with the bright blue sky in the background ...

I hope you enjoyed seeing the photo's as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Pink Hybiscus - Macro Shots

Living in southwest Florida allows for extremely long blooming seasons. There are a wide variety of tropical plants and trees (plus veggies, herbs, etc.) to choose from. Our yard always seems to be a work in progress with the green-thumb-spouse doing 95% of the labor - I know, I suck. The latest addition is a hybiscus (the third) - this one is a bush (hasn't been trained into a decorative tree) and the blooms are pink. Yesterday I was out in the yard taking snaps of different things. Below are some of the more artsy versions of the hybiscus - I would have included a shot of the whole bloom, but I wasn't paying attention and got a bit of shadow crossing the bloom and I didn't feel like going out again for another shot. Besides, this was pretty much an "exercise" in macros.

The above focus zoomed in on the stamem (as it should have), but I really like the vibrant colors coming from the center of the bloom out into their feathery little fans.

In this one (above) I was trying to get a clear shot of the stamen - I am amazed by the brightness of the stamen ... and then I saw the shadow ...

Here's the close-up of the shadow (above). It might just be me, but something about it reminds me of something one might see in a Dr. Seuss story book. hehe.

Here we have a fairly nice shot of the stamin and the brght, feathery center. Even with the bit of stem shadow, I like the composition of this one. I do think that it's a little odd that the focus is on the little yellow pieces and that the orange parts are still slightly out of focus, but I did make one more attempt at a clear shot of the orange bulbus thingies:

Feel free to click on any of the photo's for a larger version. There really is some pretty cool detail on most of the photos.

In case anyone is wondering, I've been using a Canon PowerShot A95. It has up to 5.0 mega pixels and uses compact flash memory cards. The camera has served me well, but lately it has been suffering from some sort of internal confusion - it sometimes shuts off on its own (and I am sure it's not the batteries) and once in a while it makes some pretty creepy grindy sounds. To fix it would cost more than to replace it, so I am asking for a new one for my birthday. Keep your fingers crossed.

One last note - the mango tree and avacado tree have tiny little fruits on them - this is the first year since planted that we just might get some fruit. Pretty exciting.