Merry Christmas

Early Christmas morning from the pasture behind our house.

Just Out

Yellow

Little plastic toys are good enough for some.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

Anybody ask for tools for Christmas?

My early Christmas present to me from my wife was my new Sony NEX7 camera.  I am still learning what it can do and how to make it do it.  These are a couple of examples from the garage last night.  I guess a new camera is a sort of tool for the hobbyist.

Have A Very Berry Christmas!

A random Nandina in the middle of the woods.  Probably spread by a bird . . . .

Bark Stuff

Some pretty weird stuff grows on the tree bark in our woods, and elsewhere I'm sure.  That pale green stuff is fascinating, and I didn't even see it until I was editing the photo.  This whole photo is about the size of a quarter.

December Sunset South

Same sunset that Virginia saw here, except I was about 40 miles south and this is what we call the backwash (the color in the sky opposite the actual sunset).  It's 68 F today, the last day of fall, and it's going to be 77 F tomorrow, the first day of winter.  It's supposed to be below freezing two days later.  Whatever . . . . winter in the South.

Stubborn

While most have given up, turned brown, and fallen to the ground, this one is refusing to go gently into that good night.

Wet Rear View

I hate running errands on a cold, rainy day.

S Car Go Attack

During a recent warm, rainy spell, our garage door was attacked by about a dozen snails.  However, this one was "booking" it away across the driveway (yeah, right!).

A Little Vanilla Bean . . .

With Your Sprinkles??

Crystal Trees

Thanksgiving morning in Pennsylvania it was cold and pretty clear.  There was a little snow and ice around the farm, but nothing serious.  Wide angle and telephoto not only gave a different perspective on the sunrise, the color looked different too.

 The trees on the mountain ridges to the east were thoroughly coated with ice and looked like crystals.

 The pond, while not frozen solid, was completely frozen over.

Even by mid-afternoon, the mountain ridges were still like crystal palaces.  I did not venture up there that day, even though the highway departments had most of the roads clear and passable.

Kinda Nasty

We drove to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving week, arriving Monday evening and expecting rain, snow and ice Tuesday night.  There was a lot of rain, but waking Wednesday morning, there wasn't too much ice, although a few branches did fall.

No cars were harmed in the taking of this photo, but the Lilac did get thinned in the process.

There were some pretty close ups,

and the wood pile made for a decent photo.  But overall, Wednesday was just nasty, cold and wet.

Beeswax

This is across the creek at Beeswax Creek Park near where the creek flows into Lay Lake.  Nice places over there, including horse farms and mansions.

Pucker Up

There's a bumper crop of wild persimmons around here this year.  I guess the deer are happy about it, but they turn my mouth inside out unless they are absolutely mushy ripe.

Basking

I don't know what this little guy is.  He's only about 1/4 inch long, but looks like some sort of wasp up close.  His head looks like it's almost all eyes.

Last Call

I usually think of this as a springtime shot, but temperatures in the high 60's have these survivors and other insects out for one last sip before the cold weather really sets in (if central Alabama weather could ever really be considered "cold").

Give It A Couple Of Weeks

And this mighty oak will dump all those leaves on the ground.

Weekend Reflections: Heardmont Park

The reflections in the creek at Heardmont Park in Hoover, Alabama are almost completely covered by newly fallen leaves, and there are plenty more yet to fall.

See more reflections at Weekend Reflections.

Baldy

Yeah, yeah, . . . it's a zoo shot, and an old one at that, but hey, that's the best place for some shots.  At least it's close by.

Gulf Tank

The wave cresting in front of the pelican makes it look a little like the Gulf is contained behind a big glass wall, a huge aquarium, but it's not.

Sunday To Monday, A Date With Karen

The weakling remains of Tropical Storm/Depression/Low Pressure Karen came ashore at Ft. Walton Beach, Florida on Sunday, October 6, right in the middle of our vacation, and though it was only cloudy in the morning, the afternoon was a washout.  By Monday morning, all was better, and the double red flags of Saturday and Sunday had given way to only a yellow.

Yeah, the double red flag picture does have a blue sky.  That was from Saturday, and even though the storm had yet to arrive and the beach was beautiful, the lifeguards would not let ANYBODY in the water over ankle deep.  The rip tides were apparently pretty bad ahead of and during the rain, but very calm immediately after.

Weekend Reflections: Moon and Saturn (oops, Venus)

The moon and Saturn reflect in the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Walton Beach, Florida, October 7, 2013.  (My dumb mistake, I thought it was Saturn, looked it up, and it is Venus.  Even after looking it up, I went ahead and typed Saturn anyway.  Duhh.  Saturn was on the other side of the moon and had already set.)  See other reflections at Weekend Reflections.

Incoming

Mason Was Here

and so was I.  I've been home two days and miss it already, although it can be very tiring.

Left Bank

A brown pelican makes a left bank before diving into the surf for his dinner at Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Pelican Ouch!

I don't know which is the Democrat and which is the Republican.

Stained Glass and Knotty Pine

Spent the weekend working on an Emmaus Walk at Camp Sumatanga in North Alabama.  There are several nice stained glass windows and a great abundance of knotty pine.

Sunset Rainbow

Weird light last evening as a storm moved in right at sunset.  Nice rainbow through the clouds, which were screaming to the North.

Old Paint

Not my horse, but really old paint on an old tank at an abandoned old steel mill that's now a museum (Sloss Furnaces.)  Reminds me a little of elephant skin.  Sloss is very near downtown Birmingham, just blocks from the city center, and when I moved here in 1971 it was still operating, belching fire into the night sky, like an angry dragon chained to the railroad tracks. It is said to be haunted by the ghosts of some of the workers who died there, and has been the subject of several TV shows about hauntings.  It doesn't scare me, but I don't think I'll go out there in the dark by myself anytime soon.

Stinky . .

. . but pretty.

Blue In The Sky

Liberty Day Celebration, Columbiana, Alabama, June 29, 2013.

Peek A Boo

Another Anole picture from the archives.  He just wanted to see what was going on above deck.

rote Blume

Rummaging through some of my oldest files, I came across this one.  A red day lily from several years ago.

Cygnus

Cygnus is a constellation in the North.  Comes from the Latin for swan.  Never knew that one before I started this post.

Orange You Glad. . .

You're not me!  But gimme a kiss!

Don't ask, I have no idea what it is.

Seedum Fly

The seedums are in bloom and a lone fly seems to like it.

American Beauty . .

. .  Berry grows wild all over our property and is native to this part of the country.  The flowers are really unremarkable, but the fruit is pretty.  Read Wikipedia on it.

Weekend Reflections: Ribbit

Nightly several of these guys come to the dinner table afforded by our porch light and the great swarms of insects it draws.  I appreciate their efforts.

See more weekend reflections here.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider . . .

Climbed up the water spout, or tree in this case.  

No rain to wash him (her) out, but the web in your face is always fun.