Leveling My Photography Skills with the Colors of Spring!
Today the sun came by for a visit, so I thought it would be a good time to take some pictures of our flowers. When we first moved here in 1999, there were no plants or wild life on the property. The piece of land was an old cow pasture, and has a man-made pond, that has dried up and we now use as our driveway.
Over the years we have collected different types of plants and added to our Spring and Summer flower gardens. The very first thing I planted were these azaleas. They were barely a foot high when I planted them. We have moved them many times, so they do bloom a bit later than other azaleas in the area, but they have bloomed every year since we planted them.
These flowered bushes attract all kind of wild life, but mostly the bees and the butterflies. As we increased the number of plants and flowers other wildlife began visiting our yard. We now greet a variety of birds, squirrels, bunny rabbits, and lots of lizards.
I did see one butterfly floating between the azaleas, but he was elusive to the camera. I didn’t see any lizards today. I do think it is still too chilly for the lizards to lay around in the sun. I did get a couple shots of a bumble bee as he pollinated the flowers.
My cat became jealous of the attention I was paying to the bumble bee and decided she would jump in the spot where the bee was buzzing. I figured I might as well take her picture too; since she is just so darn cute. The azaleas make a pretty backdrop for her too.
My cat loves to be outside. The only reason she even comes into the house is to eat. Day or night she wants to be outside where the bugs and the critters live. When I am outside my cat will be right by my side. If the sun is shining, she will use me as shade. She doesn’t care if she can share the outdoors with me.
She also loves to lay and roll around in the sand. It is cute to watch, not so cute when she comes into the house and jumps on my desk with sandy paws. But I forgive her because she is my princess kitty cat and I know she loves the warm sand.
There were many other signs of Spring around our yard. Here are some of the photos I took this afternoon…
This Hosta gets bigger every year and flowers in the summer.
Baby bulbs blooming through the blueberry bushes.
These flowers come back every year and multiply like crazy. They bloom only in the mornings!
Found a buttercup flower peeking through the leaves.
Boston Ivy growing new sprouts!
Rose buds making their Spring debut
Not sure why, but spiders love our roses. Be sure to shake the roses before you smell them!!!
I’m as happy as my cat rolling around in warm sand over seeing the signs of Spring around my house. There will be many more flowers, bushes and trees blooming in our yard throughout the year, but these first blooms of Spring are always a welcomed event for me.
I am glad the rain did not beat down the flowers of the azalea bushes; as it does most years, and that I had a chance to take some photos of the flowers and Springtime critters. I hope you enjoy seeing them. And for my friends who are still seeing snow, I hope this gives you hope that Spring is still on its way to visit!
Enjoy the Sunshine if you Can!!
*all photos taken by me using my Samsung Galaxy 17V
