Carver's Sight or is that Site

Nature Notes: Moving into Winter

2009-12-09T09:42:00.007-05:00

The main way I know we are moving into winter is by looking at the mostly leafless trees and spotting the birds who are very busy staying warm.

We've had a fairly mild fall. Not necessarily the warmest fall I remember but the first hard freeze was quite late.

Our average first frost date is late October but this year it barely dipped below freezing until last week. I have only dumped ice out of the bird baths once so far.

Last year our first light dusting of snow was in November but this year no sign of the white stuff so far.

We've had a very wet fall. It has rained like cats and dogs but as soon as the temperature dips below freezing it stops raining.

Living in the North Carolina piedmont, our weather tends to change a lot. One day can be quite warm in the winter and another can be freezing.

I've been enjoying the clouds. I think of August and September as the months with the best clouds but our December clouds have been fantastic.

I tried to get a shot of the birds in the trees and still show the patchwork clouds. On the lefthand side of the shot below are tons of birds but you can't really see them so the shot after that one will give a close-up.

I used to always have my shots on my blog in a format you can click to enlarge but I started using up my free allotment on picsa. Therefore, lately I to use photobucket a lot and I have to put them in the size they are on the host site so you can't enlarge them.

I still have a little space on picsa but most of my current posts are done using photobucket since I have a lot of free space left there. I guess I'll stop with my holly bush whose berries are brightening up my front yard. I have four holly bushes and even though I haven't done any decorating for Christmas yet, they at least give me some outdoor Christmas cheer.

Please visit the home of Nature Notes for more participants.

Today's Flowers - vacant lot and city park several months ago

2009-12-06T08:47:00.004-05:00

Jack Frost is replacing flowers in my neck of the woods so I went back to yester-months.

The shot above was taken in early October of a vacant lot in Durham, NC, U.S. The white covering are wildflowers which put down seeds for next year unless the lot is built on. The shot below was taken at Durham's Central Park, also early October.

Please visit the home of today's flowers for more participants.

Photohunters: Curved

2009-12-04T07:38:00.005-05:00

The photohunters theme this week is curved. I thought I'd select curved forms from nature as well as man made ones.

The wings of the bird in flight are curved and the wall surrounding the fountain below is curved.

The limbs on the tree below are curved. Late fall and winter is a good time to see the curved limbs once the leaves have fallen off.

The parking deck stairs below are curved. I'm afraid that I'll take the elevator and avoid the curved stairs.

Below is another tree with curved limbs. I love winter trees so much I decided to show you two.

The fountain below is curved which isn't surprising since the wall surrounding it in the earlier shot was curved.

Please visit the home of the hunt where participants post beginning Saturday morning.

Nature Notes: December begins with a walk

2009-12-02T07:08:00.001-05:00

I thought since we are beginning a new month, I would use my nature notes post this week to show you a walk I took on the first day of December.

Almost all of the trees in the triangle area of North Carolina where I live have given up the last of their leaves with a few exceptions.

I was surprised to see so much color in the tree above. With some checking I think I've identified it as a Pond Cypress and apparently they tend to keep autumn color later than other trees.

I'm not positive of the identity of the water birds above. Since they seemed to be deep in conversation, I didn't ask. I thought it was nice of the wood ducks to let the Canadian goose join it for ring around the roses or rather ring around the rock.

The grass is still very green although the tall grasses I love were mowed.

I've mentioned this before, but I enjoy how I can get different views of the lake once the trees drop their leaves. Areas that used to be hard to see through have a clear view.

I think these are canna lillies below and they are a little sad being so tall but winter brown. I actually like the way tall grasses and leaves from trees look brown but I don't think it's as good of a look on plants like the ones below.

I like the way these leggy plants below are still red. I think they are some type of bush growing wild in the wooded area.

The shot below is kind of dark but I liked the reflection so I'll end with this shot from my walk on the first day of December, 2009.

For other participants, please visit the home of Nature Notes and Signs of the Season.

Today's Flower: Camellia blossom way ahead of schedule

2009-11-29T06:03:00.000-05:00

I couldn't believe it when I spotted a full bloom on this camellia bush last week. This bush normally starts setting its buds in late fall/winter but the blooms wait for early March. It looked so odd to spot one full bloom on an otherwise resting bush. I'm glad I took the picture before Friday night's frost.

Please visit the home of Today's Flowers for other paricipants.

Photohunters: Technology

2009-11-27T07:17:00.005-05:00

The photohunters theme this week is technology. Motricity develops and provides mobile technology. They have offices in Durham, NC at the historic American Tobacco Campus. After the big tobacco companies left Durham, their historic buildings were converted for new mixed use, including businesses, retail, restaurants, arts centers, and apartments.

Construction technology was employed to create a river which runs through the campus. Beginning at the old train tracks and loading docks the water descends to the courtyards and has a number of layers and waterfalls.

The UNC public radio station is housed in the campus and technology makes it possible for the radio programs to be broadcast not only on conventional radios but also on the internet.

Digital camera technology and the internet brings you this post. For other participants, please visit the home of photohunters.

Nature notes and Green Thinker Award

2009-11-24T14:49:00.010-05:00

Rambling Woods the host of Nature Notes and Signs of the Season, has kindly created a Green Thinker Award. I appreciated her mentioning my blog with others who visit Rambling Woods and who she's presenting this award to.

She asked that we post about how we try to take care of the planet by living green, when we accept the award. I have decided to combine that post with my nature notes post this week. I'm even earlier than usual with my nature notes because I wanted to go ahead and write the combo post.

To be honest, at this point in my life a lot of what I do in my own home suits my lack of energy as well as the environment. I've been an organic gardener for a long time, and still am, but it's a lot less active at this point. By that I only mean that I recycle leaves, and organic refuse back into my garden but rather than spend a lot of time turning and sifting compost, chopping leaves, etc., I let the leaves break down where they sit.

I do rake up some leaves and put them where I have paths and don't want grass and weeds to grow, and in the spring I will rake them away from bulbs and areas where I want the spring flowers to emerge, but it's a low key effort and depends on strength and how I'm feeling.

The first photo was take this week of my nandina berries. The second shot was taken today from my neighbors sidewalk showing how my nandina hedge provides privacy for my back garden. The two shots above are small areas in my front garden where the leaves are falling in suitable spots with no help from me.

I have a lot of overgrown bushes which provide privacy but also provide homes and shelter for a wide variety of birds. The shot above was taken today of one of my many enormous azaleas. The shot below is of the same azalea from last spring. I get color in the spring and the birds get homes.

On the other side of the same azaleas (also a spring shot) you can see how it provides one side of the privacy screening. Joining the azaleas at a right angle is the nandina hedge pictured in earlier shots.

Below is the seed head from echanasia (purple cone flower) and I shot that today. I let flowers go to seed and leave the seed heads up until the birds have gotten what they want. They always leave enough for new flowers to come up in the spring.

The shot below was taken today and shows about 24 hours worth of leaves in my driveway as I raked yesterday. The leaves all go back into my garden. The bushes at the bottom of my driveway always have nests in the spring and new babies.

The shot below is of the same bushes but was taken in the spring. I was standing in the street facing my house instead of standing at the top of the driveway shooting down like I did in the shot above.

In the shot below (spring of course), I'm facing across my front yard and you can see one of my smaller azaleas (white) which also provides a home for birds.

I think I'll stick with spring for the rest of this post and show more of my bushes/bird homes. I also have nesting boxes which are always used but the overgrown bushes are the mansions.

I used to grow most of my fresh produce in my back garden and used mostly compost from my composting heap for fertilizer. I don't have the energy for the kind of gardening I used to do. The good news is sometimes thinking green means doing less. Less pruning, less watering, less chopping down, can result in a suitable habitat for wildlife and humans alike.

Please visit the home of Nature Note, Signs of the Season, and Green Thinkers for other participants as well as interesting posts with good information for green thinkers and nature lovers.

Today's Flowers: Looking back at Past Roses

2009-11-22T07:32:00.002-05:00

Now that the last of my roses has dropped to the ground, I thought I'd look back at old photographs not posted yet.

The first shot is of my first roses to bloom each year and the first to stop blooming. That shot was taken in early May of 2009 and the red roses are in front of my raised beds which are in front of my greenhouse. My greenhouse is attached to my green storage building.

The rest of the rose shots are my Sutters' Gold which bloom in front of the storeage building, starting sometime in June and finishing up in the Autumn. I have been posting them a lot lately because until recently they continued while others were already done for the year.

These rose shots were taken in October of 2009. The last of this variety of roses finally dropped it's petals this week.

I like the way these rose are so diverse. They look quite different from each other as well as change a lot as the bloom opens and matures.

I have four other varieties of roses which I have posted in the past, and have other shots not yet posted which I may use in future posts because winter will limit my choices for current Today's Flowers shots.

Please visit the home of Today's Flowers for other participants.

Photohunters: Birds with a musical bonus

2009-11-20T07:00:00.006-05:00

Last week I got confused and did a bird post and then realized, after posting, that the theme was music. I hurriedly added a photo of my guitars for the music theme, but kept the birds up because I have so many bird photographs.

I decided that this week I would only use birds shots that I took this week and would add some music at the end. If I hadn't been in a hurry to add music last week I would have used some recent shots from a folk museum.

The first shot of the male cardinal in my pecan tree seems to me like an example of how well coordinated the feathers are to the leaves. The second shot of the female cardinal bathing was harder to get because the males hog the bird baths. I have many more shots of the males bathing than the females.

The robin above was singing to me which was how I spotted it. The little sparrow below blends so well in with the leaves and deck that they are easy to miss.

The birds often swarm to the wires and I have managed to get a lot of shots lately when I'm at stop lights of this phenomenon.

Now for the musical bonus. The Amy Aldrich Rockerfeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, VA has an exhibit called Cross Rhythyms: Folk Musical Instruments.

Unless the drawer is removed from the chest of drawers above it looks like a normal drawer. However, it has a built in piano. Because the piano is hiddlen unless the drawer is removed one guess is that the family's religion may have prohibited music so the piano was hidden. No one knows for sure if that was the case but it seems like a reasonable guess.

I enjoyed the exhibit with various instruments. The banjo below caught my eye.

I also like the mixed display below although I don't remember any information about the instruments.

For other participants, please visit the home of Photohunters where entries are posted starting on Saturday.

Nature Notes: Raindrops continue as a frequent companion

2009-11-18T07:33:00.002-05:00

Another seven days between nature notes and the majority of those days have either been raining or cloudy part or all of the day.

However, when I look back through the shots I've taken since last nature notes I notice that I have a lot more pictures with blue skies.

Besides the fact that it's easier to take pictures when the sun is out, I know that at this point everytime I see a bit of blue in the sky I head outdoors as soon as I can.

I never lose sight of how important rain is but we've had enough rain to cause periodic flooding issues. Nothing too bad but it wouldn't hurt to have a few more clear days in between the rainy ones.

I have to say that in spite of how wet it has been, we've had an unusually beautiful fall. I know that dryer weather is supposed to be good for optimal leaf color but you wouldn't know it by the year we've had.

I can't think of a year where we've had more beatiful or prolonged color. At this point some trees have lost their leaves while others are reaching their peak.

Before long all the leaves will be on the ground but I enjoy that too.

I was surprised on Sunday to see the city trucks out collecting leaves from the curbs. They usually do that during the week after most of the leaves have dropped. I guess with flooding they have had to get a jump on it since the sun actually came out on Sunday.

They even got some of my leaves which is unusual. I rake all my leaves into big piles and move them to my back garden. I even rake the ones which fall over the curve, into the area where the city picks them up, back to my yard so they don't get removed. However, they caught me off guard by going by with the trucks on Sunday.

All of these shots were taken over the past 7 days so as you can see there are still leaves left to fall. For other participants, please visit the home of nature notes.

Today's Flowers: Pansies doing well around town

2009-11-15T07:01:00.002-05:00

I love pansies and this time of year the beds and planters at shopping and office centers have a lot of pansies, replacing the spent summer flowers.

I like the way pansies can survive as the weather gets cooler and even do well in light snow and frost.

Pansies don't make it all the way through the winter here but do last longer than almost any other flower. The rose below is one of mine.

For other participants, please visit the home of Today's Flowers.

Photohunters: Birds oops I mean music

2009-11-13T07:29:00.010-05:00

Well I jumped the gun. Next week is birds and this week is music. Thanks to Elaine for also being an early bird (I mean up to sing music), I found out my mistake. Since I have so many bird shots I've taken, I'll keep this post and add music at the top and show different birds next week. Below are my guitars.

I love birds and I love to photograph birds so this week's theme is hard for me (actually next week's theme). I have thousands of shots of birds. I thought I'd start with the tufted titmouse from late winter of 2009 which I photographed in my trees.
The bird shots can be clicked for enlargements. The one of the titmouse in the snow laden limbs below is hard to see without enlarging.
The next two shots are of the carolina chickadees in my garden, again in the winter of 2009.

I guess the one below is late winter/early spring although I'm never sure when one season ends and the next begins.

The male cardinal below cracked me up last spring because he's my state's (NC) bird and he was eating my state's flower (dogwood).

I can almost hear the brown thrasher below screaming because they have such an easily identifiable sound. That shot was early spring 2009.
I don't know what the mass of birds in the tree below are. The are fairly small and were up so high I wasn't sure which birds they were.
The mockingbird below is another type of bird which is abundant in my garden and which I enjoy.
I thought I should include a shot of birds flying around since that's what I envy the most in birds (their ability to fly).
I guess I'll end with robin redbreast although I've barely scratched the surface of the birds which make their home with me in my garden.
For more participants, please visit the home of the hunt where entries are posted beginning Saturday morning.

Nature Notes: No two days the same

2009-11-11T07:06:00.001-05:00

Almost every day continues to be different from the last one.

Blue skies one day give way to gray the next. Rain gives way to dry. Temperatures are varying a lot too.

I continue to like the changes and it motivates me to walk on the clear days because I know the next day is as likely as not to be rainy.

I like the fluctuations in the temperatures too. Cool nights but some days have warmed up quite a bit.

I love the way the forsythia looks this time of year. I think of that bush primarily for its yellow spring flowers and forget how the leaves change from green to red and almost burgandy before dropping off.

I'm continuing to spot blue herons at the lake. This one was having some luck fishing but I didn't get the snap of a fish in its mouth.

On rainy days I've found myself photographing the view from my windows at home.

Even when the sky is gray and the rain falls, the colorful trees give a brightness to my window views.

It's nice though to have some bright blue skies too because the blue makes a nice backdrop for the colorful leaves.

Before too long all the trees that drop their leaves will be done and I'll be focusing on catching shots of colorful birds perched and easier to photograph without the cover of foliage.

For other participants of Nature Notes or Signs of the Season, please visit the host: Rambling Woods.

Today's Flowers: A mixed bag as November begins

2009-11-08T03:03:00.002-05:00

In spite of much cooler weather, there are quite a few flowers still blooming. I decided to walk on the part of the Shelley Lake Trails on Saturday where there are a lot of wildflowers hoping that some would still be blooming. Alas, they have all gone to seed but I enjoy that sight too.

At my house the Sutters' Gold roses (thanks to a Arija for telling me their name when I posted some of the buds making a comeback) are blooming away. Some full, some nearly done for, and a few optimistic buds.

My favorite part of these roses are what a variety of blooms they have.

The buds I posted before don't look anything like the full blooms and spent blooms.

Another part of my garden has roses that are all done for the season except for the rose hips like the one below.

I've been following my last lavender bloom very closely. A week or so ago there was still a fairly full bloom.

As the days have passed it was still hanging in but becoming a little more bedraggled.

Yesterday the shot below shows how my lavender is done for the season, except that I can pick it for the dried fragrance.

My hydrangea has been past it's peak bloom for several months but a few of the blossom clusters still supply a bit of color. However, these were blue blooms at their peak and have now gone to a dull pink.

To view flowers from around the world, please go to the home of Today's Flowers.

Photohunters: Veterans/Military

2009-11-06T08:00:00.004-05:00

The photohunters theme this week is Veterans/Military. At the NC State Capitol (Raleigh) on Union Square is a Vietnam Veterans' Memorial titled "After the Firefight" by Abbe Godwin. There was some kind of event taking place when I took the shot below, and there are people around it. You can click inside any of the following photographs for enlargements.
Another time I took a shot of the same memorial from the back which is pictured below. "The monument depicts two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade". Another memorial at the NC Capitol on Union Square is the North Carolina Veterans' Memorial which was designed by Richard Armlung. That monument honors NC Veterans who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The base features major battles from each of the wars and Lady Liberty is atop "holding a palm front to symbolize peace and victory".These photographs are all from my archives and taken at different times of the year which is why some have a lot of folliage and some bare trees. To find other photohunters, please visit the photohunt home where participants post starting on Saturday.

Dona Nobis Pacem - Blog Blast for Peace 2009

2009-11-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Dona Nobis Pacem! I was at a loss this year about what I wanted to do with my peace globe to personalize it and what I wanted to write about for Mimi's 2009 Blog Blast for Peace. Then it struck me that this would be a good time to highlight a foundation which brings me hope. There is so much to be depressed and discouraged about that sometimes I need to remind myself of the ways people around the world do connect for peaceful purposes. One such organization is Playing for Change - Peace through Music. From their site - "Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world."I first found out about them from a wonderful video Stand By Me with musicians filmed singing and playing the song in different parts of the world. Since I've posted that video before and have seen it on other sites, I was going to embed a couple of other videos, although you can find them all at the playing for change site.

Unfortunately blogger isn't letting me embed the videos but I hope you will go to the links if you have time. They are both fairly short. First you can see a video about the music school the foundation built in South Africa for children. Next is a performance of Don't Worry Playing for Change . Also if you haven't seen the Stand by Me video before I strongly recommend it.

If anyone wonders about the photographs I scattered through this post, I had thought I'd be able to embed videos which would be my visuals. When that didn't work I just inserted some of my fairly recent photos. The one with mileage markers was taken at a park in Durham, NC, U.S. and it struck me how there were markers for places around the world.

Please visit Mimi Writes the home of Blog Blast for Peace on November 5. Dona nobis pacem.

Nature Notes and Signs of the Season - As the leaves fall

2009-11-04T07:16:00.003-05:00

I find myself looking for trees which have dropped all or most of their leaves. Not long ago I was looking for the first leaves to change from green to red, yellow, or orange.

It is funny how my eyes and camera gravitate to the next change. I'm still enjoying the fall colors and there are still some trees yet to change colors but now the new fun is spotting the first of the bare limbs.

The birds are getting busier and busier. Not sure if it's because it's chilly or what motivates them but I notice a flurry of activity this time of year much like the spring flurry.

Part of the reason I like to see more and more trees losing their leaves is I find that I can get a new view point on the lake when I'm walking.

In the summer when the birds land on the ledge in front of my greenhouse and raised bed, they are protected from my view. This time of year as more of the leaves have dropped, and the roses are dying back, I can spot the birds like the one below when they land on the ledge (for want of a better word).

The ledge above is kind of like a top to a fence but there's no fence, just lines that support the roses. I suppose I could call it a trellis but that's not it either. I guess I'll stick with ledge.

The ducks below almost blend into the leaves. Not a very good shot but I like the feel of the array of multi colored leaves on the ground with the multi tones of the ducks.

I love the layers of textures against the sky. Some dense folliage, some very light, some bare, a bit of this and that.

I recently shot the turtles below and it's very similar to shots I got a month or two or three ago. I remember wishing the light didn't wash out the turtles so much. Once again, I ended up with washed out turtles. The problem is there isn't a trail on the other side of the water where the turtles hang out. I guess I could try different times of the day.

For other participants of Nature Notes and Signs of the Season, please visit Rambling Woods the host of these themes.

Today's Flowers: Late Bloomer

2009-11-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

I have been watching the single bud on a volunteer black eyed susan (rudbeckia) plant closely, doubting it would bloom before the first hard freeze.

I am very pleased that it has bloomed, almost a full month after all the rest of my black eyed susan have already gone to seed. As a matter of fact, this plant was probably grown from one of those seeds on my other plants that a bird may have dropped in the pot on my deck.

When I first saw the plant growing in a pot whose other plant had already finished for the season, I assumed that there was no way it would grow fast enough to bloom before winter. However, when it did grow quite fast and a bud formed, I became fascinated with what seemed to be a race against time. The flower is a bit curled, perhaps since it's had to endure some chilly days and nights as well as less sunlight as the days shorten. However, I think it's quite charming in its late bloomer fashion. These shots were taken over the past few weeks with the last shot taken this week when it finally opened all the way.

For other participants, please visit the home of Today's Flowers.

Photohunters: Bags

2009-10-30T08:14:00.003-04:00

The photohunters theme this week is bags. My duaghter used to use this pumpkin bucket for her trick or treating bag. After she grew up, I used the pumpkin buket to hold the bags of candy I get for the neighborhood trick or treaters.

This year I've had trouble getting motivated for Halloween. I decided that I might not even carve a pumpkin for the first year ever. However, I like to have something on my front porch so the children know to come to my door for some candy out of the bags I always get. I decided that I could put flashlights in the pumpkin bucket with stuffed animals to prop them up for a funky jack o lantern. What do you think? Is it too weird? Just weird enough?

To visit other photohunters, please go to the home of the hunt where participants post starting Saturday.

Nature Notes and Signs of the Season - Pumpkins, berries, leaves and such

2009-10-28T08:11:00.004-04:00

I have been driving past the pumpkin patch below for the past week or so, and finally managed to get caught at a stop light at the right time to catch a shot.

This may be the first year in my life that I don't get a pumpkin and carve it for Halloween. Then again, I still have a few days so maybe I'll change my mind.

The berries above are amongst my favorite signs of fall in my garden but I keep forgetting the name of the bush/vine they are on. I say bush/vine because I have it growing against my deck wall like it's a vine but it's actually a bush.

Holly berries always make me think of Christmas although I noticed this year they were one of the earlier berries of fall to start turning red.

The crepe myrtle leaves are already dropping on the ground to form their beautiful carpet. I tend to think of the crepe myrtle as being especially beautiful when it's blooming in the summer and forget what lovely leaves it has in the fall.

My oak trees are still slowly changing colors. More green than orange and red leaves. I kind of like the way they are slow with the autumn color because it spreads out the display.

The cardinal is starting to blend in better when he's in the trees. In the summer I look up and think the male cardinal is a flower, in the fall I sometimes think he's a leaf.

For other participants of one or both of these themes, please visit the home of nature notes and signs of the season.

Update: Thanks to Stine for telling me the name of my vine with the two tone berries is bittersweet.

Today's Flowers: Almost missed the flowers for the leaves

2009-10-25T07:18:00.005-04:00

I was photographing the autumn leaves in my back yard on Saturday and didn't even realize that my roses were trying to stage a comeback until I down loaded the photographs.

The first and last shots are the ones I took after I had looked at my downloaded shots and realized there were a few roses left. I immediately went back outside and up the hill to investigate the beds in front of my greenhouse and storage building. The roses in front of the greenhouse have gone to sleep for the winter but the storage building roses have a few new blooms.

The shot above is the one which made me realize I should walk up the hill in my back yard and check out the roses. The Virginia Creeper growing on the lines I used to use for peas was what I was shooting but in the top right I spotted the little rose bud. By the way the area where the Virginia Creeper is growing was my daughter's swing set but after she outgrew the swing set, permanent raised beds with tops for starting spring plants were built. I often refer to that part of my garden as my swing set garden.

Please visit the home of Today's Flowers to visit other participants.

Photohunters: Tied

2009-10-23T07:30:00.012-04:00

The photohunters theme is tied. Since some of these photographs have small tied elements, you may click inside the photographs for an enlargement if you wish to.

The tarp over the garden sale center at Colonial Williamsburg is tied onto the supporting sticks with rope. Another tarp is tied on the support with rope/string in front of the Magazine and Guard Tower. Another tarp inside the fence for the Magazine/guard tower is also tied with ropes strings.
Inside the magazine are rope tension drums which have tied parts in the rope.
To view other tied up photohunters, please visit the home of the Photohunt starting Saturday.

I will be flying my peace globe on November 5, 2009 and I hope you will too.

2009-10-21T23:40:00.000-04:00

I hope that you will consider participating in Mimi's Blog Blast for Peace this year. I will be writing my post on November 5, 2009 for this event but wanted to go ahead and add my voice to encourage others to participate in this event. Please click here to go to Mimi Writes and get your own peace globe. The globe below is the one I've personalized and I will explain more about it when I write on the blog blast for peace date.

I had this post up as a sticky post but since it was confusing people, I changed the date. The only way I have to keep a post at the top is to have the date set for a future date but after a few comments from people, I decided not to try and keep this post at the top. But please do visit Mimi Writes and get your peace globe to personalize prior to November 5, 2009.

Nature Notes - Fall Road Trip

2009-10-21T07:20:00.000-04:00

I usually go on some type of road trip in the fall. This year we went to Williamsburg, Virgina which is an easy drive from where I live in central North Carolina.

We usually go a few weeks later in the season for our fall trip hitting it when the leaves are reaching their peak color but there were some things I liked about going earlier.

There is already a fair amount of fall color at home and on the road but although chilly we haven't had a hard freeze yet, so there are also a lot of flowers still in bloom.

As you have probably figured out by now we had some rain for our trip but it worked out fine. It was an off again on again rain and didn't interfere with our having a good time.

We took the back roads there which were more scenic and also took the ferry each way which was a fun change from the more direct highway route.

We had the most rain on Thursday afternoon when we arrived which worked out fine. We got checked in at the Colonial Williamsburg visitor center and spent our afternoon in an extensive museum. You could almost spend a few days in the museum alone.

Friday was the day we did most of our wandering around Colonial Williamsburg and other than occasional light rain, it was a pleasant cool fall day for walking.

I liked the way there was a little bit of each season. We even saw a bare tree as well as a lot of green and flowers, plus some fall foliage.

When we headed home on Saturday, there was still on again off again rain but not bad at all.

I always enjoy the congregation of seagulls at a ferry.

The closer we got to home the more the weather showed signs of clearing until a patch of blue showed through the clouds. All and all an enjoyable trip.

For other participants of nature notes or signs of the season click here.

Today's Flowers: The gardens at Colonial Williamsburg (VA, U.S.)

2009-10-18T09:46:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd post some of the many shots I took this Thursday, and Friday in the Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg. Since I just got home Saturday night, I won't try and put together a very comprehensive post but you can click on the links sprinkled through this post, if you would like more information.

The first shot is part of some general landscaping outside of the Museums of Colonial Williamsburg which caught my eye. The shot below is in the back of the Governor's Palace. Many of the gardens mix herbs, kitchen gardens, flowers and ornamental gardens.

The side view which includes part of what I featured in the shot above, shows how the topiary and box hedges surround the herbs and kitchen garden portions. I find that very appealing.

I generally don't care for formal gardens as much as wilder ones but the mix of a kitchen garden with very formal aspects is interesting to me. The garden below is on the side of one of the smaller houses.

Another garden area which caught my eye is formal but the way salad greens are mixed in with flowers and ornamental plants works quite well. Although there were plenty of signs of fall with some trees changing colors, others not changing yet, there were a lot of salad greens, kale, and other edible plants that do well in the fall.

The colonial nursery is featured in the rest of this post with photographs I took of the garden beside the sale site.

They feature 18th century style garden plants and also have the garden tools of that era.

Beginning in March each year, they sell seeds for plants which would have been found in colonial gardens. They also have some reproduction garden tools for sale.

To find other flowers throughout the world, please visit the home of Today's Flowers.