Tag Archives: nature

Weekly Photo Challenge: Change of Seasons

Posted on by Laurie

Late Autumn – Early Winter on the Konza Prairie

For this week’s photography challenge, I headed out to the Konza Prairie after breakfast. I was captivated by this one ashen white tree. Notice also the moss colored tree just in front and to the right of it. Upon close inspection, there really were so many subtle colors to be seen.
WinterTrees

The evergreens covered with berries reminded me of Christmas.
Evergreen

It was a heavy sky, but  just a little too warm to snow. All that fell were a few sprinkles of cold rain.
DarkWinterDayKonza

Quite a few trees were covered with moss. It made them look bundled up for the cold.

MossyTreeKonza

This pair of trees seemed ready for winter to be over and it has hardly begun.2TreesWinter

What a pleasant surprise every now and then to run into some brightly-colored berries.

BerriesHotPink

But then I would look at the woods, so ominous-looking, and I was happy to head home for a cup of hot tea.

DarkWoodsPaleGrasses

Weekly Photography Challenge: Green

Posted on by Laurie

Nothing feels as green to me as the green of living plants. Here are a few photos from my garden that I took in warmer weather.

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Marilyn in the Cold

Posted on by Laurie

These are photos of my Marilyn Monroe rose that I took this morning. Brrr …

Marilyn Monroe is considered an apricot-colored rose, but the color of rose blooms is often affected by temperatures and seasons. This last bloom of the year was a true pink, but with lime green outer petals – stunning, even in the cold.

Japanese Maple “Garnet”

Posted on by Laurie

This Japanese Maple “Garnet” was one of the first trees (or plants of any kind) that I planted in our yard. I am very fond of it.

It was looking especially vibrant today, having just this week developed its Autumn color.

Since old man winter is predicted to make an appearance tomorrow – very low temperatures, but no snow – I thought that I would get some photos while the weather was nice.

It was very windy today, so despite the warm weather (almost 80 degrees F.) it was a challenge to get good pictures.

The one above is my favorite. I had to climb inside the tree to get it, which must have been quite a sight for my neighbors. The tree is a petite and delicate specimen and its tallest branch just brushes my ribcage.

But as they say, good things come in small packages.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry

Posted on by Laurie

In discussing the theme for this week’s photography challenge, a certain person – who shall remain unnamed – and I immediately got into a minor disagreement over how to represent geometry in a photo. I decided to stick to my guns and use this photo because of its emphasis on shapes, planes and angles. What do you think: Does this show geometry? Yes, that is me fishing for you to agree with me! Forgive me!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

Posted on by Laurie

Having spent quite a bit of time raking leaves over the past few days, I found myself pontificating on the subject of leaf etiquette and how to be a good neighbor. A friend interrupted me and replied, “Being a farm-girl, the concept of raking leaves is totally foreign to me.” So in all good fun, I dedicate this series of foreign-themed photos to my friend, Carolyn.…………

Winding Down

Posted on by Laurie

It was with some sentimentality that I photographed the garden yesterday. I knew that a freeze was predicted for last night, a sure sign that garden will be winding down for the year. As I sit here and write before sunrise, it is 30 degrees F. outside; and though it is toasty warm in the B&B, I know that once the sun comes up and I take a look around, I’ll see that some of my flowers and herbs have been nipped by the cold. It will take cooler temperatures to make the hardy perennials and shrubs go dormant for the winter. In fact, if the day time temperatures are warm enough, the ground cover roses will keep producing blooms for up to 4 more weeks, but the other roses are almost done for the year. The chrysanthemum plants will be fine, but probably not the flowers. The asters, which put out one big flush of flowers every year in late October have had their show, though they will have color for a little longer.

Yesterday’s Garden

Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’

Rose ‘Memorial Day’

Chrysanthemum ‘Diana’ with Ground Cover Roses

White Rose (unknown variety)

White Mum (unknown variety)

Crape Myrtle Foliage

Postscript:

It was a beautiful sunrise. After serving breakfast, I did a brief inspection of the garden. I lost the what was left of my hibiscuses, the potted impatiens, a few hostas, all of my Autumn Joy sedums, and some of the chrysanthemums. Overall, not too bad.

Sunrise This Morning

Orange on the Block

Posted on by Laurie

Looking for early signs of autumn, I decided to photograph the color orange in our neighborhood. It turns out that it was mostly in our own front yard.

Our neighbor’s crabapple tree with the tiniest fruit …

Miniature rose recovering from the summer’s heat by producing a perfectly formed little bud …
Oakleaf hydrangea foliage starting to turn …

Rust-colored chrysanthemums …

“Living Easy” rose, vibrant as ever …

Our new sign …

Leaves from our Linden tree, fallen before fulling turning …

Pyracantha berries across the street …

Early pumpkins …

But don’t let me rush things!

 

WeeklyPhotographyChallenge: Near and Far

Posted on by Laurie

The Big Blue River, which runs from central Nebraska into Kansas where it intersects with the Kansas River east of Manhattan …

Named the Great Blue Earth River by the Kansa Indians, the Big Blue must in recent history have actually ran blue instead of murky brown-green. In the shadows, one can still see what it may have looked like.

A freight bridge, crossing the Big Blue … where do those trains go?

Just feet away, one can look skyward and get lost in the trees.

I took these pictures on one section of the Linear Park Trail which circles Manhattan. There are a few places on the trail where one thinks, “I can see the trees and trail before me, but where does the path lead? Will it take me far?”