blooming trees...

i love april.  the trees are in bloom :)

 

 

all three images were enhanced with kim klassen textures and french kiss textures

 

sharing with...

 

Mona's Picturesque...Friday Floral Love 



spring sprung :)

when you see dandelions, you know that spring is finally here :)

 

and then there is this teeny tiny weed...

 

and the forsithia bushes are in bloom :)

 

the pink magnolias are opening up to the sky...

 

the smell of hyancinths fills the air :)

 

 

i love spring, i love flowers and more than anything,

i love my macro lens which lets me see things that escape my eye otherwise :)

 

sharing with Floral Love at Mona's, below...

 http://monaspicturesque.blogspot.com/

 

 



celebrating spring...

wednesday was a true celebration of spring...

i took pictures all day long, of wings and petals. 

here are some of the bird pics from a very special day...

 

on sunday, i saw a picture on facebook of a place

that i thought might be the most magical place i had ever seen in the new england area.

 i asked the person (a wonderful stranger) where it was taken, and she told me how to get there - and it was less than 45 minutes from my house.

 i left the cape on monday and went to there on tuesday - and this is what i found...

 

 

this is a rookery.

(i had to look up the word - a nesting or breeding place)

it was across a pond, i had to shoot through the trees, but you can see the where the magic happens from enough of a distanceso as to not disturb the birds :)

 

there were so many heron, every nest was occupied.

they flew around - at one time 6 heron were soaring together. 

it was so beautiful and there are no pictures that i took that will do the place justice.

 

there was another huge nest next to the trees of heron nests,

i had heard at the visitor center that it was an eagle nest.

yep, there were two eagles in it (got to look close but they are there!)

 

dad left the nest for a little alone time,

sitting on a neighboring tree, surveying the area...

 

 

 as i was leaving this wildlife sanctuary,

i saw two little bluebirds hanging out -

it has taken me almost 59 yrs to see bluebirds in real life...

 

so, with a happy smile over all the great stuff i saw,

i left and drove to my favorite place in the world,

where i go sometimes three times a day.

 

it's another wildlife sanctuary that i found by accident a few years ago

and it's only 10-15 minutes from home.

and this day, there was an egret - one of my favorite birds ever,

they have such an elegant grace and beauty...

 

 

 

 

and before leaving for home,

i spotted one little sparrow, sitting in some budding branches,

looking like a picture of springtime.

 

this last picture was enhanced with snapseed and Kim Klassen's texture named "3112"

sharing with Texture Tuesday on Celebrate day :) 

found here:

http://www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe/texture-tuesday-lets-celebrate-edition.html

 

 



seashells at the seashore...

a little bit of beauty

at Cape Cod...

it was still cold when i first got here

so i went to a gift store and bought some pretty shells...

i spent $3 and had a wonderful afternoon :)

 

i added multiple textures including

kim klassen's 'linda' and 'to be' textures,

and 'breezy' from french kiss...

 

 

 

 

petite petals...

spring comes a little bit earlier on the cape than it does in enfield...

the andromeda bushes have rows and rows of tiny blossoms. 

from far away, the bushes look messy,
but up close, the little flowers are just beautiful :)

 

 

 

all images were enhanced with kim klassens's textures - ToBe and Sunkissed :)

linking up with Mona's Picturesque, friday Floral Love at

Mona's Picturesque :)



friday has a feel...

when i was dreaming of retirement,

i wondered if friday would still be special on the other side.

i am happy to report that yes, yes it is :)

 

today is friday.

it's going to be a beautiful spring day here in enfield connecticut.

i don't have to punch in.  at all.

i can wander and ponder.  or not :)

and tomorrow is the weekend.  (which is also all mine. hah!)

 

and today is Floral Friday at MONA'S

yep. it is a good day :)

 

simply white...

image above and below enhanced with kim klassen's 'take heart' texture...

 

we have a few early spring flowers blooming - but very few. 

a sprinkling of crocus, and a couple of daffodils...nothing more yet.  this is one of the latest springs i can remember.

 

however i have bunches of flowers inside :) 

thanks to many well-wishers on my last day (omg i retired),

i am surrounded by beauty.

ok, maybe not surrounded - the flower arrangements are locked up in the bathroom so the cats don't eat them - but i take them out and photograph them constantly :)

its been the perfect transition from work to play

here is a link to more flowers :)   flickr

 

thank you to my lifetouch peeps, i love you all