pretty in pink

A tulip, still tightly closed, is moving closer to open petals. I love watching flowers, seeing changes from day to day.

perched

A beauty in black and white, a butterfly perched on a leaf draws my eyes.

cool, wet

The weekend was cool and wet. I walked in the rain this morning but when the sky seemed to be clearing in mid-afternoon I headed out walking. I was on a search for flowers.

The air occasionally filled with tiny droplet of water, remaining reasonably dry as I wandered the grounds of The Stevens-Coolidge Place. I found a few tulips about to open, some clumps of daffodils standing tall.

Just after I started home it started raining (again). I stopped to pull out the rain cover for my camera bag and to pull the hood of my rain jacket up over my head. By the time I arrived at home the rain had almost stopped.

A few hours later... I just peeked out the window to see if the sound I'm hearing is rain. It is.

early tulip

The daffodils are in full bloom and the tulips are starting to show color. Yesterday I found an early tulip in white with a background of yellow contributed by the daffodils.

a mystery flower

It's a mystery flower, in white tipped with red. It must be something butterflies enjoy since I found it at Magic Wings last weekend.

Mystery solved! this is a white bleeding heart vine with a proper name of Clerodendrum thomsoniae. Many thanks to the folks on Google+ who helped to identify this beautiful flower.

splash of pink

Bright pink pops from a sea of green leaves.

at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory

upside down

Do butterflies have sticky feet? I find it fascinating that they seem to like standing upside down, hanging from leaves.

As I searched for information I found www.learnaboutbutterflies.com. If you're curious about these beautiful creatures that's an interesting site to explore.

forsythia

Bright yellow of forsythia in bloom adds a pop of color to the still emerging spring season.

flitter, flutter, fly

This morning felt like it was a good time to feed my desire for color and warmth. It was still pretty nippy outside when I started driving to the west, heading for the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory.

As soon as I walked into the warmth of the conservatory I saw butterflies in the air, flying, resting, posing, sharing their beauty. I wandered, camera in hand, sometimes capturing photos, sometimes just standing and watching.

More photos from today can be seen in the gallery on the wings of butterflies starting with this photo and ending here.

I must have flowers

I think Claude Monet said this for me: "I must have flowers, always, and always.". That's how I feel right now - I need flowers and I need bright colors.

I headed to The Stevens-CoolidgePlace this morning to see the current selection of flowers in bloom. I found glory-of-the-snow, crocus, and daffodils scattered through the grass, then greenhouse-sheltered color pulled me inside for a few minutes to enjoy a bit of bright pink.

crocus in the grass

A glimpse of flowers, crocus scattered across a grassy hill...

at Maudslay State Park, Newburyport, MA

downward-facing daff

Looking at this daffodil brought to mind the yoga pose downward-facing dog. Instead of a person it's a daffodil practicing yoga, a downward-facing daffodil!

green

Many trees still appear to be bare, some are sporting a bit of red, and a few are showing emerging green. I'm very happy to see leaves starting to emerge!

snow in April

Lest we get complacent with warmer days, the weather wizard has gifted us with a little bit of snow this morning. It was just enough to remind us that while the calendar says it is spring, the season is lagging.

Brr... from warm temperatures early in the week we're back to the freezing mark once again.

tiny

I keep seeing these tiny blue and white flowers scattered about, in gardens, in the grass.

I went looking for a name and found that they are known as "glory-of-the-snow" (with a proper name of Chionodoxa). It's a flower that blooms early in the spring. So beautiful...

at the airport

Hmm... why is it that happenings like this don't grace the airports that I pass through?

This is pure fun, a flash mob at the Shannon Airport by students from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

afternoon walk

An afternoon walk close to home, more crocus on display...

early flowers

I headed to Maudslay State Park this morning to see if any flowers graced the landscape. I found some early color in the form of crocus and glory-of-the-snow, plus a bit of green and white on a hillside full of snow drops.

More flowers from today can be viewed in the gallery Maudslay State Park - 2014 starting with this photo and ending here. If you see snow instead of flowers you've gone too far!

curved and patterned

I'm fascinated by the exquisite detail found in orchids. The blooms sit nicely on a curved stalk, the petals of the flower wear wonderful colors with an overlying pattern that looks as if it was (deliberately) painted.

a beach walk

A beach is made for walking.

As the tide changed and water receded (on a day in mid-March) I shared Crane Beach with people and horses, enjoying the quiet, the water, reflections.

bright

I stood transfixed when I first entered the (second) greenhouse at Lyman Estate; it serves as a home for bougainvillea. The flowers were bright pink, drawing my eye, bringing a smile. I found it interesting that when I looked closely at the blossoms there was a vein structure that looks (to me) like a leaf.

There was bright pink high in the tree, and there were fallen blossoms cradled by other plants.

open

rabbit standing

I was a bit surprised to be greeted by a very tall rabbit as I walked down a street in Portsmouth, NH this afternoon.

shades of blue

The sky wore pure blue. The wind was strong, whipping the water and cooling the air.

looking inland, along the New Hampshire coast

seeking color

My eyes were craving color as I greeted today's gray and cool morning. In the hopes of finding a greenhouse filled with flowers I did a quick search. Ah, there's one! Today I discovered the greenhouses of the Lyman Estate in Waltham, MA.

"The Lyman Estate Greenhouses are among the oldest surviving greenhouses in the United States. The complex of four greenhouses consists of an 1804 grape house, 1820 camellia house, 1840 orchid house, and a 1930 sales greenhouse where visitors can purchase plants to take home."

Only 3 of the 4 greenhouses were open today, but that was enough to allow me to satisfy my color needs.

More photos from today's visit can be viewed in the gallery greenhouses of Lyman Estate.

fixed! fast

I was delighted to receive a fixed lens today.

At the end of the 2nd day in Arizona one of my (camera) lenses stopped working. When I clicked the shutter the camera showed "Err 1". The message suggested that I clean the lens contacts. Hmm... I tried that. Afterwards I could take a single photo; the error reappeared on the next one. The other lenses I had with me continued to work so I was sure it was the lens and not the camera. I used the other lenses for the rest of my wanders in Arizona but I knew I needed to get the misbehaving lens fixed quickly. The problem lens was a 24-105L - a lens I knew I would want in my hands as the spring flowers start to emerge.

I had let my Canon Professional Services (CPS) membership lapse. I called to see how long it would take to reactivate and I was told it would take a day to have all of their systems update. Given the expedited and discounted repairs available through the program I decided to renew my CPS Gold membership.

I packed up the lens and shipped it to Canon on Monday. UPS Ground service between here and the repair center in New Jersey takes just one day so Canon had the misbehaving lens in their hands by Tuesday. Today I received my fixed lens. And yes, the first thing I did when I got home was to head out to verify that the lens is fixed. It is, and I'm happy.

Was it worth renewing the CPS Gold membership? I think it was. It guaranteed a maximum of 3 days repair time, plus provided a discount on labor and free return shipping. (The repair total was $215. Without CPS Gold I would have paid $291.) From the $100 membership fee, $75 came right back to me in discounts. The peace of mind of knowing the repair would be done quickly made the extra $25 well worth paying - plus I have the ability to use the program though the next year.

photos! Arizona

Photos from my wanders in Arizona are loaded into galleries, ready for viewing. Start with the top level gallery, Arizona 2014-03, or click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

red rocks, Sedona:

butterfly morning:

Interested in words? You can find my ramblings in the blog entries tagged Arizona 2014-03.

crocus!

Last weekend's rain seems to have been the kick that spring needed. I saw my first crocus today along with early green from other soon to emerge spring flowers

emerging

Looking at butterflies that have recently emerged from their chrysalids is very interesting.

Based on the pattern on the wings and the statement on the Butterfly Wonderland site that "The Blue Morpho chrysalids are pale-green or jade-green and emits a repulsive, ultrasonic sound when touched" I wonder if this is a Blue Morpho with colors yet to emerge. That's an interesting butterfly with bright blue wing tops and a patterned shades of brown underneath.