Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: spring

(+1 inset!) (Please view large!) Less Than A Week Before our Next Trip! We can't believe that we'll be on the road in in mere days! Steve's tying up loose ends and we're figuring out what we need to get before we go...isn't it amazing?! We are jumping for joy! A Second Week of Camping is Reserved! There's a clever trick to getting campsites that we learned from seasoned campers. You go to the reservation site and click on RESERVE SPOT at exactly 12:01am. It's sneaky and it will give you a much higher chance of getting a location that you're after. We are happy to report that this has worked for us perfectly so far and now we are set up for two weeks!! Next Sunday night Steve will try again for a third spot…and we'll just keep it up until we're ready to come home! :D Snakey and the Geriatric Toads are Going Camping! Last summer we left our snake and toads at home when we were away. We were gone for 1-3 weeks at a time so it wasn't a problem. When we went to Canada we brought them to a caretaker. This time we really don't know how long we'll be out, but we don't want to worry about our buddies either. We talked about rehoming them but the fact is that we love them and don't want to rehome them. Our Firebelly Toads are an unbelievable 20 years old now--we are down to two of the original seven but the last pair keep on truckin' and we think they're super cool. Snakey McSnakerton has grown up over the years from a lovely baby to a vibrant, beautiful adult, nearly 4' long and truly impressive to behold. He's part of our family and we don't want to give him up. That being said, we've made a place for each of their habitats in our trailer and we can't be happier that our family will all be together on our adventures. Neither of us felt good about leaving them alone on our trips last year. Now they will be with us (along with our parrot, Pumpkin, of course). When we drive from one spot to the next, Snakey and the toads will be in smaller carriers and then we'll put them into their habitats once we arrive at each destination. Hooray!! It may seem really odd to some of you but we really do love them and we're so happy about this! Feeling So Excited I've been stuck here on the property for literally months and the idea of getting away has me bouncing around like a little kid! With all that's been going on, I haven't wanted to take pictures or really do anything. I've struggled with depression and anxiety. Now we are finally going to get out into the world and go on adventures again! I can't wait! :) The thought of being on the coast again, wandering around with my camera…playing with my metal detector…looking for rocks to tumble…I have to shut my brain down before it pops from the thrill of it all! Writing, processing pictures, taking in the new sights and sounds, reading and just relaxing in another place…won't it be wonderful!! :D But We Are Prepared: It STILL Might Not Happen With the "opening of the US" after the quarantines and such, people are behaving as if there's no reason to be cautious and the case numbers are exploding again. We are going forward with our plans, knowing that it might all evaporate before we go or in the middle of our trip. Who knows what will happen? We're going to cross our fingers and head out if we can. If we're shut down, so be it. Hopefully everything will be fine for us! Today's Pictures Last year Steve and I drove into Medford and I walked through a neighborhood I frequented on my work breaks when I had a job in town for a couple of years. I'd wanted to visit in the springtime with hopes to capture the lovely garden explosions I'd seen. I was not disappointed! I'm sharing a pair of pictures from that fun day, featuring a gorgeous panorama of pink tulips as my main image. The inset is a lovely group of red tulips which turned out really well…I have issues with my camera's processing of red, and with some image tweaking, I was able to get the rich lustrous tones that I saw! Explored on 6/23/20; highest placement #1.

Please forgive me if this offends you...it's part of the Cycle of Life and a very rare and special sight! Please note: Tomorrow (Monday), Steve and I will be travelling with our RV to our campsite on Upper Klamath Lake. It's about 1.5 hours away and the plan is to arrive early so we can set up and have the rest of the day to relax and enjoy the amazing environment. We don't know what internet reception will be like, or if there will be a cell tower anywhere nearby. Therefore, I may or may not be able to post any pictures while we are gone. The hope is that we'll have enough signal to upload at least one picture each day. No promises though! Cross your fingers! In the afternoon two days ago, I looked out the kitchen window and nearly fell over. In the 12 years we've lived at our property, we've never seen turkeys "getting down to business" before but there they were!! I yelled to Steve and he ran over to see. We couldn't believe it! Steve told me, "Janet, I can't believe you're not out there with your camera already!" Staring at the spectacle out in our meadow, I answered, "Oh, by the time I get my camera they'll be done, and besides, I don't want to disturb them." "You should try!" was his response. I grabbed my new camera and took some pictures through our kitchen window. Steve continued, "They probably won't notice and you should go outside! Come on! I'll open the back door!" With that, I peeked out with my camera once the door was open. They didn't notice!! At full 25x zoom, I was able to get pictures that cropped to full-frame and still had plenty of wiggle room if I'd needed it!! The light was great and so was the angle…what were the odds??! I took lots of pictures at different apertures and then Steve said, "Why don't you try sneaking around the side of the house for an even better angle?" I thought that was a good idea, since I got all the pictures I wanted and if I didn’t get any more, it would be fine. And, as it happened, by the time I rounded the corner, the hen was gone and the tom was looking very satisfied and going back to his full-fluff display. No worries, I couldn't be happier!! Steve took a peek at my pictures before I went up to copy them over and he was like, "JANET!! THESE PICTURES!! THEY ARE AMAZING!!" :D And once I looked at them on my computer I was just so happy…all but a couple were perfect. I am posting the most "PG" version because I got some others that had my extremely liberal husband screaming, "EWWWWWW!!" ROFLMAO, that's just so funny! I would never have gotten this picture if I didn't have my new Sony camera. Again...what are the odds? I'm so happy...and I'm thanking my lucky stars!! HOORAY!!! Not going to post any other pictures today…the main picture is too distracting! :D Pam, I looked up "turkey" and found a marvelous tom with such beautiful coloring! What a delight to see these modern-day dinosaurs walking around so close to us! :) I hope that this day is treating you well! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 4/22/19, highest placement, #1.

(+10 insets!) Welcome to the first day of spring!! I cannot tell you how happy I am to have reached this wonderful day! I know that some of you are still waiting impatiently for spring to arrive where you live --> Ron Hanko is one who would like winter to please be on its way! I know there are many others who are frustrated by the cold and storms that don't want to leave. On the opposite side, spring arrived early for many and some didn't even get a proper winter. What a strange year for weather it's been. I've mentioned that we are about a month behind our normal spring schedule, and this seems very accurate. I went out today to wander around on our property and see how things were progressing. I found a bunch of new species to add to the list but a bunch of the flowers that should be in bloom are nowhere to be found. Hopefully when these flowers eventually bloom they will be properly pollenated. I ended up spending at least an hour looking around for flowers and I didn't actually look everywhere. We are so very fortunate to have 26 acres and a chunk of it is on a very steep hillside. Another part is in dark forest on the opposite edge from where I was. It can take quite a bit of time to walk from one side to the other when looking carefully for flowers along the way. However, I do know this place from living here for over 10 years. I am sure I've missed dozens of flower species but I'm familiar with what grows where so I felt pretty comfortable with my choice to come in after an hour. Definitely a balancing act to stop before you get burned out, and also, I needed time to work on my pictures and write my post! :) Today's image is a buttercup, and to me, it signifies spring perfectly! Bright and shining gold with lovely petals and such a joyful appearance. They can be a challenging flower to photograph because of their shiny petals. In direct sunlight, the shiny spots will blow out without artificial measures. But if a flower is photographed from below or behind, what you get is something very special…a magical view of what this lovely flower sees as it looks out upon its tiny world. :) I have to mention that I nearly went right back inside when I stepped out today. Though it was bright and sunny, the wind was gusting relentlessly. Looking over at the gorgeous daffodils waving around like dancing machines made me laugh. Pictures indeed…HAH! I didn't bother but I also thought that even if I didn't get a single photo today, it would be fun to see what was blooming on the first day of spring! I had an absolutely blissful time crossing our meadow and discovering buttercups. They were protected from the wind by bushes and yet were still in the sun. I was so happy. Then I found a gorgeous little hoverfly species with irridescent wings which hung around long enough for me to take dozens of pictures! YAY! From there I wandered here and there, discovering newly blooming species and feeling very connected to our land. It is so peaceful out there feeling as one with nature. What a gift. I am forever grateful that we live in such a pretty place with so many treasures to take pictures of. :) I didn't have time to process more than one picture today so I'll be sharing lots of neat images when I can…I haven't even had the time to look at the majority of them…to be honest, this was the very first subject I photographed and the fourth image of it! How's that for luck! :) Since I don't have other pictures from today I've added insets of some other buttercups I've photographed in the past. HOORAY FOR SPRING!! IT IS FINALLY HERE!!! HUZZAH!!! HUZZAH!!! HUZZAHH!! Pam, I did a search for buttercup and was totally amazed that you have exactly ZERO on your stream! Do you not get buttercups? I thought they were everywhere! But of course that's silly…so maybe you don't! Instead I found a wonderful image of a False Sunny from behind ! It's just beautiful and I'm so glad that you shared it for all of us to enjoy! I sure do hope that this wonderful day treated you well my dear! :) Explored on 3/21/19, highest placement, #1.

(+1 insets!) (please view large!) :) Yesterday was an amazing day of frosty delights outside and I had such a great time taking pictures. However, when I looked at them on my computer I was pretty annoyed at the number of garbage shots. Motion blur and bad focus choice were the worst problems and I mentioned in my post yesterday that the next time I go out, I'll take a monopod with me to help with stabilization. I knew that today might have some frost but if so it wasn't going to be a big show like yesterday. Still, macro + frost of any kind = sparkly goodness so I crossed my fingers for any kind of frost! Happily, we did get some. And, it was just as predicted--only a little bit. Combined with the fact that today was forecast to be bright and sunny all day, I didn't have a moment to lose if I hoped to get frosty pictures. I made a bee-line to the burned shed and hoped for the best. I immediately checked out an old car seat that had been left behind the shed. It had disintegrated to a skeleton of rusty springs and coils--what a wonderful subject for macro photography! Yesterday I took about 30 pictures. Exactly ONE of them turned out well enough to share but I really wanted a little bit more depth of field so I could show off more of that amazing frost. I was so annoyed but at least I could try again today. Sadly there was so little frost on the springs that it merely looks like some salt granules but I got a bunch of good pictures this time and my main image is my favorite. You'll see yesterday's frostier image as an inset. Maybe it's better? Pam, just for fun I typed in "seat" on your photo stream since I was showing springs from an old car seat. What a surprise to find a hit! You took a really neat picture of a wrought iron garden seat caked with snow! Thinking about the fun fractals and filtery things you like so much, seems to me this seat picture would look really cool in a design. :) I hope that you and your day was like ours was--sunny and beautiful! *BIG HUGS* from southern Oregon! :)

I haven't picked up my camera in months so I thought I'd go out today and see if I could find something nice to post. This adorable little mushroom was bouncing up and and down in the grass with excitement to be my Picture of the Day! <3 Explored on 4/10/18. Highest placement: #29 Note: I am so delighted by all of the wonderful responses and views/favorites of my picture. Thanks for making me feel so welcome everyone! :)

Back in March, I took my camera to work for a few minutes of blossom-hunting. Downtown Medford in Spring is a lovely sight to behold, with streets lined with blooming trees in pink and white, what a breathtaking show! I only had a few minutes to spare, but wandered around a block completely transfixed by all of the wonderful photo-ops in front of me. I was hoping to capture the beauty of the flowering trees, and this picture turned out especially well! Explored on May 18, 2015. Highest placement, #3.

A couple of weeks ago I was creeping around by our front gate with my camera and listening to the amazingly loud voices of the frogs singing at our seasonal pond, which is about 20-30 feet away. If you have never heard a pond of frogs croaking in the spring, you would be very surprised to discover how noisy they are! For instance, our pond is about 600-700 feet (213-243m) from our house, or about 1/8 of a mile away. We can see it, but it's not close. When those frogs turn up the volume, WOW! You can hear them clearly from the house (though not from inside). I didn't want to get too close to the pond because they can feel my footsteps, no matter how quiet I am, and suddenly they will become silent, which makes me so very sad. :( But eventually I couldn't resist, and my light steps (Godzilla stomps) signalled them all to be quiet. Awwww... :( I walked down to the edge of the pond, marvelling at its "to-the-brim" fullness, and smiled. With the strange weather patterns, Steve and I wondered if the pond would fill this year. Happily, it's been full for a few weeks now, and the rains keep coming, so if all goes well, the pond will have water in it until about June or maybe even July. It's an important breeding ground for our local frog species, so the longer there is water, the better chance there is for the tadpoles to transform into frogs. The funny thing is that I NEVER see frogs in or around the pond. I always hunt for them, but they are perfectly camouflaged and also, they dive to the bottom of the pond or retreat into holes or under plants. So on this day, as I crouched quietly at the side of the pond, looking in vain for frogs, I almost fell over when I actually SAW one!! I looked and suddenly a little Pacific Tree Frog swam lazily up to the surface and floated there just long enough for me to take some pictures. Then, when I paused to adjust the settings on my camera, I looked through the eyepiece again, and...GONE! But see? I have PROOF!!! I finally SAW ONE!!! HOORAY!!! :D Explored on ipernity on March 28, highest placement, #2.

I discovered this branch on a tree I had never seen on our hillside a month or so ago. I decided to explore my way up to the ridge to see if there was something special to find...of course there were many special sights, including the spider I posted yesterday, some little black and red beetles, and this tree branch! It looks similar to a pussy willow, but it's not soft and fuzzy. I believe those are all new leaves just sprouting. A very lovely discovery! I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) Explored on June 8, 2012, placement at #470.

This is from my archives, a picture I took last spring. This flower was growing where water pools, and the day after I took this picture, I found it face-down in the water, so I picked it and brought it inside for a studio shot, which is below! It's also the 21st Flower of Spring & Summer!

This morning when I went out to take my pictures, I heard a bird singing such a lovely song. I looked to see and it was a robin at the top of a nearby Oak tree! I was able to get close enough to get several pictures, and this one shows it singing!! YAY!! As you can see, it's facing the sun and singing it's lovely heart out! :) What a gift for me, and I'm so pleased I could share this experience with all of you! :) This large songbird is named after the European Robin, but they aren't closely related. A single glance at these two side by side makes it obvious: the European (Flycatcher family) is small, round, and dainty, whereas the American Robin (Thrush family) is large, robust looking and bulkier looking, and it charges around on the grass when looking for insects and worms to eat. American Robins are one of the most common birds in the United States! This popular bird is also the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. If you would like to know more about his pretty bird, Wiki has a great page here: Wikipedia: American Robin .

This opening Magnolia blossom looks as if it's amazed by all the other blossoms in the tree. It reminds me of a muppet! :D I took this picture yesterday, one of many neat images I got of this tree!

Today was another Sunday Lunch Ride, hosted by Steve, for our local cycling club! We drove to the beautiful Applegate Valley and parked mere feet from the Applegate Lodge where Steve and I got married! From there we went on a lovely 31.5-mile ride along the stunning Applegate River and stopped halfway through for lunch and wonderful conversation! It was a perfect day and included flowering trees everywhere, wonderful farms, and even a baby Holstein calf who galloped along beside me while I sang a happy "Mooooooooooooooo!!!!!" This Magnolia blossom was just one of the zillion pictures I took at lunchtime, captured with the tree trunk behind it. I have so many images of these flowers that I would like to share but I'm out of time tonight so I'll just have this one for now! :) More to come!! Neltje Blanchan De Graff Doubleday (October 23, 1865 – February 21, 1918) was a United States scientific historian and nature writer who published several books on wildflowers and birds under the pen name Neltje Blanchan. Her work is known for its synthesis of scientific interest with poetic phrasing. Wikipedia: Neltje Blanchan