Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: thorns

(+2 insets!) One of the things about our spring weather patterns is that it can be beautiful one day and pouring cats and dogs the next. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day dappled with huge armies of puffy clouds. Today, however, it started off with a small glimpse of sun which was soon covered by a bank of brooding clouds which moved in and covered the sky with shades of grey. Though it seemed that it would pour all day, it's merely been threatening. I thought I'd urge the issue by walking down to the gate to get the mail. That did the trick! By the time I got to the mail box the first drops began to fall and I hot-tailed it up to the house with my three pieces of junk mail. Into the trash with you! Since it's wet, cold, and pretty unpleasant outside, I thought I some droplet-covered blackberry leaves would be a good choice for today. It's interesting to me how beautiful some blackberry leaves are as they die--as pretty as autumn's leafy butterflies! I have an additional image of blackberry leaves as an inset as well as an picture of an oak and manzanita leaf laying on some moss which turned out nicely! Pam, it was a fun task to look up "droplet" on your stream…oh the choices! :D I ended up picking your image of acacia leaves drizzled with needed rain ! So pretty. I think those leaves are so elegant and even prettier with droplets on them! I hope that you are having a good day! *BIG HUGGGGZZZZ* from southern Oregon! :)

(+3 insets!) It's really and truly snowing outside this morning! I checked during the night but only rain greeted me and I wondered what I would see upon arising. Peeking out first thing...nothing but a wet world. Boo. Still, it was going to be extremely cold today and there were storm clouds overhead. The perfect recipe for snow. At a freezing 27 degrees, I decided that I'd only do my minimum walk of 3 laps (15 minutes) today. I'm tired of returning to the house with frozen fingers and toes no matter how hard I work to keep warm. There are days that I feel cold for hours unless I take a long, hot shower or sit in front of the heater for ages to warm up again. It's no fun to feel so uncomfortable. I do love those showers though--except for the part where I have to get out at some point! If you can believe it, frogs were singing their hearts out down at the pond! Perhaps they didn't get the memo...IT'S FREEZING OUT HERE! The fact of the matter is that they are on an evolutionary timer and they know it. Our pond dries up at the beginning of June so they must find mates and produce eggs as early as possible. Those eggs must then hatch, the tadpoles must grow up and transform into froglets before the pond evaporates. Frogs who sing the earliest have the best chance of finding mates sooner, and thus, the best chance that their babies will grow up and produce the next generation. Survival of the fittest is a real thing and out here in the "sticks", we see the reality of living and dying based on tactics like these. Still, I must say it's pretty incredible to hear frogs singing when it's snowing! By the end of my 15 minutes there were itty bitty flakes falling and I was happy to get inside because I was already getting very cold despite marching up our hill three times. After another fifteen minutes the snow was coming down in bigger flakes and managed to cover the ground somewhat. I enjoyed looking at the contrast on the tree branches of white against dark brown. The snow continued for maybe half an hour and then petered out. The sun tried to break through the clouds and though it failed, the warmer temperatures melted all of the snow and now I look out and wonder...did it really snow or did I just imagine it? I didn't get any snowy pictures today except from my phone and they aren't worth posting. So I decided to dig around in my archives and process a few images I'd taken a while back...I have so much photography which deserves my attention. It's just incredible the piles of pictures that I don't have time to process! My main image is a snow and droplet-covered rose cane in heavy silhouette. I also found a picture of a day we had heavy snowfall a few years back. And I couldn't resist posting an adorable picture of our dear Basset Hound, Moosie, when he was just over a year old. How we miss that sweet boy. A picture of Zoey is here too, our adorable Boxer who we think of every day...our home feels so empty without them. :( Pam, has it been snowing much your way? Hopefully the weather isn't too bad. We're expecting more snow in the next few days but it won't be much. I did a search on your stream for "snow" and found a picture I loved of your beloved Flicka on his birthday. Maybe our dogs have met over the Rainbow Bridge. Our sweet pups…how we miss them. Sending *hugggggggggs* your way! Explored on 2/6/19, highest placement, #4.

This is a close-up of an Oak branch with the unique frost I found today. I find it incredibly fascinating that frost has so many forms! It's so beautiful, isn't it?

5 more pictures in notes above! A couple of weeks ago I went out with our Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro conversion lens and I got a macro image of Star Thistle stamens (see image above in note). When I went to link a larger picture to see the whole flower, I was amazed to realize I'd never processed the many pictures I've taken of this flower. So I went out today to remedy the situation! Star Thistle has quite a pretty flower up close, but otherwise it's nothing much to look at. Worse than that, this noxious weed is covered with nasty thorns, and should you get pricked, a tiny infected sore usually develops. I heard from a neighbor that Star Thistle arrived in the area because of the people who lived here before us. In the years they lived at the house, their kids brought home Star Thistle seeds in their clothes or shoes and from there, the plants sprouted and quickly spread to much of our property and neighboring properties. Personally, I don't buy the story, since this plant's seeds travel via parachutes and don't get stuck in clothes or socks. More likely, the seeds came from mixed grass hay fed to horses in the area and spread that way. In any event, we've got the awful stuff everywhere. It's next to impossible to get rid of, so we just try to live with it! Doug Larson (born February 10, 1926) was a columnist and editor for the Door County Advocate (1953-1964) and wrote a daily column for the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1964-1988) — both Wisconsin-based newspapers. The column was originally syndicated through United Media under the title "Senator Soaper Says"; Larson took over authorship in 1980. Previously, it had been written by Bill Vaughn of the Kansas City Star. Doug's quotes have been widely circulated on the Internet and occasionally show up on T-shirts. He was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Wikipedia: Doug Larson Explored on Septemeber 2, 2013. Highest placement, page 3 (#61).

I had to work until about 8pm tonight, and though I could have taken a picture inside, I was restless and wanted to go out, so I put on the macro flash and out I went, up to the stand of teasel! Once there I lost myself in a world of wonderful thorns, spines, spirals and prickles! What fun! Teasel is amazing to look at closely, isn't it? This picture and my alternate show the dried leaves from a teasel. Nature is truly magnificent! :) Hugh Miller (1802–1856) was a self-taught Scottish geologist and writer, folklorist and an evangelical Christian. Wikipedia: Hugh Miller