We headed to St. Louis this past weekend, to take in a St. Louis Cardinals game (they won, I was shocked) and just toodle around as we visited my sister. She'd been unable to come down here as she usually does in the spring because we've had so much rain there was always a danger the main highway that connects our area with hers could have shut ( Read more... )

It's a spectacularly clear, bright blue sky today, and the moon was up. It occured to me that I've never tried taking a nice daytime pic of the moon, so here's the best one, processed a little afterward to add some clarity to the moon features, which resulted in some odd shadowing/vignetting/something of the blue sky, but eh, not a bad first try.


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On Labor Day, hubby and I went to our local botanical garden. It's been years since we've been, and back then it was mostly a Japanese stroll garden and a hosta shade garden and a lot of dreams of growing bigger, which it definitely has. Free to the public except for a small fee for the Japanese garden, it's very lovely, even late in the summer ( Read more... )

I'm not sure even a hobbit would be tempted by this one...

https://instagram.com/p/BnJSWAyH-_B

I have no idea what kind it is. Maybe an ink cap mushroom, but naturally none of the images on google look exactly like it. We've been having a lot of rain lately and the forest floor is sprouting with all kinds of fun little mushrooms, but this one ( Read more... )

Went to a sunflower field. :)


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In the US, Labor Day is ostensibly a holiday to celebrate the working person, but for most people it's more a celebration of the end of the summer season. I always feel very bittersweet about Labor Day. I love summer and its carefree vibe and always feel sadness when it ends, even though I do love fall's cooler weather, colorful trees and harvest ( Read more... )

I've had a couple requests for a synopsis after I go see Captain America: Civil War Sunday, so I'm thinking about creating a custom filter for that, just to ensure only those who want to read it do and no one else is accidentally spoiled (even though I'd put it under a cut). If you want to be included in that filter, let me know so I can add you ( Read more... )

... or would that be dumpling? Either way, just two this time. The first is leaf skeletons plus moss growing in the gaps between the bricks on a pathway in our back garden. The second is a close-up of serviceberry blossoms in the morning sunshine.


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We're having a really sunny and beautiful weekend so yesterday we were out and about most of the day, both at home and in Springfield.

At home (and everywhere else), the early daffodils are in full bloom right now:

My artsy IG close-up...

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Sometimes you glance out the window at just the right time, and on a really lucky day you'll actually have the camera handy. This was a really lucky day.

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