Sunday, April 10, 2011

Boom Boom'sTest Drive

Saturday was a gorgeous day.  A lone warm sunny day, only the second, since the Spring Equinox.  It's been a horridly cold and dreary Spring around here. But I took advantage of the lovely sunshine before we returned to cold rain on Sunday.  A friend and I went for a long walk and when I got back I broke out my new camera (Yes, I think I may take Suldog's suggestion and name the camera Boom Boom.  Now Suldog, will you please come back to blogland?)) to start getting acquainted with it.  Here are some of the results from around my yard.


I think labeled this an azalea even though it's a rhododendron...but maybe it;s an azalea.  Listen, I have sero sill where making green things grow is concerned.  In any event there's an itty bitty bud trying to get ready to do its thing.  At least the leaves have uncurled themselves from the cigar roll formations they go into during the winter.  Spring must be on its way, right? Right??


 These are odd little berries that grow in the yard as part of some creeping wild ground cover.  I have no idea what they are but they always intrigue me.



Someone once told me the shrub that produces these flowers is called bridal wreath.  I giggle about that because they grow around Mr. Lime's Manland shack.



We have a rail fence that's about ready to fall over.  It looks so artistic instead of redneck when you take a macro shot of the decaying rails though, doesn't it? 



Like I said, Spring seems greatly delayed in these parts but hey, the snow covering the rock wall out back is melted so you can see the lichen again.




Mr. Lime has threatened to cut down the Pussy Willow several times because the base of it is split and it doesn't look like it should be healthy but it blooms every year and I like it, so it's staying.  He gets a little too crazed with his chainsaw.



This is one of my flubs.  I had it on auto focus and thought it was focus but I either jiggled the camera or I see the world blurry.  Pity because I like the colors and the composition.  Oh well, part of learning.



Did I mention Spring is late and very little is blooming yet?  Yeah, I thought so.  That being the case I had to go looking for things to shoot.  We have a bunch of stumps around.  This one had kind of a groovy eroded curved spot in it.


Well, there you have it.  A little bit of playing with my camera.  I am frustrated with a lack of Spring but I am really excited to finally have a camera again after over a year without one...and looking forward to the next chance I get to play around with it.

15 comments:

Commander Zaius said...

Truthfully, I'd trade some dreary days for the hot weather we are getting. My son and I have been able to avoid most of the yardwork that demands to be done but after this weekend one of the two of us better cough up a lung to get out of it again.

Great pictures.

Dave said...

You are a good photographer I think Michelle. I look forward to seeing more photos. I specially liked your pussy willow, lichen and rotten fence shots - Dave

G-Man said...

A good camera makes all the difference in the world!

Bijoux said...

Very pretty photos, despite the lack of multi colors! Our daffodils finally bloomed yesterday.

Suldog said...

I am honored that you may choose my suggested name. About coming back, though... I thoroughly enjoyed a weekend wherein I didn't give a single thought to what to write about. That may change, but for now, ahhhhhhhhh.

Craig said...

Ah, fun with a new toy! Nice photos, too. I like the 'groovy eroded curved spot'; at least partly 'cuz you used the word 'groovy'. . . ;)

We've had the same kind of dank, gray spring here, but the weekend was pretty nice. I went out on a bike ride on Sat, with only a sweatshirt over my normal cycling stuff, 'cuz it was high 40s; but by the time I was halfway done, I had to take it off. Yesterday, tho, was nuts - we hit 85F, and I was frantically digging thru the off-season storage to find my shorts and sandals. . .

Cricket said...

Funny, I have a new camera to play with myself. Inherited, really, from my wife, who is the gadget buyer around here and decided her perfectly good one was "too bulky."

I rarely take pictures, but, for the first time since it was purchased, and with some guidance from Hilary, I've switched the damn thing from auto...

Now to figure out what all those unused buttons/settings actually do....

Kat said...

You are doing a great job with your new toy! What fun!
We had a 70 degree day yesterday but the grass is still brown and there are no buds to be seen. I can't wait for continuously warm weather. :)

Craver Vii said...

You say Mr. Lime goes "crazy" with the chainsaw? When a man has a chainsaw in his hands, the only thing that is off limits is people and animals. Well, most animals. Some, anyway.

~Tim said...

Hooray! New Lime photos! I need to dig my camera out too.

secret agent woman said...

The first one is definitely a rhododendron. I believe the ground cover with berries might be partridge berry, but I'm not sure. The leaves are too rounded for wintergreen. Your friend is thinking of bridal wreathe spirea, which the third one is definitely not. That's pieris (Pieris Japonica).One of my favorites - I have several in the yard.

lime said...

secret agent, thanks a bunch. i knew if anyone could sort me it out would be you. :)

secret agent woman said...

You're welcome. I'm just glad to have it come in handy once in a while! :-)

Hilary said...

Oh fun! I love your spring images.. but especially like the rotting fence. I'm looking forward to more wonderful images over time.

Anonymous said...

They're all good but love the last one...kewl stump...