Sun behind the leaves

Spring is really here! This was taken on the 28-th about 8:00 AM looking east.

Rain drops on tall grass

Another shot from the 21-st at the fence behind our house.

Upside down cloud

Shortly after the sun set, this cloud was still brightly lit by the sun's rays. And I was able to catch it reflected in the birdbath.

In full bloom!

A couple of really warm days our cherry trees are in full bloom!

Spring flowers and other things

IKEA on Thursday, Home Depot on Friday, and a couple of deliveries during the week. So Saturday we started dressing up the front of the house for spring. The mobile, shelf and some of the plants are from IKEA. Marianne will be repotting the plants in more decorative pots. The colorful daises and impatiens are from Home Depot as well as the laurel bush and glass butterfly below.

The sun returned and highlighted the butterfly.

Shopping stop

Yesterday was a nice day for a drive, so we visited the IKEA in Baltimore to picked up some items for the house. We found most of the items on Marianne's list, had Swedish meatballs for dinner in the IKEA cafe, and caught the sunset as we were leaving.

Cherry tree and shadows

This is one (the other is out of the frame to the left) of our cherry trees taken early this morning. As you can see the tree is taking its time getting to full bloom. Our weather has been bouncing from 70's to 30's. This weekend 80's are predicting and I expect the blooms to be full. The shadows are the flag and me. Below is a closeup of the blooms.

Reflected sky

This morning is cool, cloudy and calm. As I passed the birdbath on my walk around the yard, this mirrored image of the tree limbs and sky caught my eye and I captured it in pixels. A slight change in position added a little more of the sun trying to break through the clouds.

Golden trees and field

The clouds parted at sunset to let a golden glow light up the young leaves on the trees to the west and across the field.

Like a duck takes to water

Last Saturday these two took to the water very calmly.

Soaring high

Saturday was a glorious spring day and I had several errands to run. My camera went along for the ride. I spotted this airplane and glider, parked, and got this shot of them on the way to the wild blue yonder and free flight by the glider. On most spring and fall weekends with sun and mild winds I see a glider or two. Sometimes when I'm working in the yard, I will hear plane after plane struggling to tow a glider to release altitude.

Saturday stop at Baker Park

Warning not required

Water landing - approach

Water landing - splashdown

What a difference a half-day makes!

When I went out this morning, the buds on our cherry trees were turning pink. After dinner, with the sun setting, some were popping open. I'm looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

My acorn!!!

and you can't have it!

Red, white and blue

One of the buildings along Carroll Creek in Frederick.

Then and Now - Spring arrives

On Monday (yes! April 13) our birdbaths were frozen over. Today the this little feathered friend had just finished his morning bath!

Sparkling wall

This image was taken about 3 weeks ago when the early morning sun hit the glass tiles on the wall near our fireplace, creating a glow of gold and copper. The first image is a cropped section of the complete image (below). Only a small patch of sun hits the wall this time of the year and disappears as the sun gets higher in the sky.

Wood N Sky

Last few days have been gray and dreary, so here is an image from 3 weeks ago, looking up from our deck to the incredibly blue sky!

Lone tulip

Several years ago we planted some tulips around the mailbox with the daffodils. This is the only one that remains. Photo taken in the rain Saturday.

Spring? Easter? Frozen birdbath?

Yes! That's ice! They predicted 35 for last night, but I found ice in the birdbath this morning. We have been bouncing between 60's and 30's as the weather systems that dumped late snow in plains and rain and tornados in the south come by us after losing their punch. We expect March to be this way, but April is usually milder.

Skyline - Blue glass and bird

After mailing our tax forms (we owed the Feds a little, but get back some from the state); I stopped to take a few shots of the clearing skies. While taking this photo of the sky reflected in the windows, I heard chirping above. At first I did not the see the chirper, but then this bird landed on the side of the building. It appears that there is a nest hidden in the eave.

Flight of the starlings

Verified words - 6-th edition

Here are more "word verifications" which appeared when I commented on blogs; along with my impression of their meaning. Each one has been verified against dictionary.com and wikipedia. First edition was posted as Round 1. Today's words:

dropali
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "Drupal"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "Drupal"
Lew's definition: drop-ali - Ken Norton's goal in life.

uncell
dictionary.com - a NOT a word, suggested "unsell"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "unwell"
Lew's definition: un-cell - a telephone with wire attached.

corkng
dictionary.com - IS a word meaning "excellent, fine"
wikipedia - IS a word, several meanings
Lew's definition: cork-ing - I'm with the experts on this one.

I have noticed more ordinary words in the verifications recently. Also, "Drupal" is a content management system for web sites, such as blogs.

One more from Ms Liberty

Ellis Island as seen from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The tall buildings are a part of Jersey City, NJ.

Rhododendron bud

Yes Quilly, the sun is back - but our buds are waiting for warmer weather!

Rain drops on the window

It was a dark and dreary day, at least for awhile in the morning. This was the view out our dining room window. Around noon the sun appeared along with patches of blue; then the clouds blew by again in the late afternoon.

Going to the moon

Another shot (cropped and enhanced) from the morning of March 23. There were a number of planes that left brief contrails as I waited for the sunrise. They appeared to be departing Baltimore (about 50 miles east) and heading to points west. Some made a gentle curving arcs and headed south. This was taken between the moon and sunrise image and the sunrise sequence posted for Sky Watch.

Norwegian Spirit

My thanks and appreciation to RuneE, John, Lene, Ivar, Arne, Ida and the other bloggers from Norway who have shared so much of the beauty of their country. Your images are superb and posts are interesting and show the beauty of the waters, mountains, and cities. I took this photo of the Norwegian Spirit departing from New York in July 2007 before I began my blogs and found yours. We were on the ferry from the Statue of Liberty back to the Jersey shore.

April starts out cold

.......................... and the daffodils turned blue!

It is cool, but not THAT cold! Just a cool application of PhotoShop for the first of April.