Phipps A Great Day

The photos I will share tonight may seem like adding salt to a wound for once again it is snowing in Erie but on Sunday it was a different story. Waking up to sunshine here in Erie with clear blue skies was a real treat. We decided after Church to drive a bit further South to Pittsburgh to visit some in your face Springtime at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. It was wonderful with outdoor temps near 70 and the gardens inside busting out with colors only found in the biggest box of Crayons. It was a great day.

Here are some shots from the day.

Thank you for looking.

~Jackie

Yea!! April Brings Springtime to Erie

It was such a sunny day here for the first day in April. I was envious looking out the windows at work and seeing the clear blue skies and sunshine pouring in. Jim and I both looked at each other while leaving work and said yep lets enjoy the evening especially since tomorrow the weathermen/women are forcasting rain here in Erie. We headed home and grabbed the camera and tripod and headed to Presque Isle for a nice hike.

It was a busy place walkers, joggers, people roller blading and biking. It was only about 50 degrees but the sun was shining and after a long Winter theres no better place to welcome April and Sprintime than Presque Isle. Presque Isle is a heaven for nature lovers, birders, and photographers. Every season has some special variety of plant or wildlife making its appearance. Today Jim and I were searching for a sure sign of spring buds on trees and maybe an early blooming dogwood.

One of the treats of spring that Jim and I look forward to is the Yorkshire Dogwood Trees blooming. They are one of my favorite trees and our weather here really encourages the most awesome blooms. I don't know if the site of white snow for five monthes and the lack of leaves on the bearing all the naked trees or if its the bright pink bloom with the fuzzy center but nothing beats the Yorkshire Dogwood in bloom. Sometimes I wonder about the spring blooming trees along with the beautiful Magnolias and Cherry trees the blooming season is so short but it really is worth it and is really one of those nautures wonders kind of thing.

Well, I did capture kind of a nice shot that I thought I would share of the Yorkshire Dogwood. Hope Spring and April are busting out in your area. If not enjoy our sign of Spring and maybe look a little closer for unique signs in your neighborhood.




Happy Aprils 1st from Jim, Misha, and me ;)

Deer Neighbor

Gosh I have not posted in so long. Sorry about that. Now with Spring approaching I will get out more and practice improving my photography.

Tonight, I took Misha out for a walk while Jim was working on a few things in the basement. I got a few houses down and Misha stopped to sniff some trees. I saw three of the cutest deer about 20 feet from me. They saw me staring but they were not startled, instead they were kind of playing and prancing around the yard rather joyfully. Of course I left the house without my camera and I knew they wouldnt wait for me. So off we went to finish the walk. Coming home I noticed a deer in the woods across the street. So this time, I ran in the house grabbing my camera leaving Misha in the house.

The deer heard me and ran off to the ridgeline over looking the Bay bluff but was silhouetted nicely with the sun begininning to set. So I did take a few shots.

So here is a shot of our deer neighbor

That picture reminds me of another dear that Kara and Michael will be expecting in late July or first week in August. They found out their baby is going to be a little girl. They have picked out the cutest nursery theme that features some woodland characters especially a deer. Jim and I are soooo excited to see our first grandchild.

Thanks for checking in and hope I can start posting more often now that the weather is improving.

Just Ducky

Well today was one of those days, rainy, dreary most of the day but Spring is in the air. Tomorrow is actually expected to reach near 60 degrees. So I thought it was only fitting to show some more duck pics.

I thought this first shot was so funny. I could think of about 100 titles for this one.

Thank you for looking. ~Jackie

Feb 8th

Well the skies were nice and clear blue today despite the colder temperatures than yesterday. It made a wonderful day to shoot some pics. Today I was trying to take pictures of mallards and geese. While shooting at a spot I saw a fellow photographer. I have run into him several times at Presque Isle. His work at capturing wildlife there is simply marvelous. I think of myself as fairly brave, I will go nose to nose (slight exageration) to moose in Colorado but this guy pratically can feel the foxes breath on him as they exhale. Well, he does have some wonderful zoom lenses so hopefully he stays at a safe distance. Anyway he was kind enough to give me lots of pointers on shooting wildlife, no hunting license needed. I need lots of practice but got a few captures that turned out ok.

Thank you for looking. ~Jackie

Saturday Feb 7th

Well I made my Saturday trip to the Peninsula to take a few shots. The snow started to melt on the Bay leaving a smooth layer of ice that was as smooth as glass. The first picture is of the bay shooting down at the ice. Also took pics in the woods and of a guy playing the horn off by himself in a picnic grove. He said he didnt mind if I took a few photos.

Kind of a strange variety from today but thanks for looking.

~Jackie

Feb. 4th

It is getting hard for me to see the beauty of Winter the last few weeks. We are getting record snow totals-all ready the 4th worst Winter in our cities record books and we still have a good month to two of snowy to come. Now, the snow is piling high on street corners making it difficult to make a turn at an intersection. You have to kind of nudge your way into the intersection to see over the mound for oncoming traffic. The snow now has lost that fresh look and now looks polluted with dirt, exhaust fumes, and even that yellow stuff that you warn your kids not to eat. But today while heating my lunch in the microwave I decided to try to capture some fresh snowflakes. Not a terrific success but it did allow me to see the beauty once again with winter and its many flakes. (not talking about my family here) lol




Thank you for looking. ~Jackie