What a blessing is a sunny day in Northern California. Spring Lake Park is in Santa Rosa, with many wineries close by, but even without the vineyards the landscape is beautiful. Last week there was weather for a little hike around the lake. Weren’t we lucky?

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Weekend Reflections, SOOC and Scenic Sunday for more neat photos with a theme. And while you are here, do click on a new category, here or next door at Free Photos, to see something new.

Bromeliads are fun. They are pretty like flowers but the center part is only colored leaves (called bracts, I believe). This kind likes to get watered from above and collect water in the center. My mother used to grow different kinds in Florida where they can grow outdoors, and she had quite a collection. This one is in the Volunteer Park Conservatory here in Seattle, where they certainly cannot grow outdoors, or at least not in January.

Visit Macro Monday, Color Carnival, Cactus Monday and Ruby Tuesday for more cool photos with a theme. And do poke around here before you go!

Wandering through the archives, I came across this sunset taken at just this time of year when I was in Arizona a few years back. Simple but serene, I think. Hope you like it.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday for more photos with a splash of yellow, Skywatch Friday for skies, and Scenic Sunday for more scenery. And you can try a search for yellow here or next door at Free Photos, too.

Visiting my friend in Santa Rosa, California, I was so pleased to see her geranium plant blooming, in January! This orchid color is a beauty, isn’t it? Here in Seattle, now that I’m home again, not much happening out there in the garden, but soon, we hope.

Visit Flowers For Today for more flowers from around the world and Macro Monday for more close ups. And if there is only one photo here, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog.

I took a photo of this same scene many years ago, taken against a dramatic sky in March, as I remember, but here it is again, taken last week in January. It was great to find the exact spot and I was happy that the sun peeked out for a bit of shadow on the barn wall for me. This huge old live oak tree, certainly over 100 years old, is in Sebastopol, California, out on Sanford Avenue. This photo is one of my very top faves, so I’m putting it in my Best Posts of the Week category.

Visit Scenic Sunday and Shadow Sunday for more intriguing photos, and SOOC for more with no tweaking, or straight out of the camera. And browse around here and at Free Photos for some pretty pictures if you have a moment.

While recently in San Rafael in Northern California, I had a chance to visit the big hispanic supermarket Mi Pueblo, one of a chain of ten stores around California. It was so great! Very entertaining. Everywhere I looked were perfect displays of all kinds of delicious-looking foods, a perfect photo op for a photo junkie like me. Here’s a peek at the ceiling decor over the fruits and vegetables.

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Just back from visiting Sonoma County, photographing as much as I could. I love this place so much. The landscape of Northern California wine country has to be the most beautiful in the world. Everywhere you look is beauty.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world, Blue Monday for more blue and Scenic Sunday for more great scenery. How about viewing a new tag or category here first?

On a trip up to Camano Island yesterday, just loving that sunshine, there was the Stillaguamish River (the “Stilly”) and the magnificent snow-capped Cascade Mountains as a backdrop. Today all is cloudy again, but it was so nice while it lasted.

Speaking of sunshine, I am headed south to the San Francisco area (Wine Country, here I come!) to visit and take in the Impressionist show at the de Young Museum, as the show is soon to head back to Paris. Paintings just look so different in person, and it’s much easier to get to San Francisco than Paris. I can’t wait, as great weather is predicted and it will be so good to hang with the peeps again. It will mean time off from this blog and Free Photos, but just for a week. I’ll be back before you know it with lots of new photos.

In the meantime, be sure to visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday, and do browse around here and Free Photos while you’re here. Ta-ta!

On New Year’s Eve we like to have a crab and cream cheese dip, and to make sure there are enough calories, only with ridged potato chips. Only once a year, but still. So in recent years, I”ve been adding a vegetable plate, also very good to stick in crab dip. This year we got to use the crab we actually caught ourselves in September, which was super wonderful. I hope your New Year’s Eve was as delicious.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more intriguing images with red. And look around this blog or Free Photos while you’re here, why don’t you?

These are some of my top fave mums. I remember that my mom grew them when I was growing up in New York City (it’s not all tall buildings, you know), and the tiny “spoons” of the petals totally fascinated me. And the scent. I was pleased to see some in a recent gift bouquet I received. Lucky me!

Visit Shadow Sunday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Macro Monday for more neat photos. Do browse around this site, as there’s lots to see. Search here or next door in Free Photos for anything you’d like to see.

Happy New Year to everyone! May health, wealth and happiness be yours, in 2011 and in every year.