This lovely scene was one of the displays at the NW Flower & Garden Show last week. Well done, I thought. This year’s show was filled with great stuff, especially for a flower and scenic photo enthusiast like me. And I thought that the lighting was a bit better in most of the displays, also. I hate flash and this light looks almost like outdoors to me. My camera (little Canon S90) was able to shoot this at 1/25, which is why the water looks so soft and almost steamy. Kind of odd, but pretty, too. And not bad for hand held!

Visit Watery Wednesday for more water photography. It’s kind of a cheat, but it’s sort of outdoors, or a good approximation of outdoors, so I’m entering this in the Outdoor Wednesday and Scenic Sunday memes, also. SOOC Sunday has more straight out of the camera photos, and Wordless Wednesday has all kinds of interesting images.

Check out Free Photos to see what’s new, and do click on Sara’s Fave Photos here if there is only one below.

Next to my backyard is a horse pasture with two boarded horses. This one, Ranger, is owned by a teenage girl who loves him very much. See the blanket she put on him! This is from a week ago, just before even more snow fell. I love how it looks when the sky is darker than the snowy ground.

Visit Watery Wednesday for other water shots, and Outdoor Wednesday for more scenes outside. Scenic Sunday and Skywatch Friday are very worth visiting as well. How about joining Wordless Wednesday with one of your own photos?

Check out Free Photos to see what’s new, and do click on Sara’s Fave Photos here if there is only one below.

That amaryllis that I (amazingly) regrew from last year was in full bloom about a week ago, in the sun before this unwelcome cold, snow and basic winter weather hit here in Seattle. But the weather changes, and we will have sunshine again. In the meantime, enjoy the color and shadows in my living room for a little while.

I love this photo with its deep shadows and look of peace and comfort and I am categorizing it as my Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Window Views and Ruby Tuesday for more photos with a theme. Do check next door at Free Photos to see what’s new. And if there’s only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the rest of them.

From a couple of weeks ago, driving north on the Viaduct, the skyline of Seattle in blessed sunshine. See the little Space Needle over on the left?

Visit Skywatch Friday for more interesting skies seen round the world, SOOC Sunday for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots, Blue Monday and Scenic Sunday. Post an image and join the fun yourself, why don’t you?

If only one image below, click Sara’s Fave Photos.

I know it’s not really a pink shooting star. I know it’s only the condensation trail of some sort of plane lit up by the setting sun, but doesn’t it look like it? This was taken near the Seattle waterfront in early January, and the digital camera info tells me it was taken at 4:46pm. And that was on a clear afternoon. The days are definitely getting longer these days!

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the planet, Pink Saturday for more pinkness of all kinds, Blue Monday for things blue, Scenic Sunday, and SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots. Join in yourself if you like; it’s way more fun that way.

I do like this post very much, as it’s quite unusual for me, so I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

If you’ve arrived here and see only one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the rest. You might like one or two.

That brief trip to Northern California last month is still yielding some neat images. Who doesn’t like reflections on a still lake in the sunshine? Spring Lake is in Santa Rosa, California, about an hour north of San Francisco. Seems like it was roughly the same hiking distance around as Green Lake in Seattle, about an hour or so. I love being outdoors near water!

Take a look at Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Blue Monday and Weekend Reflections for more interesting images on a theme. And if you like scenic landscape photos, there are a number of new ones taken in Arizona on Free Photos that you might check out.

I can’t believe I got last year’s amaryllis to actually rebloom. A miracle! Garden tip: For one thing, they tend to be so top heavy that I’ve learned to plant the bulb in a clay pot, not the plastic one provided in the “kit” sold around here. Toppling over is so not good for those huge blossoms. So after the bloom a year ago I kept the plant on my sunny, south-facing windowsill, kept watering with the dilute plant food I use for all my houseplants, enjoyed the sculptural strappy leaves all year, watched as they died back gradually, and was amazed when I saw a flower stem emerge!

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more photos with red, and Outdoor Wednesday. You might try a tag of RED here (lower right) first, just for fun.

Taken in Windsor, California last month, this photo shows the moss and lichen on the bare winter branches of the oak trees. Amazing what a little sunshine will do.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC, Thursday Challenge (trees) and Scenic Sunday for other photos you might enjoy. And definitely check out something like the Nature category if you have a moment.

I love this photo and I’m putting it in the Best Post of the Week category, but it was a hard choice between this and the radishes above! Just click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the whole blog with those cute radishes a few photos above this one.

Last month I went to Northern California Wine Country, and I am still enjoying the photos I took there and hope you are, too. This was taken at the square in little-but-so-artsy Healdsburg, about an hour and a half north of San Francisco. I love the way some branches are bare, some leaves are green, some still seem to be in autumn mode, and the palm trees wave over all. But it’s all about the blue sky, isn’t it?

Visit Skywatch Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC (straight out of the camera) and Blue Monday for more photos on a theme. And check out Free Photos next door for more scenic and flower photos to browse, too.

Even bare branches can look good when there’s water, sunshine, and reflections involved. This January view of the lake in Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa, California, was something that will look quite different in just a few months.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Weekend Reflections, Blue Monday and SOOC (straight out of the camera) for some more interesting photos. And you might try a tag like “reflections” or hop over to Free Photos for even more scenic and flower photos. All free for personal use!

I’ve decided I like the almost lace-like texture of the black branches very much and am naming this post my Best Post of the Week. If you see only the one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.