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.

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!

It was clear overhead but all misty and mysterious out on the water. Can’t you just hear the foghorns?

Visit Watery Wednesday for more interesting kinds of water photos, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Weekend Reflections, Skywatch Friday and Sunday Shadow Shots. This one is straight out of the camera, too.

Do browse the little images, or thumbnails, next door at Free Photos, linked to searchable larger photos you can copy and use for your enjoyment. And if this photo is the only one below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

For me, the solstice is a key day to my emotional equilibrium. With the solstice night at about 16 hours long in this latitude, daylight is crucially important. Once the solstice arrives, the days lengthen again, so all is positive and improving.

I took this photo in my back yard on Tuesday morning, the solstice. One of the only benefits of the shorter days is that I actually witness the dawn light on some days. Can you tell I am not an early riser?

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world, Blue Monday and Scenic Sunday as well. This one is straight out of the camera, too. And Happy Solstice to you, a couple of days late.

As usual, if there’s only this one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

Here’s a stunner of a view, if I do say so myself. It’s amazing what a little patch or two of sunlight can do to an otherwise gray vista. This overlook near my house has been such a great scenic boon to me, and I am grateful.

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday, Weekend Reflections, Skywatch Friday and Scenic Sunday, too, for more great photos.

I continue to be excited by the lucky break I encountered in the cloud cover and am calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Want to see the latest posts? Click on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above. And do leave a comment and let me know how you like this blog’s new look.

Looking through the old files from May of this year, I found this photo taken at the marina (Boat Haven?) in Port Townsend, never before published. What a rainbow that was! I remember that it was unusually long lasting, its arc in the east getting flatter and flatter as the sun sank in the west.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday and Weekend Reflections for more interesting photographs on a theme. This one is also straight out of the camera. And because I like it so much, I’m putting it in the Best Post of the Week category.

Please try a new category or tag while you are here. And if there is only the one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the whole blog experience.

This photo was taken about a year ago, when I had just gotten my new camera, the Canon Powershot S90. My New Year’s resolution last year was to learn its features, and while I haven’t learned them all by any means, I feel much more comfortable with the manual settings and am far more likely to get the shot I want, closer to what I am seeing right then. Sunsets give me such a great feeling and thought I’d share this one, even though the quality could be better.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday and Scenic Sunday for more interesting photos contributed by people around the world. I love photo memes!

The U.S. Pacific Northwest has an interesting climate. Even though it’s quite far north, the ocean currents and the large amount of straits, bays, inlets, rivers and other water features gives us quite temperate weather, although mostly cloudy. The temperatures vary here less than any other place I have ever lived. We are lucky that certain broadleaf evergreens like the holly tree flourish here.

This large tree in my neighborhood, perhaps 5 or even 10 yards/meters tall, has wonderful berries, but I noticed that they begin fairly high up. I am pretty sure that is due to people helping themselves to these very attractive holiday decorations. I was tempted.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more splashes of red, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday and SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots. If the berries is the only photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for more.

This is my backyard, taken last week in the first snow of the season. I felt that I needed to post another shadow shot today. I love the roses below, but the shadows just weren’t crisp enough. These blue shadows are good for Blue Monday, and this is another for Scenic Sunday, too. Also, this is a good post for the Sunday Creative, on the theme of Frozen.

As always, if there’s just one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog experience.