My sweet sister-in-law in Connecticut just sent me the prettiest photo, snapped with her phone. I love it and hope that you all enjoy it, too.

Pine branches, pine cones, and a candle. Merry Christmas!

There’s a lady not too far from my house who really goes all out with the holidays. She does amazing things at Halloween and July Fourth, as well. But the Christmas display is my favorite. At this time of year, in this northern latitude, we love lights! Below is the view from the road in front of her house, showing the reflection on the top of my car as I steadied my camera, and below that is a closer view which includes Santa in the gazebo. There’s a huge Christmas village inside the home, but we’ll save that for another day. Merry Christmas!

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Normandy Park, WA holiday lights

Santa waving from the gazebo

Here’s a view at Seattle’s Woodland Park Rose Garden, from a June solstice a few years ago. It’s been raining here, or completely overcast, since the second week in October and I, for one, want to look at sunshine and flowers. Hope you do, too.

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It’s been awhile since I posted a view from the overlook near my house. This was taken on the numerologically important day of 12-12-12. In all the clouds and rain Seattle has been having since mid-October (after a fabulous summer of sunshine) that day the sun managed to peek out briefly and I was there. Hope you enjoy this view of the ephemeral magic of the setting sun.

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I was at the open house at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle on Friday and it was so cool. That model train they have this year is the neatest thing. I’ll do a photo of that later on, but now I just wanted to share a shot of the prettiest, glitteriest, most festive tree I’ve seen in a long time. Wish this was my tree at home!

Participating in My Romantic Home, Mellow Yellow Monday, Pink Saturday, Weekend Reflections, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, and Ruby Tuesday 2. To see all the recent images, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above. Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!

I love this kind of bromeliad flower. My mom used to live in South Florida (today she would have been 96 years old!) and she grew them in her yard. This pretty specimen was grown by the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle, and it was blooming in May. Since this is one of the flowers in my book about the flowers there, I know the name is Silver Vase Bromeliad, Aechmea fasciata.

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Walking to our neighbors’ the other day, their front yard had the loveliest red bird feeder, scenic and against the rainy leaves. Hope the birdies appreciate the pretty leaves as much as we do.

Joining this post in Outdoor Wednesday, My Romantic Home, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Mellow Yellow Monday, Pink Saturday, and Ruby Tuesday 2. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above if there’s only one photo below. So glad you stopped by.

No, this rose is not still blooming now, but I miss my roses so much. Here is a pretty one that was in the garden in September, a red Snowfire rose, with the outside of each petal in white. The little pocket Canon camera I use (Powershot S95) tends to saturate the colors quite a bit, but it’s still very close to real life. And don’t forget to download the Seven Secrets to Better Photos at right for some simple, no-fuss techniques.

Participating in Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, Outdoor Wednesday, Macro Monday, My Romantic Home, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Pink Saturday, and Ruby Tuesday 2. Please click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above if you’d like to see all the recent pretty pictures. Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!

Only a few short weeks ago, it began to rain, and in Seattle, that’s the last we might see of real sunshine until next summer. It doesn’t rain too much in inches, but it sure stays wet. Here is a Peace rose that got drenched, before I cut it to bring inside.

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After all that rain we had, the display of autumn leaves are mostly done here in Seattle, but these golden yellow Japanese maple leaves half in the shadows are still giving us a show. And don’t you love that tiny red stem?

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