When the petals are not just one flat row, the flowers are called doubles. The edge of a different color around the petals is called picotee. These azaleas with maidenhair ferns on the side from the Volunteer Park Conservatory are pretty special for both reasons, and you probably won’t find too many like this in your neighbor’s front yard. I think they are so sweet and cheerful!

Visit Pink Saturday, Color Carnival, Macro Friday, SOOC Sunday, Today’s Flower and Macro Flowers Saturday for more photos with a theme. Be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos if there is only one photo below. Thanks for visiting!

Yesterday was a rare sunny day, so even though it was cold I went out for a walk, and was happy that the view of Puget Sound and the sky from the Normandy Park, Washington overlook, quite near my house, was even more beautiful than usual. This late day light is my favorite time of day.

Skywatch Friday has more incredible skies from photographers all around the world (this week the guest “photo” is an awesome time-laspe sky video, complete with shooting stars!), and Scenic Sunday has more great scenery. Do take a look.

This photo really floats my boat. I particularly love the shape of the trees curving around the sky. I am calling this my Best Post of the Week.

If there is only one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for more. And visit Free Photos for even more!

Santa Rosa in Northern California gets almost no freezing weather and so the geraniums live from year to year. This sunlit leaf was photographed on a cold January day.

I am entering the Gardening Gone Wild Picture This Photo Contest for macros taken with point and shoot cameras. I can’t wait to see the other entries using the special camera on a jar technique suggested. Also Macro Friday has lots of neat close ups.

Do browse around here, perhaps the tag “close up”? or at Free Photos next door. New photos coming soon!

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.

Visit Pink Saturday and Color Carnival for more fun photos based on color. And do check next door at Free Photos to see what’s new. You can subscribe both here in the blog and at Free Photos (so you never miss a post) in the upper right hand corner of each.

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?