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?

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.

One from the archives, for sure. I was going through the tulip collection because I felt like creating a calendar for 2011 with tulips and I don’t think I ever posted this one on the blog. I will definitely include it in the calendar. It was taken in April of this year at the Skagit Valley Tulip Fest, a couple hours north of Seattle in Washington. Hope you enjoy this blast of springtime as we are entering winter.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more great skies seen around the world. Color Carnival has more brilliant colors. Pink Saturday has more pinkness. Scenic Sunday has more scenery. You get the idea.

I really like the expansive feeling I get when I look at this photo so I’ve categorized and entered it as Best Post of the Week.

If there is only the field of pink tulips below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for all the others.

There’s a very scenic overlook near my house, and sometimes even in gray weather the view is good. A little sunshine sifting down from the clouds, a bit of reflection on the water, and there you have it. It feels so good to look out to a far distance, doesn’t it?

Visit Skywatch Friday and Scenic Sunday for more skies and earth worth viewing. Watery Wednesday has more water photos of all kinds. Weekend Reflections showcases visual reflections.

If you see only one post on this page, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the whole blog.

A few weeks ago on my way to a conference in Las Vegas, the weather was gray in Seattle, no surprise there, but what a magnificent view of Mt. Rainier emerged when we ascended above the clouds. I love air travel for this reason. The views are truly heavenly.

Even though this is water frozen and water gaseous, it’s still water, and it qualifies for an entry to Watery Wednesday. Visit Blue Monday for more blue in photos, too. Shadow Sunday has more neat shadows. Outdoor Wednesday has more outdoor shots, of course, and Scenic Sunday the same, but different. Skywatch Friday has great skies to see.

If you see only one photo here, you’ve arrived via a link. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog experience.

I know everyone likes the sunshiny skies, but since this IS Seattle, once in awhile I have to show what it truly looks like. These clouds over Volunteer Park do have a little tone variation, and you can tell I’ve lived here for a bit, because I do appreciate that the clouds aren’t just one tone of gray! Seattle doesn’t actually get any more rain than New York City, say, only about 36 inches a year on average, but it sure is cloudy, a lot. Did I mention dark and cloudy?

Anyway, be sure to visit Skywatch Friday for more skies all around the world. Outdoor Wednesday has more outdoor photos of all kind, and Scenic Sunday has more great scenery. If there’s just one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog.

It’s amazing how euphoric a sunny day with blue skies can make me feel. I believe the trees revel in it, also. This fall scene in Wallingford, a neighborhood in Seattle, just makes me happy when I look at it. I hope it makes you feel good, too.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies around the world. Scenic Sunday has more great scenery. Blue Monday has more photos with blue in them. Color Carnival has more bright colors. And SOOC has more straight-out-of-the-camera shots.

Browse around here first, if you have time. You might try the “autumn” tag, for starters. And to get to the latest post (if you’ve arrived via a link) do click on Sara’s Fave Photos.

Last month we got to go crabbing with our friends with a boat, which they keep at the Cap Sante marina in Anacortes, WA. As we were getting ready to go home with our crabs, the light turned soft and pink. Photo op!

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Weekend Reflections and Scenic Sunday for more great photos. And the Thursday Challenge this week is “Peaceful.” I’m going to say this qualifies.

I like this photo very much and am calling it my Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

Do browse around here first, trying a new tag or category if you feel adventurous. Returning to the latest post (if you’ve arrived from a link) is easy: just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above or here.

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