I was in the back yard a couple of weeks ago, admiring the magnolia tree in the late afternoon light, when I saw the moon in the sky. Thank goodness I try to keep my camera in my pocket at all times!

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world, and Pink Saturday for more sweet pinkitude of all sorts. And remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

I really like the way the clouds and the magnolia blossoms both seem to dance. I’m calling this one my Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

Yesterday was one of those cloud days. Every time I looked at the sky, amazing and wonderful clouds were there for my personal enjoyment. The challenge is to be where you can take a photo, hopefully without lots of telephone wires, etc., ruining it. And you’ve gotta be quick!

This is downtown Burien, showing those new condos near the new library. Don’t they look smashing with that great sky setting them off?

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world. And remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

Even though lenticular clouds mean rain is coming, we love them so much. They look like flying saucers or hats, or generate all kinds of whimsical ideas. This recent view of Mt. Rainier from the overlook near my house had the special addition of a plane flying right over it.

Today I have the honor of being Guest Host on Skywatch Friday. Go see all the wonderful sky photographers listed there.

When I see good light and I have a few minutes, I can’t resist racing to the overlook of Puget Sound near my house to see the view. Yesterday there was a break in the clouds to the west and sure enough, it was beautiful.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world. Weekend Reflections, Scenic Sunday and Outdoor Wednesday are worth a visit, too.

It’s cleared up and the sky was showing the change the other evening. This one is SOOC, or straight out of the camera. For more skies around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

Navigation Note: Now you can always get back to the latest entry here by clicking on the “Sara’s Fave Photos” title in the header, no matter where you’ve wandered in the blog. I invite you to look at the memes or tags on the left, or whatever appeals to you today. Hope you enjoy your visit.

This is one of my top faves, from the archives, from when I used to live in Sonoma County, CA, which is about an hour or so north of San Francisco. I came across it and thought I might have taken it at about this time of year, or maybe March. Those huge live oaks are so dramatic when they are bare. Sure gives you that changing weather feeling of early spring.

Visit Scenic Sunday for some lovely views of the world. And this sure is a great shadow shot for Shadow Shot Sunday.

Since this is one of my all-time favorites, I’m tagging it Best Post of the Week.

Also, I’ve fixed the little problem with comments not being available when you click on a category to the left. Now comments are available whenever you click on a page (or should be). Thank you, Marsha Perry of Perry Internet Consulting! She made this blog on a WordPress template for me, and I am so grateful. What a great addition to my life.

Here’s a view of Puget Sound from Seahurst Park the other day showing a fairly typical sky of our region. The many cloud layers with the dark rainclouds on the way are more appealing to me than straight gray, which is what we have today.

This is another SOOC shot, or straight out of the camera.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world.

Santa came a bit early and I got a Canon Powershot S90! Here’s a very appropriate photo of the dawn, taken yesterday morning in my backyard, as my first post with the new camera. The only benefit of the days starting so late is I get to see the actual dawn sometimes. Have you guessed I am not naturally an early riser?

It’s going to take me awhile to get comfortable with the manual control features (which were part of the reason I got it) of the new toy. And it’s very small, no bigger than the 3-yr. old Canon point-and-shoot it replaced. Another plus is it does REALLY great in low light indoor situations without a flash, which I prefer in most cases. But so much to learn! I prefer things simple but I am pledged to master this.

Can’t wait to see what it does in the garden with flowers. For that I must wait.

For more skies of happiness and inspiration around the world, visit Skywatch Friday. And have a great holiday.

There’s a Winco grocery store in Renton, not too far away, that not only has great prices but has a parking lot with very sculptural trees and a big sky, too. This was taken last week. We are now entering the darkest week of the year (in the Northern hemisphere, of course), and soon the days will be on the upswing. Let’s hear it for the Solstice!

For more skies seen round the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

And thank you so much for those who clicked through to the Photoblog Awards and left a comment or a vote. I appreciate it so very much. And thank you to everyone for putting up with all that repeated blurb about it! We are done now.

This is from the archives, taken on a fine April day from the famous and beautiful Astoria bridge over the Columbia River.

So many photos, in just three years of digital. I think I’ll never run out of things to post. Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies around the world. Weekend Reflections always features a highly creative set of photos, and visit Scenic Sunday for more scenegasms.

I’ve tagged this Best Post of the Week. It’s a keeper.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009