Weekly Header Challenge -- Signs of Spring

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining the group above for this weekly challenge.

Visit the other participants' blogs to see their entries!

Theme ~ Signs of Spring

Chosen by Lew.

Hot off the press!  I took these SIGNS OF SPRING this afternoon.  I thought there might be some spring-y-ness at the Morton Arboretum, and a young lady friend of mine was up for a walk, so we spent an hour and a half freezing our fingers off together (47 degrees F on the thermometer, but a stiff wind made it feel frigid!), walking and snapping, snapping and walking, oohing and aahing over every little (or huge) sign that spring is on its way.

Brought to you, fresh and lovely and all things spring, first off is the image I used for my header.

Enjoy the rest of these, my featured images from a cold day's walk and a promise of warmth and color and spring!

Ground-growing scilla.

Downy woodpecker.

Red maple buds.

 

Two little pink magnolia trees were in bloom!  I had to shoot up into the sun, so I got creative with the images.

One small field of daffodils was making every effort to burst forth in yellow!

Crocuses peeking up through the leaves.

Red Japanese anemone popping up among some blue scilla.

White forsythia.

Fuzzy buds on the magnolia tree.

Finally, I leave you with these fitting images, of lenten roses, appropriate for this season before Easter Sunday.

It may not feel like it outside, but spring is here!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Is Spring Finally Here?

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Is Spring Finally Here?

Chosen by Tom.

I'll let my images be the answer to this week's theme question.  The full image from my cropped header is below.  When we arrived at our friends' home after a concert, these beautiful tulips greeted us, drenched by the afternoon's rain.  I dallied outside for this quick shot before going inside, and I'm so glad I did.

My back yard garden says Yes--it's spring!  Look at this rhubarb coming up!

Yes, it's spring!  The garden needs to be weeded--the first of many times throughout the year, lol.  And notice that Joseph was able to wear his shorts for our garden chores!

Yes, it's spring!  The trees at The Morton Arboretum are in full bloom.

White magnolia.

Pink magnolia blooms.

Red maple tree blossoms.

Blue scilla.

A carpet of mayapples!

Finally, the daffodil glade screams, Yes, it's spring!

I hope I've answered the question.  *grin*


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Something Red

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Something Red

Chosen by Mac.

Thank you, Mac, for choosing a bright theme in the middle of our dreary winter!  Here is my header, which I originally cropped this way (in the header, it's cropped a bit more):

 Trio of red spring flowers.

Here are the rest of my red images to brighten your day!

Street sign at my alma mater.

Punch at a barn wedding.

Baby rhubarb in early spring.

More spring flowers.

 
Now, on to summer...

Dessert at Treats 'n 'Tiques -- the cherry on the top of summer!

Fireworks on the lake.

Tomatoes, peppers, and basil.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Signs of Fall

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Signs of Fall

Chosen by Lew.

I love this week's theme.  Then again, that was easy, since I love all things autumn, and I tend to break out my camera and go exploring in a big burst before the really cold weather hits us here in Chicagoland.

Here is the full image of my header:

Red leaves, McDowell Grove, Naperville, Illinois.

Fernando and I went for a walk at a local forest preserve.  I hadn't been there in ages, and although there wasn't a lot of color because most of the scenery is scrub trees and "natural" vegetation, there were pops here and there.

Here are more signs that it's fall.

Brown, crinkly leaves...

More opportunities to warm up the house with baking...

Pops of color along the river...

A harvest moon...

Autumn colors on the prairie...

Ladybugs congregating on our south/west windows...

And my favorite image, which I see every day for just a week or so through my kitchen window.

Jacob's tree.

This is a very special tree.  My dad gave us this little stick of a tree for Arbor Day the year Jacob was born.  We put a little plastic fence around it--actually, there were two trees but one kept getting mown over by the lawnmower!--and it grew two or three feet tall.  Then we moved, and we took the tree with us.  But, we moved to an apartment while we waited for a house to be built (or not--long story), so my parents transplanted the tree into their back yard.

We ultimately moved into our current house, and that autumn had my dad re-transplant the tree into our very own back yard.  It's a small tree for 23 years of age, but it has always been called Jacob's tree, and for a mere handful of days in autumn, it is a beautiful reminder of the glory of autumn, and of God's faithfulness to us in our family's journey together.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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My Front Yard Garden

Since I have almost no flowers in my back yard, I like to wander around the front yard every now and then throughout the summer with my macro lens to see what I can capture.  I recently found out that my neighbors watch me do this, since I've just met a few new ones up and down my street and they've asked me what I was doing out there with my camera.  ("Kooky lady with a camera...!")

I haven't been able to get a decent "farther away" shot of my heliopsis, so the below will have to do.

It's so nice and convenient when insects fly into the frame and land on my subject.  :)

I have two varieties of Asiatic lily, one more orange and one more red.

Oh--here's a day lily I'm throwing in from the back yard.

I hadn't taken any images of my woodland hydrangea yet this year, so I thought this'd be a good time to do that.  This variety of hydrangea doesn't pop a full head of blooms like most hydrangeas I've seen--you know, those big balloon-shaped heads of flowers.  I talked to the owner of a nursery at a farmers market last year, and she told me that my hydrangea is the so-and-so type--and for the life of me I can't remember what she said!  Nor can I find it by googling it.  Anyway, here's my hydrangea.

Another flower I enjoy in my front yard is threadleaf coreopsis.  I bought two little plants several years ago, and they're now two huge bushes!  They're filled with little yellow blossoms, and their leaves are shaped like needles; hence, their name.

A farmers market purchase yielded me this coneflower variety, called Powwow Wild Berry.  I love its deep, purply-pink color.  The flowers are absolutely gorgeous, and I think this is my favorite front yard garden flower.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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