Eye Catchers

Almost anywhere I wander, I'm lucky enough to be surrounded with wonderful things which catch my eye. Scroll down and I'll share a few of them with you.



After a rainfall on a windy day, this simple oak leaf, with all of its water droplets, looked so pretty to me.




Once the rain ended, the sky slowly cleared. This was how the sun looked when it found a hazy break in the clouds above. I thought it looked a bit like a full moon but it was early afternoon. And I wasn't drinking.




While walking one evening, I glanced down to see these green leaves and an older rusty leaf laying in such a way that reminded me of a cartoon carrot. This time, I'd only had a bit to drink. Can you see it?




All around my pond, the wild chicory is in bloom. It's such a simple, yet lovely flower.




Earlier in July, we had a few rainy days followed by some lush vegetation growth - including these mushrooms.




The early morning sunlight creates long shadows when it dances on this row of trees standing tall like sentinels to the pond below.




On a hot, humid day, there's nothing like a bit of ice to cool you down.




Like looking into a crystal ball, you can see much of my surroundings in this bubble. It only lasted a few seconds before Benny jumped and took a bite out of it.




Late day sunlight illuminated this otherwise darkened berry branch. Gotta love the colours of summer.

Thanks for joining me. I hope my eye-catchers were pleasing to you too.

This was a scheduled post. If all goes according to plans, we're probably back up at the cottage for a few days. I'll be around to read comments and catch up with your blog posts shortly after I return.

The Unexpected

This is a scheduled post as once again, Frank and I have decided to spend a few days up at the cottage. I'll be pre-posting again on Sunday and I'm not sure just when we'll return home after that so if you don't hear from me, you'll know where I am. I'll try to catch up with comments and return visits sometime after I get home. I hope you're enjoying your summer so far (those of you in the Northern hemisphere). I know I sure am.

One day, early last month, I went for a rare walk without my camera. Always a mistake! I was in a hurry and had Benny with me, and thought I'd take him for a quick morning walk before we had to hurry off elsewhere. On the dock, at the pond, I saw an unusual scene which had me mildly perplexed. I knew that I could either go back for my camera and return to snap the shot, or forget about it completely. I opted for the former. Things had been added to what I first saw, but with permission, I was able to alter items so that it resembled what I had first seen a few moments earlier.



It was like happening upon a scene from Forrest Gump - this simple chair, a battered old suitcase and a globe. It made little sense to see it out in the middle of the park, until I returned with the camera and discovered that what I'd seen were props for a photo shoot which was about to commence. Since my first pass, a few items had been added.




Including these festive balloons.





Here's how it looked when I returned.




Another unexpected occurrence was this lovely grackle taking a splashy bath, oblivious to the camera snapping it from behind.




This sparrow hopped around in front of me with a feather in its mouth. He kept shaking his head (hence the blur) as if he wanted to discard it but he never opened his mouth to let go of it. I wondered where he might be going with it.




A moment later it flew up to a nearby roof. Perhaps it was off to feather its nest.

I never expected to turn the next corner and find a couple engaged in a passionate moment right there in the park...


But here there were. Dragonflies are not shy.




I simply liked the way this leaf looked after it had fallen after a rain, on the freshly tarred walkway.




According to Environment Canada, last month was the wettest June on record for the greater Toronto area. These mushrooms were probably grateful for that.




I'm sure that this snail didn't mind the wet weather either. They need moist conditions to create mucus which keeps them from drying out. I'm not sure how that twig/stick over by its head got into the picture. It might have been stuck to him or it might have been carrying it off somewhere. Possibly it's just an illusion and appears in focus from the foreground when I zoomed in. I don't know.

I never know what I might find when I'm out walking. I just know that I'm usually glad that I've got my camera with me. Thanks for joining me.