Friday, April 29, 2011

Mellow Yellow

It's difficult to avoid mentioning the weather since it plays a large role in our lives. Just 2 days ago, we painted the living room during a humid 30C/86F day, livened up a little with a couple of thunderstorms. Yesterday dawned warm again, but by late morning the wind had picked up, and our grandson, Graydon, wasn't too happy going out for a stroll in it. By early afternoon we were experiencing sustained winds over 80 km/50 mi per hour, with gusts up to 120 km/75 mi per hour. Then the power failed.

The high winds continued into the late afternoon, and they gradually decreased by evening. We were spared any wind damage and the power was restored after about 8 hours. I can't imagine what those poor folks in the southern US endured when tornado winds of 320 km/200 mi per hour came roaring through - they surely need our prayers.

The wacky weather blew the heat away - temperatures dipped to 6C/43F overnight and only rose to 12C/54F today - but I was pleasantly surprised to see that our forsythias barely lost a blossom, despite the howling winds. Many utility poles and large trees were snapped like toothpicks and yet these fragile little flowers clung tenaciously to their stems. It defies logic.

(60mm  f5.6  1/80 sec  ISO200)

(10-22mm  f9.0  1/50 sec  ISO200)


My backyard photo shoot was cut a little shorter than planned when this sky moved directly overhead and more blessings rained down upon us.

(18-55mm  f8.0  1/1000 sec  ISO200)

22 comments:

Lisa said...

Stunning.. How beautiful. Spring is starting to show her face here and my heart sings. Im healing Rick. My nose is still sore and thanks for asking.

Im back up and running on a new comp . and windows 7.
What a change and Im slow !!!!! or it just getting used to it.

Sill Scaroni Photography said...

A yellow show of nature, beautiful photos.
Sill

Scott Law said...

They are some beautiful flowers, thank heaven they stayed together during the storm. Great shot of the storm clouds too.

Michelle said...

Gorgeous pictures...the first is my favorite.

Ruth Hiebert said...

That is amazing that those flowers withstood the wind and rain.The sky looks angry in the last picture.

becky said...

Rick,
Gorgeous yellow in the top photos, but I love the stormy weather shots. Our wind is still blowing- nothing like yours! ( Tried sanding pots again today w/ gusts up to 40 mph!) I just checked the weather here- of all things, we have snow in our forecast for Sunday! Who'd have thought?

Cat said...

All fantastic, but I love the stormy sky! Glad you were spared anything too dangerous.

Soraia said...

I like the colour of the first and second photo but the third photo it's wonderful!

darlin said...

Wow, that's quite some wind you got there and it's amazing the flowers didn't all blow away. I have to ask you Rick, how many lenses do you own? I've been watching which lenses you're using lately and you seem to own all of the ones Canon has out! lol

I LOVE the first photo, just the right dof and the color is fantastic. Your last photo is also amazing but I sure don't envy your weather anymore... not like when you were in Florida.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend, may the sun shine down upon you and the skies clear and blue.

Katherine said...

Wow that is some very powerful winds Rick ... amazing that those beautiful flowers stayed on the branches & were not carried away on the wind. I have seen on Television News Bulletins the terrible damage that those tornados caused .. it's just horrible.

cindyzlogic said...

Beautiful Forsythias, Rick! We've been having that crazy weather, also.

Marty said...

bonjour monsieur météo !!!
le jaune de ces fleurs explose comme
une lumière sur mon écran et c'est beau !
le ciel est magnifique mais menaçant!
je te souhaite un super weekend Rick !
calmes bisous sans tempête !

Leslie said...

yes, it's cooler here, which always bodes ill for our northern friends... beautiful yellows...

Fábio Martins said...

I liked! The moments was good

Elizabeth Grimes said...

My word! All 3 beautiful photos. That sky is amazing.

Teté M. Jorge said...

This kind of weather is chilling. The population is very prejudiced.

What beautiful flowers you left for us here! Thank you, honey!
I wish a Sunday with peace and joy to you and yours.
A warm hug.
Beijos...

Rick said...

Thank you, Lisa. You have several reasons to be glad - spring is on its way, you're healing, and you have a new computer ! Don't worry - you'll get used to Win 7 quickly - and it works well. Enjoy your weekend.

Obrigado, Sill ! Thank you for your visit and comment.

Thank you, Scott; I thought they'd all be torn off.

Thanks, Farmchick; hope you were spared those nasty storms.

Rick said...

Thank you Ruth - I too was amazed at that. And yes, we've had quite a bit of the angry skies here lately.

Thanks Becky ! Tough to do pots in 40 mph winds !! It's been quite wacky weather here lately but luckily - NO SNOW ! (yet ;-)

Thanks Cat, and we feel rather fortunate vs those poor souls in the south.

Thanks so much, Soraia ! Have a great Sunday.

Rick said...

I thought for sure the bushes would have been stripped bare Darlene ! Haven't experienced wind like that since my Alberta days ! As for lenses, here's what I've got:
18-55mm (kit lens)
50mm f1.4 (Sigma)
60mm f2.8 macro
10-22mm f2.8 ultra-wide
70-200mm f2.8L IS (plus a 2X extender)
There's probably at least 50 more lenses I don't have ;-)
Thanks for your nice comments, Darlene. I hope your weekend is going well and your Sunday is awesome (btw - we did have blue skies, sun and 18C here today !! ;-)

Yes they sure were, Katherine. Fortunately we had no damage and weren't anywhere near the tornadoes - what a tragedy !

Thank you Cindy - I hope you haven't been affected !

LOL Marty ! I think I can almost do as well as the professionals ;-) So I send you some 'professional' bisous on a fast wind ;-)

Rick said...

You're probably appreciating some cooling, Leslie - I've heard it's been quite warm down there. Thank you, and have a lovely Sunday !

Thank you, Fábio !

Thanks Elizabeth ! Yes it was - although it looked a lot more threatening than what it actually delivered. thank goodness !

Yes it is teca ! Thank you for stopping by and leaving us your warmth. I hope you too have a wonderful Sunday - many beijos for you my friend !

Saz said...

Wow, what lovely photo's! The flowers are so vivid.

pumpkydine said...

Hey Rick, thanks to some clouds very much like the ones in your picture, I have been without phone/internet service since the storms right after Easter. Great shot but I don't care if I see anymore like those for a while. LOL
Randy