(Day 98) A bit of Monet ?

Now, I'm probably the furthest thing from an art expert. But as I was looking into our pond recently, I saw an image that reminded me of an impressionist painter, Claude Monet. Perhaps if he had been looking with me he might have painted something similar. When the water lilies come up a little later I might try to get a 'Monet' water lily photo.

(70-200mm  f8  1/250 sec  ISO200)

Oh, by the way, it's one of our forsythia bushes.

(70-200mm  f8  1/800 sec  ISO200)

(Day 97) All is calm, but ...

The calmness of this scene belies all the activity that isn't quite apparent. Beneath the serenity, life is stirring. Plants are awakening, trees are budding, birds are choosing mates and nesting sites. The gradual warming, and April showers, are nurturing all living things and before long, colour will be restored to the world. It's magical to watch.

 (70-200mm  f8  1/50 sec  ISO200)

(Day 96) A moment in time

Aren't there times when you'd really like the moment to never end ? You want to freeze everything and not have anything change, perhaps because it's the perfect moment. It could be when you're with someone, when you see a most beautiful scene, when you have that perfect moment of joy ...

Of course, time moves onward and so does life. But just for a moment today, time stopped, even if it was only for 0.0005 seconds ...

(70-200mm  f8  1/2000 sec  ISO1600)

(Day 95) The first of many (I hope)

A couple of years ago I planted a number of crocuses in the front lawn, hoping they'd give us that early spring colour before the grass started growing. I did all the right things when I planted them and eagerly awaited their showy arrival the first spring. Only a few bloomed so I thought the rest might need a year to grow first. Well, the second year was worse than the first and this year I don't even know if any came up. :-(

But I had totally forgotten that I had planted a few in a bit of a remote spot in one of the flower beds, and these seemed to have survived whatever the other ones didn't. So I can officially call these our first spring flowers. Now that we've broken the ice, so to speak, with these, I hope you don't mind if I post more (different varieties, of course) as they make their appearance.

(70-200mm  f4  1/60 sec  ISO400)

(Day 94) A blessed Easter to you!

(60mm  f11  4 sec  ISO200)